In 1935 Harold Seton, a collector of photographs and society devotee, was suffering financial difficulties. Having spent summers in Newport, Rhode Island, for 24 years, he was acquainted with or knew about the wealthy people of his day, and sought to profit from sharing information about them. He wrote to Lucius Beebe, a society columnist for the New York Herald-Tribune, and offered gossip for his column in exchange for pay.
From the guide to the Harold Seton Papers, 1935, and undated, (@ 2011 New-York Historical Society)