The Waldorf gained significant renown internationally for its fundraising dinners and balls, regularly attracting notables of the day such as Andrew Carnegie, who became a fixture. Banquets were often held in the ballroom for esteemed figures and international royalty. The Waldorf Astoria was influential in advancing the status of women, who were admitted singly without escorts. George Boldt's wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt, was influential in evolving the idea of the grand urban hotel as a social center, particularly in making it appealing to women as a venue for social events. On February 11, 1899, Oscar hosted a lavish dinner reception that the "New York Herald Tribune" cited as the city's costliest dinner at the time. Some $250 were spent per guest, with bluepoint oysters, green turtle soup, lobster, ruddy duck, and blue raspberries. One article that year claimed that at any one time, the hotel had $7 million worth of valuables locked in the safe, testament to the wealth of its guests. In 1902, a lavish dinner was organized for Prince Henry of Prussia, and in 1909, banquets attended by hundreds were organized for Arctic explorer Frederick Cook in September and Elbert Henry Gary, a founder of US Steel, the following month.