“In terms of the Monopoly board, Mayfair is the centre of London”
The Mayfair Society
MayfairSociety.org
The Mayfair Society was first established back in the late 1920’s by a group of high-society members of Mayfair, to enhance the social and charitable aspects of Mayfair, London. Moreover, to protect the fabric of this unique area. Although, the society did continue its good work right up to the Second World War, due to world events more serious matters took over.
In 1988, the Society was relaunched by prominent members of the Mayfair establishment and the Mayfair Residents Association (RAM).
Under the chairmanship of Mogens Hauschildt the Society florished again for many years and took a very active role in the fight to protect and improve of the area for residents, businesses and visitors to the area.
The Society’s activity has since its relaunch included publishing The Mayfair Journal and The Mayfair Shopping Guide, overseing the Art for Mayfair scheme and providing event management to a large number of events ranging from gallery openings to major balls, attended by thousands of guests, including many dignatories, goverment representatives and ambassadors.
MAYFAIR – A UNIQUE AREA
Mayfair is a unique area and one of the most famous shopping areas in the world with some of the most exclusive antiques, jewellers and fashion shops. Famous shopping streets include Old and New Bond Street, Piccadilly, Regent Street, Savile Row, South Molton Street, Burlington’s and Royal Arcade and a major part of Oxford Street.
The name Mayfair has depicted high standards, distinguish, luxurious, abundant, affluent, grandeur’s, well-to-do, richness, elegant, prosperity and quality. Therefore, the name is used all over the world for major products and services, including cigarettes, liquor, cars and hotels to name a few.
Although the name was important, no doubt it was the location which attracted some of the largest property companies to Mayfair. After all, they should know about the location. Mayfair also houses several multinational companies and numerous other major businesses including some of the best retailers in the land and the world.
Mayfair provides the few landlords in the area with the highest rental and capital values in the world. Considerable purchases of large residential properties by foreign rulers and nobility clearly state the area’s attractiveness.
Mayfair also includes more than twenty-five major hotels, ranging from Claridge’s to the Grosvenor House at Park Lane, The Dorchester to The Lanesborough at the border of Mayfair at Hyde Park Corner to Ritz (also on the border of Mayfair), nearly 300 restaurants, clubs, casinos and public houses, 100 travel agents and 75 airlines offices. Moreover, the arts are presented with more than 125 art galleries, the Royal Academy of Art, 100 antique shops and 50 interior design businesses with several auction houses including the largest in the world Sotheby’s. Mayfair also contains businesses such as the largest Rolls Royce dealer and many luxury car salesrooms.
Into the Mayfair, melting pot goes also more than 40 embassies and foreign delegations including the American, Japanese, Saudi Ara¬bian and Italian Embassy. Many multinationals have their headquarters in Mayfair, including such giants as the world’s largest advertising agency and the largest pharmaceutical company in Europe.
MAYFAIR AND THE ARTS
London has long been considered to be one of the world’s greatest artistic centres, particularly for Fine Arts, both on a cultural and a commercial level. London’s commercial art market, which has become focused increasingly around Mayfair over the past 200 years and has a long and interesting history including the Royal Academy of Art, The London Institute, numerous Galleries, Auction Houses, buildings of high architectural quality, environment and interior as well as many art collectors who have lived in the Mayfair area. A number of Mayfair’s galleries date back to the 18th century, when it started to become a fashionable residential area and when the London art market established itself. This ‘establishment’ was marked by the foundation of four top fine art auctioneers: Sotheby’s 1744; Christie’s 1766; Bonham’s 1793; and Phillips 1796. Today, there are more than 100 commercial art galleries in Mayfair with a further 800 spread over the greater London area. The volume of their transactions is amazing – for example, in one year Sotheby’s alone handled ten times more sales than were recorded in the whole of France for that same year.
The London Institute is the largest institute of art in the world (Now – The University of the Arts London). The Royal Academy of Art in Piccadilly, Mayfair, is the oldest society in England devoted to Fine Art since it was founded in 1768. Names such as Bond Street, Bruton Street, Davies Street, Albemarle Street and Cork Street have become synonymous with the best art in the world. What specifically makes Mayfair attractive is its ambience, augmented by more than 200 restaurants and more than 25 major hotels.
As one of the most fascinating areas in Central London, Mayfair can boast magnificent buildings, dating from the early 17th Century. The best British hotels, combined with superb architecture and the Bohemian spirit of the area, create a unique charm. These attractions have, in the past, enticed a large cross-section of the commercial market to the area. Businesses are encouraged to establish themselves in Mayfair by the delightful surroundings and the prestigious location, as well as the vibrantly diverse artistic and commercial backdrop.
The Mayfair Society in the 1930s was a fascinating blend of elegance, glamour, and cultural vibrancy. Here are some highlights
The Bright Young Things of twenties’ Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade – whether promiscuity, dancing, cocktail parties or sports cars.
The only way is to go on attending more parties: “Oh, Nina, what a lot of parties. Masked parties, Savage parties, Victorian parties, Greek parties. Wild West parties, Russian parties. Circus parties, parties where one had to dress as somebody else, almost naked parties in St. John’s Wood, parties in flats and studios and houses and ships and hotels and nightclubs, in windmills and swimming baths, tea parties at school where one ate muffins and meringues and tinned crab, parties at Oxford where one drank brown sherry and smoked Turkish cigarettes, dull dances in London and comic dances in Scotland and disgusting dance in Paris – all that succession and repetition of massed humanity.”
Mayfair society was even more thoroughly displayed in Vile Bodies which perfectly illustrates the movement of the bulk of young people between the wars. The more mature elements of the Mayfair society are represented by many masculine and opportunistic characters. It is aimed at inconsistency and hypocrisy. It exposes polite cruelty and folly by exaggerating them. The inter-war period witnessed an explosion of a variety of leisure activities within British society.
Characteristic represents the hypocrisy of British people. Characters display naivety, callousness, insensitivity, insincerity, and flippancy qualities which determine their destinies. Though in no way unique to the kind of fractured consciousness that evolved with modernity, these characteristics are best seen as adaptations by which the men and women of the novels parse the realities of modern life. They lack seriousness and are devoid of reflective judgment, using distancing techniques as defense mechanisms against assimilating social change.
A world of seeing and being seen
Life for them was one round of parties and balls after another, and if they weren’t having an impromptu picnic at someone’s country house, they were living it up at races or guzzling champagne at art openings.
In a series of hilariously dry fictional sketches, E F Benson introduces us to some of the more bizarre inhabitants of Mayfair’s Edwardian high society – a world he knew intimately. Each is a distinct representative of an anthropological ‘type’: Sir Louis and Lady Mary Marigold turn snobbery into an art form; ‘Aunt’ George is a bachelor with a passion for embroidery; Mrs. Weston, a devotee of every new health-cult and spiritual fad; Horace Campbell, the jealous and poisonous society gossip; the so-called ‘grizzly kittens’ Babs Begum and Charlie Gordon, refuse to grow old gracefully; Mrs. Sarah Whitehand is the social-climbing wife of an American toilet-bowl magnate; and Mr. Sandow, the socialite vicar who seems interested in everything but real spirituality.
These and a number of other intriguing specimens, all greedily jockeying for social standing in this most exclusive of societies, are impaled, Iabelled, and preserved for our entertainment on the razor-sharp scalpel of Benson’s savage wit.
1910 as the editor of The Mayfair Society Journal, a magazine that covered the social life of London’s elite. Whilst editing and publishing The Mayfair Society Journal, Gregory set up a detective-cum-credit-rating agency which proved to be a useful side-line, for it enabled him to leverage for profit both his journalistic knowledge of London Society,
Behind the Book: Playboys and Mayfair Men
“At about 4:20 on the afternoon of December 20, 1937, Henrietta Gordon, a housemaid at the luxurious Hyde Park Hotel in London’s West End, heard some unusual noises—like something being smashed—coming from room 305. She alerted Enrico Laurenti, a waiter, who detected what he thought sounded like “muffled laughing.” Concerned that something was amiss, they knocked. When they received no response Laurenti used his master key to get in. He was shocked to find a large man lying on his back in a pool of blood. The maid thought he was dead, but he soon revived, crying out, with a distinct French accent, “Help, help! They’ve got my rings.”
I came across this dramatic scene several years ago when trolling through the British tabloids of the 1930s in search of a new research topic. I was initially puzzled to read that a gang of playboys had attacked a jeweller with a “life preserver.” For Americans, a life preserver (or life jacket) was a floatation device. In 1930s Britain it also meant a truncheon or what North Americans called a “blackjack”—a short club, heavily loaded with a lead weight at one end and a strap or lanyard at the other. Easily concealed, it was purportedly designed for self-defence, hence the name. A single forceful blow could cause concussion and even prove fatal. The type of weapon used in the Hyde Park Hotel robbery was of scant legal importance. Nevertheless, the curious term “life preserver,” did play a role in attracting me to the case.
I was even more surprised by the countless column inches the tabloids dedicated to the nefarious activities of “Mayfair playboys.” Historians have told us that 1950s America produced the “playboy,” a new model of masculinity. So how was it that two decades earlier the British press was asserting that such self-centred young men already haunted the bars and restaurants of London’s West End? And why were such young men on the make associated with Mayfair, the swankiest neighbourhood in London?
As I tracked my jewel thieves through police reports and press accounts, I realized, to my surprise and excitement, that an investigation of the public response to their misdeeds offered a fresh perspective on many aspects of 1930s British society. Of course, to devote a book to the self-serving schemes of conniving playboys during the depths of the great depression might appear perverse. The usual focus of histories of class in the 1930s has been on the damage the slump did to working-class life. This book differs in juxtaposing labourers’ immiseration against the supercilious and very public lives of the rich, the famous, and those who lived in or on the margins of Mayfair society.
Spurning the appeal of the ever-popular histories of the landed aristocracy and the country house, this work focuses on urban elite cultures and lifestyles. But more particular, its subject is the ruthless playboy who figured in the police reports in the context of the economic crisis of the 1930s. Though the middle and upper classes did not experience anything like the working class’s brutal drop in family income, there were always some who suffered from relative deprivation, who imagined themselves threatened by any perceived shrinkage of the precious gap separating the propertied from the impoverished. Some playboys portrayed themselves as the “new poor,” deprived by the depression of what was their due. Such class preoccupations dominated the newspaper and film dissections of playboys and Mayfair men, but the resulting investigations also cast a revelatory light on a host of other social issues.
In the reports of the 1938 trial of the Hyde Park Hotel robbers and in the subsequent discussions of politicians, journalists, novelists and moviemakers, the notion of the playboy performed what can be called “cultural work.” The robbery and its aftermath did not create the anxieties that some felt in the face of evolving class and gender relations, but for many, it crystallized such worries. The trial became a cultural referent, offering those preoccupied with the threats posed by the depression and the social changes accompanying modernisation with the cause and the occasion to air their concerns. Ironically enough they dragooned the playboy—this indolent, self-centred character, whose guiding principle was avoidance of honest labour—and set him the burdensome task of personifying many of modernity’s most worrisome challenges.”
Angus McLaren is an emeritus professor of history at the University of Victoria. He is the author of Sexual Blackmail: A Modern History, Impotence: A Cultural History, and A Prescription for Murder: The Victorian Serial Killings of Dr. Thomas Neill Cream. His latest book is Playboys and Mayfair Men: Crime, Class, Masculinity, and Fascism in 1930s London.
Sinners of Mayfair. Society Through the Hoop.
By: Countess of X
Film Youthful Folly: Directed by Miles Mander 1934
Michael Arlen (1895-1956) was a literary shooting star among the smart set of the 1920s. The self-styled chronicler of Mayfair society, he became an international celebrity after the publication of his scandalous novel The Green Hat in 1924.
Back in 1989, we, the Residents’ Association of Mayfair (I was the acting chairman at the time) created a board game, in a strictly limited edition, with the proceeds going to The Westminster Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults.
The May Affair Game
The May Affair Game was very successful, and I hope The Mayfair Society will create a de-luxe game this year by Christmas. It will contain 290 intriguing questions about the history, characters, shops, and anecdotes associated with Mayfair.
The Mayfair Society
Let’s delve into the intriguing history of the Mayfair Society during the 1930s and 1980s.
The Mayfair Society: A Glimpse into the Past
The 1930s:
The Mayfair Society in the 1930s was a fascinating blend of elegance, glamour, and cultural vibrancy. Here are some highlights:
High Society Gatherings:
The Mayfair district of London was synonymous with opulence and sophistication.
The society hosted exclusive soirées, balls, and gatherings at iconic venues like Claridge’s, The Ritz, and The Dorchester. Distinguished guests included aristocrats, artists, writers, and socialites.
Art and Culture:
The 1930s saw a flourishing arts scene in Mayfair.
Art galleries showcased works by renowned artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and Dali.
Literary salons buzzed with discussions on modernist literature and poetry.
Fashion and Style:
Mayfair was a hub for fashion and design.
Influential designers like Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli set trends.
The Mayfair elite donned glamorous attire, epitomizing the era’s elegance.
The 1980s:
Fast-forward to the 1980s and 1990s, Mayfair underwent significant changes:
Financial Hub:
Mayfair evolved into a financial centre, housing hedge funds, private equity firms, and investment banks.
The district attracted business professionals from around the world. Moreover, many multinational companies established their headquarter in Mayfair, such as Zeneca and GloxoSmithKline
Nightlife and Entertainment:
The 1980s brought a vibrant nightlife to Mayfair.
Exclusive clubs like Annabel’s and Tramp became synonymous with celebrity sightings.
The area buzzed with energy, music, and revelry.
Architectural Transformation:
Modern architecture blended with historic buildings. Mayfair’s streets showcased a mix of Georgian townhouses, glass-fronted offices, and luxury apartments.
Legacy:
The Mayfair Society left an indelible mark on London’s cultural, social, and economic landscape. Whether in the elegance of the 1930s or the dynamism of the 1980s, Mayfair remains a captivating district that continues to evolve.
A recent feature article (September 2024) in the Financial Times:
Thoroughly modern Mayfair
The area’s remodelling has been a work in progress over the past decade — but new residential and retail developments are upping the ante as global demand is forecast to outstrip supply.
Even if you’re not one of the 100mn or so fans of Bridgerton, you’ll be familiar with the centrepiece of the Netflix series: Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square. Up there with Buckingham Palace, the 18th-century garden square is one of London’s best-known landmarks. It is now also the capital’s most expensive place to buy a home, a value only likely to increase when the former American Embassy finally emerges from scaffolding next year. Like the Eero Saarinen masterpiece, Mayfair, too, is undergoing extensive remodelling.
“In terms of the Monopoly board, Mayfair is the centre of London, and Grosvenor Square is the centre of Mayfair,” says Roarie Scarisbrick, London partner of property search company Property Vision. “The international market, wherever they come from in the world, has always been obsessed with it.”
At the start of the 18th century, Mayfair was a patchwork of fields in the angle between Oxford Street and Park Lane. Then, in 1710, Sir Richard Grosvenor obtained an Act of Parliament to develop Grosvenor Square and its surrounding streets, laying the foundations for fashionable Georgian London.
In terms of the Monopoly board, Mayfair is the centre of London, and Grosvenor Square is the centre of Mayfair
The 20th century, however, saw Mayfair enter a muted phase; in the postwar years many of its period mansions were left to wither as dusty offices and rambling outmoded flats, becoming something of a byword for “has seen better days”.
The past decade altered that — and the changes are accelerating.
The American embassy moved to its new home south of the river in 2017, and Grosvenor Square itself began being re-energised, kick-started by the arrival of two exceptional residential developments — No 1, completed in 2020, and No 20, completed in 2019. a large white, red brick and concrete building about seven storeys high and twice as wide
The interior of a modernised period apartment with wooden floors, a grand piano and large pieces of furniture
In terms of cachet, “Grosvenor Square and Mayfair had been overtaken by Eaton Square and Belgravia,” says Alex Michelin, co-founder of property developer Finchatton, responsible for the resurrection of No 20. “The area was overdue a revival.”
Finchatton saw that a new breed of globetrotting buyer wanted their London base to come with hotel-like attentiveness; the developers teamed up with the Four Seasons Hotel group to create the group’s first standalone residences. The 37 homes (with prices starting at £17.5mn) came with soaring ceilings and tailored interiors — together with concierge, spa, cinema and business suite. The 44 five-star apartments at No 1 Grosvenor Square, carved from the former official residence of the Canadian High Commissioner by Indian developer Lodha, offered similar standards of domestic cosseting, including 10,000 sq ft of deluxe communal facilities.
“At the time, we were very sceptical about the pricing,” says Scarisbrick of the apartments, where the penthouse of No 1 went for £140mn. “They all sold, however.”
The descendants of Sir Richard Grosvenor — including the current Duke of Westminster — remain the primary landlords in the northern half of Mayfair, and the group has now turned its attention to making the gardens of Grosvenor Square a place to spend time; its makeover of the second largest square in London will complete in 2027. Originally laid out by gardener John Alston in the 1720s as his “wilderness work”, it was designed to be a celebration of the country in town, and haut ton families had exclusive rights to its runs in urban greenery. Today, it’s a Grade II-listed public space, and Grosvenor aims to augment it as a haven of calm in a hectic world.
“We want it to be an extraordinary garden with groundbreaking environmental credentials,” says Amelia Bright, executive director of Grosvenor’s London Estate. “We’re increasing the biodiversity, with 60 or so new plant species, and introducing amenities like a wildlife centre, a natural play area for children, and a space for yoga classes.” Also on the agenda is the redevelopment of South Molton Street, just off Bond Street, where Grosvenor will deliver a cluster of new shops, homes and offices in 2027.”
