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The Astor family name has always been one of the most prominent in America—even in the year of 2025. Currently, HBO is fictionalizing the life of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (aka “Mrs. Astor”) and her daughter, Carrie, in The Gilded Age. This June, the family’s namesake hotel, the Waldorf Astoria, had a splashy re-opening after an eight-year closure in New York City. “The Waldorf has always been a reflection of New York,” historian David Freeland told the New York Times. “I’d like to think that its reopening symbolizes the return of a great public space within the life of the city.”)
With a fortune that dates back to the late 1790s, the Astors first made their money in fur trading, and later, in New York City real estate. Their patriarch, John Jacob Astor, was the first multi-millionaire in this country’s history.
Over the centuries, the family both made history and reflected it: the aforementioned Caroline Astor was the leader of the strict, exclusionary New York society of her age, while son John Jacob Astor IV developed grand buildings in the boom-town that was New York City. In 1912, he died in the sinking of the Titanic. Fast forward to the 1990s, when Brooke Astor was known as both a great philanthropist… and social butterfly. “Parties were part of her job; she’d champion her causes while she worked the room. She told me she went out every night ‘to meet interesting people,’” Bill Cunningham said of the late socialite.
Throughout it all, they were captured by the photographers of Vogue, whether it was wearing the latest fashions by Charles James or posing in front of their grand estates. Below, see a visual history of the Astors in our magazine—the perfect fodder before turning on The Gilded Age.
Photographed by Cecil Beaton, Vogue, June 19361/18Portrait of Alice Astor surrounded by Pavel Tchelitchew paintings of her.
Photographed in the April 1935 issue of Vogue2/18Alice Astor as a child.
Photographed by John Rawlings for Vogue3/18Seated portrait of Ellen Astor wearing a white lace gown. This image was never published.
Photographed by R. C. Clark, Vogue, June 1404/18Shirley Temple and Vincent Astor playing tennis at the Astor’s Bermuda home, Ferry Reach.
Photographed by Ira L. Hill, Vogue, October 19385/18Bridesmaids descending the stairway of Fairholme, the Newport, Rhode Island, home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Grant, Jr., for the 1938 wedding of Elena Villa and Robert Grant. The bridesmaids include Mrs. John Jacob Astor, Consuelo Villa, Virginia French, and Jane Pope.
Photographed by Jerome Zerbe, Vogue, July 19466/18Mary Astor wearing a gilt-bead net dress.
Photographed by John Rawlings, Vogue, April 19417/18Ellen Astor in a white lace gown sits in her New York apartment next to a table covered with Vogue magazines.
Photographed by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, September 19428/18Mary Cushing, a.k.a. Mrs. Vincent Astor, sitting on the floor by a fireplace.
Photographed by Henry Clarke, Vogue, 19689/18Stella Astor, daughter of the Honourable Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor, petting a horse on the grounds of the family estate at Hatley Park, in Bedfordshire, England.
Photographed by Henry Clarke, Vogue, 196810/18The Hon. Mrs. John Jacob Astor, wearing riding clothes and a hat from the French Camargue, sitting on a stone wall overlooking the grounds of Hatley Park, Bedfordshire, England.
Photographed by George Hoyningen-Huene, Vogue, April 192811/18Mary Astor wearing a satin wrap jacket with sable shawl collar, cuffs, and armbands, designed by Lucien Lelong; bracelet and pearl necklace by Mauboussin.
Photographed by John Rawlings, Vogue, October 194412/18Mary Astor sitting on a sofa with her poodles, wearing a satin dress by Charles James.
Photographed by Constantin Joffe, Vogue, March 194513/18Mary Astor wearing a pearl choker, fur stole, and hat with flowers and netting.
Photographed by Karen Radkai, Vogue, June 198214/18A rear view of socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor’s home in Maine, featuring an ivory-covered exterior, green awnings, and flagstone terrace.
Photographed by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, October 196215/18Philanthropist Brooke Astor sitting in a wicker chair outdoors with her three dogs in 1962.
Photographed by Cecil Beaton, Vogue, March 194816/18Mary Astor wearing an understated Mainbocher suit, in front of a tapestry.
Photographed by Horst P. Horst, Vogue, October 194117/18Ellen Astor wearing the jewels she will wear to the charity Diamond Ball at the Waldorf Astoria benefiting The New York Infirmary for Women and Children. She wears a Saks Fifth Ave gown with a Cartier diamond necklace, bracelet, and earrings.
Photographed by Toni Frissell, Vogue, May 196118/18The Honorable John Jacob Astor, standing by a horse-drawn buggy, with his wife and daughter Stella seated in the buggy and their son, Michael, on a pony.
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