Mabel Boll (December 1, 1893 – April 11, 1949), known as the "Queen of Diamonds", was an American

socialite A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having ...

involved in the early days of record-setting airplane flights in the 1920s. She garnered nicknames from the press, including "Broadway’s most beautiful blonde" and the "$250,000-a-day bride".

Early life

Boll made many claims later in life that she was an heiress and was a member of a wealthy family. The truth was that her father, George, was a bartender in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. She was, however, attractive, a short, dark-eyed, and "vividly blonde" beauty. Her early employment was selling cigars in Rochester. Boll became an experienced horse rider, and married businessman Robert Scott in 1909. In 1914 she had a son, Robert Scott II. Boll was known as "The Queen of Diamonds" because of the amount of jewelry she publicly displayed.Naughton, Russell
"Mabel Boll."
''The Centre for Telecommunications and Information Engineering (CTIE)'', 2015. Retrieved: February 7, 2013. At times, she would wear over $400,000 in jewelry in public and was photographed wearing a sweater made of gold and platinum. In 1922, Boll married Colombian coffee king Hernando Rocha, who presented her with over a million dollars in jewels and a emerald-cut diamond bearing her name "The Mabel Boll". The diamond was purchased by the

Harry Winston Harry Winston (né Weinstein; March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in ...

collection upon Boll's death in 1949. In 1934, Boll made headlines again as the "Countess de Porceri" in

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

, when her 27-year-old boyfriend Georges Chariot shot himself on her lawn. In February 1940, Boll married for the fifth time, a harp player from Florida. According to the New York Times obituary, Boll was once known as Mabel Bache possibly marrying Lieut. Albert Bache although she never admitted to the marriage.

Aviation

Transatlantic fever

1927 was full of publicity surrounding

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

winning the

Orteig Prize The Orteig Prize was a reward of $25,000 offered in 1919 by New York City hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first Allies of World War I, Allied aviator, or aviators, to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Se ...

for his non-stop flight from New York to Paris. Boll wanted publicity as well and felt that being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic would be headline news. While living in Paris, France, Boll announced she would pay 100,000 francs to any pilot who would fly her across the Atlantic from Paris.

Flights in the ''Columbia''

Admiral Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer, and pioneering aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader cr ...

and

Charles A. Levine Charles Albert Levine (March 17, 1897 – December 6, 1991) was the first passenger aboard a transatlantic flight. He was ready to cross the Atlantic to claim the Orteig prize but a court battle over who was going to be in the airplane allowed ...

competed for the Orteig prize, but missed out. Each completed record flights shortly thereafter. While in Europe, Boll attempted to get Levine to fly her to America in the ''Columbia'', which was still in France after a record-setting flight from New York. The inexperienced owner of the aircraft, Levine, had plans to fly it back to America with a French pilot, Maurice Droughin. After disagreements with Droughin and lawyers left the aircraft guarded and grounded, Levine took off to England claiming he was just testing the engine. (Chamberlain claimed that Levine bribed the guards.) Boll followed Levine to England by boat, talking Levine into letting her be a passenger. Just before the flight, Levine's new pilot, Capt.

Walter G. R. Hinchliffe Captain Walter George Raymond Hinchliffe (10 June 1893 – 13 March 1928), also known as Hinch (the surname is often incorrectly given as Hinchcliffe) was a distinguished Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force flying ace in World War I who ...

, publicly refused to fly if Boll was a passenger and instead, she flew to Rome, dropping a present to

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

's son. Boll was invited to try an east-west flight from America and she set out for New York by boat in January 1928. On March 5, 1928, Wilmer Stultz, Oliver Colin LeBoutillier, and Boll on an improvised seat, made the first non-stop flight in the ''Columbia'' between New York City and

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Erroll Boyd with an Alligator handbag in flight for making a premature landing in bad weather. In 1928, the same teams that attempted to win the Orteig Prize were competing to be the first to fly a woman across the Atlantic (as a passenger). Levine chose the flamboyant Boll. On the other extreme,

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...

was chosen as a demure and capable pilot sponsored by

George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and ''Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many year ...

and Amy Phipps Guest. On June 26, 1928, Boll was filmed leaving

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

in the Columbia. Boll was later spotted 1,100 miles away in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland as a passenger in the Columbia. The aircraft was piloted by Oliver Colin LeBoutillier and Arthur Argles owned by Columbia Aircraft Corp Chairman Charles Levine. While Boll publicly announced her aspiration to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart was also in Newfoundland at the same time, along with the German Thea Rasche. The newspapers focused their attention on the aspirations of “The Diamond Queen of Broadway”. Preparations for the trip were done with full publicity. At the same time in relative secrecy, pilots Wilmer Stultz and Gordon were believed by the press to be preparing Byrd’s Fokker “Friendship” for his planned trip to the South Pole. Stultz himself planned to be the pilot of the Columbia and defected to Byrd's crew. After several failed attempts days earlier, on June 17, the “Friendship” took off from the bay at Trepassey, Newfoundland with Earhart on board while the crew of the Columbia were grounded for five days due to the weather. Upon learning of successful flight by Earhart and crew, Boll returned to America, donating $500 to the Newfoundland airstrip for development. A Junkers W 33 Boll wanted a new nickname, "The Queen of the Air". For her last serious record attempt, Levine purchased a customized long-range

Junkers W 33 The Junkers W 33 was a German 1920s single-engine low-wing monoplane transport aircraft that followed Junkers standard practice making extensive use of corrugated aluminium alloy over an aluminium alloy tube frame, that was developed from the s ...

for $50,000 emblazoned with the logo "Queen of the Air" across the sides. Plans were made for

Bert Acosta Bertrand Blanchard Acosta (January 1, 1895 – September 1, 1954) was a record-setting aviator and test pilot. He and Clarence D. Chamberlin set an endurance record of 51 hours, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the air. He later flew in the Span ...

to fly Boll and Levine from Paris to New York for a new record, which was changed to a London to New York attempt. By the time the aircraft arrived in late August 1928, the flying season was coming to an end and Levine was preoccupied with legal matters in the United States. "The Queen of the Air" Junkers was transported back to America, damaged, and resold to William Rody. He renamed it to the "de Espírito Santo Agostinho" (ESA) and attempted a three-man transatlantic crossing record from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

on September 13, 1931. The aircraft landed in the Atlantic Ocean, and the aircraft's empty tanks kept the crew afloat for several days before they were rescued. Boll's last effort to become a transatlantic passenger was refused by aircraft owner, and entertainer

Harry Richman Harry Richman (born Henry Reichman Jr.; August 10, 1895 – November 3, 1972) was an American singer, actor, dancer, comedian, pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and nightclub performer, at his most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In his peak yea ...

. Boll avoided the perils of record setting flights until 1936, when she announced she had been cured of her flying obsession.

Later life and death

Boll continued to make headlines throughout the 1930s and 1940s, but gradually her star status faded. She abandoned her home in Switzerland in 1939 as war in Europe broke out. She died of a stroke at the Manhattan State Hospital, the psychiatric hospital on

Wards Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Island, in New York City.

on April 11, 1949, at the age of 55."Mabel Boll dies. 'Diamond Queen'; bartender's daughter owned fabulous gems. Balked in efforts to fly Atlantic."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', April 12, 1949. Retrieved: October 3, 2015."Queen of Diamonds is reported in hospital."
''

Spokane Daily Chronicle The ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' is a daily digital newspaper in Spokane, Washington. It was founded as a weekly paper in 1881 and grew into an afternoon daily, competing with ''The Spokesman-Review'', which was formed from the merger of two com ...

'' (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

), March 29, 1949. Retrieved: October 4, 2015.

Notes

References

Sources

* Bak, Richard. ''The Big Jump: Lindbergh and the Great Atlantic Air Race''. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. 2011. . * Butler, Susan. ''East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart''. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1997. . * Sloate, Susan. ''Amelia Earhart: Challenging the Skies''. New York: Fawcett Books, 1990. . * Smyth, Ross. ''The Lindbergh of Canada: The Erroll Boyd Story.'' St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: General Store Publishing House, 1997. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Boll, Mabel 1893 births 1949 deaths American socialites People from Rochester, New York