The idea of ​​socialites has probably been around for millennia, at least as long as cities have existed, but the concept as it is used today is quite new, yet ancient at the same time.

In the US, the category of members of society first emerged as a result of the concentration of wealth during the First Gilded Age from 1877 to 1893. Largely due to the industrialization of the country aided by the construction of a vast network of railroads, a new class of the very rich emerged in the United States (something that would have horrified Thomas Jefferson). People of high society became known for throwing lavish parties, entertainments, or formal occasions. They were often associated with celebrities of the day, but were rarely heard of outside the Sunday “society pages” of the big city newspapers.

With the collapse and subsequent economic depression of 1893, the First Gilded Age came to an end and the socialites became much less visible. However, due to the many fortunes that were made as a result of America’s involvement in World War I, members of high society returned during the Second Gilded Age of the 1920s. Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald described typical socialites of the day in his novel The Great Gatsby and mercilessly mocked them in Cole Porter’s satirical lyrics. Both men knew their subject well; as celebrities, they frequently associated with the very socialites they criticized.

However, there was still a clear distinction between members of high society and celebrities; today, the names of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Cole Porter are remembered and revered, but hardly anyone remembers the socialites of the “Jazz Age.”

However, since the beginning of America’s Third Gilded Age in 1981, the line between high society and celebrity has become a bit blurred. It’s as if money buys fame without the achievements that are normally the foundation of celebrity. It is highly unlikely that Paris Hilton’s spoliations would have made national news in the 1920s; however, too many Americans who cannot name their representative in Congress know a great deal about the nation’s socialites.

On the other hand, celebrities in many ways now begin to resemble people from high society. In the old days, very few people knew much about the lives of prominent figures outside of their achievements; between 1932 and 1945, virtually no American outside of Washington DC knew that their president was a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair.

Today, however, many Americans are clamoring to know more about the personalities and daily lives of celebrities, just as they do with socialites. It’s not clear why this should be the case; perhaps in today’s media-saturated world; perhaps it makes the inaccessible seem a little more accessible.