While trying to avoid being judgmental, I swing back and forth like a pendulum in an Edgar Allan Poe short story?
?Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.??Confucius
Diamond Jim Brady was an honored gourmand and Prince of the Gilded Age. A railroad tycoon with outlandish appetites, he didn?t just love diamonds, he also loved food. His diamond jewelry was said to be worth more than $2 million ($56 million in today?s currency) and he consumed food like the former bellhop and courier from which he grew.
George Rector, owner of Rector?s Restaurant in Manhattan, called ?The Elaine?s of 1899,? described Diamond Jim as ?the best 25 customers I ever had.? In ?Fenton and Fowler?s Best, Worst, and Most Unusual,? a book as obsessed with food as Brady himself, his daily fare is described in excruciating detail, excruciating for those of us who watch their weight.
Diamond Jim Brady would eat ?vast quantities of hominy, eggs, cornbread, muffins, flapjacks, chops, fried potatoes, beefsteak, washing it all down with a gallon of fresh orange juice? for breakfast. A mid-morning snack of ?two or three dozen clams or Lynnhaven oysters? whetted his appetite for lunch, which included ?shellfish?two or three deviled crabs, a brace of boiled lobsters, a joint of beef, and an enormous salad.? Dessert consisted of an array of pies. Not slices of different pies, but several pies, washed down with a second gallon of orange juice.
Afternoon tea was another opportunity to eat ?another platter of seafood, accompanied by two or three bottles of lemon soda.?
Dinner at Rector?s usually comprised ?two or three dozen oysters, six crabs, and two bowls of green turtle soup. Then in sumptuous procession came six or seven lobsters, two canvasback ducks, a double portion of terrapin, sirloin steak, vegetables, and for dessert a platter of French pastries.?
Not quite sated, Diamond Jim would top it off with two pounds of chocolate candy.
Unlike James Buchanan Brady, Floyd Joy Mayweather is not obsessed with food.
His relationship with diamonds is another story
Today?s New York Post features an article titled ?Mayweather?s $500K Diamond District spending spree? that asks the question, ?How does the world?s most famous boxer celebrate a $200 million victory??
It also provides the answer, ?Not by going to Disney World ? by hitting the Diamond District.?
Marilyn Monroe sang ?Diamonds Are a Girl?s Best Friend? in the movie ?Gentleman Prefer Blondes.? To my knowledge, Floyd Mayweather isn?t singing much of anything, but actions speak louder than lyrics.
?Three weeks after his May 2 bout against Manny Pacquiao,? writes The Post, ?welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. was spotted cashing in his winnings for watches, diamonds and gold chains in a half-million-dollar Saturday-afternoon shopping spree on 47th Street.
?The world?s richest athlete hit up two of his favorite jewelers, with an entourage of hulking bodyguards ? one toting a briefcase full of diamond-encrusted watches and a mysterious bag.
?At a small jewelers kiosk called Flawless at the corner of Sixth Avenue, he plunked down ?hundreds of thousands of dollars? for timepieces,? an insider told The Post, ?old stuff that he?ll have upgraded or downgraded for himself or someone he?s with.?
Upon leaving jeweler number one, Mayweather told the salesman, ?You can come to my house in Vegas. I have nothing but a palace.?
Jeweler number two was Pristine Jewelers NYC, ?where he whipped out a hand-scrawled shopping list that included a Cuban-link yellow-gold necklace for $35,000 and a diamond chain for $55,000.
?Although much of the Diamond District is closed on Saturdays,? for reasons The Post chose not to explain, ?Mayweather said his bling binge couldn?t wait, telling Pristine?s owners, ?Open up the store, Money never sleeps!??
While trying to avoid being judgmental, I swing back and forth like a pendulum in an Edgar Allan Poe short story.
On one hand, even allowing for The Post?s bottom feeding ethos, the whole business reeks of wretched excess.
On the other hand, if you?ve got it, flaunt it.
You may beg to differ, but Diamond Jim Brady would surely agree.
