In honor of the birth of one of the great Robber Barons, here is my favorite anecdote about J.P. Morgan. He was born on April 17, 1837.
J.P. Morgan had a skin condition that caused his nose to be large and ugly. He was self-conscious about this and there is a famous picture of him trying to hit a Gilded Age paparazzi with his cane. One day he was scheduled to visit Mrs. Dwight Morrow for tea. Mrs. Morrow was extremely worried about what her young daughter Anne (the future Mrs. Charles Lindbergh) might do when she saw the nose. She tried to prepare Anne by describing the nose and begging her not to say anything about it, not to point at it, not to be shocked by it, etc. When the door bell rang, Anne ran to open it and as her mother sweated, Anne was a perfect angel. She made no reference to the nose and her mother began to fell less tense. Things were going swimmingly well until the tea arrived. As she poured a cup for Morgan, Mrs. Morrow asked: “Do you take nose in your tea?” Lawrence 113 / Fuller 16
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