{"product_id":"the-jekyll-island-club-southern-haven-for-americas-millionaires-9780820310701","title":"The Jekyll Island Club: Southern Haven for America's Millionaires","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom its inception in 1886  the Jekyll Island Club included in its elite membership the nations wealthiest families  among them the Rockefellers  Pulitzers  Vanderbilts  and Morgans. Far from the hectic northern cities where the members tended their fortunes  this private island refuge off Georgias coast offered the wealthy a tranquil change of pace.  Bringing together more than 240 fascinating photographs  Barton and June McCash trace the sixty-two-year history of this exclusive retreat whose members at one time were reputed to represent one-seventh of the nations wealth. From the time of the clubs opening  members came to Jekyll Island each winter to seek elegant leisure  arriving on yachts or in private train cars from New York  Boston  Chicago  and Philadelphia. Capturing the lives and amusements of the very wealthy  this evocative photographic history presents descriptions of elaborate costume balls and playful outdoor parties; the Rockefeller clan gathering at waters edge and J. P. Morgan lounging by the pool; Victor Astors \"patented beach boat\" and the Goulds private indoor tennis court; the Vanderbilts yacht anchored offshore and the imposing \"cottages\" built by individual members.  During their stays  members amused themselves in a variety of pursuits. In the 1890s they organized bicycling clubs and held races on the beach. Hunting was also for a time a favorite activity and the island was regularly stocked with imported wildlifepheasant  quail  turkey  and bucks. By 1919  however  the game committee had dwindled to one member  and prime hunting grounds had been cleared for golf courses and tennis courts. The hub of the islands social life  however  was the clubhouse  where members gathered in formal attire to converse  while drinking fine wine and dining on freshly caught game and local delicacies.  The seclusion that Jekyll Island offered was not impenetrable. On the day after Christmas in 1900  the countrys fascination with technology could no longer be resisted  and the sound of a gasoline automobile disturbed the islands quiet glades for the first time. Despite the immense wealth of the club  it was not immune to the stock market crash of 1893 and the Panic of 1907. The club managed to survive World War I intact and enjoyed a \"golden age\" from 1919 to 1927  during which time it held its own against the increasingly popular Florida resorts. The stock market crash of 1929  however  initiated a death spiral. Membership declined steadily throughout the 1930s  and when the United States entered World War II  the club closed its doors forever.  Based on surviving club records  newspaper accounts  and letters and diaries of members and guests  The Jekyll Island Club chronicles an era when leisure was the preserve of the wealthy. For more than six decades the island  now a state park  served as a haven for millionaires. As one visitor described the Jekyll Island Club  it was \"the only place of its kind in the worldand will never be again.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45666226765877,"sku":"ByrdShop_0820310700","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780820310701.jpg?v=1782423975","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-jekyll-island-club-southern-haven-for-americas-millionaires-9780820310701","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}