Black and White

Truman Capote is in the air these days. (I really liked Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, though I do have a small gripe with the Academy giving Oscars to actors playing celebrities — e.g. Hoffman, Reese Witherspoon, Jamie Foxx, Cate Blanchett, etc. — but that’s another post on another blog.) Forty years ago this November Capote hosted his legendary Black-and-White Ball. All of the press surrounding the film describes In Cold Blood as Capote’s masterpiece. No argument here. But some folks contend that the Black-and-White Ball should be included on the list of his greatest works, too. Before you get tired of hearing about it, the Rosenbach has decided to get out ahead of the reminiscing about that most fabulous of evenings by showing off this bit of memorabilia:


A knowledgeable colleague related the legend of the invites: Tiffany printed them and even though this event was destined to be the “party of the century,” they botched the job. Mention of Katharine Graham, the guest of honor, was left off the invite. The RSVP address was misprinted. Capote didn’t have enough time to have the invitations reprinted, so the corrections were made by hand. Still, the people came. They wore black and white and masks. Most loved it. Some, like Frank Sinatra, apparently hated it. Here’s our favorite guest showing off her get-up at home:


Miss Moore surely didn’t get into any fights with Norman Mailer, but we trust she had a good time anyway.

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