Wolfshiem is more than likely based on Arnold Rothstein (1882-1928), New York businessman and organised crime figure, a key member of the Jewish Mafia. He was allaegedly the figure behind the fixing of the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal.
Daisy's 'debut' would have been as a debutante into Louisville society.
The armistice between Germany and the Allies was signed in Europe on 11 November 1918, thus ending World War One and making Daisy roughly 19 at the time of her debut.
Cannes - Credit: Kenshin
The south of France – a veritable playground for the rich since the 19th century – became especially popular with Americans in the interwar years. Cannes, along with neighbouring Nice, is one of the most popular and famed resorts on the French Riviera. Since 1946 it has hosted the world-famous Cannes Film Festival.
Deauville is located in the Basse-Normandie region of north-western France. Fashionable with the wealthy since the mid-19th century, it is one of the most exclusive beach resorts in France.
A peninsula in southernmost Brooklyn, Coney Island was, between 1880 and World War II, the location of the most wildly popular amusement parks in America. Luna Park, Dreamland and Steeplechase Park were the three major players.
The only park currently in operation is Deno's Wonderwheel Amusement Park. Astroland, its major competitor, closed in 2008. Despite the millions who have had fun there over the years, the idea of Coney Island has been coloured in the public imagination by the decades-long neglect of the closed parks between the 1950s and the 1990s. Its image is one of things faded and forgotten – an echo of the past.
