History loves a good power couple. But honestly, few were as physically striking or politically complicated as the union between Joseph E. Davies and Marjorie Post. This wasn't just another society wedding in the 1930s. It was a merger of immense cereal wealth and high-stakes Democratic lobbying.
Marjorie Merriweather Post was, by most accounts, the wealthiest woman in America. She didn't just inherit the Postum Cereal Company; she grew it into General Foods. She was the woman behind the frozen food revolution.
Then there was Joe. Joseph Edward Davies was a sharp-jawed, ambitious lawyer from Wisconsin who had become a fixture in Woodrow Wilson’s Washington. He was a fixer. A lobbyist. A man who knew how to navigate the smoky rooms of the D.C. elite.
The Wedding That Shook the Great Depression
They married in December 1935. It was Marjorie’s third marriage and Joe’s second. The ceremony was private, held at her New York apartment on 92nd Street, but the ripples were public.
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People talked.
They wondered if Joe was just another man looking to manage a fortune. They wondered if Marjorie was looking for a title. Whatever the gossip, the reality was that Franklin D. Roosevelt, a close friend of Joe’s, had a specific job in mind for him.
FDR needed someone to go to Moscow.
Not a career diplomat. Not a stuffy academic. He wanted a businessman who could look at the Soviet industrial machine and tell him if they were ready for the war everyone saw coming.
Joseph E. Davies and Marjorie Post: The Moscow Mission
In 1937, the couple arrived in the Soviet Union. Imagine this for a second. You have the ultimate American capitalist heiress moving into the heart of the Bolshevik experiment.
She didn't go quietly.
Marjorie arrived with 2,000 pints of frozen cream and a literal ton of Birdseye frozen vegetables. She wasn't about to let the lack of fresh produce in a Soviet winter ruin her dinner parties. They moved into Spaso House, the American ambassador's residence, and Marjorie treated it like a renovation project at Mar-a-Lago.
She was the secret weapon.
While Joe was busy attending the infamous "Show Trials" of the Great Purge—trials he controversially claimed were legitimate—Marjorie was hosting the Soviet elite. She used her legendary hosting skills to bridge the gap between two deeply suspicious superpowers.
The Art Collection Controversy
While Joe was writing his reports to FDR, Marjorie was shopping. The Soviet government was desperate for hard currency to fund their industrialization. They were literally selling off the "spoils" of the revolution—church icons, imperial porcelain, and Fabergé eggs that had belonged to the Romanovs.
Basically, the Soviets viewed this stuff as junk from a dead era. Marjorie saw it as the pinnacle of craftsmanship.
- She bought silver chalices by the pound.
- She found liturgical vestments shoved into the back of dusty state commission shops.
- She amassed the largest collection of Russian Imperial art outside of Russia itself.
This collection would later become the heart of her Hillwood Estate in Washington, D.C. Some historians argue Joe helped facilitate these sales through his diplomatic standing. Others say Marjorie was simply a savvy collector in the right place at the right time.
Why the Marriage Didn't Last
By the time they returned to the U.S. and Joe served another stint in Belgium, the cracks were showing. Joe’s 1941 book, Mission to Moscow, and the subsequent movie, made him a controversial figure. He was seen by many as a "useful idiot" for Stalin, someone who glossed over the horrors of the regime to promote an alliance.
Marjorie was a woman of immense independence. She had joined the board of General Foods in 1936—the first time she represented her own interests instead of letting a husband do it.
The two eventually divorced in 1955.
It wasn't a quiet split. Marjorie was done with the political maneuvering. She bought Hillwood that same year, specifically looking for a place to display her Russian treasures and live on her own terms.
Actionable Insights from Their Story
If you're a history buff or an art lover, the legacy of Joseph E. Davies and Marjorie Post is more than just a 1930s tabloid story. It’s a lesson in "soft diplomacy" and the preservation of culture.
- Visit Hillwood Estate: If you're in D.C., you have to see the Russian collection. It’s the physical manifestation of her time in Moscow. You’ll see the Catherine the Great Egg and incredible Sèvres porcelain.
- Read Between the Lines of 'Mission to Moscow': If you find a copy of Joe’s book, read it as a primary source of 1930s optimism (or naivety). It shows how badly the U.S. wanted to believe in a stable ally before WWII.
- Study Marjorie's Business Moves: She was a pioneer. She pushed for the acquisition of Birdseye when others were skeptical of frozen food. Her business instincts were often sharper than the men around her.
Their time together was a strange, gilded bubble in the middle of a global depression and a looming world war. It didn't last, but the art she rescued and the diplomatic doors she opened changed the way Washington viewed the world.