Once upon a time, metro Detroit’s tycoons threw lavish debutante balls, a tradition among the rich in which their daughters — or “debs” — were “presented” to society. And the newspapers covered them extensively. Flashback presents an example of that coverage today in its mission of bringing readers an unvarnished look at the past, despite the story’s cringe-worthy reporting and objectifying language. When Charlotte Ford, daughter of Henry Ford II, made her debut, the Free Press sent three reporters and three photographers. They produced a front-page article, three sidebars and two pages of photos. This is a lightly edited version of the coverage that appeared Dec. 22, 1959.
The family that put the world on wheels crowned a princess Monday night.
It was no solemn occasion for Charlotte Ford, Henry Ford II’s blond older daughter. Champagne corks (Cuvée Dom Perignon 1949) popped till dawn at the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, the guests got progressively gayer, and by dawn, the slim 18-year-old deb had danced a million miles.
The pageant had a royal opulence, and perhaps never again will a Motor City product be introduced with such splendor. It was the party for the generation, and everyone knew it. People with invitations said they would rather have died than miss it.
The granddaughter of Mrs. Edsel Ford, the great-granddaughter of Henry Ford, heiress to the world’s greatest automotive fortune, Charlotte got a properly breathtaking send-off. And she loved every minute of it.
The walls of the long gallery where guests entered were papered with 2 million magnolia leaves. The guests walked along 150 feet of scarlet carpet, between pink-blooming rose trees and French-paneled walls to reach the French Room, where the reception was held.
The Fords, the lovely Mrs. Henry Ford in blush pink peau de soie, a gay Henry Ford II, who kissed a goodly number of the guests, and a shy but radiant deb, wearing a strapless white satin gown created for her by Yves St. Laurent, greeted 1,000 guests. Charlotte wore pink, elbow-length gloves, white satin slippers and carried white orchids. Mr. Ford, like the male guests, was in white-tie-and-tails.
The Fords stood before a statue of Louis XIV riding a horse, a piece which Parisian interior decorator Jacques Frank found in the Detroit Art Institute basement, and hauled to the Country Club to oversee the French decor.
The room had trellised walls and chandeliers. Side urns were alive with flowers.
The ballroom where the guests danced, many in their stocking feet, had walls paneled in 18th-century marble paper. The huge crystal chandeliers were filled with the fresh flowers of spring, carnations, tulips, calla lilies and iris, so many that by late Monday, Detroit florists reported that they had no flowers for sale.
By twilight, there were no evening tails for rent either.
Henry Ford II to Charlotte: “Smile”
Charlotte wore a scarlet can-can ruffled dress to a gala dinner party at the Little Club, given by her aunts and uncles for some 170 of Charlotte’s young friends. At the Country Club, she went to the second floor to dress, then hung over the banister for 15 minutes, shouting downstairs, “Is my mother there yet?”
When her radiant mother, her sister Anne, 16, and an entourage of maids carrying the ballgowns arrived, she said as might any impatient teenager, “Mother, where have you been?”
Ten minutes later, the three beautifully gowned women joined Mr. Ford downstairs. He promptly kissed his daughter on the cheek.
Charlotte posed with 18 of her ushers, 17 wearing red medallion ribbons, the 18th — her cousin and escort Peter Sullivan, wearing a light blue medallion ribbon.
“Smile,” hissed Henry Ford II from the sidelines. “Ssssssshhhhhhh,” Charlotte hissed to her father.
Dismissing any thought that the Ford family’s most lavish production in four generations was a nostalgic, tearful affair, were five small Ford children who slid down the banisters in their velvet dresses and blue suits, plucked blossoms from the great urns in the hall, and played tag between the guests.
The children were William Clay Ford’s two daughters, Sheila and Muffy, Mrs. William Buhl Ford’s son Alfie, and the Benson Ford children, Lynn and Benson Jr.
Fords shed their shoes
Ten-year-old Edsel Ford II, one hand stuck in his pocket, his chin belligerently stuck out, said he wouldn’t dance the second dance with his sister, and he didn’t.
The first dance was Mr. Ford’s, “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.” Edsel’s dance was to have been “The Song is You.”
New York orchestra leader Meyer Davis, who debuts everybody’s daughter who is anybody, was given a slip of paper bearing Mr. Ford’s three favorite dance tunes, “Hey! Ba-ba-re-bap,” "Paper Moon” and “Pennies from Heaven.” Meyer played from shortly after 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., and it was a school night.
For Charlotte, Davis played a song he wrote, called “Charlotte,” which he says he usually doesn’t do for debs. Charlotte overheard the song when she came to the club in the afternoon, but pretended she hadn’t and managed to look surprised. Every guest got a copy of the sheet music.
Davis played her favorites, “String of Pearls,” “Baby Face” and a medley of Christmas songs.
Close to midnight, still standing in the receiving line, Mrs. Ford and Charlotte had taken off their shoes.
What happened to Gary Cooper?
After dancing, the guests moved to the dining room, which was lighted by 390 candles. The walls were swagged with clusters of fruit and tall fruit trees stood on the buffet table.
Later, one wall of magnolias was pushed out, disclosing a grill reminiscent of a French prison. It immediately became popular with the younger set. The walls were stone, the seats were barrels, and round, low tables were covered with felt cloths in red, green, blue, orange and yellow.
About midnight, a young man turned the already gay party on its ear by appearing in a 1750 restoration costume. A Princeton student, Charles Lord, 19, rented it in New York. In cream satin breeches, long white stockings and gold brocade and lace jacket, he came solemnly down the line and carried off the introduction with great poise.
Mrs. Edsel Ford came late and kissed her granddaughter, who said, “Hi, Granny, how was your dinner?” Mrs. Ford passed through the receiving line, then came back and stood with her son and his family.
Actor Gary Cooper and his wife, houseguests of the Ford’s, lent some Hollywood glamour to the evening, but were fashionably late. So were Detroit Mayor Louis Miriani and his wife. But eventually everyone who was invited showed up.
Most of the guests — including more than 100 notables from out of town — went directly to Charlotte’s ball from elegant dinner parties. One of the most lavish was hosted by the Ernest Kanzlers in their Lake Shore Drive mansion. The 40 guests included a French industrialist, a shipping magnate and Jules Glaenzer, head of Cartier, the firm that has bejeweled the Ford women for 40 years.
Jane Evans, Charlotte’s roommate at Le Fleuron, a finishing school in Florence, Italy, (and unofficially voted “the most beautiful girl” at Krys Glancy’s ball Saturday by admiring guests), attended the Little Club dinner. Her strapless gown was a royal blue and black silk print.
Off-duty Detroit policemen and FBI agents in dinner clothes joined the Grosse Pointe Farms police and Ford Motor Co. security men, watching over the million of dollars worth of diamonds.
Charlotte, recovering from her early nervousness, said it was the happiest day of her life.
English (US)