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Bizarre Items In 'The Great Gatsby' Trailers Show The Extreme Lavishness Of The Wealthy In The Roaring '20s

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The Great Gatsby-Leonardo DiCaprio-Carey Mulligan

If you can't wait for the film adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" due in theaters this May, then you've probably watched the trailers numerous times.

Upon several viewings, it becomes apparent just how far director Baz Luhrmann went to make Gatsby's parties look like "the talk of the town," and it's little surprise why. 

"The Great Gatsby" takes place in the summer of 1922. During this time, the U.S. was in an economic boom. World War I was over, soldiers returned home to work, and sales of automobiles were on the rise.

(Yes, it's also a Luhrmann film, and this is supposed to be the luxurious life of a mysterious millionaire, so naturally we have to prepare for the strange, the over-the-top, and, the zany.)

However, with rolled back income taxes on the wealthy during both the Harding and Coolidge administrations, the rich lived a life of consumption, one which is captured through the lens of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work.

It's no secret the main character, Gatsby, spares no expense on his lavish lifestyle. For example, the story notes that every Friday his West Egg mansion would receive five crates of oranges and lemons in preparation for the hundreds of guests he expected to cater each weekend.

However, from the trailers, Gatsby's parties contain much more than that.

Here are some of the more extravagent oddities we spotted.

If this is how the rich partied in the '20s, sign us up:

1. Human-sized Moet & Chandon champagne bottles.

Two bottles of the vintage sold for $8,225 at a 2004 Christies' auction in New York. (In case you're wondering, the vintage below was not available until 1936. As we said, the story takes place in the summer of 1922.)

the great gatsby

2. A zebra (inflatable?) in the pool. We're slightly disappointed it's not real.

the great gatsby zebra

3. A full-blown orchestra, filled with oboes and trombones, saxophones and high drums just like in the novel.

And, if you look closely, you can spot another zebra (or the same one from earlier) in the top right corner.

great gatsby

4. Giant butterflies ...

the great gatsby butterflies

5. Over-sized ice sculptures holding women dressed as merpeople ...

gatsby ice sculpture

6. High-flying acrobats

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performed acts through the '20s at Madison Square Garden involving high-wire acts with trapeze artists.

the great gatsby

Luhrmann even included the twins dressed like babies with giant pacifiers from the book.

the great gatsby

See what other films we're looking forward to this year >

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