The Gilded Age: How Thomas Edison Really Lit Up New York City
Warning: SPOILERS for The Gilded Age Episode 7 — «Irresistible Change»
As depicted in The Gilded Age episode 7, Thomas Edison really did light up the New York Times building and the rest of New York City in real life. The Gilded Age has melded several historical events into its fictional world focusing on the high society conflict between Old New York led by Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy) and New Money families like George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon). Just as Bertha is making in-roads in her obsession to be accepted by the city's elite, a tragic train crash puts George in the crosshairs as he's being blamed for the accident and could face prison if found guilty. Still, George's dream of building a new railroad station continues and, when Union Central Station is completed, it will be illuminated by electricity from Thomas Edison's company, Consolidated Edison.
In The Gilded Age's premiere, one of the first instances of real-life history mentioned was the death of Jesse James, which happened on April 3, 1882. This helped establish the timeframe of Julian Fellowes' period drama, which is set 30 years before the start of Downton Abbey. Since then, prominent titans of industry like Vanderbilts and Jay Gould (inspirations for George Russell and his family) have been mentioned whileThe Gilded Age has incorporated historical figures like Mrs. Astor, Clara Barton (Linda Emond), who was the founder of the American Red Cross, and T. Thomas Fortune (Sullivan Jones), the most prominent Black newspaperman in America, as characters in the series.The Gilded Age has even shown the Statue of Liberty's hand, which was on display in Madison Park for years, while Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) shops at Bloomingdale's, the
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