From the article “Old School: The Photographs Of Ed Roseberry” in the UVA alumni magazine. — CC
489 Comments on "UVA Fraternity Party, 1963"
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From the article “Old School: The Photographs Of Ed Roseberry” in the UVA alumni magazine. — CC
Comments are closed.
Great photos at the link. Perhaps we were better behaved in Charlottesville when everyone dressed like me and even the rock stars wore ties. Although, to be honest, a couple of the pictures confirm that drunken debauchery may not have been entirely unknown even in those halcyon days. Still, the latest news of collegiate barbarism is sadly disappointing; horrifying, actually.
The current allegations at UVA and the university’s actions are exactly why universities should not get involved in rape and sexual assault cases concerning students, call the police.
I agree, MAC. Call the police. Absolutely. I hope that the allegations, if true, lead to appropriate action, and I wish the police had been called at the time. And it is also quite true, from what I have read, that many universities seem to have abandoned any pretense of due process when a student is accused of rape, usually by a classmate, and often involving mutual drunkenness. But, again if true, an atmosphere where gang rape by supposedly civilized youngsters is tolerated and hushed up is a lot more “Lord of the Flies” than I wish were the case. It is certainly possible that the current stories are not literally true in all particulars, but there is a ring of truth about the culture of debauchery, not only at Virginia, of course, but across the country’s universities. Tom Wolfe’s I am Charlotte Simmons told some of the story 10 years ago, and things have not improved. Not sure why the comments here on Christian’s delightful site have tended toward the serious and political lately (very much including this one), but here is hoping that a lovely Thanksgiving holiday will cheer us all up. Best wishes to all fellow readers.
Funny, in a wildly politically incorrect way. Re the picture: Can we say “Animal House”?
Following the link is a great idea.
Well said Charlottesville, hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend.
Thank you, Dennis J. And also with you, as they say in the current version of the Episcopal prayer book. Snow predicted here, so turkey and tweed shall likely be the order of the day. And for Mr. Conroy, as a former Washington & Lee (correctly pronounced “Dubyanell”) boy, the first time I saw Animal House, I thought it was a documentary.
Y’all have a great holiday, for y’all travelin be safe.
“Fred Castleberry, Castleberry, Castleberry”…
I was just curious if I invoked his name like Beetlejuice, would AEV magically appear on this thread?
AEV is currently engaged in another thread. Please hold while we wait for that goat rodeo to implode.
As Glenn Reynolds points out at Instapundit,
LEFTIES ALWAYS WANT TO ELIMINATE ALTERNATIVE POWER CENTERS IN ANY SYSTEM THEY CONTROL: UVA Faculty Want Abolition of Greek System, Emails Reveal.
Link to a good article at The Washington Free Beacon by a UVA alum, for those unfamiliar with the controversy
http://freebeacon.com/blog/uva-faculty-want-abolition-of-greek-system-emails-reveal/
Ethan – I can’t deny your request. This blog needs more romance – courtesy of Fred’s Instagram. Let his creativity and passion envelope you:
“She arrived so spectacularly – as if a luminary had descended from the heavens to exist among us. Dazzling and slow burning all at once. Unrepeatable. The perfect hue between blue and green; that green-blue off the Amalfi Coast in July. And then just like that she was gone.” – F. E. Castleberry
There is no better entertainment on the internet.
To be charitable during the holidays, Fred gets it right once in a while. But then there’s that theory of moneys sitting at typewriters could accidentally replicate Hemingway. 😉
Because gang rape at a school where even the fraternity leaders admit there’s a problem is SO funny.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119
The thing about the Amalfi poem is he doesn’t specify the eyes as being blue-green, which we assume is what he’s talking about. It could be her skin or hair, for all we know.
Walking a fine line, playing with fire, Russian roulette, pick your metaphor when it comes to making light of sexual assault. I have the utmost trust in the discretion and tact of the author (one can’t speak of Ivy without such qualities, after all), but the fact remains that if our favorite American clothing tradition can’t shed its unsavory baggage, there won’t be a place for it much longer.
Fuck this blog.
@gigolo aunt
Frat rats are too busy fucking coeds.
They have no time left to fuck this blog.
So GDIs are eunuchs? 😉
I’ve skimmed this blog for years, and this is a new low. Totally tactless. Keeping alive all of the worst elements of the time period I see.
Blogs do tend to eat each other, don’t they?
Nom, nom, nom.
I have no idea whether sexual misconduct was more prevalent then or now, but as a frat member at U. Of Wisconsin in that time (early 60’s), the code of conduct was much more one of respect for women. We had a Housemother (!!), parties with sororities were respectful, well attired and without rank behavior, and girls were pinned to our frat brothers while we serenaded them.The culture has so degraded since, with popular music depicting women as “hoes” and bitches, and repulsive behavior, including the making of sex tapes, the path to millions of bucks. If you weren’t there, perhaps you should withold comments.
Muffy Aldrich has impeccable taste in matters of style.
If WASP ethnicity were a precondition for being a member of the Ivy/Trad/Preppy community, Richard Press, Ralph Lauren, and others would be excluded.
Richard Press has suffered WASP pretension except for his wardrobe taste.
Whoops–never suffered WASP etc except for his rags.
Mr. Meyer, we can state categorically that sexual misconduct throughout society is far more prevalent today than it was before the Cultural Revolution. One of the propaganda tools used by those who have been destroying our society is the lie that people in the past were just as bad, or worse, than we are. I know you know that’s not true, but some of the younger readers have been suckered into believing that lie.
There have always been people who behave poorly. We have always been plagued by criminals, addicts, perverts, and the like, but in the past, such people faced censure and disgrace; now, they are all-too-often celebrated. As you noted in your comment, in the past, colleges acted in loco parentis; now, with co-ed dorms, they act as pimps.
@Philly Trad,
This has nothing to do with whether one is or is not a WASP. This is about creating a false narrative, which she has done and continues to do. What is ironic is the distain she openly makes on her blog, about other who she perceives to ‘exaggerate”.
So this is my last little fun tidbit for you all to nibble on over this wonderful holiday weekend. What makes this relevant is their willingness to deceive others for personal gain. Her husband Clark, whom’s middle name is Bennett, is reviewing his own book on Amazon, but under his former last name of Wezniak… you really can’t make this shit up!
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3JYMWUYQPM7DL
@Ethan, @Philly Trad,
I found your comments interesting, then went to check on TDP, which seems to be offline and shows a 404 error. Any ideas what happened?
@Eric, Ms. Muffy spends a lot of time blocking IP addresses. You’ll think you’re about to see a post about farming or sailing but are instead taken to some Miami lawyer’s article on cyber harassment.
Muffy has a system common in the banking world that automatically blocks people who frequent troll sights. If Ivy Style turns troll, she and other sites will automatically block people who visit here.
I’ve looked at TDP from time to time. Whatever one may know about Mrs. Aldrich personally is their business. But, honestly, I just assumed that the name Muffy Aldrich (her maiden name is Eastwood, I see) was made up and likewise with her husband’s name Clark (only “Biff” would have been even more tongue in cheek). I always assumed they were poking fun at themselves. I mean, c’mon, “Hi, I’m Muffy and this my husband Clark.” I admire her photography and I would venture that’s where her real talent lies. On the other hand, if “Clark” is reviewing his own book under his other name, that’s a bit beyond the pale. However, I understand that many authors’ publishers now arrange for secret “nominees” to buy the authors’ books in quantity so they will appear on the best selling lists. That’s about the same thing, mutatis mutandis (sorry, couldn’t resist).
As for Mr. Castleberry, again, perhaps he has many of the flaws to which so many have referred. But he too seems to be quite a good photographer. A book of nothing but rowing blazer can been a bit much, but I paged through it and the photography is very fine–in my un-expert opinion.
@Ethan – Your Amazon link is broken. Please repost.
@AEW Mason
Clark is not the part of her husband’s name that has been questioned.
Note to everyone: If this is what you wish to discuss I’ll let you do it up to a point. However, please keep your remarks confined to facts.
For example, it is a fact that TDP prep redirects people who click on GOMI links, as I too am redirected/blocked.
According to the About MuffyAldrich.com section, Muffy is English, Scottish, Welsh, Swedish and has two lines from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her husband is English, Scottish and Welsh. The information on her husband is documented in a redacted genealogist report given to him by his mother, linked to in the middle of this entry: http://www.muffyaldrich.com/2014/06/questions-for-community-hobby-of.html.
My link from the other day from their marriage records proved my earlier points, which was deleted. We didn’t seem to have a problem calling a spade a spade when WASP 101 was the subject.
@R.R,
Wezniak sounds very “English, Scottish and Welsh” to me! SMH
Ethan, your previous comment was removed at my discretion. Please confine your remarks to matters of fact.
I have asked Mrs. Aldrich to clarify certain facts and am awaiting reply.
Regarding the Amazon review, I followed the link earlier today and now note that it is no longer there.
Ethan,
You may need to get some help for your little problem.
My point, which I guess was lost, was that I don’t know anything about the couple and don’t care really; I think she’s a talented photographer and her pictures bring me a lot of pleasure.
@ TOM,
How’s this for my little problem?
It’s worth mentioning that the 1989 Brown graduation commencement book lists his name as “Clark Bennett Wezniak” ( http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/purl/purlResolver?id=/lilly/meier/printable/VAB8339-16336 ). By 2006, the Brown Alumni magazine “Conduit” is lists him as “Clark Wezniak Aldrich” ( http://cs.brown.edu/about/conduit/conduit_v15n1.pdf ), and he now goes by “Clark Bennett Aldrich”. Curious evolution
Ethan, you wouldn’t also be “Serge lifar” and poildecarotte?
Ethan – Is this what you hoped you would be doing with your education? How much money in tuition have you spent to become a stalker?
@Lil M,
No, I am sure i’m not the only one to call out her bullshit.
@Tom Q,
I am the Repp Tie’d Crusader. I didn’t spend a penny on tuition, the old trust picked up the tab. Anything else Tommy boy?
Ethan – Great links. How many academic article have you published? How many books have you gotten published? Did you graduate from an Ivy League university? Care to share your real name, since that is so important to you.
@Tom Q,
I am not in academia (so nothing to get published), nor do I desire to write a book, but be rest assured if I did I would. I did desire to build a successful company, which I did. My name hasn’t changed since my birth certificate.
I have to go. Good luck, Ethan/Serge lifar/poildecarotte. I have decided you must all be the same person. Now I am going to spend five years of my life proving it, despite any facts that get inn the way.
@Tom Q,
Say hi to Lisa for me. 😉
@ethan, give it a rest.
Mea Culpa!, Before you jump on my can, nowhere on my birth certificate does Mac appear. 😉
@ethan – is Ethan on your birth certificate?
@ethan – careful when you go to bed. clark may be hiding in your closet. You had better check.
@Lil M,
That would all depend if hiding in closets is preppy or not.
That Ivy Style has become the place that “outs’ bloggers (or even clumsily tries to) is truly skin crawling. I am ashamed for everyone connected to Ivy Style. I will never come back.
What is there, in this case, to be outed? Is something being hidden, misdirected or covered up?
Also, Ivy-Style.com has not posted on this subject.
@Lil M,
Considering this is your first time here, I am sure you weren’t looking at the blog anyway. Your first comment was a veiled threat, typical of Muffy style. Have a great night.
Ethan, put you tin foil hat back on.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
I finished reading Tom Wolfe’s “I am Charlotte Simmons” the day after the Rolling Stone article was published. The similarities between the two are chilling
I really don’t care about Muffy’s genealogy at all.
I read her blog for the excellent photography and her New England style comments.
I have a feeling that this is true for most readers of her blog. The only thing I don’t like about her blog is the use of “prep” and “preppy”, which for me bring up images of unpleasant adolescents.
I concur. Use of those silly words trivialize and sully an otherwise valiant effort that could and should focus on tradition, graciousness and dignity. Most of us over a certain age would prefer not to be called preppies.
@Boston Bean
@Wally “Biff” Scott
I fully agree with you gentlemen, but would like to know what term(s), if any, you prefer?
I used to use “Ivy League”, have never used “Ivy”, and now tend to prefer trad/traditional/traditionalist.
Classic or traditional will do. Trad is for jazz. Preppy is for kids.
Yale is the “family” school, but I went rogue.
@Wally
I think you mean “Oh what a tangled interweb we weave.”
The now-missing book reivew can be seen here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Doing-Comprehensive-Simulations-learning/dp/0787977357
Alright, so Lisa Eastwood is a wannabe townie and Clark […] is a fabulist within a mean streak. I remain a fan of Muffy Aldrich, who, though she might exist only on the Internet, offers sage advice on whether to buy a sweater from L. L. Bean or one of those clubby little Newport shops she likes so much. I really miss reading her posts, which have been unavailable to me since she blocked my IP address from her blog.
She blocked mine too, and I have no idea why.
Ivy Style has now joined Get Off My Internets as a troll site. Congratulations to everyone, especially our GOMI ambassador, Ethan.
@ Mack,
I think of myself more of a whistleblower. I have never posted on GOMI. Though some of her past has showed up there on google searches. I am merely a seeker of the truth, I am the Repp Tie’d Crusader.
GOMI is full of nasty snark. I don’t see any of that here, nor do I see “trolling.” I see a collection of facts mostly having to do with an Amazon review that suddenly went missing, as well as multiple people who report being banned from the site.
“Wannabe townie” and “fabulist” are a far cry from the epithets on GOMI, and it’s hard to see how either remark from a peanut gallery would be bothersome to a WASP patrician.
Just a theory: Muffy Aldrich is exactly who she says she is on her website.
She says the name “Muffy” was given to her as nickname in childhood, and that “Aldrich” is her husband’s name, which is verified by author’s note to an article written in the Brown University Department of Computer Science alumni newsletter, Conduit, in 2006, by “Clark Wezniak Aldrich,” who graduated in 1989. The author’s note lists the same books that Amazon is selling under the name “Clark Aldrich.”
So there is no reason to doubt Muffy on that score.
It also seems very difficult to deny that Muffy lives the life she chronicles on a daily basis, and that her archive of her father’s photographs is genuine, and so also her roots in New England.
Are her claims for old New England ancestry genuine as well? I believe so, but I can only speculate. There is a Nan Tull who lives in Boston who married a Frank Wezniak. This Nan Tull graduated from Wellesley in 1959, and a sister graduated from Vasser in 1955. Tull is an old English name, and it may be the case that it is through the Tulls that Muffy’s family ties are linked to the early settlers.
If I am right, all of the noise comes down to someone sneering at the name Wezniak because it is (horrors!), Polish.
I believe the ties to the early settlers are supposed to come from his side of the family. Clark Aldrich’s bio at clarkaldrichdesigns.com includes the following:
“… is the ninth great-grandson of Governors John Winthrop and Thomas Dudley, first and second Governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.”
There is a great thread here which has the narrative and several conversations with links to primary sources.
http://wpedia.goo.ne.jp/enwiki/Talk:Clark_Aldrich
I am yet another person who has been blocked from TDP. As far as I can tell, it’s only because I have been following this discussion on Ivy Style.
I have been an avid reader of TDP for several years and enjoyed its photographs and discussions of both New England traditions and clothing. I am now retired and living on the West Coast, but I grew up in Connecticut and the photographs on TDP were poignantly nostalgic and brought back so many memories of my youth. I attended the sort of schools celebrated on TDP. I admit I found much of TDP to be both snobbish and pretentious, but I overlooked that. Mrs. Aldrich always struck me as a poseur and not “authentic” (one of her favorite words). Nevertheless, she often wrote interesting and informative articles.
I had never heard of GOMI until this discussion began. Now that I’ve investigated it, I’ve learned so much about “Muffy.” And now, so many of my feelings and thoughts about her are corroborated. I do not find GOMI’s boisterous discussions to be disreputable, nor is this discussion of TDP on Ivy Style. Both Fred Castleberry and “Richard” have been given much more stringent examinations.
Christian — I see how my wording could have been misunderstood. But Muffy also states on the website that she is talking about her husband’s family tree.
RLN — I have some of the same criticisms of TDP that you do, but have also enjoyed the site. I lived for a while not far from Wiscasset, which is part of a lovely stretch of coastline. I confess to not wanting to live for long in small-town Maine, especially in the winter! But when Muffy is likened to Tom Ripley I think it’s way off base.
The Internet provides many opportunities for people to reinvent themselves. It is not likely that Ms. Aldrich and her husband are the only ones to avail themselves to these strategies for reinvention. But to become retaliatory when questioned about their bona fides is more revealing than the actual facts.
@Wally “Biff” Scott-
I’m reminded of a New Yorker cartoon from several years ago. This is how I remember it: it showed a dog sitting at a computer, speaking over his shoulder to another dog. “On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.”
My memory of the cartoon was almost perfect. Not bad for an old guy like me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog
To RJG: There is a Boston-area artist named Nan Tull who was raised in rural Illinois, the daughter of an air-force pilot. I do not know if she is related to Jethro or any of the other prominent English Tulls.
To Christian: As you note, a WASP patrician would ignore me and my ilk even if we were to gang-tackle him on the steps of the Century Association. He would not track down my IP address or direct me to some Florida personal-injury firm. He would not vigorously assert his family lineage when advertising his computerized design services. One of my grandfathers was a peddler, the other the owner of a small general store at which he sold the chickens and eggs produced in his back yard. My family lineage is all poverty and struggle. I cannot understand people like Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich and their sad, strange aspirations.
In the same way that there will always be a sort of man who considers good manners “pretentious” and “fancy-schmancy,” or who refers to evening clothes as “penguin suits,” there will aways be the sort of man for whom trolling a lady and her family on garbage websites is just another night on the pork rind American Internet. It’s always a bit jarring, however, to encounter them in the comments sections of websites like Ivy Style.
I think many see things as quite the opposite of how you’ve characterized the situation: “fancy-schmancy” people who may not be quite so fancy after all.
@Michael Rowe-
I think you have things backwards. The pretension and guile behind TDP are hardly compatible with civility.
That’s about what I’d expect from you, RLN. You should get someone to look up “civility” for you. I can certainly understand why you might find it an alien concept, based upon your commentary.
@Michael Rowe –
You write ghost stories, tell us about the ghost of Clark Bennett Wezniak… It seems to be haunting Mr. Aldrich at the present time. It’s a “dirty job” but someone has to do it (sorry had too).
It should be noted that Michael Rowe is a contributor to Muffy’s blog.
Also, a large portion of TDP posts are Lisa (Muffy) being critical to people, products and companies. I have also read my fair share of your comments Michael over the years, where you were tearing into this, that, or the other. So please, spare us the false piety will you.
It seems as though there are some very basic questions here, that have been brought up that she does not want to answer. [EDITED]
Ivy-style, TDP, etc… are lifestyle, fashion related blogs, many of the same readers read both. The thread above is almost a form of self policing. I see no problem with this.
Will the real Clark please stand up.
I will interject at this point to note that there are a number of public documents with the name Clark Wezniak Aldrich that include related work and educational details suggesting that it is the same Clark Aldrich who operates Clark Aldrich Designs and who co-runs The Daily Prep:
https://cs.brown.edu/about/conduit/conduit_v15n1.pdf
Wow, Thom. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone make the “Dirty Jobs” joke. You’re really cutting edge, sunshine. Nice one.
I contributed one essay this summer to Mrs. Aldrich’s blog—about my dogs, not preppies. I found both Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich to be professional, decent, and thoroughly gracious. In fact, in a 25 year career that has spanned several books, a few awards, awards, about a hundred magazine articles and essays, I’d rate my experience with the to be in the top percentile of my editor-writer experiences,
Prior to that, I have frequently commented on her blog. Unlike most of the commenters there (or here, really) I actually use my own name, so that’s not much of a “gotcha” moment for the intrepid and prize-winning (anonymous) investigative reporters on GOMI, or in the comments section here.
I have never met Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich, ever. It would probably never occur to me in a million years to go scuttling around the Internet looking for “dirt” on two people who run a New England lifestyle blog, especially over the husband’s name, or the wife’s nickname. I suppose that I should concede that there are people creepy enough to think poking around into people’s private lives is normal, I just never expected to meet any, especially on an elegant and reputable a site as IVY STYLE.
That said, I must doff my hat to the future Pulitzer winner who discovered that Mrs. Aldrich has a maiden name. Imagine that, a woman with a maiden name who uses her husband’s. That’s really powerful journalism—nicely done. You really got them.
Seriously, Thom, if the content of TDP threatens you enough to send you into a sclerotic meltdown, you need therapy, not the perfect pair of khakis. This isn’t Benghazi, and even if it was, we know how that panned out, and who wound up with a face like a cat’s smacked ass when it turned out that all the conspiracy theories were nothing but a paranoid nutcase’s wet dream.
There’s a lesson there—learn it.
Keep this thread going, Christian. Muffy is killing you in page views, and this may be your best opportunity this quarter for volume. This post may be utterly irrelevant, but still better than you usual warmed over pictures.
@Michael Rowe –
“That said, I must doff my hat to the future Pulitzer winner who discovered that Mrs. Aldrich has a maiden name. Imagine that, a woman with a maiden name who uses her husband’s. That’s really powerful journalism—nicely done. You really got them.”
Actually, when they got married Michael, Clark was using the last name of Wezniak. Catch up will ya.
@Michael Rowe
The points you make aren’t germane at all. Mrs. Aldrich’s maiden name is not the issue, nor is her nickname. There are a number of public documents which show that her husband has previously used a different name, which then calls into question his identity, which then calls into question his claims to his ancestry.
First, no one cares about this. Second, if one does care, read the actual genealogist report pdf located here: http://www.muffyaldrich.com/2014/06/questions-for-community-hobby-of.html. Spoiler alert. Clark’s father is named Aldrich.
How does Lil M know that Muffy is killing Christian in page views?
Come on, Christian. Keep this thread going. It is your Christmas liquor money.
A 64-page GOMI thread would suggest that people DO care whether a public person is telling the whole truth, especially one for whom “authenticity” is one of her slogans.
And “Lil M” your rhetoric is descending to GOMI levels. There’s no financial gain in allowing this discussion thread and raising questions that many have been asking for several years.
Who is Clark’s father?
@Lil M-
I just clicked on the link you provided and it opened to the web page for a law firm specializing in cyberstalking. What’s your game?
What is the point of this churlish, déclassé sniping anyway? “Self policing?” Did you actually type that with a straight face? IT’S A STYLE BLOG.
I’ve always loved IVY STYLE for its elegance, and I’ve always loved TDP for its New England aesthetic. I’m quite sure that most of us read (or have read) both. Most of us have a favourite, and some of us don’t care one way or another. But one of the things you don’t ever expect to see on a blue-chip blog (or fashion magazine) is this sort of spiteful trolling. It’s just not done, period, ever.
What’s really vulgar, and actually a bit disturbing, are the cyber-raccoons screeching about “self policing” and banging away as root around in the trash for private information about their family. The Aldrich’s have never portrayed themselves as “grand” or “fancy,” (unless you consider chickens, old sweaters, and Yankee recipes “fancy”—which, frankly, I suspect that more than one of their detractors does.)
Mrs. Aldrich’s posts are about New England, American-made clothes, New England prep history (supplemented by photographs by her father), sailing, and dogs. I’m sure there are a few other topics I’ve missed there, but I have no doubt someone will come buzzing out of the woodwork to fill it in. The “grandest” picture of Mrs. Aldrich on the site is one of her in a sweater, some pearls, and a pair of tartan trousers. Not really much of a Marie Antoinette moment, is it?
If the worst thing these remora fish can do is speculate about Mr. Aldrich’s family consociations (in the entire absence of any evidence that they have portrayed themselves as something other than who—and what—they actually are) and hint darkly at the implications of having had “Wezniak” as some part of his name, then it’s time for them to get a hobby. Any hobby. Quickly.
Some mail order genealogy report does not hold the same weight as every public record, which shows his name was Clark Bennett Wezniak. Including his college graduation, camp counselor, and lastly marriage license.
Geneologists are licensed, Ethan. Do your homework. Look on Alexa.com and put in the two web sites. So, Muffy is cleaning up over Christian, and Clark’s family name, according to a highly credible source, is Aldrich. Christian, you should not lie about your business model.
Michael Rowe, you might want to do some research before speculating about people’s objections to Muffy’s site.
Again, I have to ask, who is Clark’s father? This appears to be the elephant in the room. The link above goes to a TDP post with a somewhat mysterious reference to his paternity. But it raises more questions than it answers. So then, who is his father?
Jeezuz, Lil M, why are you bullying Christian? Do we really want to maintain that every blogger who pursues an interesting topic and is not afraid of a bit of controversy is money grubbing? Tread carefully…
Ethan, what’s your real name again?
Whynot, if you actually care, the report by a named, highly credible real genealogist, not mail order, has Clark’s father as Aldrich. Period. Done. If that is not good enough for you, go create a new birther movement.
@whynot, I’m quite sure that wherever on earth you’re from, people do “research” to ascertain the reason why people go poking through the trash looking for personal information about a lady and her family. To normal people who weren’t raised in some gutter, it’s a lot less complicated.
The actual elephant in the room isn’t Mr. Aldrich’s paternity. The elephant in the room is the reality that the question itself fathomlessly ignorant and invasive, and that the notion that anyone thinks they’re entitled to any personal, private information about the family, other than that which they’re willing to share, is surreal.
No one here is “poking in the trash for personal information,” we’re talking about public records such as bylines, names used at university and professionally, and names on a marriage license.
If, as “Lil M” says, “Clark’s father as Aldrich. Period. Done,” then one would expect a simple explanation as to why he appears to have previously gone by a different surname.
“Clark’s family name, according to a highly credible source, is Aldrich.”
Lil M, can you please provide a source? Or provide a non-TDP link to the geneology report?
Why would you expect any explanation at all? Why is it anyone’s business but the family’s? Is there some presupposition that the family is required, or impelled, to share this with anyone? What does this have to do with “ivy style,” tie-widths, or cuffs, or ghostwritten biographies of George Bush?
Lil M, the birther jibe was very clever. But there is no reason to expect people to believe that the genealogist is not a quack just because you say so. Since when do people need a professional genealogist to know who their father is anyway?
Michael Rowe, you are funny. I was not raised in some gutter. But I would be proud if I were. People “raised in some gutter” tend to have more backbone than those born with an LL Bean Birdseye on their back.
Yes, nothing says “backbone” like pseudonymous trolls rooting through the trash looking for imaginary scandal about the paternity of someone not even in politics. You’re a prize all right.
And Christian, the fact that anyone has taken the time to look up their marriage license puts paid to the notion that no one is “poking in the trash for personal information.” That’s not journalism, it’s gossip.
whynot – do three minutes of research. Look up the genealogist. Look at his credentials. The membership was a gift from his mother, as Muffy explains.
The pdf is on the web page.
Good night and good luck.
There are many benign reasons for an adult legal surname change: Birth name of an adopted child, biological father’s name, etc. It may well be something similar. The best course of action would be for the Aldrichs to acknowledge the questions and address them honestly. The matter would soon become yesterday’s news and the blogging and books could continue.
Authenticity. Graciousness. Stewardship….and finally, Integrity.
I think many would say that is a very sensible suggestion.
LOL, Michael Rowe, you are the troll. What are you even doing here? Defending Muffy’s honor? Oh please! No, I’m no prize. But I’d rather be gutta than a prize any day. (Pop quiz: what is the difference between gutter and gutta?)
Back to the topic at hand, no one knows who Clark’s father is. And no one would care one bit except that Muffy and Clark have called our attention to the question. We pesky humans do love forbidden fruit.
Lil M: One does not rely on a genealogist, “highly reputable” or otherwise, to determine who one’s father is. A quick check of easily accessible public records usually does the trick, if for any reason one’s memory of last week’s family supper isn’t enough.
Mr. Rowe: The provenance of Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich is neither “personal” nor “private.” They have styled themselves as eleventh-generation New England aristocrats in order to create a profile by which they can make money, in Mrs. Aldrich’s case by taking in advertising dollars from her blog, and in Mr. Aldrich’s case through the sale of his books. They are therefore fair game, legally and ethically, for anyone who offers evidence of misrepresentation. The situation is analogous to that of clothing marketer who sews labels saying “Made in U.S.A.” in goods made in Taiwan. It is misleading to those who care, and irrelevant to those who don’t. I personally don’t. To me, it makes no difference where Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich come from, or who their parents are, or whether they are related to colonial big-wigs or iron puddlers from Mon Valley. (In fact, I’d love to read a blog about “Coastal New England” by some laid-off cod fisherman or gyppo logger who is trying to make ends meet doing odd-jobs near one of the precious little villages Muffy holds dear.) I don’t care if they are being scrupulously truthful about their heritage or are making everything up. Hardly anyone does.
Wally, you’re absolutely right: there are many benign reasons for an adult legal surname change. The only part you missed is that many of them are very private.
The best course of action would be for that privacy to be respected, since neither of the Aldrich’s have, at any time, taken action that would warrant this obsessive stalking for details. That said, you’d need to have some respect for privacy to do that, and that would negate trolling public records looking for some undefined “gotcha” moment that would, presumably, satisfy whatever it is these people seem to feel entitled to know, or have explained to them.
I’d posit that one of the differences between the Aldrich’s readers and some of the readers of this site is that they sort of “get” that this kind of invasive badgering is in really, really bad taste, and they wouldn’t think of flattering their prurience by tarting it up as “self-policing” or any of the other self-serving explanations given here for why their right to know the intimate details of the provenance of an author of educational books, or his blogger wife, should trump their desire to keep their details of their family life private.
Sorry, DSF—can you provide a link to any evidence that the Aldrich’s have ever referred to themselves as “aristocrats?”
I’ll wait.
As for their “eleventh-generation” provenance, that is the bailiwick of genealogical societies, most of which have fairly strict criteria for entry. If that’s seriously where you want to go with this, then we’re right back the genealogical societies that have admitted them based on their established ancestry. I would respectfully posit that those societies are as concerned with keeping people out as with letting them in, and I’d probably stack their vetting process against pseudonymous trolls poking around for marriage licenses any day of the week.
And whynot, no, I’m not defending Mrs. Aldrich’s honour. It’s not in need of defending. I’m just grossed out by trolls and bullies, no matter what their age, or how low on the totem pole they are, especially the ones who pretend that they’re agents of virtue and truth. Always was, always will be.
Final game. Can anyone produce a single sentence from Muffy’s entire blog that is untrue?
Michael Rowe, Muffy and Clark are, in my humble opinion, potentially pulling the wool over the eyes of 65,000 readers and profiting from it. They posit themselves as experts and claim certain credentials. I am not saying they are not experts with said credentials. But people who read their blogs and books and who are thus a source of revenue are entitled to have certain questions answered. If I go to a doctor, I look for information regarding her expertise so I can assess if she is trustworthy. This is no different.
@ Michael Rowe – you’ve repeated the “its none of your business” argument about 5 times now. Anything else to add?
@DSF – excellent points in-regards to why we are asking these very basic questions.
@Lil M – one could if she didn’t block the entire readership from her site 😉
Lil M, this is rather fun, but this is not a game.
WhyNot – find ONE inaccurate sentence. No speeches. No vague sinister warnings. No interpretations. No excuses. One inaccurate sentence.
@whynot, anyone who needs the same information about a lifestyle blogger as they do a doctor is so spectacularly out of touch with reality that any discussion with them at all is going to carry the spoor of the madhouse, no matter what.
Mr. Aldrich’s books are about education. No one buys them because his last name is Aldrich, they buy them because they’re informative. Mrs. Aldrich’s blog carries its own weight nicely (65,000 readers, by your count) and going into its fourth year. Any lack of expertise on her part would have killed it by now (or resulted in plummeting numbers of readers, which is clearly not her problem.)
All off which basically means that none zealous pursuit of private, personal details of his provenance and paternity has anything do with anything legitimate. It’s just hyenas yipping on the Internet.
Ethan, if one says “None of your business” five times, and people are too dense to understand that it’s none of their business, then no, probably nothing to add. Even animals can agree on basic language terms. Perhaps less so here.
Tomorrow, let’s talk about Christian’s credentials. He did go to an Ivy League school, right?
Mr. Rowe: You are correct. I should not have used the word “aristocrats.” I should have said “descendants of important early colonial gentry.” Is that fair?
dSF – find the sentence.
Mr. Rowe, I would agree with you on privacy save for one thing: the Aldrichs have fashioned themselves into public personalities who use their pedigree to present themselves as experts in Yankee traditions. This is especially true with the blog, which presumably makes money.
Mr. Scott, Mrs. Aldrich has fashioned herself into a documentarian of Yankee traditions, as seen from the perspective of an 11th generation New Englander. She has done that admirably. As for her pedigree (and her husband’s) they are members of an established genealogical society that as vetted their membership based upon their criteria. That—combined with the superb photography and documenting of coastal New England life on her blog—is the requirement needed to fulfill the criteria you stated above. The work speaks for itself.
Anything other than that is prurient speculation motivated by the same sort of tabloid trash mentality that keeps the Kardashians in Brazilian waxes and spray tans.
Lil M, you are no lady, are you? Mr. Chensvold old has been quite candid about his academic credentials. It’s old news. Let’s talk instead about yours.
Dear Michael Rowe,
Under Normal circumstances everything you are stating would be true. We should leave peoples personal lives to themselves. However, TDP is a business, and their product is themselves.
Some of the personal things they have disclosed.
1. Their names and pictures of their friends and family.
2. Their home.
3. Where they went to school.
4. Where they vacation.
5. Their ancestors*
6. Where they eat
7. The inside of their closets
8. Photos of Parties, Holidays, their car, vacations, and socializing with friends.
9. Pictures of their parents, children, etc…
10. They have posted every club or society which they have ever visited or belonged too.
11. Even shared family recipes.
Now does that seem like someone who is looking for “privacy”?
They have exposed themselves to the world in a way few do. They are presumably making a considerable amount of income from selling their product which is their “life” and “lifestyle”.
The domain name is the name she goes by. Now if you’re going to post a PDF link of your family tree, why would you get upset if people do simple fact checking? That is far from malice, or stalking.
Mr. Rowe, you put it better than I did, to be sure, and your defense of Ms. Aldrich is admirable. But consumers seek background and when they noticed inconsistencies, credibility is damaged.
In our world, the work no longer speaks for itself.
I am surprised to see you mention the Kardashians in such proximity to the Aldrichs.
Sheesh, I am having trouble keeping up here. Michael Rowe, I am surprised that you balked at my doctor analogy. If Muffy has taught anything, it is to seek the best and most authentic shoe, bag, long john, sweater, dog, yacht club, education…. but not blog? Shall we lower our standards in that area of consumption? Secondly, there is a big difference between a documentarian and an expert. To put it succinctly, one is an outsider and one is an insider, one seeks to be an objective, non-judgmental observer, the other does not. I feel safe in maintaining that Muffy has presented herself as the latter.
Lil M: I had to borrow someone’s smartphone to access Muffy’s site. I noticed this statement: “TDP does not blur the lines between fact and fiction.” The entire concept of “prep,” in the sense Muffy uses it, blurs those lines with snobbery, false elitism, and maudlin sentimentality. This ethic is fundamentally fictional.
I have to conclude with Mr. Rowe that you are all either joking or pre-dementia. Give a chat room enough rope and they will hang themselves. Have Christian organize a list of direct sentences from the blog that you believe are inaccurate and have him deliver it to Muffy. I am sure she would be happy to answer them. Easy, right?
Lil M, what makes you so sure she would be happy to answer them? Apparently, Muffy regularly declines to publish comments she deems overly critical and she blocks people who she fears are not be on board with her project. Muffy happily answering such an email seems like a stretch.
@Lil M – why doesn’t Muffy & Clark answer the initial questions already asked.
1. Why did he go by the name Wezinak from a child to an adult then change it?
2. What is his exact blood connection to the Aldrich family if he was born and raised Wezniak?
Michael Rowe, you being a published writer what is your personal take on the last question?
3. Why did someone by the name of Bennett Wezniak review Clark’s book? and why was that review deleted after it was called out here yesterday? (Bennett being his middle name and Wezniak being his real last name)The below link shows the google cache.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Doing-Comprehensive-Simulations-learning/dp/0787977357
Lil M, you so miss the point here. I am unaware of any false sentences Ms Aldrich has written. I believe instead there is a sense of omission in some of her posts. She implies, rather than states.
The instructions are simple. Find statements in the blog you believe to be false, and present them through Christian.
May I ask a question, Lil M? Are you Muffy? Your writing is similar.
Ethan, I’m mesmerized that you think you’re in any position to ask me a question “as a published writer,” but I’m happy to indulge you just this once:
As a “published writer,” my “personal take” is that I really, honesty, and truly couldn’t give a damn about the reviews of other writers unless those writers are my friends. I have never met the Aldriches, though I have read Mrs. Aldrich’s blog (and contributed an essay to it that I wrote this summer. I found Mr. Aldrich’s book “Unschooling Rules” superb.
As I’ve already said, in my dealings with them, I found both of the Aldriches to be polite, courteous, and professional.
I think what you’re meanderingly trying to imply is that he reviewed his own book under a really obvious pseudonym. You’d have to be quite stupid to do that, and even if he wasn’t a Brown alum who travels the world giving educational seminars, Mr. Aldrich isn’t stupid.
As to why it was deleted, I have no idea, but one of the dangers of being a stalker and a blog addict is that one tends to think that what happens on one’s blog makes the world turn—even the world of publishing. It couldn’t possibly matter less, not only to the original discussion in this thread, but also in the real world.
My final “personal take” on your meandering question is that you are finding it increasingly difficult to hide your personal antipathy for Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich, and it’s starting to show in a serious way, and it clearly has less and less to do with some alleged conspiracy to hide Mr. Aldrich’s “real” identity than it does with the fact that you can’t stand the idea of them. Which I not only find a little unbalanced, but also not my problem, or indeed the problem of anyone with an offline life.
Gee, I’m still waiting to see Obama’s college transcripts and docs, Muffy’s birth cert. just doesn’t matter to me. The internet “Star Chamber” sails along. 😉
In any case, have a good evening. However compelling your charms and your intelligence, none of you are really worth the rest of a Saturday night. The floor is now exclusively yours to enjoy.
I emailed Clark about the book review. He did not do it, but a friend did, and he asked his friend to remove it as it was causing confusion. The review had 15 out of 15 helpful comments, but the friend did. It is an old book.
@Lil M, that has to be the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard. A friend posted the review under Clark’s real Middle and last name, and it stayed their for 9 years until I posted a link? You emailed Clark at mid-night and he told you everything huh… lol… go to bed.
None of this is particularly entertaining, Mr. Rowe. It is in many ways disconcerting and depressing. After all, any first-year lawyer could go into court and establish Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich’s legal names, former names, public aliases, and a/k/a’s, and those of their parents, in a fifteen-minute prove-up. As far as I can tell, there is no mystery here, no good-faith question of fact, no missing pieces, no ambiguous or unreliable public records, no issues of mistaken identity. That is what makes this dispute odd. In the real world, no one would waste their time debating this stuff, unless there is something terribly wrong afoot. That is the part I’d rather not think about.
We have no reason to believe what “Lil M” says is true.
Even if it were, it would only make us more confused than we are already.
This is all pretty pathetic, and I fully realize that I’m entering the fray. Who really cares if Muffy Aldrich and her husband changed their name. It does seem that it’s a family matter. If his family has no problem (and even if they do), it’s their business.
As for being a “whistleblower”, Ethan, you’ve done the world such a big favor. This is my last visit to this blog: so I’ll call it as I see it. You are a sad, screwed up, little loser, who probably has to have the last word. What a bore. You sidetracked an entire entry because Muffy pissed you off, Mr. self appointed blogger police? Her blog is well done, and is fairly interesting. You really have done nothing except showing everyone that you are a twit.
If you wanted to follow an entirely entertaining blog, it would have been “Boxing the Compass”. That disappeared because of creeps like you. Thanks.
And DSF, re: your comment, no first year lawyer would go into court and establish Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich’s legal names, former names, public aliases, and a/k/a’s, and those of their parents, in a fifteen-minute prove-up. He (or she) would quite rightly point out that it’s actually none of anyone’s goddam business, especially since they have done nothing wrong, much less anything to warrant the scrutiny of a few borderline Internet stalkers with too much time on their hands, a skewed sense of what’s important, and apparently not much going on in their lives.
Just bizarre. I have a few Yalies in my family and they don’t measure up to the state school, private college or community college types in any meaningful,or positive way.
Michael Rowe, you joined this thread scolding others about their lack of civility and manners. You, Lil M, Tom Q, Dave Taylor, all have resorted to personally attacking those who have simply questioned some of the information Clark and Muffy have put out into the world. Which by all accounts seems to contradict some basic biographical info they’ve put out into the world. Glad to see it kept you up all night hitting the refresh button. 🙂
Mr. Rowe: No judge would schedule an identity prove-up unless there were a reason for doing so, as in a will contest, a missing-heirs case, or a defamation, false-light, or breach-of-privacy case brought by a party who alleges injury from the publication of alleged misstatements about his or her family name and heritage.
I always thought TDP was a parody – who in this day and age would use the name Muffy to blog in such an upper-crusty manner about stereotypical WASP stuff – but then they started making money and getting free stuff. No wonder they are now trying to protect their brand. And of course, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Mrs. Aldrich have chosen to issue a statement on The Daily Prep:
“There are some like-minded people suggesting “Aldrich” is a fictitious name and that my husband’s genealogy is not what I say it is, despite my making available this document (pdf) by a decorated, licensed genealogist – a membership into a society that was a present to us by my husband’s mother, redacted to protect the privacy of family members. So while I have the greatest respect for Slavic cultures, it is not my husband’s either by nature or nurture. And yes, to have to say that at all is very, very strange.”
Because Mrs. Aldrich’s statement hints at but does not directly address the central question: “why are there public documents in which her husband had the name Wezniak?” I have sent an inquiry in response to her statement directly asking this question. In fact it had been asked previously on two occasions when this discussion began, and the question was ignored.
She has been given the opportunity to respond by this afternoon. At that point, whatever her response or lack thereof, I hope to bring the matter to a close.
Christian: Indeed. You might consider the following: (1) There are very few if any states that license the practice of genealogy. There are genealogy trade associations that “certify” their members, but just about anyone anywhere can get into the business without meeting legal prerequisites. Genealogists do not get “decorated” for their work, although they may earn Good Conduct Medals after a clean stint in the Corps. (2) The contents of Clark Aldrich’s genealogy chart have not been released, just its cover and a fancy certificate. (3) Aldrich is a real name, as Muffy says. If I change my name to Rasputin, that becomes my real name, too. (4) I believe it when Muffy says that her husband is not a part of Slavic culture by “nature or nuture.” That does not mean he isn’t a descendant of Slavs who were once a part of that culture.
Muffy characteristically sets up a straw man in her post. No one has suggested that her husband’s “culture” is Slavic.
I’ve been a longtime reader and enjoyer of TDP, but found some time ago that I have to keep it to the pretty pictures, which often seem substantially cropped, and take everything else, including advice and attitude, with a grain of salt. If the blog kept to the photos and traditional New England style, without setting itself up as the arbiter of all that is authentic and gracious, then it might be easier to accept comments from “Lil” or “Tom” and book reviews from “Bennett”.
If one is interested in putting oneself across as an expert on a blog — what is essentially a “lifestyle blog” as Ed pointed out very well above, and one whose URL changed from http://www.thedailyprep.blogspot.com to http://www.muffyaldrich.com — and then monetizing that blog on the backs of over 65,000 readers (as we were reminded by Mrs. Aldrich only the other day), one needs a) to expect to live a certain amount of one’s life in public, b) thicker skin, and c) a business plan to run the blog as a business and not as an online family journal with expectations of personal privacy. For example, not taking the bait to make comments that make one sound like a fishwife. One can roll one’s eyes at Kiel James Patrick, his products, and his business model, but he is a considerably savvier businessman who lets the criticism roll off his back, and he has been clever enough to make his business look personal, not vice versa, thus removing privacy concerns. Such a business plan might include getting all one’s ducks, or duck pants, or duck boots, in a row, including tidying up a veritable bouquet of family names and misplaced book reviews. Because a public blog, even a preppy blog, will attract all sorts, and some of those 65,000 will talk among themselves, especially when one’s stated goals do not seem to line up with one’s actions.
There seems to be another, larger discussion here, and it would seem to be the growing pains experienced by blogs as they transform from enjoyable hobby to business, and the nature of turning one’s life and lifestyle into a business. While the business end usually seems to be successful, the personal side (as the business side leaks from its earlier confines) seems much less so. Then there is also the question of how does one maintain authenticity, graciousness, and stewardship when one is clearly accepting advertising dollars? Bloggers can profess, until navy blue in the face, that only products meeting their strict personal standards are touted, but for many readers, that niggle of doubt is introduced, and it is indeed a slope as slippery as a threadbare family oriental rug…
Yeah, this discussion has gone on too long. Muffy will not concede facts that she and her husband have taken such immense trouble to cover up. What are left are such unanswerable questions as why they are so ashamed of having an ethnic surname, why they think anyone would care about their family lineages, why they think it is in any sense more desirable to be part of the old New England WASP ascendancy (which is now descending) instead of the great American muttdom, and above all, why, being intelligent people, they think they can fool people into believing the unbelievable. Muffy could have operated her Website under the name Josefina Carranza and it would have been just as popular.
This takes us back to those fifty-year-old pictures of fraternity parties at UVa. The pictures exemply the snobbery and prejudice that our egalitarian democracy has mostly overcome in many of our most elite institutions. We’ve come far since then. Muffy ought to join us.
Those Bronte sisters would be dead meat nowadays and how about that Twain guy? 😉
Hear, hear, DSF. Not a frat man myself – wasn’t cool in my era – but back in the day, I partied with a few of them. The Greek culture has changed a great deal, and in today’s world of Linkedin and other social media sites, the contacts made on Greek Row are less useful in the business world.
Mr. Scott: Long ago I worked as a bartender at fraternity parties when I was a student at an Ivy League school. The young gentlemen I served included my best friends, who got me the job so I could afford to pay for my own drinks when we got together on our own. Some of these gentlemen had very distinguished last names, but that wasn’t their fault and I didn’t rub it in. Two of these guys are the best friends I have in the world. They’re real people, honest and hard-working, a credit to their crumbling ancient social class.
Muffy/TDP introduced me to Wool Overs:
http://www.woolovers.us/british-wool/womens-mens/wool-fishermans-crew-neck-sweater.aspx
That’s enough to make me eternally grateful.
The article in the Brown Daily Herald (linked above) states toward the end: “Wesniak, whose father is a member of the Brown Corporation….”
Here is a link to the Harvard Business School Association of Boston: http://www.hbsab.org/article.html?aid=120. Frank Wezniak is a Governor. His blurb states among other things that he “has been a Trustee of Brown University since 1983.”
Camford, British wool trumps personal ethics?
I see the link to the Brown Daily Herald article has disappeared. I’ll venture re-linking it.
http://library.brown.edu/cds/dbdh/bdh_render.php?issue=1210082691473251&div=DIVL94&pid=0
DSF, There are alway exceptions and no absolutes. I once knew an magnificent older man named AJ, who had been a frat man in his day. An old-world gentleman. Greek life is not what it one was, perhaps.
I thought the upside was being introduced to Woolovers?
If anyone was prepared to drop the “fiction” that this is about a lack of authenticity, Lil M. and Tom Q. certainly did their best to put paid to that effort.
No point in replying to my comments about the real motivations behind posting the Brown article, whynot. They’re disappearing at great speed.
RJG, if we consider, for example, slavery in this country, do we not consider those who believed blacks to be sub-human racist, even though the racism was structural and unconscious?
People, I’ve been very tolerant here in allowing you, the public, to discuss this issue because I believed there to be a question of, shall we say, “authenticity.” This, under what you can imagine has been pressure from various directions.
The issue, as I’ve seen it, was the simple matter of the different names and why Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich have not addressed why there are numerous public records indicating he once went under a different name, which would certainly seem to be germane to the issue of people who very proudly state distinguished ancestry. I don’t think we need to delve into every aspect of character and the past.
I have tried to keep discussion focused primarily on facts and measured opinion and don’t think speculation on what the parties may or may not believe or have believed is relevant.
Once again I think I’ve been more than indulgent here, and might even add put my neck on the line because, as silly as this may sound, I think that truth matters and there is a cloud of doubt on this matter.
I’d also like to note that an email sent to The Daily Prep earlier today directly asking to clarify the name issue on the record has received no response.
Fair enough. Christian, thank you for hosting-moderating the discussion.
Christian, I was referring to the entire thread when I thanked you for the discussion. I take you at your word when you say you stuck your neck out. So, from someone who also believes that the truth matters, thanks.
Just an unlikely theory: Were I a trustee of a major university and my kid allowed himself to be quoted at length in the university’s student newspaper saying all sorts of piquant things about an explosive subject like apartheid, I, too, would insist that he change his surname and desist forever from identifying himself with me and my accomplishments. I’d let him come home for family gatherings, but only if he comes in though the servants’ entrance and leaves before the meal is served.
Biff, one might presume that Lil and Tom are going to need all the Christmas liquor money, and Christmas liquor, they can get after this weekend.
Thank you, Christian, for providing a forum for the discussion, and all best wishes of the season.
I still think its a parody. They are just trying to push the envelope of insuperability before it pops. They be playin us dog! (Translation for Muff: one must be forgiven, but one has the tiniest inkling that you may be, lets say, pulling the old pin, no offense, lets have a sherry and put all this disagreeable chit-chat behind us, wot wot?)
On a side note, I watches some of Clarks YouTube videos… I really enjoyed them. Though the headshot with the life vest on is obnoxious. Let’s bring back the Wezniak, and stop all this tomfoolery. My work here is done.
Thank you CC for allowing a platform for us to discuss areas we believe are important.
197 comments?!! Wow.
I’ll just add my two cents: The clothes are where it’s at!!! Good shots. Thanks for posting, Christian. This is the sweet spot for me.
Agreed. Thanks, Christian, for being a righteous soldier. Now let me ask … does anyone sell a decent three-piece 3-2 roll suit, center vent, natural shoulders, no darts, edging on the lapels, soft worsted, regular 1960s rise, six-button best with four pockets, 43 regular with ten-inch drop, for less than $1,500?
@whynot
“Personal ethics”?
Ms. Aldrich provides us with a daily dose of New England good taste, good style, and tips for locating quality. If it’s parody, TOPH was supposed to be parody, but it allowed many who were not born wıth a silver spoon in their mouth to be introduced to a bettter, more tasteful way of dressing, as does TDP.
Has anyone looked closely at that genealogical pdf that Muffy posted? There is something hidden in there which is a bit of a tipoff. Anyone want to hazard a guess?
@DSF,
I’d try a J.Press sale or O’Connells, but I suspect J.Press will have the larger 3 piece quantity.
Well the format of the lineage is:
Bolded name of the descendant of Dudley
Non-bolded name of the descendant’s spouse
Year the descendant and spouse were married
Clark’s father’s name is listed second and it is not bolded. So presumably his mother’s name is listed on top of his father’s and is bolded in that large redacted block, indicating she is the Dudley descendant. More interesting is what is under Clark’s father’s name. Or rather, what is not under his name. I think Muffy gave away the game there.
@Palmer, interesting. I am curious what their vetting policy is. Look at the application process, you fill in the blanks and send along a check. I’d bet a few bucks, the due diligence is on the lighter side.
http://www.foundingfathersofnewengland.com/applicationform.htm
I can’t get a live link to the genealogy. What’s missing?
Yes, I agree that their vetting is probably not that rigorous. I mean, the guy who puts the stamp of approval on your lineage is also the one who deposits your check for $100. How hard is he really going to look?
That said, I don’t doubt the lineage that Muffy and her husband claim. They’re just not being forthright because Clark’s parents weren’t married. This is not something that I think most people would give them grief over. But maybe in their world it is. Anyway, it’s a shame.
Oh please. The notion of “gallantry” on the part of the racoons on this thread died early yesterday evening Having now violated Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich’s family privacy in the name of “authenticity,” it’s a bit ludicrous to be bloating about “gallantry.” The commenters here are about as gallant as an outhouse.
When you drop the elephant in the room, it makes quite a thud.
Whatever it takes to make you feel like it was worth it.
Mr. Rowe, perhaps some of us are not as clever and witty as you are. And perhaps bloggers should consider all angles of the image and brand they wish to create and support before taking their thoughts to cyberspace. Most of us are smart enough to sniff out a phony or two.
Yeah, bro. Really violated their privacy with that pdf they posted on, not one, but two of their websites.
Mr. Scott, it has nothing to with being “clever” and “witty,” it has to do with intuiting, on a basic social level, that the reasons for an adult name change, might be sensitive or private. It’s what appalls some people about the notion of scuttling around the Internet looking up marriage licenses, IP addresses, and college juvenilia in the hopes that it might prove that someone is “inauthentic” because they’ve changed their name. It’s called courtesy—a very old fashioned concept, I know, but some of us are still hobbled by it nonetheless. Others, clearly, are not.
Just for the record, Mr. Rowe, most families claim at least one person with two last names, for various reasons. That has never been my concern.
Thank goodness for that. I would hate to think you’d take on any additional “concerns” besides your fascination with the lineal descent of the husband of a style blogger you’ve never met.
The genealogical claim goes through the mother, not the father. The whole last name thing is a separate issue. It just came up because people were researching the genealogy.
Ah, thank you, Palmer. Perhaps I was confused because in her Hobby of Genealogy post, Muffy says that Clark has a “direct ancestor George Aldrich (father’s name/side)”. Oh dear, Muffy has me chasing my tail again.
Thanks for clarifying. A name change is a slap in the face to a father. But that is only my opinion.
You’re not very bright, are you? Assuming that the theory is correct, and Mr. Aldrich assumed his father’s name, either posthumously or not it entirely validates the notion of “authenticity”—since you, and others with your obsessions—made the specific issue of his specific lineage. It’s not “magical” in the slightest, it’s basic genealogy. If he legality assumed his father’s name, he’s Clark Aldrich, and she’s Muffy Aldrich.
Lineage, by definition, is about bloodlines, and that was the tack you chose to pursue. It’s not about “actual relationships, lived experience, and so on.”
Furthermore, even if it were about “lived experience and so on,” he has that covered in spades already. The Wezniak/Tull family is pure Ivy League—Harvard, Wellesley, Brown— and Mr. Aldrich’s own documented bonafides already encompass both a blue-chip prep school and an Ivy League college, as well as summers on the Vineyard and the life that comes from a family whose patriarch is on the board of governors of Harvard Business School. That’s the “lived experience” you’re referring to.
Seriously, which way do you want to go with this? Every way leads back to Mr. Aldrich being exactly who he says he is. I’d suggest you quit while you’re ahead, but you’re so far from not “ahead” that your choices are to continue to pick away at this losing obsession of yours, or to take the high road, as Mr. Scott suggested, and “gallantly” leave it alone. It’s not that you’re “slow,” it’s that, at this point, you’re making things up, which unfortunately removes the shield of ignorance you made use of before.
Mr. Rowe, you are right, I am hopelessly dense. However this issue is explained here or on Muffy’s site, I cannot make it add up. There is no reason why Muffy should spell it out plainly, but if she would, it would be a kind service to those of us who are not as bright as you and Muffy. I had hoped to get more sleep tonight, yet here I am still trying to puzzle this out.
There’s an excellent reason why she shouldn’t spell it out plainly, whynot: It’s none of your business. None. At all. It’s a private family matter. It has nothing to do with “saltwater New England,” or jam, or boat shoes, or blueberries. Her legal name is Muffy Aldrich. Her husband’s legal name is Clark Aldrich. Mr. Woodrow has posited a theory that bears up the issue of her husband’s “lineage.” If the issue is “authenticity,” then that’s been settled, even here in these comments. I doubt that you’re entitled to any more “kind services” from the Aldriches at this point, and I’m not sure why you think she owes you any deeper, or more complex, explanations than the ones she’s given—that her husband’s last name is Aldrich, and his father’s name was Aldrich. Can that POSSIBLY be simpler….? Even here?
Mr. Scott, as I mentioned above, I had a very pleasant professional experience with Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich when I wrote an essay for them earlier this year. I found them gracious in the extreme. I enjoy their blog very much. I detest bullies and garbage-rummagers and trolls very much, especially the adult variant. You expect this sort of excrement from teenage girls, not grown men and women, and especially not on a style blog of this stature. It’s not much more complicated than that, really. Hope you can both sleep now. I sure am going to. Goodnight.
Ah yes, thank you for that reminder, Mr. Rowe. It differs from my observations, but the truth is often somewhere in the middle. Sleep well!
When I read Mr. Rowe’s comments it feels as though he is shouting. So much carrying on, so much shouting and name calling. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Why not leave the garbage-rummagers to their scraps? What difference can it make to you, who has no use for refuse? Bonne nuit.
And by scraps I do mean the “decorated” genealogist’s report that Muffy and Clark obviously treasure dearly and hoped we all would read. Sleep well, Mr. Rowe. Your self-righteousness should make a soft pillow.
My, My – this thread has been highly entertaining!
Mr. Rowe, I’d suggest that if you believe Fessenden or Fenn to be “Blue Chip” Prep schools, then you aren’t familiar with Prep Schools, especially the New England variety.
Also, is Wellesley now an Ivy?
My opinion is that Clark was very happy with his real name (the name of his father) all the way through his adult life until he married Lisa.
@ Christian – I’m aware that these two have attempted (and oftentimes succeeded) in bullying bloggers into suppressing the sort of dialog that you have allowed on your site. I commend you for your integrity.
I don’t think the focus is entirely on the name issue but more on a pattern of artifice. There are many examples but one of my favorites was Mufffy referring to the yard of her modest suburban home as the “north field”. There is a fine line between eye-rolling pretentiousness and deceptive behavior.
@ Ne Cede Malis – ssshhhhh Michael Rowe is Canadian 😉 But apparently an expert at all things preppy of the NE variety, which is why he has an opinion on every post from TDP. He must be a Prep, he has an LL Bean sweater on in his head shot. He’s a Muffite, and his sad defense these past few nights has been great to read.
Also, there is no proof or info anywhere that Frank Wezniak isn’t Clark’s biological father. Secondly, there’s nothing anywhere that his Mother had any connection with an Aldrich. Its not her middle name and it wasn’t her Fathers name. Nan Tull was the child of Col. Lloyd H. and Ellen Warfield Tull. Neither one of them has Aldrich in there name. Lastly, even if a Great Grandparent has a name of Aldrich it doesn’t mean its the same family as the Early American Founders…. Just like someone with the last name of Kennedy isn’t by default related to the former President.
And Wally, I agree whole hardily that it must be quit the slap in the face to Frank Wezniak to have his son change his name. It’s that Slavic that had all the connections and paid the fare.
“Her legal name is Muffy Aldrich.”
Mr. Rowe I am certain that Muffy is NOT her legal name. Using a nickname as a legal name is very non-U. Muffy would never make that mistake.
Wow – that Brown article linked upthread is horrifying. Certainly not the epitome of “graciousness”…
I am more confused than ever. I’ve no idea who Clark’s mother or father are anymore, and I cannot remember why anyone should care. Ah yes, it is a mark of great distinction to be a descendant of so-and-so. And paying someone to sign a piece of paper that says you are a descendant means…. what does it mean?
Perhaps we have all time traveled now and I did not get the memo. I thought this was the 21st century and that social Darwinism has been left in the dust. Silly me.
Michael Rowe, I was just going to move on yesterday afternoon, when I said “my job here is done”… but you’ve inspired me to keep digging and join GOMI. Thank you for fanning the flames, Lisa aka Muffy will certainly thanks you.
Ethan, you may be right. Just two days ago, Muffy claimed to have 65, 000 visitors to her site and this morning she is claiming 70,000. Michael Rowe must be doing quite a bit of clicking!
That is certainly odd that after the big Thanksgiving blow-up weekend they would be willing to note that their monthly traffic number is up.
What blow up?
First, money is money, and keeping advertisers happy is key. Christmas is coming, after all.
Second, all evidence has been scrubbed from TDP, so any TDP fan who didn’t catch yesterday’s posts, doesn’t also read here or anywhere else, or who is happily drinking the Koolaid and so refuses to acknowledge that 2 (Lil) + 2 (Tom) = 4, would have no clue, other than the increasing hand-wringing about bad behavior amongst the unwashed masses who don’t know their place.
I do believe that Muffy owes Christian a thank you note.
Additionally, it is too bad that the statistics do not distinguish between 1. fans, 2. newbies, 3. regular readers who click on TDP simply to see how far a blogger is willing to go with her ridiculous pretentions, and 4.Michael Rowe.
I note that Muffy has radically revised relevant aspects of her website. The click-on section that used to be called “About Muffy” (as I recall) now is “About TDP.” It no longer alludes to Muffy’s and Clark’s family background, lineage, and history. References to governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, eleven generations of this-and-that, family names, etc., have either been removed or hidden elsewhere in the site. The seal of Clark’s genealogy society is still there, but without comment. Instead, Muffy is emphasizing the “WASP” aspect of her point-of-view. She also quotes from a couple of dozen communications she has received from various readers over the years, each praising her website and her sensibility, using identical writing styles with identical diction, pecularities of usage, and descriptive vocabulary.
Perhaps Muffy attracts devotion from readers who think and talk like her to an extraordinary degree. Perhaps she also realizes, finally, that by displaying the term “WASP” right under the masthead, she can make clear who is and is not invited to participate in her virtual lifestyle without having to conjure up implausible stories about her generations-old “authenticity.” She’s authentic, all right. So is the fellow who wrote such interesting things about victims of apartheid. You can’t make such sentiments up.
Did someone really write, “A couple of preppy grifters is what we have here”? That may be the dumbest thing said in the history of civilization. I’m with Michael Rowe 100%. What a sorry group you all are.
And Christian, you get a nomination for most pompous line ever from a style blogger: “I’ve been very tolerant here in allowing you, the public, to discuss this issue because I believed there to be a question of, shall we say, ‘authenticity.’ This, under what you can imagine has been pressure from various directions.” Are you kidding?
I can sense from your comments you knew you were at an ethical crossroads. In my opinion your moral compass failed you.
Amen, Sartre.
Look, Sartre is here! Sartre, as a friend of Clark’s, you no doubt have a great deal to say about the “history of civilization”, and I see you share Mr. Rowe’s penchant for insulting people. Where does your moral compass point you, intrepid french learner?
If we are taking nominations for “most pompous line ever from a style blogger”, I suggest Christian start a new post, and we each lay in a good supply of Christmas liquor and popcorn.
Jack, no, but Lil M. just might.
Oh please, whynot. Your entire reason for being here on this thread is to insult. You’re just bad at it. It’s a bit late for you to pull up your skirts and tiptoe delicately across the mud. You brought the mud. It’s as amusing as the thoroughly ungallant Mr. Scott’s oily plea for “gallantry” last night.
To paraphrase Spengler, every Internet thread goes through the organic process of birth, maturity and decay. We are now at the stage of petty bickering between posters, which is to say the senility phase.
Given that senility so often leads to death, in the case of this thread that might not be the worst fate.
I could practically hear the strains of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” when I read that, whynot Thank you for the laugh. I’m in bed with a chest cold, and humour is hard to come by. You’re very amusing when write as though you wish to appear grand and sonorous and definitive. Too funny, especially after the squirrel-like chittering tone of your previous observations.
Also, I’d take issue with your description of the the number of garbage-foraging racoons ripping through her private life as “non-trivial.” It’s entirely trivial. I expect you’ve given the Aldriches little more than a very minor headache, so I do hope the weekend you’ve spent here was fun and worthwhile for you and your fellow cyber-coprophiles.
Mr. Rowe, you come across as one who breathes heavily into a brown paper bag between posts. Maybe you could use a cocktail.
If Muffy is rebranding, I can only hope version 2.0 contains more noblesse and less hauteur.
Mr. Woodrow, if you had any idea how utterly irrelevant it is to me how I come across to you, the vastness of it would make you dizzy. As for a cocktail, everyone can use a cocktail. You’re going to have to work harder on your originality, I’m afraid.
You might attach the cocktail to an iv.
That’s the best and most intelligent idea I’ve read from you in this entire thread, Mr. Woodrow. Excellent. Well done.
I believe Michael Rowe is now trying to drive awareness to his marginal writing career in hopes one of us wants to by a book on vampires or gay porno…both I believe have a lot of ‘sucking’ going on. Including his sucking up to Muff and Clark.
Also MR, lets be honest this was more than a little headache, they had to do a post to acknowledge us, then quickly realized the post raised more questions than it answered, so they deleted ALL of the items on the website that were in question.
This is what I won’t ever forget about this weekend.
My post:
What makes this relevant is their willingness to deceive others for personal gain. Her husband Clark, whose middle name is Bennett might possibly have reviewed his own book under his former last name of Wezniak…
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3JYMWUYQPM7DL
Comment by Tom Q. — November 28, 2014 @ 5:08 pm
@Ethan – Your Amazon link is broken. Please repost.
Comment by Ethan — November 28, 2014 @ 5:42 pm
CC,
Looks like they deleted the content. Anyone click on it and read it besides myself before it was broken?
Comment by Tom Q. — November 28, 2014 @ 5:45 pm
Ethan,
You may need to get some help for your little problem.
Comment by Christian — November 29, 2014 @ 11:11 am
The now-missing book reivew can be seen here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Doing-Comprehensive-Simulations-learning/dp/0787977357
Comment by Lil M — November 30, 2014 @ 1:07 am
I emailed Clark about the book review. He did not do it, but a friend did, and he asked his friend to remove it as it was causing confusion. The review had 15 out of 15 helpful comments, but the friend did. It is an old book.
How amazing was that corse of events, I show a bogus review written in the name of Clark’s Middle and former last name, he sees the post, goes and deletes the review on Amazon. Then posts that the link was broken, when I said someone deleted it he ttys to play as if I was paranoid, CC finds a web cache of the post and Muffy played by Lil M, says, I emailed Clark he said his friend posted it, but 15 out of 15 people found it useful!….
Thank you for the memories.
Amusing synopsis, “Ethan,” but no way of knowing if that was true, so a pretty futile exercise.
My IP search — perfectly reasonable to perform given that “Lil M” was throwing a few gems at me — revealed that that username plus “Tom Q” were from the same computer/household, and that this was in Connecticut.
I find it highly unlikely that the Alriches were posting on this thread under anonymous usernames and think it’s a bit conspiracy-theory to suggest so.
It might be more worth noting that both usernames stopped their defense of the issue.
My word, Ethan. You’re the only troll I’ve ever heard of who curates his own comments on a style blog and saves them for later. It might be time to see your therapist about getting your SRI levels upped a tad.
You may be referring to the fact that “Ethan’s” comment was automatically held for moderation. WordPress does this whenever there is more than one link as a way of weeding out possible spam.
I just returned from tennis and approved the comment (with a couple of edits, I should add).
Everyone might benefit from some exercise. I went down to my local courts a few blocks away in Astoria Park beneath the Triboro Bridge. Got a pick-up doubles game with a Russian, Bulgarian and Greek.
My Partner The Greek and I came from behind and won. It was fun.
I didn’t ask if he was descended from Pericles.
No, I was just referring to the fact that “Ethan” cultivated the comments for a nice long troll-like post. But the next time you’re editing his comments, it’s “buy a book on vampires or gay porno,” not by.
“Who’s that tripping over my bridge?” roared the troll .
I think it would be very thoughtful and sporting to just assume that all Greeks are descended from Pericles.
My paternal grandmother’s name was Smith. Is there a chance I’m descended from Charlemagne?
Aren’t all Americans descended from Charlemagne?
And Canadians?
Well, a lot of usl started off in the same place as Americans did, so all bets are off.
Most people of European ancestry are related to Charlemagne. Almost no one places any significance on it or puts it in their bio.
My word, whynot. That Charlemagne was a promiscuous fellow, wasn’t he? Damn randy Frenchmen.
I invite anyone interested to read a National Geographic article titled, “Charlemagne’s DNA and Our Universal Royalty”.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=charlemagne%27s%20dna%20and%20our%20universal%20royalty
And leave all this brilliant, sparkling repartée? Are you mad?
Why do you jack holes care? You’re
all WASP posers anyway!
Well I for one can trace my ancestry back to a proto-plasmal primordial globule, consequently my family pride is something inconceivable!
About the descendants of Charlemagne thing: there’s a subset of genealogy buffs whose primary interest is proving their connection to European royalty. To do this efficiently, genealogists rely on what they call “gateway ancestors,” i.e., immigrant ancestors with documented descent from royals. Admittedly, this isn’t particularly rare or special, but you have to dot a few i’s and cross some t’s to document the 11 or 12 generations to, for example, join The Order of the Crown of Charlemagne.
FTR, Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor Thomas Dudley is a gateway ancestor. If you’re descended from Dudley, you’re also descended from Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, Henry II, St. Margaret of Scotland and a lot of people I can’t remember.
If you have an ancestor who was the rector of a Puritan parish, a Quaker, or a Virginia planter, chances are very good you have royal and/or aristocratic ancestors. I would urge caution, though; you might find, like me, that you are distantly related to Mr. Muffy.
Come on, Christian, enough is enough. “Lil M” and “Tom Q” are posting from the same household, and that household is *in Connecticut*, but of course it is “highly unlikely that the Aldriches are posting under anonymous usernames.” So then why bring it up? Just putting it out there for others to feast on, like you did with Richard at WASP 101? Here is your justification for that imbroglio: “Let me once again clarify that I merely presented strange coincidences and behaviors here. I did not seek to prove something I’m not in the position to prove.” In this weekend’s instance, your defense against Lil M’s accusation that Ivy-Style has become the place that “outs” bloggers was similarly lame: “Ivy-Style.com has not posted on this subject.” As if only the posts reflect your opinion and you disavow your own comments? You’ve not only enabled this conversation, Christian, but jollied the whole thing along and it’s most unseemly. Maybe the reason Lil M and Tom Q – whoever they are – “stopped their defense of the issue” isn’t because they’ve given in but because they sense the impossibility of making any headway against this current group of commenters (who, you may have noticed, are just a tad strident).
That’s my last comment on the subject, but don’t assume that because I’ve stopped my defense of the issue I somehow capitulate.
@Sartre
Because others brought it up and I truly think that of all the points to discuss here it’s foolish to speculate who’s behind usernames.
As for discouraging defense of the Aldriches, I’ve allowed Michael Rowe to talk his head off here and permitted several snipes at me, including by Lil M, the very person I pointed out went away.
As with WASP 101, it’s a divisive issue. If you scroll above, you will see several people have offered thanks for having a public forum to address this issue.
One can only hope Mr. Rowe’s head is no longer attached.
Clearly, this is an issue that draws a lot of interest and passion. Please let me add my thanks, Christian, for providing a venue and for moderating the discussion with such reason.
All you need to know is right here:
http://www.ivy-style.com/what-a-pain-anatomy-of-the-angry-internet-user.html
Fascinating piece, Christian. Thank you for the link. Ethan, I hope you read it as well.
Christian, you have style indeed. And grace as well.
Thank you for that link, Christian.
http://www.woolovers.us/
How about that. Great looking knitwear. Thank you for the introduction.
I’ll say this–She has great taste. In architechture, cars, farms, television shows (praise for BBC mysteries!), and music (who, in 2014, exalts the simple beauty of old hymns?).
Muffy, if you’re reading this–keep up the blog. It’s one of the best. Three cheers for the New England coast, Foyle’s War, old Congregational Church architecture, and hymn (piano-and-violin) instrumentals. Press on!
SE, I agree with you and that is what attracted me in the first place. I was already watching Morse, Lewis and Foyle but The Daily Prep introduced me to Midsomer Mysteries.
And how about Endeavour? The young Morse at work.
Always! Another excellent program. And how about “George Gently”?
Yesterday I wrote that I thought it highly unlikely that the usernames “Lil M” and “Tom Q,” which shared the same IP address, could possibly be the couple in question.
I no longer believe that to be a farfetched notion.
Today chance information arose that, while circumstantial, suggests that there is actually a solid possibility. It comes down to a rather strange coincidence. The possibility of the username/real life connection echoes the other odd occurance over the weekend.
Previously it was noted that there was on Amazon.com a 2005 review of Clark Aldrich’s book that was signed by the username “Bennet Wezniak,” two names associated with Mr. Aldrich. Shortly after the point was brought up here, the nine-year-old review suddenly disappeared. The broken link (as has been mentioned upthread) was then noted by “Tom Q,” with a later rather bizarre explanation offered by “Lil M.” Readers suggested the possibility that Mr. Aldrich had used a sobriquet (ironically what is believed to be his real name) to give a positive review to his own book.
I suppose the conclusion is that you really can’t know who is behind anonymous remarks/reviews/quotes on the Internet.
Addendum: In the flurry of commenting and trying to moderate them, I hadn’t noticed the other coincidence that both “Lil M” and “Tom Q” revealed familiarity with GOMI usernames that have scrutinized the Aldriches.
Especially in light of their new “character” and chivalry post! Then again they are asking the TDP community for suggestions on these subjects.
Very smart of them to outsource both.
Classic thread! Here’s what I have learned so far:
If one needs defense in an internet fracas (of ones own creation), one can do no better than a vampire novelist that one has not met online. Question for the community – Are vampire novelists the best online defenders?
Of course, never mind that (a) having a blog and (b) shilling c/o goods on said blog isn’t preppy in the least, but it’s a brave new world.
Finally – CC I am surprised that it took that long for you to figure out the whole Lil M thing. Question for the community: what’s the preppiest internet pseudonym?
@S.E.
My pleasure.
That’s only one of the sources of quality that Ms. Aldrich has introduced her readers to.
@Rake
The comments were coming in a torrent and I was/am trying to keep them limited to documented facts and measured opinion. Today I reread all of Lil M’s comments. The GOMI community, far more on top of this topic than me, thought it her immediately. Only today did a bit of info pop up that now makes it seem plausible to me.
I also took another look at the Brown article and the second to last paragraph mentions the father of Clark Wezniak (who is pictured in the article bearing a strong resemblance to Clark Aldrich http://www.magnapubs.com/media/newspics/aldrichclark-web.jpg) being Frank Wezniak. Mrs. Aldrich has told me, “Clark is the son of Jack Aldrich.”
According to his wikipedia page, he took his degree from Brown in 1989, the same year as Clark Wezniak:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Aldrich
So there was a guy on campus at the same time who looked like him? And who shares so many other life details, such as coincidentally marrying a woman named Lisa Eastwood in the same Connecticut town? And the Aldriches aren’t willing to clarify to their readership (70,006 today, revised from 70,002 yesterday) that this is not him but a different person? Or explain to the public that it is indeed the same person and clarify the discrepancies?
I’m completely at a loss to understand this.
I agree with S.E. Primarily, I love her photography. I see TDP as simply a well-deserved celebration of a wonderful region of this country, its habits and some of its traditions.
@S.E.
(who, in 2014, exalts the simple beauty of old hymns?)
Old hymns have stood the test of time in ALL cultures worldwide through the millennia, with or without some “preppies” who claim to have cornered the market on great taste and ridicule others as “hipsters”.
The statement issued Sunday and the changes to the About page on Monday are like putting band-aids on a broken leg. Address the wound so you can heal and move on.
Just my opinion.
@ S.E. Morse, and even his younger self, Endeavour, would have seen through TDP much sooner than a lot of us did. If only it hadn’t overreached; I just don’t enjoy it anymore.
@Lil M “Final game. Can anyone produce a single sentence from Muffy’s entire blog that is untrue?”
“Authenticity” = Using your on name while writing glowing reviews of your own book on Amazon.
“Graciousness” = Fondly reminiscing about one’s memorable trip to another country, while deeming the people there lazy and undeserving of freedom from oppression.
“Stewardship” = Biting into an organic CSA apple while burning up fuel on boats to get from one part of New England to another simply to shop as a hobby and endlessly accumulate stuff.
Christian is correct. Address is and move on. Crisis management: Tell it all and tell it fast.
Palmer is on to something.
I find it impossible to understand how anybody could put Fred Castleberry’s and Muffy Aldrich’s blogs in the same category. They are diametrically opposed: one is about flashiness and fashion and the other is about tradition, quality, and style.
There are a number of places on Internet (e.g., obituaries and death notices) where someone named Frank Wezniak or people who claim to be related to him, including his putative wife, Nannie Tull Wezniak, or their lawyers or agents, list Clark Bennett Wezniak Aldrich or Clark Bennett Aldrich to be Mr. Wezniak’s son. It’s out there. It’s out there everywhere. There is nothing to argue about. There never has been.
@Wally “Biff” Scott:
Christian is not correct, he is right.
@Boston Bean
Fred C doesn’t claim to be the most authentic, gracious and stewardly human that roamed the earth. Muffy’s style may not be flashy, her attitude and demeanor certainly are.
I’d rather have coffee with Fred.
I couldn’t agree more, Whyevernot. Sorry I did not make that clearer. But from Ms. Aldrich’s standpoint, addressing the issue head on would have avoided some of what is surely prolonged embarrassment.
Don’t buy Woolovers, don’t get the free. Sorry, I’ve looked at them close up and don’t llike the look.
Labradaor, I made it quit clear I’m a rogue, definitely Non-U, vs U. Quite proud of it, too.
I always thought old Yankee WASP style was more tattered and decrepit and sensible. As in plain, sensible shoes. 20 year old lace up bluchers and ripped parkas and such. If she’s attempting to brand (and of course she is), the brand new Bean Boots and pristine Barbour jacket and shiny Gucci loafers–well, it’s something. Neo-Prep? 80s era Connecticut Coast? Faux outdoorsy? It’s tough to capture in words. But not the tweedy, broken-in, oft repaired, falling-apart-at-the-seams frugality that comes to mind as one ponders old Yankee culture.
Inspector George Gently is another favorite. Out curmudgeoned only by his younger partner.
Realists about human nature like Morse, Gently, and Foyle would go further than mere sleuthing. They’d point that nearly every activity, behavior, or aspiration is motivated by greed, personal ambition, jealousy, or some other form of self-interest. Idealists beware. Let us be suspect of any and all, incudidng high-minded chatter about seekijg the truth for the sake of truth.
especially if advertisements are attached.
S.E.: You are right. Yankee WASP style certainly used to be all about the “tattered and decrepit and sensible.” Its adherents do not like to buy new stuff — they do not even like the odor of newness — which is a problem if one’s advertisers sell new stuff. If Muffy wants to target this demographic, so to speak, it should advertise the services of shoe-repairmen, antiques restorers, carpet-weavers, fumigators, and repairmen skilled in working on 1960s-era appliances.
S.E., you are right to be skeptical. But maybe some of us are afflicted by an abundance of idealism that is motivated by none of the things you mention. Surely there is room for both idealists and realists in the world. It helps balance things out, no?
Don’t know George Gently; I’ll look for him.
Morse does have one rather large blindspot — he is susceptible to thinking that cultured, attractive women just are also ethically above reproach, and then he is disappointed when he finds they were hiding something.
RJG, you nailed it!
DSF, yes, the tone-deafness is one thing that raises many questions for me. Does she understand what she is publishing? I have to wonder, does she allow these types of comments because it makes her site more credible to non-WASPs who are willing to believe that WASPs today prefer things the way they were pre-1960’s? Is she trying to appeal to that demographic –“wannabes” — and, in addition, WASPs who fit that stereotype?
https://twitter.com/IvyStylecom/status/539925958187171843
Happy Birthday Christian!
Perfect toast. Happy Birthday!
Re: numbers, graphs
http://www.similarweb.com/website/muffyaldrich.com
Hey that’s a great way to end the day…..enjoy your birthday!
Happy Birthday! Cheers!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Chensvold! I hope you will have many, many more.
Thanks, fellas.
@whynot
Numbers not accurate. I’ve seen those kind of sites for here and they’re not even close. Way low.
Please note that you and the rest of us are merely speculating.
I think we’ve said enough on the subject, barring any update on the matter.
Further pruning has been done to remove tedious skirmishes between posters as well as a number of comments containing pure speculation. While the meat of the matters being discussed is slightly easier to follow, the back and forth is a bit jerky now as many comments have been deleted.
Happy Birthday, CC.
What a great thread.
I never imagined that the internet would become so self- aware as to debate the genealogy of its barrow boys and girls.
Whose next?
Jimmy Frost Mellor would be a good laugh except for the fact that he’s now incognito.
Interestingly enough, I clicked through to her site recently after visiting Ivy Style, and, unlike the previous redirection to legal services, I was automatically redirected to Classy Girls Wear Pearls, blog of the KJP cofounder.
Someone else told me this last night and I assumed he was mistaken. Must be some kind of in-joke on their part, but I don’t get it.
Rolling Stone backing off the UVA gang rape story.
Found it:
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/a-note-to-our-readers-20141205
james.immingham@yahoo.com
With the exception of messrs Rowe and Sartre, what a sad parade of self-important and thoroughly unpleasant people have been thrown up by this thread — including, sorry to say, the pompous host who has permitted such graceless drivel on a blog about…trousers.
For God’s sake.
No better use of your time than to chastise strangers on the Internet?
Not to speculate but perhaps, Christian, it was a reference to the KJP gang’s carefully crafted marketing and reinvention as millennial preppy icons. Even though their products don’t suit me personally and their social media presence seems to propel a certain sort of consumerism, I’ve never found anything odious about the identity KJP has created since he’s never been deceitful about his origins and those of his company.
I’m no psychoanalyst, but we as humans all construct identities for ourselves and create stories to give us a sense of meaning and purpose. It’s when these notions come into stark conflict with reality and the external world that problems arise.
I have just been blocked by Muffy for noting that Ralph Lauren changed his name. She seems a little uptight on this issue. Does it really matter if someone changed their name? I would think not – after all, lots of move / media types do. Don’t understand the over-reaction… all it needs is a cursory, it was ‘to honor a favored aunt’ or similar comment and move on
The periodic deriding of ‘Ralph Liftshitz’ is a mainstay at TDP.
Name changes are a touchy topic with The Omniscient Muffy Aldrich. Understandably so.
@Sophie
What was the context in which your comment was made?
@Christian: I just posted that I’d read online that Muffy was previously known as Lisa W (don’t know if the full surname name can be posted on ivy-style) and added that Ralph Lauren had also made a name change from Ralph Lifshitz. Honestly didn’t think it was a contentious comment – lots of people have a ‘professional’ name, including movie starts and royalty (the British royal family changed it’s last name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor to ‘fit in’). Is she in witness protection or something?
In that case, of course you’re going to be blocked.
I don’t see why it is ‘of course’?
On a separate topic, readers who enjoy Foyle, Morse, Endeavour, Lewis, and Gently might also enjoy
– Grantchester (set in 1950s Cambridgeshire)
and a couple of relative oldies that are worth getting hold of:
– Alber Campion (only one series was made which was a shame as its highly enjoyable)
– Lord Peter Wimsey
Thanks for the tip, Sophie.
She’s blocking people from Ivy Style again, CC. Just was blocked this AM. Whatever.
How do you know it’s because of visiting here? You never clicked on anything at GOMI? It’s a fact that people are blocked (as I am), but you’d need to explain how you believe it’s simply from visiting Ivy Style.
Readers have also noted that the longstanding slogans of “Graciousness” and “Authenticity” are no longer on the TDP site.
Also, there is also an 8-year-old YouTube account under the username “benwez” featuring one of Mr. Aldrich’s work projects:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa-HPOpoJmyagUH4p4v0NBA
Nope. Have never clicked on GOMI. In fact, the only sites peripherally related to TDP, as it is now called, that I have visited are Guisseppe’s and yours.
Hmm. BenWez has a familiar ring to it…
I’m a little confused because I’m blocked and have to use a cloak to visit the site. Did the URL just change to SaltWaterNewEngland.com in the past day or so? Along with most refererces to The Daily Prep now changed to TDP (like KFC, for example), in addition to the removal of “graciousness,” “stewardship” and “authenticity”?
It also seems that references to “Muffy Aldrich” have been removed. On the About page (as well as on the front) the person in the portrait is simply referred to as “editor”:
Editor. Portrait by Clio Newton
I’m not blocked, but found the same thing you did. Perhaps “Muffy” “Aldrich” realized, too late, what using your real name (even if it’s a nickname and/or changed name) on teh Intarwebz can mean.
I recall reading that KFC switched to “KFC” in order to avoid the stigma associated with the word fried. Recently, there was a temporary move back to “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” but they seem to be back to “KFC” again. They might be seeking the cachet of being known by initials, like JFK, LBJ, FDR, PCP, LSD, LDS, etc.
@Henry, oh man, my sides.
I wish Muffy would go back to brunette:
http://i.imgur.com/jWYqjdY.png
I wish she would become a more gracious person. I don’t like the way she handles the comments and conversation on her blog.
@Nicolette: lol’z. Authenticity!!!
A reader has just alerted me that apparently Facebook is confused (or correct) about this name thing. You should see the other name in parentheses:
https://www.facebook.com/clark.aldrich?fref=ts
Not any longer.
You can also just search the other name.
Waitaminute, what in the world is going on there? Is the About page now entirely gone?
The revisionist history is strong with these two…
Now when I type “muffyaldrich” in my address bar I am redirected to…
ivy-style.com
Haha. TDP editor caption, her commentators, the one-upsmanship, possibly fake genealogies, make believe aristocrats, “from family archives”, “authenticity”, I love it all. It’s so bitter.
You’ve got to be kidding.
I’m still redirected to the attorney site.
Dead serious. muffyaldrich.com comes up automatically when I type “mu” in the address bar. When I press alt+enter saltwaternewengland.com” briefly comes up, but then redirects to ivy-style.com.
Previously I would get the attorney website if I went to muffydailysaltwater. Not sure what the point of that was. I’ve never commented on her site, or even discussed her anywhere but here in this comment thread. I do like that she thinks some are intimidated by the redirect. I like that she thinks I need to be informed about cyber bullying from an ATTORNEY! in order to warn me off. It’s all so genuine and authentic.
On my work computer, if I have this site in my cookies muffyaldrich.com breifly loads saltwaternewengland, then I get redirected to http://www.classygirlswearpearls.com/. Is anyone allowed to read her blog anymore? Haha.
I’m still waiting to verify if she has purposely/inadvertently blocked the entire New York public library system. Not sure which is worse.
I guess this is all part of that dry, subtle New England humor she recently posted about.
Golly! I’ve been blocked too!
I was surprised that TDP had not been listed in the T&C’s “Favorite Preppy Blogs” post, & curious as what was meant by
“Muffy has become too controversial with the name change / blocking stuff”
as mentioned in the comments section.
Needless to say my curiosity lead me to this site & GOMI, which in-turn… Muffy has now blocked me from TDP….?
I really enjoyed TDP…Oh well, it honestly all seems a very strange & sorted business.
I can’t believe that she can continue to fill all that ad space with her website practices as they are. Must still be counting a lot of page views with the redirect how it is.
Honestly, this is all pretty sad. Ms. Aldrich and her husband made up everything: the elite Aldrich family identity and high-mandarin WASP genealogy, the inborn preppiness, etc. The only authentic aspect of the old TDP was the arrogance and the occasional thin anti-Semitic sneer. When publicly challenged, Ms. Aldrich engages in a series of bizarre acts of defiance and delusion, including an effort to restyle her blog into something about salt-water. Her world is falling apart, and she is in a state of big hurt. Her husband and co-conspirator is hardly in a position to help her. Pretty sad.
It is sad, DSF. Sad to need to be someone else and sad when your elaborate charade falls apart. I miss the old TDP.
But transparency and honest trumps a charade…
Former reader here…I did enjoy the blog, but after the beginning of 2014 the blog was slowly running out of things to say and the articles were slowing down a bit. Sure, there was the odd, occasional smack down on upstarts claiming summer houses that they did not own or the promotion and then abrupt disappearance of the now successful KJP and Sarah but overall, the subjects had pretty much been covered and it was time to retire. Muffski was going to close the blog down after 4 years or “Senior Year” as she once said and one wonders if she should have done so given her now tarnished image and immature attempts to redact all references to her husband’s Slavic heritage. I mean, these days, who really cares if you have Slavic blood in your family? Obviously, a certain crowd does, and so one tries to wipe the slate clean with a name change and then wastes large amounts of time attempting to scour the internet for references to the Wezs’ history. Funny thing, but our household would never had known about their more colorful past except for being occasional readers of Ivy Style. Now, more than we ever wanted to, we know more about Muff and Clarksi Aldrechevich than we ever wanted to know. Oh well, I guess it’s “Dosvedanya,” Muffski!
A reader emailed me saying he used Ancestry.com to find a document he believed to be an immigration document for the grandfather (from Poland). His point was that it is really an American Dream success story, how the son goes to an Ivy League school, then the grandson as well, with both becoming successful. But apparently that’s not the archetypal American story they wish to tell.
The classic American Dream success story is not only more interesting, it is, if one’s family exemplifies it, something to be proud of. It’s been done before, but contrast Ms. Aldrich with Martha Stewart. Never mind the jail time.
As has been discussed on this blog and on Ms. Aldrich’s, the material manifestations of Ms. Aldrich’s vision of preppydom are the product of other people, of the Jewish tailors and haberdashers who made the clothes, Scots-Irish carpenters and laborers who built the pretty houses, the Irish maids who cleaned everything and everyone up, and the Poles, Slovaks, and Slovenes who followed them. The continued exclusion of the descendants of these people from Ms. Aldrich’s vision of “Salt-Water New England” is ridiculous and demeaning to all. This stuff about her husband’s family only underscores what she is trying to do.
Ms. Aldrich depends heavily on her advertisers. I wonder if the advertisers are aware of the controversy surrounding Ms. Aldrich, and if so, that they risk losing the patronage of people who find Ms. Aldrich’s blog to be so offensive.
You make good points, all of them. The real New England today was built by Portuguese fishermen, French Canadian millworkers, Irish politicians, Greeks, Poles and Armenians and other ethnics. Ms Aldrich’s vision of salt Walter New England is a fairy tale, as apparently, are her professional credentials. It is a matter of time before her advertisers jump ship.
If BB’s “Black Fleece” and Press’s “York Street” are fact, and Ms. Aldrich’s blog is fiction, then I certainly find her idealized world preferable to reality.
I see that Clark Aldrich has a Wikipedia entry. How long, I wonder, before some reprobate starts to sabotage that?
The wiki entry was the subject of this debate, easily found via Google:
http://wpedia.goo.ne.jp/enwiki/Talk:Clark_Aldrich
I grew up in New England, so I never felt the reverence so many of Muffy’s readers felt for the milieu she depicted. I might have even liked TDP if it hadn’t been for the commenters, particularly the ones who felt compelled to remind me that Ralph Lauren changed his name. That whiff of antisemitism was always disturbing, more so because Muffy never discouraged/edited/blocked it. And now it turns out that “Muffy Aldrich” is equally as fabricated? My, my, my–the gracious authentic Rhode Island Reds have come home to roost.
My question is,” What has “MuffY” been wrong about concerning ivy/ trad / prep style?”
I visit both Ivy Style and TDP frequently and have not been blocked yet so I have noticed the About TDP page to be gone, along with all name references. Someone is definitely in DEFCON 2. It shouldn’t have to be that way. I believe TDP could have taken a hint from KJP, who seems to be well aware that if you plan to market a life on the internet for gain, be up front about it- KJP is a known as a brand, not a person. Maybe instead of cutting KJP out of her “lifestyle” she could have learned a thing or two from him, as he can handle his name being commercialized. FEC learned this as he is stuck in the no man’s land when your brand (for lack of a better word for Fred) conflicts with your life, and the artillery shells come down in the form of lost readership. I’m as disappointed in TDP’s obliviousness/unpreparedness to her commercialization as I am with her misleading of her readership.
MAC: Ms. Aldrich’s idealized sense of “ivy/trad/prep style” is irrelevant. She buys nice things and tells us how much she likes having them; she spends time at attractive places; she takes pretty pictures of barns, bushel-baskets of vegetables, ducks on a pond, old Volvos parked next to quaint country stores, etc. That is not the focus of the debate.
I’ll admit it. I miss her blog. The pictures, a lot of the commentary, and the old-fashioned “it used to be better” approach. She was right about a lot.
That Wikipedia page is an entertaining read. It looks as though it has a single main groundskeeper, though. I don’t think that jibes with the spirit of Wikipedia. Problems with neutrality regarding the name thing — no reliable sources. There also seems to be a notability issue.
Michael Rowe:
“What a magnificent post. Nostalgia is a dish best served dry, or at least not drowning in syrupy emotion. And nothing tugs at the heart like old issues of YANKEE, back before the mass media age when everything has to appeal to Bill and Mary Flyover-State in order to make it financially viable.
Loved tho one.”
January 12, 2015 at 1:10 AM
The comments on Muffy/TDP/Saltwater have always been the best part of that blog.
A lot of those Bills and Marys are descendants of Plymouth/Massachusetts Bay founders. That might make some people jealous.
It is a natural thing indeed to be curious about other people–who they are, where they came from, how they got where they are, etc.–especially those who present themselves as public figures or personalities (as Lisa and Clark do). Thus, I found myself curious about the outspoken Michael Rowe. It’s not snooping to look at somebody’s Web site. According to MR’s site, he’s a Canadian (gay) novelist and journalist who “has lived in Beirut, Havana, Geneva and Paris” and currently lives in Toronto. Given this foreign background, it would be interesting to know how he came to worship the American/New England prep culture as well as Lisa.
Mr. Bearden: That is like asking why Judy Garland had such a large following in the gay community fifty years ago. Whether you are straight or gay or somewhere in between, you either get it or you do not. I don’t, but the affection is nonetheless obviously real, as Mr. Rowe’s fanatical loyalty to Muffy Aldrich illustrates.
Anyhow, Ms. Aldrich is a good landscape photographer who is unable to take pictures of people’s faces and who often appeared in her old preppy blog with her back to the camera, which tells us something. In her new Saltwater blog she has disappeared altogether, or at least “Muffy Aldrich” has. Her name — none of her different names — appears there. The new blog is as bland as cream of wheat on a common cracker, and just as white. There is no meaning to it. Finally, Ms. Aldrich has achieved authenticity.
Sorry to hear that, DSF. A few years back, it was an interesting blog. I think I might have stumbled upon it just as MA was transitioning it from a personal journal to a profitable enterprise, because so many posts were gone from the archives. She could have achieved a middle ground somehow, rather than doing a radical repositioning.
It certainly appears that Mr. Muffy is as involved with the blog as Ms. Muffy. Go to Facebook and type in Clark Wez in the search block and the page for Mr. Muffy will appear. Note that his most recent FB post is of a photo of seals, and he mentions that he took it. That same photo appears on the current TDP post titled, “Out and About in January.” In the comments for the post the very first one is from Mr. Rowe. Rowe gushes, “Posts like this prove That New England is The most consistently beautiful region on earth. Who’s Not that proof is requited. Thank you for the Original photographs – I feel I have just spent the afternoon walking.”
“Questions For The Community” are: What is the relationship between Mr. Muffy and Mr. Rowe, and are the photos (original not “staff”) by Mr. Muffy actually that wonderful? Please go to TDP to post answers 😉
Have some of the comments on that FB page disappeared mysteriously since the posting of the message @ 9:27 above, and, if so, why?
It looks like the CBA(W) facebook page is no longer public with the exception of one post A piece written by CBA(W) for Acton Academy may give some insight into the blocking tactic of The Daily Perspective. Referring to the culture that has developed at Acton Academy, CBA(W) writes:
“This culture is now so worked into the environment that students carry it on from year-to-year. The culture has inertia. Students are stewards of the culture as much as the adults.
This ‘value of culture’ requires, if I may be blunt, not letting in the students who are not compatible with the culture. Certainly students will thrive in Acton who do not thrive in industrial schools, and vice versa. But as Acton becomes more successful, the impulse to “help” certain students who are not good fit will grow, and should be fought. Cost containment also gives Acton control over its culture. We all know of traditional schools that have had to compromise by accepting and keeping the wrong students in order to get full board, which has led to their eventual demise.”
*http://eaglesofacton.com/unschooling-rules-a-report-from-acton-academys-front-lines/
Scary stuff. Thanks for sharing.
@Doo Wop, The Clark W-A FB pages exists at:
https://www.facebook.com/clark.aldrich?fref=ts
Daughter’s university does a Psychology and Culture course, about blogging as a “sociocultural phenomenon” (course handout)…basically the glossy images people create of their lives online versus what their lives are like in reality; what this means for us all, blah, blah… Anyway, one of the blogs the instructor has been using in her classroom is Muffy’s TDP. Daughter brought home some handouts from old posts printed off when they were online. Apparently, the blog used to say “Stewardship, Authenticity, Graciousness”. It looked like the high road, but then there would be all this nasty snotty stuff written on the site on a regular basis – something one guy called a “Muffy smackdown.” There was a lot of talk about being thrifty and frugal, but then she went on in one about how she had a clothes pantry for “Gentle Stockpiling.” From a photo, I think her ‘Nutter hat looks too tight!
You can’t be serious.
Sorry, Christian…couldn’t resist having one over on you!
Unfortunately, Banned From a Blog, your previous post is all too believable! How sad that such hubris has sullied what was for many people a fun blog to read, especially when the posts were about New England life.
My blocking has been lifted and wonder if I’m in a group of other IP addresses that have also been unblocked, or if they have decided to cease this practice.
I’m still blocked.
I have been unblocked as well.
Thank you Muffy.
It was such a bother using Google Translate, although a nice refresher for my French.
Acton Academy. An alt-ed school for the elite, as in “every child is a genius” and “all our students are heroes.” Nothing like starting out with grace and humility and taking it from there. The place seems like a reactionary version of a Waldorf school. It says its enables its students to change the world, but the world will doubtless change the students, right smack on the nose, when they are released from their little bubble and try to snot-out some working-class kid who understands the truth of struggle. Maybe they can borrow some bandages and iodine from Muffy’s Gentle Stockpile.
I was blocked after commenting here on January 24 and am still blocked. From reading through Clark’s piece on Acton and the school website, I find that it has the feel of a cult. Clark Aldrich’s extremist reactionary views are baffling.
I consider being blocked to be an honor, in this case.
MDJ, I share said honor with you.
Yes, it is something of an honor. But the best part is that it’s easy to get around the block and access the site.
I find the comments above pertaining to the redirecting/blocking behavior by these bloggers to be morbidly interesting. I’m now too among the redirected/blocked. My being blocked might amuse some of you past and/or current followers of the The Daily Prep-spective, who have shared thoughts/comments about it here. Reason being that as a former follower of the blog, I also willingly and gladly supported TDP by writing fourteen “Guest Posts” (also called Dispatches, Postcards, and Notes) between April of 2013 and August of 2014. To the best of my knowledge, for several years I simply enjoyed viewing TPD and occasionally pitched in by contributing a little content. Now I am blocked, likely initially as a result of emailing them questions about what has been posted here and on GOMI.
By the way, I was totally unaware of this site or GOMI while participating; only making the discoveries while randomly doing a Google search at the end of November. My posts had been deleted from the blog by “the editors” without prior notice, and I was trying to find them using Google a search. Anyway, probably more to it, just sharing a “ya can’t make this stuff up” experience I had with TDP.
Even though now blocked, from time to time, I still view the blog by utilizing Google Translate. I looked this morning and noticed the current post about winter weather contained photos of text from a book, “The Bluejacket’s Manual,” issued by the Navy http://www.amazon.com/The-Bluejackets-Manual-24th-Edition/dp/1591141532 . The title of the post came out of a paragraph about cheerfulness. Curiously, the page also contains paragraphs above and below about the need for honor and honesty. My question is: Have they been honest themselves, and exhibited honor, with how they have responded to the reasonable questions and/or allegations about them posed here and on GOMI?
They’re a truly bizarre couple.
BC, your contributions added a great deal of value to TDP. It is one thing to treat strangers the way they have; I am bewildered that they did not treat you, at least, in a better way.
BC, I used to look forward to your posts at TDP. I still remember those hilarious lighthouse pants. It’s truly disheartening to learn of your experience. Disgraceful.
whyevernot, Thank you for saying so. Although those old posts have been deleted from the blog itself, they can still be dredged back up on their feed. Anyway, was all fun and games while it lasted…
Hi guys, we’re back. We were hit by a small bug that was easy to fix; it just took a long time to get the hosting company to turn the lights back on.
Unbelievable, BC. No, you cannot make this stuff up. Why would they alienate friends and supporters? I do not recall anything inappropriate posted by any TDP contributors. But then I have been blocked for several months now…
I’m truly late to the conversation and the bulk of it I could give a rat’s ass about, but I am truly shocked at how they have treated you Brad. What in the world is going on? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though, I know of a former blogger who had befriended Muffy-or so he thought. It’s really a shame, your posts were awesome and like someone else mentioned, the lighthouse pants will never be forgotten! I have noticed a decline in the number of comments-is that because of a decline in readership or an increase in censorship? Uninteresting, unimaginative posts, too much good stuff being deleted from the past, it is starting to be about as interesting as the phonebook. I just know that the blog is no way the same as it was before and it doesn’t hold the interest for me that it once did. Probably a good thing because I suspect after I post this, I too will more than likely be blocked. Whatever. Methinks that blog has “jumped the shark”.
Whoa…..just putting 2 and 2 together. I didn’t realize BC was Brad Cole. I especially enjoyed your guest posts on TDP. I always thought they were a breath of fresh air from someone that was actually engaged with life as opposed to a spectator.
Good Lord. Like gornergrat, I didn’t realize that BC was Brad Cole either. Brad, if you’re reading this, as a fellow Marylander, sailor and style enthusiast, I loved your posts on the TDP; they certainly added another dimension to the blog. What Lisa did to you is astonishing. By the way, you might be interested to know that I got blocked for reasons relating to boating, not for going on to GOMI (which I had never heard of either) or Ivy Style. A while back, TDP ran a series of black-and-white photos, one of which showed three large, older people awkwardly climbing into a tiny, unstable boat and rowing away from the dock. You may remember it. It was intended to be humorous. But I submitted a comment noting that this was an extremely unsafe situation and the people should at least have been wearing life jackets. Of course, Lisa didn’t run the comment and a day later I found that I couldn’t log on to the site; I was being redirected to an Amazon page for a book on decorum. I’ve been blocked ever since.
Flo, gornergrat and T. Bearden, Appreciate the thoughtful words. Based upon my own experience, I’m not surprised that your unintended minor transgressions resulted in now joining the legions of the redirected/blocked from viewing their blog. In any event, perhaps we all mistakenly bought into their online persona and took them for who they claimed to be – gracious, authentic and good stewards. Perhaps, however, not so much… Cheers, BC
T. Bearden, what an odd thing to do to someone merely because they post a semi critical response. The GRACIOUS thing to do would have been to thank you for pointing out the unsafe situation and let your post run unedited. To block you for expressing your opinion is the farthest thing from gracious.
I don’t think I need to tell you or anyone else that we aren’t necessarily judged on the mistakes we make – we all make them – but we are often judged on how we respond to criticism or how we correct those mistakes.
On another subject, I am astounded by your experiences, BC. You were the last person I expected that to happen with. If that is the reaction a friend and supporter receives, it is truly best to stay away from the situation in the future. Scary.
BC, what a ridiculous episode – sorry you were treated in that manner. Of course TDP is a shell of it’s former self – I imagine Lil’M sitting in her “North Field” wondering where it all went wrong…
Correction (due to fuzzy memory): I was redirected to a book on Amazon.com on “self help,” not decorum. I don’t know which is worse.
And either way it’s ironic.
Finally got caught up with this thread. Had no idea it was still active.
So good to hear Brad Cole tell us what happened. His posts were some of the best posts on that site!
Lisa should be ashamed of herself.
@Not Muffy Diving… what did Brad say?
This whole “Aldrich vs. Wezniak” thing brought back old memories of my little Southern town. The good ladies of my Mom’s church circle or garden club knew who was who’s third cousin twice removed’s fiancée’s stepmother. And if somebody “put on airs”, they would bring up genealogy back at least four generations (both sides), and cheerfully slice ’em to ribbons.
Hard to believe that anyone could think they could slip something by the equally family-proud New Englanders.
BTW, I like Muffy’s blog, and hope I don’t get banned.
This thread, by and large, is the definition of UNgraciousness, I’m afraid. Grown men behaving like silly little princesses about someone else’s perfectly pleasant web blog.
Please, get over yourselves and show some dignity and proportion.
Ethan, see “Comment by BC — February 15, 2015 @ 4:37 pm”
She’s getting schooled on Ask Andy.
To Buster (or Lisa and/or Clark): It’s the hair-trigger vindictiveness we don’t get. I didn’t find it “perfectly pleasant” to be banned from a blog I really enjoyed simply for submitting an innocent comment. But that’s minor compared to what happened to Brad Cole. Can you explain why Brad became a persona non grata after filing 14 guest posts to TDP?
Transparency, misrepresentation and all those other issues are one thing, but I suppose it’s petty to critique another website’s content. However, this post left me speechless. There’s always been an inability there to edit photos, and so a ton of mediocre and redundant ones appear in all the image-driven posts.
But this epic 120-photo post on signs is in a class by itself:
http://www.saltwaternewengland.com/2015/03/signs-of-new-england.html
What does The Editor (who can’t edit) think people are supposed to get from that? Perhaps an award for having the time and patience to look at all of them?
Really, it’s like further evidence of mental instability.
The fact of the matter seems to be that many of us check Ms. Aldrich’s site on a regular basis, and are upset when we are blocked.
Obviously, it must contain a lot of good stuff.
T Bearden — I’ve never met anyone associated with their blog, nor this blog.
I’m sure Brad Cole will get over being barred from a blog which you appear to disdain in any case.
I’m disappointed with myself for participating in this whole exchange, to be frank. I like the articles here, and I enjoy dipping into TDP too, but this is a pathetic and ‘bitchy’ thread pandering to the easily-offended strain in modern life: the antithesis of what this blog was supposed to be about – I imagined.
Just grow up man, FFS.
“Antithesis of what the blog was supposed to be about.”
Exactly.
We’re disappointed with you too, Buster, so you are not alone.
These people got themselves into a mess by being less than honest and posing as something they clearly are notL Gracious and authentic. It’s not uncommon among bloggers.
The blocking and banning takes it all to a new level. It’s one thing to ban someone for posting something inappropriate on a Facebook Page, but quite another to ban people who were friends and blog contributors for asking innocent questions.
Right now they have a fascinating, detailed post on Barbours.
Highly recommended to those who are interested in Anglo-American style.
http://www.saltwaternewengland.com/2015/03/barbour-ground-zero-us-milford-new.html
@T. Alder, “fascinating” and “detailed” may be a bit of an exaggeration. The Barbour part is right, though. Have you not been blocked yet?
You might get blocked from using the link provided. The 404 error is a block???
OK, I just tested and see how it works now. Yes, you will get instantly blocked apparently if you click on a link to TDP from Ivy-Style.com.
I had been blocked for a long time because of either visiting or clicking on GOMI, I’m guessing a year ago or so. The ban was lifted in the last couple of months, perhaps because they unblocked a group of IP addresses and mine was one of them.
I clicked on the link above and was taken to the post. I then went from the post to the home page and it went through. Then I refreshed my browser, and for one final try re-entered the URL in the browser, and the site continued to load.
Then I shut down the browser, re-opened it, and attempted to access the site directly, getting the Google 404 error.
So that’s how it works. Completely automated.
Indeed, if you get 404 error, you have been blocked.
When Lil M sought to substantiate Clark’s dubious genealogy, she posted a link that supposedly documented his line of descent. However, clicking on the link only leads to instant and permanent blockage. Lisa and Clark’s ethics are as shady as their claim to the Aldrich name.
Well that’s because since the time that that link was offered as proof of lineage, all traffic to TDP from Ivy Style has been given a block. It doesn’t mean, if you were suggesting it, that Lil M and the blogger are the same person.
No, of course not.
The genealogy link was removed from TDP not long after Lil’M referenced it. Unless I am mistaken, the genealogy is no longer available.
Judging from what other readers have said, it seems that clicking on any TDP/SWNE link from this site would result in one getting blocked by Lisa and Clark.
My mother always faulted me for never throwing anything away–
A link to the geneology Ms. Alrdich had posted on her blog: http://i.imgur.com/ew9ZDHM.jpg?1
You may need to click on it to make it readable.
Is that the report by the decorated genealogist referenced earlier in this thread? Judging from his website, he appears to have decorated himself. Grand Master and Governor General, no less. Mental instability abounds
whynot,
That is the report referenced earlier in the thread.
For those wanting to know how their IP address has been blocked, it’s through a widget called Toolator (available at Toolator.com). For around $50 a year, Mr. Wezniak-Aldrich can block unlimited amounts of IPs and send them to other websites. There’s a user panel that allows him to see which IPs are coming from a website and then he can block with ease.
The Wezniak-Aldrichs are really hoping that most people who try to read The Daily Prep don’t know basic Internet techniques, such as viewing a page’s source code, where I found the above information.
Very interesting CAH… They have taken a strange course of action with the blog, that’s for certain. The follup thread on Ask Andy also took a very odd turn after a few posts…
So I see Vera Bradley, one of Muffy’s faves, not only cut staff in her beloved New Haven last year, now they are closing a Midwest plant and taking production out of the country. So authentic. Such stewardship.
Never liked the stuff anyway.
Don’t go directly from here or GOMI to Muffy’s site. If you open another window or tab and instead use that to access Muffy’s site, you’ll not be blocked. I sometimes have this site, GOMI, and Daily Prep all open at the same time with no problem. Technically speaking, their code seems to be looking only at the HTTP_REFERER info that your browser sends to sites saying where you are visiting from.
Yes, very interesting CAH. Rake, perhaps you are referring to the recent discussion regarding if and how the Aldrich’s were able to track down the identity of an anonymous Ask Andy forum participant?
MuffyAldrich/TheDailyPrep/TDP/SaltWaterNewEngland or whatever happens to strike Clark & Lisa’s fancy for a blog name this particular season, are back to blocking IP address’ again.
The Daily Prep was a fun blog, what happened?
Blocking & redirecting, unblocking and blocking again.
Posts consisting of 100+ photos of New England signs?
100 plus!
Really?
No worries, I won’t bypass the block with Google Translator, this past month’s posts have been
as interesting as cold oatmeal.
The Daily Prep has Jumped the Shark.
This is bizarre! A few months ago I bought a sweater from FL Woods in Marblehead that I saw advertised on TDP site. Now we are blocked?
It is as if Macys blocked Gimbals customers or J Press blocked Brooks, Hertz blocked Avis! I wonder if the advertisers are aware of this?
Vern, everyone knows that back in the days when Gimbels used to exist, Macy’s Santa always sent shoppers to Gimbels for whatever Macy’s didn’t have. It was, of course, a time of more graciousness, stewardship, and authenticity.
As long as they are selling merchandise, I imagine that advertisers will not care about the bizarre behavior at TDP/SWNE. The irony is that after all of Lisa’s harangues about companies who prioritize cash flow over customer relations and product quality, Lisa and Clark appear to have followed suit.
Touché.
For those of us who appreciate the contribution that TDP made and–as SWNE–continues to make to our awareness of some of the better things of life, but have inexplicably been blocked, might I suggest that a polite email to Ms. Aldrich expressing one’s sincere appreciation of her efforts and one’s sincere wish to be reinstated as a regular follower, might very well result in one being unblocked. It’s not too hard to figure out Ms. Aldrich’s mail address.
Whilst I did enjoy TDP, it’s hard to get enthusiastic about the blog again after its editors have been revealed to be such petty and unattractive people.
@Gornergrat
We work with, are governed by, and meet petty and unattractive people on a daily basis. People who make no contribution whatsoever to our lives.
In the case of the editors of TDP, I cannot use the words “petty” and “unattractive” for people who have made a concrete contribution to my awareness and enjoyment.
Gray Flannels
I’d have to agree. Style is learned, no one is born to it. I have very little exposure to TDP, but what I have I have enjoyed. I really don’t care what their pedigrees are as long as they get it right.
MAC
Not to beat any remaining hair off of the dead horse (Thoroughbred Field Hunter of course), but it was they who made pedigree an issue. Please recall that the original version of “The Daily Prep” blog pledged Stewardship, Authenticity and Graciousness. That was their credo before the conflagration irrupted over the issues discussed above anyway.
Furthermore, blocking and redirecting viewers as they do seems bizarre. I’ve been using the internet since its inception for all sorts of things, including reading blogs, and never before been blocked or redirected. I believe it is safe to say that it’s not typical blogging behavior. The reasons and or strategy behind it remain an unexplained oddity.
On another note, it’s perhaps somewhat inappropriate to continue the use Ivy Style as a forum to continue this discussion. I actually do visit to read it’s enjoyable and interesting content, not just to chime in occasionally on the seemingly unending topic of Muffygate.
Cheers, BC
Photo taken the day that Daily Prep jumped the shark. http://seashellsandpastels.tumblr.com/post/12072372610/itsapreplife-prep-royalty-right-there-sara
http://kieljamespatrick.tumblr.com/post/17980125974/nice-little-afternoon-in-essex-today-with-muffy
All rehashed old content! Will they be shutting down the blog soon?
“might I suggest that a polite email to Ms. Aldrich expressing one’s sincere appreciation of her efforts and one’s sincere wish to be reinstated as a regular follower” Grey Flannels aka Michael Rowe, this is the most absurd comment I’ve ever read. Beg and grovel to Lisa so you can gain access to her site! Brilliant! lol
@Ethan
Not a matter of begging and grovelling at all; simply a case of admitting that life with TDP/SWNE is far more pleasant than life without it.
By the way, I’m “Gray”, not Grey”, and I have no idea whatsoever who Michael Rowe is.
If one finds pleasure in hypocrisy, bigotry and false elitism, then I can see how Mr. Grey might have point.
How pathetic would your life be if it was better with a blog than without it? Wow. That is some master level nut rida skillz there man. Grovel for our adequate blog about NE.
* a point.
Now Gray, for a blog that has so elevated your state of being, I find it impossible to believe that “I have no idea whatsoever who Michael Rowe is.” He has been a guest contributor to TDP, has a string of comments on this very thread, and has made a comment or 20, on every post practically she’s ever posted. Play your hand a little smarter there pal.
@whynot
Do you think that Trad style could have survived without hypocrisy, bigotry, and false elitism?
Thanks to small-town mid-Westerners pretending to be blue-blooded New England aristocrats through their choice of garb, we are all still able to find OCBD shirts, chinos, navy blazers, penny loafers, and feel superior to the slobs who choose to dress otherwise.
@pluperfect, that is an interesting question. Prior to my acquaintance with TDP and blog commenters such as yourself who take unfounded swipes at “small-town mid-Westerners” and people lucky enough to have escaped the burden of a lineage full of “blue-blooded New England aristocrats”, I would have thought, yes. Now that I have seen the degree to which some people in the trad/ivy/preppy community use clothes to bolster their egos — Aldrich’s being a case in point — I don’t know.
@whynot
“…the degree to which some people in the trad/ivy/preppy community use clothes to bolster their egos”
But isn’t that the attraction that trad/ivy clothing holds for so many of us: the ego boost that is provided by believing/knowing that we are members of a select society that prefers traditional good taste to the latest fashion?
@gray – do you truly believe that by wearing a certain style of clothing you have gained access to a “select society”? If you do then it’s no wonder you find such great comfort in reading whatever is left of Lisa’s blog.
If one imagines oneself to be a member of a select society, maybe one is, or maybe one is simply a nut prancing around in a costume.
@Pluperfect
So you think a small-town Midwesterner – someone like me, for example – should not wear classic American clothing because it should only be worn by Mayflower families and DAR members? Do we taint the clothing style somehow?
I’ve for news for you: You, Clark, Muffy, Gray and Michael Rowe might consider it the uniform of the elite but it really isn’t. It’s just a clothing style you consider your uniform.
@Gray Flannels, speak for yourself. For myself, the answer is no, that is not the attraction of ivy/trad clothing.
No, you don’t send an e-mail to Muffy if you get blocked. What you do is spread awareness of the blocking activity so others can have useful information to decide whether they wish to support the blog.
I am proud to be among the blocked. Why would I want to support a blog “edited” by such vindictive people?
Isn’t a bit of self-searching and honesty called for, gentlemen?
Why on earth do we prefer to dress this way if not out of a sense of superiority to the hoi-polloi who prefer flipflops to Weejuns and wife-beaters to OCBDs?
@Gray Flannels
I wear what I wear because it suits me and my daily activities. Even in the decidedly non-preppy place that I live, I don’t see too many people walking around in wife-beaters and flip-flops. They have their own individual styles and traditions. If something is not functional and stems out of an anxious need to make a statement, it becomes a costume – be it a flip flop or a Weejun.
Wearing a $2000 “preppy” costume to shop for more preppy costumes simply to assert one’s superiority over someone else is ungracious and not very authentic or stewardly, besides being unfrugal. Why visit a blog that promotes such behavior?
Hoi-polloi? Wife-beaters? Gray Flannels is another put on, isn’t it? Very good impersonation of a TDP fan, though, Gray Flannels. You seem to have the sentiment right, anyway.
Those of us with select, elite prep school educations are reminded that not only is hoi polloi not hyphenated, but “the hoi polloi”, a common error, is redundant (hoi = the, polloi = masses).
Elizabeth,
Of course, but don’t forget the “ahoy polloi” variation.
(see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_qqixYxd40 )
By the way, what is a “select elite” school? Would that be redundant too 😉
Elizabeth:
You’re right about the hyphen, but your claim that “the” is redundant, misses the point: once established in English, expressions such as hoi polloi are treated as a fixed unit and are subject to the rules and conventions of English. Evidence shows that use with “the” has now become an accepted part of standard English usage.
Brad, for those wanting that ego boost, select, elite probably isn’t enough. Add in top-flight AND exclusive and that might be good for a start…
Etymologue, somewhere Dudley Fitts and his brethren are shaking their heads and sighing. Which I suppose is the difference between a classicist and an etymologist. All those years of classes and training are difficult indeed to overcome, which our teachers no doubt intended!
Off to find my flip-flops and enjoy the warmer weather.
So, is Gray Flannels really Tom and or Lil?
Gray Flannels, you sound like a Trad.
“I do not think that Gray Flannels is Michael Rowe, however. Gray Flannels seems pretty obtuse and shallow (actually admitting to dressing to maintain an image and feel superior!). Michael Rowe is a bit more intelligent. However, Mr. Rowe is also incredibly vindictive (even more than Muffy), strident, and shrill. Gray Flannels is simply bland and unintelligent.” -a GOMI reader
“Not at all surprising that KJP and Christian have come out of their encounters with TDP smelling like roses and looking like eminently reasonable guys who have a much firmer grasp of blogging, marketing, and the real world.” -GOMI
Gray Flannels was not only making an honest admission about his own motivation for dressing in a trad/ivy manner, but making a claim about the motivation of the rest of us, as well. If he’s wrong, could somebody please illuminate me about our real motivation?
@Straight Arrow
For the same reason that some wear swimsuits at the beach while some others wear polos and shorts, while yet others wear dresses, stilettos and pearls. It’s dictated by one’s personality, one’s comfort level, and the activities that one wants to engage in.
Dressing to feel superior to someone else is apparently trumps everything to some others.
Straight Arrow
For many of us born in the 40s and early 1950s it’s all we know, it’s a habit. It’s the manner of dress we learned the “rules” for, in which we each developed our personal style.
“Ivy Style” ceased to be “elite” after WWII. I’m not a WASP, I’m ICWT, Irish Catholic White Trash. I’ve never been anything but middle class.
With all due respect to Books, J. Press, etc., in my lifetime with the exception of personally tailored clothing, the brands available have always been available throughout this country.
MAC, Irish Catholic isn’t necessarily white trash; the only people who think that are people like Clark and Muffy.
I take ICWT to mean “not Lace Curtain.”
MDJ
No offence intended, just a tongue in cheek comment. I was an altar boy and attended parochial school, have the nun inflicted scars to prove it. 😉
Before I go shopping, I put on a clean pair of non-iron chinos from Brooks Brothers. They have on-seam pockets so they are very Trad. The gentleman standing at the entrance never fails to greet me. The cashier calls me sir. This never happened when I wore cargo shorts a few years ago. After I pay, I push my shopping cart over to the food concession where many people stare at me. I think they want to know where I got my jacket which I bought from a man on the internets called tweedy ron for eleven dollars. I feel much more confident and superior when I go to Walmart since I became Trad.
I never thought you were trash in any way, MAC. I have those scars, too.
I hear you Mac. Just another dirty mick over here, too.
A good Trad is well-scrubbed.
Muffy is in Cash Grab mode.
But, A Curriculum Trad, the pressing question you inadvertently bring up is, is acting like an ass trad?
Bracelet Boy, Muffy has been in cash grab mode for a while now. Too bad since, as observed above, she gets a lot right style-wise. The values part, though, not so much, that is, unless I am wrong and treating people disrespectfully really is trad.
The name “Muffy” appears 128 times in this comment thread. That’s about 128 times too many. Maybe a Muffy chat room should be created and everyone just moves over there?
I give you guys the freedom to discuss what you wish, but at some point a moderator needs to step in to help guide discussion. Others today have voiced the same sentiment to me.
And so I’d say that in the event of any new developments there’s no need to harp on this topic. The trouble is that new developments keep happening. In just the past seven days comments have been turned off at the website in question, without any explanation to the public, which was once drawn upon regularly for “ask the community” posts.
Also, the recent comments here about clothes and class got myself and DCG to brainstorming fresh angles on these topics for the front page, so in that sense something fruitful can come from free-rein discussion.
So I guess what I’m saying is that I’m politely asking readers to refrain from adding to this thread in the absence of major new developments. I think all there is to say has been said.
We can join the mean girls at GOMI.
Thank you for your patience, Christian.
I know you got trashed in this thread CC about traffic and jealousy, but your site ranks better than TDP?SWiNE. Congrats!
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/saltwaternewengland.com
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ivy-style.com
This is hysterical now, 5 months later, courtesy of “Lil M”:
“Keep this thread going, Christian. Muffy is killing you in page views, and this may be your best opportunity this quarter for volume. This post may be utterly irrelevant, but still better than you usual warmed over pictures.”
With all of the yipping that “Lil M” does over the “established genealogical” society it makes me wonder why she didn’t bother to join the DAR. I suspect it’s because they can’t trace their genealogy back far enough.
I’m a DAR member and nowhere does she (or her husband’s family) appear in the membership rolls – under any of their names. The DAR is an actual lineage-based genealogical society, not one that takes your money and declares whatever provenance you may wish.
I’d also like to point out (to the person who mentioned the DAR above) – I’m midwestern white trash – that didn’t preclude my membership.
Well, this is timely, given that the genealogical society emblem was recently removed from the site.
Oh no! I wanted to join, but I’m not sure of the name, and there are so many hereditary societies, I get confused. Was it The National Society of People Who Claim to Have Colonial American Ancestry? I was getting ready to submit my papers (scribbled on a cocktail napkin).
Having just stumbled onto this page, I find myself no longer able to view the content of Muffy Aldrich’s blog. Does anybody know how I can regain access to her blog?
SD- Email “the editor” and if your tone is suitably obsequious and repentant she’ll let you back into her treehouse.
I am also taken aback by how Brad Cole was treated. The Muffsters should be embarrassed.
The false narrative is complex. Did they ever come out and say that they were members of the NYYC, or had an association with Yale, etc.? I never took the posts to mean as much, only that they moved in those circles, however ancillary. The old “from the family archives” added to the sense of ambiguity – were they “in” or merely spectators? Clearly, the latter. So in the end, yes their is obfuscation, but it clearly is not illegal and it is borderline unethical. Petty and paranoid? Certainly – especially with regard to the lineage issue.
It is shame since for a while TDP was excellent. Now it is not even a shell of its former self.
Sorry, can’t resist: post today is on waxing Barbours, as if the jackets are going to be imminently needed. 15-day forecast for that part of Connecticut is 81-87.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/10/19/amazon-cracks-down-fake-reviews/74213892/
Just watched Xmas in Ct again. Couldn’t help but see the similarity between Barbara Stanwycks character and you know who. HNY!
http://prabook.org/web/person-view.html?profileId=361306
I am a million years late. But the family of Clark W appears to be very tony as it were. Although it is clear he changed his name the name change is still contrasted by the life he lived. Both the non German English sounding name he had and the fact that he changed it.
I have two theories! 1) The man changed it because something happened. This is a sad story if true. Maybe something akin to the movie Love Story. Maybe father Frank didn’t approve his marrying Lisa. Maybe there was a family split or what have you. Who knows? 2) He changed it as the last family step to really becoming a Gatsby and this was the true climb of the family. Who knows?
PS….I too was blocked by Muffy at one point. I made a comment about prep schools that were outside of New England and that created the always lurking comment debacle of what is “really prep” and out of the woodwork came a very strong counter attack against non New England prep schools day or boarding alike. As well as bitterness towards statements of my own experiences and the experiences of other non New Englanders. As if one couldn’t be “preppy” in Philadelphia, or Chicago, or San Francisco. This was before the New England Saltwater dot com stage, but people (I think Mr. Rowe was there) did say “but this is about New England!” No one at that point called Muffy out or said she was wrong, but the slavish devotion to her was apparent. I found myself defending myself and others who shared similar experiences when commenting about their own lives on TDP. That oh we did so and so and it was kinda like what Muffy took pictures of but different. The minions would say something negative. Talking about clothes would spark a comment from someone that something was no longer prep and someone would say something snotty. Or a debate would ensue as to if Harvard-Westlake is a real prep school et cetera, And eventually she blocked me…
Dirk, once I said that as lovely as New England looked, I preferred the South. Oh, dear. Some harsh things were said, then retracted under the guise of “oops, I posted someone else’s comment under my name by accident”. That being said, I miss the old Daily Prep. Sure, she could be a bit much sometimes but she did introduce me to some nice companies I had never heard of before.
I miss it too. For all of the elitism, there were some very perceptive and interesting commenters.
After reading almost all of the comments, this is what I came up with: Clark W. Griswaldrich. Not much of a connect but both Clarks appear to be fictional.
Comments of SWiNE are enabled again.
Because of Trump???
Christian, That was my thought as well. Bigotry is fashionable again?
You have to keep the site relevant if you want to keep those advertising dollars and free swag flowing… Now that they let the big UVA Frat Party storm pass for the last two years, they can get back to the comments to rebuild their “community.”
Am I the swine in question? Just thinking, this has to be one of the shortest posts on here but has, by far, the most comments.
There were about 100 more comments that got deleted.
The Daily Prep or whatever it is called these days has actually been quite good? It’s still a bit over the top, but the posts and comments have been surprisingly enjoyable.
I agree, Seve, shame that “Muffy” went a little incognito.
I keep an eye on SWNE because it’s so laughably absurd. Almost mad (as in crazy). Many long posts flogging monstrously expensive crap from Cordings of Piccadilly (she must get the stuff free), accompanied by M herself tramping about Madison in wellies and tweeds and flat caps as if she were in the English countryside. Then there are the frequent posts each comprising several dozen photos taken around Yale that make New Haven look idyllic. One of the posts ran the very day last August that all of those drug overdoses took place in a less than desirable part of New Haven.