Lavish Lunacy: The Strangest True Stories of the Gilded Age Elite Part 1

Step inside the glittering absurdity of America’s Gilded Age, where the wealthy elite bathed in milk, invented imaginary husbands, staged ostrich parades, built ballrooms for cats, and weaponized fashion with bird-covered hats. In this hilariously decadent episode of The Strange History Podcast, we explore real Gilded Age scandals, bizarre behavior, ghost weddings, diamond-filled soup, and etiquette meltdowns—told with the wit of a gossip columnist and the accuracy of a historian who has emotionally given up. Perfect for fans of strange history, high-society chaos, vintage scandals, and stories so odd they feel fictional.

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This episode of The Strange History Podcast was lovingly crafted with the help of ElevenLabs.io — the magical technology that gives Amy her time to sleep, eat, work and spend time with her dog Jack. While some might say she sounds too good to be true, we assure you, Amy is absolutely a real person… who just happens to have access to studio-grade AI vocal cords and an unnatural ability to pronounce “necromancy” without flinching. Any resemblance to an AI is purely coincidental — and mildly flattering. Dan the announcers name is really Bill and Patrick, the fake ad guy who thinks he is funny? well he is questionable at best. So yes, AI was used but the people are real and the shinanigans are.... well.... shinanigans.