As we see July 4, 2016 in our rearview mirrors, I’m reminded
of a woman whose life seems to me pure Americana. It was on my last trip to
Washington DC that I discovered Marjorie Merriweather Post, by way of a visit
to her exquisite DC estate, Hillwood. Marjorie was the daughter (and only
child) of C.W. Post, a midwesterner who started out inventing and selling farm
equipment. After a series of physical and mental breakdowns, he ended up in a
sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan,
where John Henry Kellogg held sway. Kellogg was of course that Kellogg, and his emphasis on healthy dietary regimes
encouraged C.W. Post to launch his own health food company. His first
break-through product was a coffee substitute he called Postum. Next came
Grape-Nuts cereal and then Post Toasties.
Though Post became rich and famous, his life wasn’t one of
ease. Ongoing physical complaints led him to take his own life in 1914, at the
age of 59. But his company went to 27-year-old Marjorie, who’d been carefully
taught by her father how to run a business. The Postum Company evolved under
her leadership into General Foods, via the acquisition of such popular
All-American products as Jell-O, Maxwell House coffee, Log Cabin syrup, and
later the Birdseye brand of frozen foods.
Marjorie had exquisitely patrician taste. Married four
times, she accompanied third husband Joseph E. Davies to Moscow, where he was
the second U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1937-1938). While there she
began collecting religious icons and Tsarist treasures that were available for
a song to someone with American dollars in hand. Hillwood now houses her
magnificent array of Russian artifacts, including dazzling Fabergé Easter Eggs
once owned by the Imperial family, as well a charming dacha (summer cottage)
nestled in her lush garden. She was also partial to 18th century
French porcelain and other objets d’art, but these co-exist with homey family
photos in a house that truly reflects its owner’s personality. (She was known
to serve Grape-Nuts for breakfast, and offered Jello-O as a dessert at her
youngest daughter’s celebrity wedding. Clearly, she was hardly a food snob.)
It’s very American to go from rags to riches. And also, when
you’ve made your mark, to go Hollywood. Post had three daughters, none of whom
seemed better at marriage than she herself was. Second daughter Eleanor’s first
of six husbands (1930-1932) was Hollywood film director Preston Sturges. And
Marjorie’s third daughter, the only one born from her 1920-1935 marriage to
stockbroker E.F. Hutton, herself became minor Hollywood royalty. This was
Nedenia Marjorie Hutton, better known Dina Merrill. Beautiful, blonde, and
aristocratic, Merrill was once considered America’s next Grace Kelly. (I
remember her especially from a trifle called The Courtship of Eddie’s Father in which she plays the socialite
who gets rejected by young Eddie—played by little Ronny Howard— as a mate for
his widower-dad in favor of the more down-to-earth Shirley Jones.) Merrill,
also an active philanthropist, is still alive but suffers from ill health at
age 92.
Marjorie Merriweather Post may have been rich, but she never
forgot to be generous--nor patriotic. In later years, she regularly gave lawn
parties for wounded military veterans. And during World War II she sold her
luxury yacht to the U.S. government as a troop ship for the massive price of
$1. Though Hillwood was given to the American nation, Marjorie’s Palm Beach,
Florida estate has had a different future. She envisioned Mar-a-lago as a
retreat for future U.S. presidents. It was bought by Donald Trump in 1985 . . .
so anything’s possible.
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