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High-profile capitalists associated with the Gilded Age (1870-1900) were John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Cornelius Vanderbilt. Margalit Fox introduces a little-known woman capitalist of the era in her latest book, “The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum.” She makes a compelling case that Fredericka “Marm” Mandelbaum (1824-1894) was a significant Gilded Age entrepreneur but never received the status of Rockefeller and Carnegie as she chose the uncomely enterprise of property crime.
Fredericka and her husband Wolf arrived in New York City from Germany in 1850 after a seemingly endless voyage in steerage. They were 25-years-old and immediately became itinerant peddlers to sustain themselves. Fredericka soon determined that peddling would not provide her desired lifestyle. She began “fencing” and created an empire of stolen goods to achieve a higher standard of living.
Mandelbaum hired thieves to steal various goods, paid them for their services, and clandestinely sold the stolen items for a handsome profit. By 1860, Marm was a millionaire, renowned in New York City for her wealth and girth. Her 300-pound, 6-foot-tall figure made her impossible to ignore. Fox remarks that she resembled “the product of a congenial liaison between a dumpling and a mountain.” She “dressed soberly but expensively in vast gowns of black, brown or dark blue silk, topped by a sealskin cape.”
Fredericka was generous with her corps of criminals. She retained defense lawyers to bail out of jail any of her hired hands who were arrested and covered their expenses. She paid salaries to the highly adept thieves and invited them to elaborate company picnics and grand parties. “There was pleasure, solidarity, and security in being a thief in the Mandelbaum syndicate.”
At the zenith of her success, Mandelbaum befriended New York’s mayor, many judges, and police officers. She was a devoted synagogue member. As a philanthropist, her generosity extended to many nonprofit organizations, and she was quick to help neighbors in need. These friendships and associations provided the cover she needed to be successful.
Police arrested members of her syndicate many times, but she was rarely detained, and even when she was, her cases were seldom brought to trial. Near the end of her life, when her illegal activities were exposed, she escaped prison by jumping bail and fled to Canada.
“The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum” is captivating. It deftly depicts the Gilded Age of New York City, swarming with reprehensible scoundrels, nefarious power brokers, and the shameless members of Tammany Hall. Fox skillfully demonstrates how Gilded Age entrepreneurs weighed legitimate business with underworld entrepreneurship.
Few facts about Mandelbaum are recorded in historical documents—only enough for a long magazine article—but Fox sets this true story in the larger framework of 19th-century crime, providing the reader with additional information, including the establishment of police departments, the founding of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, safe cracking techniques, and the sleaze of the age.
As the obituary writer for “The New York Times,” Fox is skilled at integrating general and personal information to shape a fascinating story.
About the author: Margalit Fox is a senior “New York Times” news department writer. She has written obituaries for feminist Betty Friedan, poet Maya Angelou, and advice columnists Dear Abby and Ann Landers. Fox also has written the obituaries of lesser-known people who have touched history, including the inventors of the Frisbee, the crash-test dummy, the plastic lawn flamingo, and the bar code. She has won several awards, including the William Saroyan Prize for Literature.
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