In 1914, Chicago introduced American society to the "Big Four," a group of debutantes from wealthy Midwestern families, famed for their beauty.
One, Edith Cummings (1899-1984), became a world-class golfer. She was also the model for Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Another, Ginevra King (1989-1980), exchanged a series of love letters with Fitzgerald—letters she destroyed after deciding that her Princetonian admirer didn't make the grade socially. "Poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls," her father, Charles King, is said to have told Fitzgerald.
The heartbroken Fitzgerald, meanwhile, had her correspondence typed and bound. Scholars say he consulted the volume frequently in creating the character of Daisy Buchanan, the object of Gatsby's obsession.
In 1918, Town & Country printed a full-page portrait of Miss King, Fitzgerald's first love and society pinup. We learn that she belongs to the Junior League, that she has delayed her coming out ceremony to aid in the war effort, and that she will be spending her summer at Rye Beach.
Daisy Buchanan is often portrayed as a blonde—by Mia Farrow in Jack Clayton's 1974 adaptation, and by Carey Mulligan in Baz Luhrmann's 3-D spectacular, out this weekend—but her inspiration was a brunette.
