Mrs. Astor’s Pet Horse

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Julie Shea from Greenwood, Indiana.

Hi, Julie. Welcome to the show.

Hello, Julie.

What’s up?

For years and years, my mother, she’d see somebody really dressed up and she’d say,

Look at that, she’s dressed better than Miss Astor’s pet horse.

And I wondered if that was just a Midwestern thing or if that was something she made up

Or if you’d ever heard of it.

What are we talking about here?

Are we talking about tuxedos and top hats or fancy gowns and diamonds, tiaras?

Are we talking about even further beyond that?

No, just really simple.

I mean, someone that’s just really, you know, dressed really, really nice.

Okay.

That would be her way of, I think, always saying, you know, oh, my gosh, you know, she just looks fabulous.

Okay.

Okay.

So it’s not about fancy clothes.

It’s about good presentation?

Yeah, I think so.

That’s the way I kind of took it as I grew up, you know.

I remember when I was a little girl, I remember she said that, and I was like, what?

I said, who is this Miss Astor, and why is she putting clothes on her horse?

Yeah, why, Martha?

Why is Miss Astor putting clothes on her horse?

What is wrong with Miss Astor?

Right.

Oh, well, her horse was very modest.

Well, we all like to dress up our pets.

Pets in human clothes, that’s funny.

Yeah.

Right? It’s cute.

Yes.

Well, the Astors historically were a very, very, very wealthy family.

In this country. They were definitely in the 1%. And so if you’re talking about Miss Astor’s pet

Horse, then that horse is going to be living in the lap of luxury. And it’s not just a horse. I

Mean, there are lots of different variations of this expression. Miss Astor’s pet cow, Miss Astor’s

Pet pony, Miss Astor’s plush horse, Miss Astor’s billy goat, all reflecting the idea that Mrs.

Azaster, whoever she was in this big and very wealthy family in this country, had a ton of money.

She was loaded.

And so the term Azaster’s pet horse means an overly dressed up or made up person.

And a lot of times you hear it more in the north than any place else in this country.

We’re talking one of the wealthiest families in the history of this country.

As in Waldorf-esque story.

Well, yeah, Waldorf story.

Well, there were a lot of Mrs. Astors, but the one that we’re talking about was Caroline Skirmerhorn Astor.

There’s a subway station with the name of Skirmerhorn in Brooklyn.

But they were incredibly wealthy, and she led what were called the 400.

This was the list of the top people in New York City that you wanted to be a part of.

This meant that you had arrived, you were invited to all the parties, you married into the right families, da-da-da-da.

You got invited to the right clubs.

And she was it for a very long time until she died in 1908.

She would have these fabulous parties with all this decoration, including literally dressing up her horse.

She actually did that.

Wow.

Yeah.

That is so neat.

Yeah.

That is so neat.

And it just carried from state, you know, all over the country then.

Yeah, yeah.

People saying that and picking it up.

Yeah.

I wouldn’t call them the Kardashians of the day, but certainly they were the kind of thing that if you were of lesser means,

You might read about the Astors with some jealousy.

Or some admiration.

Yeah.

Right.

People also use the term astropurious,

Which meant very haughty.

Oh, my.

Yeah.

So there you go, Julie.

Well, thank you so much for having me on

And answering my questions.

Glad to have you.

Thanks for calling.

Take care.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

So if there’s a word or phrase

That’s been kicking around your family

And you’re curious about it,

Give us a call, 877-929-9673,

Or send us an email.

That address is words@waywordradio.org.