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Pulp Clubs
Page history
last edited
by Michael 4 months, 1 week ago
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Game Effects
In Call of Cthulhu terms, it is assumed these clubs require (or provide) at least 40% Credit Rating skill unless otherwise stated. Some have language requirements, to simulate clubs that prefer a particular culture. Most of these clubs admit ladies as associate members. There are vast numbers of other clubs at a lower social level than these. Fictional clubs (or club features, members, etc.) are listed in red.
London Clubs
If even the best hotels are just not good enough for you, or if you need a long-term lodging in London (but can't afford or don't want to be bothered by keeping a house), consider joining a club.
"The building is a sort of palace, and is kept with the same exactness and comfort as a private dwelling. Every member is a master without any of the troubles of a master. He can come when he pleases, and stay away as long as he pleases, without anything going wrong. He has the command of regular servants without having to pay or manage them. He can have whatever meal or refreshment he wants, at all hours, and served up with the cleanliness and comfort of his own house. He orders just what he pleases, having no interest to think of but his own. In short, it is impossible to suppose a greater degree of liberty in living." - Walker's "The Original."
Odd customs, rules and traditions abound; one nearly universal rule is "no tipping." Waiting lists for membership run from months to several years long; while the rules are varied and complicated, most clubs require a 90% 'aye' vote of all members present at a meeting to admit a new member. Discussions of trade or business are frowned on at most clubs.
Many younger sons of the upper class find residential clubs to be the most economical way of setting up a proper London lifestyle. Fine dinners can be had for a quarter of what they cost in hotel restaurants. And there are other benefits, like ancient wine cellars, billiards tables, card playing at all hours, squash courts, and the club tent at Ascot ...
Another amenity offered by some clubs (notably White's) are betting books. Some of the wagers are in poor taste, or entirely ridiculous (White's was known, in Regency times, for booking bets on saucers thrown across the street into another club's front windows).
There are many famous clubs (though only a few on this list) which possess no premises, or only a single dining room, or a room in another (larger) club, even though they may employ a chef and have a large wine stock. These clubs mostly meet for dinners -- the Savoy Hotel seems to have been the default location for these dinners. Some examples of these no-premises clubs are: the Dilletanti Society (arts & literature - "the nominal qualification for the Dilettanti is having been in Italy and the real one being drunk" according to Walpole, and there is still a boyish, secret society element), the London Pitt Club (very old), the Shikar Club (hunters and adventurers), the Literary Club, The Club (very limited membership), The Other Club (founded by Winston Churchill, partly because he couldn't become a member of the Club), the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the Cranium Club, and the Detection Club (mystery writers).
Clubs on this list owning or leasing their own premises have between a couple hundred and several thousand members.
Tattersall's auction house has a "Subscription Room" in Knightsbridge which is in effect a private betting-club run by the Jockey Club; members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill. Tattersall's yard is the scene of regular weekly, and in the season twice weekly, horse sales, events as much social as commercial where the bluest-blooded of aristocrats rub shoulders with the shabbiest of sporting 'characters'. The auction yard is a rectangular galleried court, 60 feet by 108 feet, with an upper-floor gallery around it, all covered by a high glazed roof.
Various clubs allow use of some or all of their facilities to members of certain other clubs. Almost all clubs allow members to bring guests (though often only one at a time); a few allow gentlemen of one type or another (military officers, or high nobility, for example) to come by as guests "uninvited," so to speak. Most extend honorary membership to members of the Royal family, and foreign ambassadors.
Albemarle
Alexandra
Alpine Club
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23 Savile Row, W1. Founded 1857 with the object of encouraging exploration and travel. The mountaineering and educational qualifications for membership are severe (at least 60% Climbing skill, and EDU of at least 14). The ground level of the building are rented out as a couple of shops (umbrellas, walking sticks, and a shoe and boot-maker). In 1937 the club premises were demolished and the club had to move.
Fred Willoughby is a member.
American Club
Anglo-Indian Club
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45 Acacia Road, NW8. Founded in 1864 in the lacquer-wood and brass furnished basement of an old Regency townhouse near St. Johns Wood, the Anglo-Indian Club serves a select group. Most colonial returnees prefer the Oriental or East India Clubs; others find for some reason that their service in India has affected them more deeply than others might imagine. Initial membership was predominately officers and diplomats that had survived the Indian Mutiny and its aftermath. Today the Club is considered all but unique among London’s societies. For one it is open to both sexes, as long as they have lived in India for at least 20 years, or are otherwise considered to have sufficient ties to the sub-continent. Second, the club allows wives present at any time -- something most unorthodox!
Army and Navy Club
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36 - 39 Pall Mall, SW1. Almost always known as "the Rag," for military men only. Has extensive accommodations for members, a squash court, a ladies' drawing room and a ladies' dining room.
ground floor plan of the Army and Navy Club, with a 5 foot hex grid
Arthur's
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69 St. James's Street. SW1. Founded 1756, no foreigners, no guests, at least 60% Credit Rating skill.
Arts Club
Athenæum
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107 Pall Mall, SW1. Intellectuals, scientists, Church of England bishops, judges, cabinet ministers, ambassadors, etc.; poor food ("all the arts and sciences are understood there, except gastronomy"), extremely grave and respectable; best club library. Talk Dinners monthly in season; 16 year waiting list. Members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill, and EDU of 16 or more.
Bachelors' Club
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8 South Audley Street, Grosvenor Square, W1. All members are unmarried when they join, although they may pay a fine to remain members if they get married. Men only, mostly young, very boisterous.
Bath Club
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34 Dover Street, W1. Best known for its large swimming-pool; members also fence, and play a lot of water polo, golf and squash. Women are admitted as members.
"Teddie" White and Fred Willoughby are members.
Beefsteak Club
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9 Irving Street. Founded 1735; dinner club with excellent food and conversation; "there is no particular object in this club, nor is there any particular qualification", despite which members are typically peers, politicians, diplomats, writers, actors, and academics; to be a member, one has to be "a relation of God - and a damned close relation at that" (i.e., must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill); no gambling, no visitors, no women, and all waiters are called 'Charles.'
Blades
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Park Street, Mayfair. Founded between 1774 and 1776, the club allows gambling, mainly high-stakes card games, but is more celebrated for its athletic facilities and gourmet catering. The building includes over a dozen small rooms and suites for the overnight or short-term use of members. Annual events include an all-club fencing tournament and invitational bridge, whist, faro, and poker tournaments. Prospective members must show a net liquid worth of at least £50,000 (thus at least 60% Credit Rating skill is required), and be nominated by 2 existing members, before they can be considered for admission. The club has long admitted women as full members.
Boodles
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28 St. James's Street, SW1. Founded 1762, a bastion of County society and the lesser peerage (thus at least 60% Credit Rating skill is required), no library, very good service. Winston Churchill and Ian Fleming are members, as are most of the officials of MI6 (the Secret Intelligence Service). No women are permitted either as members or as visitors. An architectural description and floor plan can be found here.
Brooks's
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60 St. James's Steet, SW1. Founded 1778, politically liberal, many aristocratic and political members; guests only allowed in a small room just inside the door. Members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill -- many members are sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, etc. of previous members. Women may not visit or become members.
Bruton Club
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Lansdowne House, 9 Fitzmaurice Place, Berkeley Square, W1. Founded in 1935; men and women are admitted on equal grounds, and it's intended to attract families. Later known as the Lansdowne Club. Has a swimming pool, squash courts, and a fencing salon.
Bucks
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18 Clifford Street, W1. A fairly new club (founded 1918), very much a young man's club (and no women members or visitors are permitted). Originally officers of the Household Cavalry and their friends. The first barman invented the Buck's Fizz (pretty similar to a mimosa) and the Sidecar.
Caledonian Club
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Derby House, 33 St. James's Square, SW1. Members must have at least one Scottish grandparent, or the closest association with Scotland. No women admitted as members.
Carlton Club
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94 Pall Mall, SW1. Conservative politicians and financiers, and in fact essentially the Conservative party headquarters; peers and M.P.s preferred (members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill); no guests, no bedrooms. Winston Churchill is of course a member.
Cavalry Club
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127 Piccadilly, W1. Members have all served as officers in a cavalry regiment, or in the Honorable Artillery Company. The Prince of Wales spends a great deal of time on the premises, until he becomes Edward VIII in January, 1936.
City of London Club
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19 Old Broad Street, EC2. Shipowners, businessmen, bankers & financiers, usually not open evenings. Members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill; women may not become members.
Conservative Club
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74 St. James's Street, SW1. Every member must be, of course, a Conservative; however, solicitors have difficulty joining. Must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill.
Corona Club
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Founded in 1901, as a social dining club; members are current or former senior officials of the Colonial Service, or in the Colonial Office. They have no building of their own, but host an annual dinner at a major London hotel, usually in June. There is a club tie (blue with small white solar coronas), which (since the Colonial Service has none) is close to being official.
Devonshire Club
Diogenes Club
The German Ambassador lives next door, at 8 and 9; number 9 has been the home
of the German and previously Prussian ambassadors since 1849.
This is a place where men can go to read without any distractions. The men who founded the club in 1822 did so for the love of three things: solitude, comfortable chairs, and access to the latest newspapers and periodicals of the western world. They wanted the benefits of a club, yet none of the social interaction. To get away from man- and woman-kind for a few hours of quiet in which one might read, meditate, and pursue the truths of life as Diogenes pursued his honest man; that is why the club was founded. As such, the number one rule is that there is no talking, to the point where club members can be suspended and even excluded for so much as coughing more than a single time in an hour.
"There are many men in London, you know, who, some from shyness, some from misanthropy, have no wish for the company of their fellows. Yet they are not averse to comfortable chairs and the latest periodicals. It is for the convenience of these that the Diogenes Club was started, and it now contains the most unsociable and unclubable men in town. No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the Strangers' Room, no talking is, under any circumstances, allowed, and three offences, if brought to the notice of the committee, render the talker liable to expulsion." — ‘The Greek Interpreter’ by Sir A.I.C. Doyle.
Located on the edges of Pall Mall, yet another of many rather plain and solid looking red doors can be found. There is no brass sign or name card to be seen. Passing through that anonymous door, a visitor sees a stairway and a single door off the entry. Going through the door, there is a hallway running along the front of the building. First along the hallway, a visitor finds a small cloak room, then a modern wash room, and the club’s rather small tidy offices. Further down the hall, is the club’s Strangers' Room, “a chamber whose prominent features seem to be several cold looking leather couches and chairs, accented only by a bow window looking out on Pall Mail”. The Strangers' Room is the only room where members may meet casually with guests, or where any real conversation is allowed.
Going up the stairs to the first floor, a single hallway runs perpendicular from the street back into the depths of the building. Brass tinted reflective glass paneling makes up most of the wall on one side of the hallway. Dark wood, interrupted by occasional black and white ink depictions of the key events of the Telegony, comprises the other side. There are several anonymous doors off the hallway, matching the dark wood paneling. They lead to the large main club room that occupies most of the floor, a connected periodical and reference library, and a small chess room.
Down the hall from the Strangers' Room is a small dining room that serves luncheon and dinner six days of the week. There is a small bar set back in the farthest corner of the room that was added in 1906 at the request of a member who was injured in South Africa, or perhaps his wife as some have said. On Sunday afternoons and Christmas, as well as Coronation Day and the King’s Birthday, a tea is served and female guests of members may be entertained. It has been commented that the opening of the club to female guests on Sundays dates back to the founding and was the result of the general reaction of the membership to the newly launched Sunday Times. The only formal member function is the annual Founders Day dinner. However, more recently, an annual dinner was added to commemorate Remembrance Day. These are the only days where members may invite guests for dinner and are held in the large room on the second floor.
In the back of the building, a servant’s stairway and dumbwaiter connect the basement and wine cellar with the kitchen, club floor, and guest rooms. On the second floor, there is a large meeting room that sees spare use, as well as several small meetings rooms that see quite regular use, particularly during times of national urgency. There is also a small map and records room that is generally kept locked. Further up the stairs, on the third floor are twelve small guest rooms for overnight and short term use by members. On the roof, there is a small observatory that has fallen out of use. It was outfitted with a 3 inch telescope in 1856 at the bequest of a member that fell in Crimea.
In implementing their desired state, the founders set up a few steadfast rules. As explained by the manager to prospective members: "No member is permitted to take the least notice of any other one. Save in the Strangers' Room, no conversation is, under any circumstances, permitted, and three offenses, if brought to the notice of the committee, render the talker liable to expulsion." The Club has long been rumored to be considered a neutral location, enabling quiet meetings between the range of political and social parties in Great Britain. Membership is open by anonymous invitation, with prospective initiates being recommended to the Membership Committee by at least 3 current members. Membership is composed of retired senior civil servants and general officers, and notable retired members of the bar, scientific, trade (usually from banks, auction houses, or publishing firms) or scholarly (former and current Oxford, Cambridge or Trinity dons) communities. Attendance at the General Meetings (held quarterly) is not required, and in fact is very sparse.
a man connected in some way with the government, and an Extraordinary Member of the club ...
Drones Club
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Dover Street, Mayfair. The club has a reputation for having a membership markedly younger than many other clubs, as evidenced by the raucous behavior and frequent pranks of the members. Has a notable swimming pool.
East India United Service Club
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16 St. James's Square, SW1. Founded 1849. Soldiers, sailors, churchmen, and civil servants who served Britain in India. Women may not become members.
Eccentric Club
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9 Ryder Street, SW1. Sort of raffish, with many theatrical, vaudevillian, racing, and pugilistic members; no female guests or members. Located next to Christie's auction house.
Empress
- 35 Dover Street, W1. Women only.
Forum
Garrick Club
Grafton Club
Green Room Club
Gresham Club
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Lombard Street. Business & finance, good food and cellar, a status symbol for the City -- members are merchants, bankers and other gentlemen "of known respectability" (at least 60% Credit Rating skill).
Guards Club
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43 Brook Street, W1. Only open to current or retired officers of the Grenadiers, Coldstream, and Scots Guards; members must also have at least 60% Credit Rating skill to join. Very strict protocol is observed.
Hurlingham Club
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Ranelagh Gardens, Fulham, SW6. 40 acres near Putney, six miles from the center of London, this club caters to sports of all types: croquet, swimming (in a large outdoor pool), badminton, lawn bowling, boating, mounted gymkhana, fencing (including the Ladies' Challenge Cup), squash, cricket, archery, fly casting, auto racing, etc. -- even basketball during the Great War. There are also dog shows, dances, garden parties, horse shows, coaching events, etc. Members (male and female) must be "received in general society." In 1874 this club was the site of the first polo match played in England, about the same time as the first lawn tennis games. Dogs and children of any age are allowed in the club and on the grounds. There are two orchestras which play in the afternoons and evenings.
"Teddie" White is a member.
Jockey Club
Junior Carlton Club
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30 Pall Mall, SW1. Conservatives and "gentlemen of position" only, many peers and members of Parliament, very politically active. The clubhouse is amazingly spacious. Members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill.
Junior United Service Club
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11 Charles Street, St. James', SW1. Only military officers, many from the Indian Army. Very open-minded about guests. The ground floor plan.
Ladies' Army and Navy Club
London Athletic Club
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Stamford Bridge, Fulham. Members partake of various sports and exercises (running, boxing, fencing, rowing, gymnastics, etc.). Indoor practice takes place in the "Iron House" on the club grounds. Members need only 25% Credit Rating skill to join.
Lyceum
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128 Piccadilly. The first women's club among the men's clubs of Piccadilly. Founded for ladies engaged in literature, journalism, science, medicine, and art; members must have an EDU of at least 14.
The Magic Circle
Marylebone Cricket Club
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St. John's Wood Road, NW8 (Lord's Cricket Ground). The MCC is all about cricket; there's a 20 year long waiting list to become a member! And there are no female members. They have one of the few real tennis courts, and a squash court; members play a lot of golf and tennis, as well.
National Liberal Club
Naval & Military Club
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94 Piccadilly, W1. Mostly (but not entirely) military officers, but a very friendly and family-oriented atmosphere, no 'rank pulling'; many Regimental dinners and wedding receptions are held here. Known as the "In and Out", from the signs on the gateposts. The Portland Club (see below) has a private card room at the In & Out.
Oriental Club
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18 Hanover Square, W1. Open to those who have served, traveled, or resided in the East, and are "noblemen, M.Ps., and gentlemen of the first distinction and character" (i.e., must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill). Most are businessmen, rather than military or political types; women may not become members.
Oxford & Cambridge Club
"Teddie" White is a member.
 plan of the first two floors, with a 5 foot hex grid;
the two upper floors (not shown) are rooms for members, the basement contains the kitchens
Portland Club
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This club has rooms at the Naval & Military Club (see above). Members are old, rich bridge players -- many are doctors or lawyers; women may not become members. The rules for bridge and whist are controlled by this club. Nobody with an income of less than £10,000 per year should join -- members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill, and an EDU of at least 14. There are in consequence only about 100 members.
Pratt's
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14 Park Place, St. James', SW1. Conservative senior dinner club, very select (i.e., must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill), with a long waiting list -- members tend to be Guards officers and Tory peers. Women are not admitted either as members or guests. One of the rules provides "that no member bring a stranger into the Club under any pretence whatever." Opens each night at 7 p.m.; nearly every night, Lord Ormathwaite (b. 1863) is at the head of the table.
Press Club
RAF Club
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128 Piccadilly, W1. Current or former officers of the RAF, RNAS, and related Commonwealth air forces.
Reform Club
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104 Pall Mall, SW1. Politically liberal -- members must sign a statement agreeing to uphold the principles of the 1832 Reform Act; very high class (members must be "socially eligible", women may not become members), excellent food, tremendous architecture. Guests allowed only in the Strangers' Room. Members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill.
Roehampton Club
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Roehampton Lane, SW. A 100 acre country club, with three polo grounds, a croquet lawn, tennis courts, squash courts, swimming pools, and a golf course. Members have a Credit Rating of 60% or more.
Fred Willoughby is a member.
Royal Aero Club
Royal Automobile Club
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89 Pall Mall, SW1. The amazingly large club building (completed 1911) has the most complete facilities of any London club: an Italian marble swimming pool, gymnasium, basement rifle range, Turkish baths, air conditioning, 78 bedrooms for members, cigar shop, post office, four squash courts, billiards room, two cocktail bars, etc. Members can also use the RAC Country Club, near Epsom -- two golf courses, bowling green, tennis courts, swimming pool, and 30 bedrooms. Members only need to have at least 25% Credit Rating skill; consequently it has a huge membership, and a person is much less likely to meet someone they know at the club.
Royal Thames Yacht Club
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60 Knightsbridge, SW1. Established in 1775, to encourage yacht building and sailing. The club members may fly a special flag from their yachts, and must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill, and at least 40% Pilot Boat skill. Ladies have been admitted as full members since 1908.
Savage Club
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6 Adelphi Terrace. Members must be writers, artists, musicians, theatrical performers, scientists or lawyers -- though the King and some royal princes are members. They must have either an EDU of 14 or more; or, some performance-related background or skill. Women are admitted only as guests.
Savile Club
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69 Brook Street, W1. An intellectual lot (members must have an EDU of at least 14), whose object is "good fellowship" and a mixture of men from different professions and opinions; it is said that no one can get in unless they are an atheist, or have written a book. Roast beef and beer for dinner; all present dine at one table.
Scottish Club
Shikar Club
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No premises; they meet at the Savoy Hotel. Shooting, exploring and big-game hunting are the focus, with an emphasis on "fair play", duty and sportsmanship in the pursuit of dangerous game. Members are all subjects of the King-Emperor.
Sports Club
St. James's Club
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106 Picadilly, W1. Mostly diplomats (including several dozen members of HBM Diplomatic Service) and (mostly foreign) aristocrats, much genteel gaming till all hours. The Dilletanti Society meets here.
St. Stephen's Club
Thatched House
- 86 St. James's Street, SW1. Deliberately apolitical.
Travellers' Club
Turf Club
Union Club
United Service Club
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116 Pall Mall, SW1. Known as "The Senior;" all members must be at least captains (Army), lieutenants (Royal Navy), or flight lieutenants (RAF), and have at least 60% Credit Rating skill. No guests are allowed to dinner (except when invited by the club), very 'stuffy,' all of the staff are former enlisted men. A very large building, with lots of full-length portraits, busts, statues, mementos, etc.
United University Club
University Women's Club
Victoria Club
White's
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37 St. James' Street, SW1. Founded 1693, this club has a six year waiting list for membership. No bedrooms available, but there are excellent dinners and wine cellar. Members must have at least 60% Credit Rating skill; the club is closely connected with Eton and the Life Guards. Women may neither visit nor become members.
Parisian Clubs
The most exclusive (60% Credit Rating and 60% Speak French required for membership) are:
Jockey-Club de Paris
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2 Rue Rabelais. Very aristocratic; the presidents are usually dukes, marquises or princes. The president since 1919 is Armand de la Rochefoucauld, duc de Doudeauville. Founded races and established horse racecourses -- this club is one of the reasons horse racing is called "the sport of kings".
Cercle de l'Union
Nouveau Cercle
Travellers' Club
A member of a very notable London club might have reciprocal rights at one of the above clubs. Some more welcoming clubs are listed below (members must have at least a Credit Rating of 40% and a Speak French skill also at 40% or more):
Automobile-Club de France
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6 Place de la Concorde. Housed in a palace between the Hotel de Crillon and the Hotel de Coislin; men only (women can appear as guests). Has a swimming pool, gymnasium, billiards room, pistol range, etc. Offers reciprocal rights with the Royal Automobile Club.
L'Aero-Club de France
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6 Rue Galilee. Jules Verne was one of the founders; women have always been admitted as members. French pilots' licenses are issued by this club, which also certifies record-setting flights, air race results, etc. within France. No requirement for French language skill, but most members have at least 20% Pilot Airplane.
Cercle de l'Union Interalliee
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33 Rue du Faubourg-St-Honore. Founded during the Great War as a social and dining club, it's located next to the British embassy. A center for ambassadors, royalty, statesmen and important people of the Allied nations. Has a lot of reciprocal club relationships, including the Royal Auto Club, the Carlton Club, Naval & Military, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Cavalry and Guards Club. The club president from 1928 to 1935 is Jules Cambon, a former diplomat very much in favor of the Entente Cordiale.
Cercle Militaire
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2 av. Portalis. For officers of the French armed forces, in a big swanky palace. Instructors and practice space available for foil, epee, saber and other bladed weapons;
Sporting-Club de France
Golfers' Club
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5 av. Gabriel; has reciprocal rights with various international golf clubs (these guests pay 50 francs per week). The club has a restaurant and bar, a squash court, and a salle d'armes for fencing. Members and guests play on the eighteen hole course outside of Paris, on the road to St. Germain. No requirement for French language skill.
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The nearest course to Paris is that of the Saint-Cloud Club, between St. Cloud and Garches. Visitors are allowed to play here, and also at St. Germain, Fontainebleau, Chantilly, Compiegne and Ormesson.
Lyceum de France
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14 Rue de Bellechasse. Women only, members are in four sections -- fine arts, literature, music, and science. They work for women's rights, and support some notable charities. Within the club itself there's some notable bridge-playing.
Touring-Club de France
Club Alpin Francais
Shanghai Clubs
In Call of Cthulhu terms, it is assumed these clubs require (or provide) at least 40% Credit Rating skill unless otherwise stated. Not all of these clubs admit women or Chinese as full members. There are more than 200 other clubs catering to foreigners at a lower social level than these. Most of these clubs will have reciprocal membership arrangements with other clubs in Britain, India, Europe and America.
American Club
Central Club
Cercle Sportif Francais
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290 Rue Cardinal Mercier. Also known as the French Club. Very large, Neoclassical exterior, Art Deco interior; has a 54 meter long indoor swimming pool, and several tennis courts. More egalitarian than its British and American counterparts. Women and Chinese are admitted as members (in small numbers).
Columbia Country Club
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301 Great Western Road. The members are from American families, and there are facilities for bowling, golf, tennis, baseball, squash, swimming, billiards, etc. on 5 acres of grounds. It's built on a "Spanish Revival" style, and there are many "country homes" of Americans around in the neighborhood. Women are admitted as members.
Country Club
Customs Club
Foreign Y.M.C.A.
Japanese Club
Masonic Hall
Oxford and Cambridge Association of Shanghai
Police Club
Race Club
Shanghai Club
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3 The Bund. Members must have Credit Rating 60% or more -- it's the most exclusive club in Shanghai; men only. Reciprocal memberships exist with several London clubs. The Long Bar is reputedly the longest in the world (about 150'); the positions at the bar are taken in order of seniority and importance. The most powerful taipans sit near the window, looking out onto the Bund. To join costs Yuan $125, with a Yuan $9 monthly fee.
Shanghai Cricket Club
Union Jack Club
Clubs in India
There are many clubs catering to upper-class British subjects in India. They often have quite grand, or even palatial, premises, and an amazing amount of staff; but rules on proper dress and behavior are strictly enforced -- more so than at most London clubs.
Most of these clubs will not accept "native", non-white, or female members. Unless noted, a Credit Rating of 40% and a Speak English of 40% are required to join these clubs; and many of the clubs have waiting lists more than 10 years long. Service clubs are an exception -- British officers or civil administrators can usually join the local service club without concern for Credit Rating or waiting lists.
Adyar Club
Allahabad Club
Bangalore United Services Club
The Bengal Club
Calcutta Club
Calcutta United Service Club
Chittagong Club
Dhaka Club
Madras Club
Nizam Club
Pegu Club
Royal Calcutta Golf Club
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The first golf course outside of Great Britain (in fact, only the Royal Blackheath near London is older outside of Scotland). Also has tennis courts, swimming pools, etc.. Women can join as members, but can only use the golf course in the mornings -- men can only play golf in the afternoon. This club has reciprocal membership arrangements with many other golf clubs.
The Saturday Club
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Many of the club's members are officers of the Calcutta Light Horse Regiment -- counts as a service club for them, although the majority of members are not in the military. Has a good restaurant, a swimming pool, and a famous badminton court.
Secunderabad Club
Sind Club
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In Karachi, on Club Road. Women are not allowed inside (except for a ladies' dinner every couple of months, and an annual ball) -- a famous sign says, "Women and dogs not allowed." A fairly toxic club in terms of attitude towards women, natives, and anything remotely "liberal".
Tollygunge Club
Willingdon Sports Club
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Founded in Bombay in 1918, it has always been open to men of any race or caste -- rich, influential men. It has a 15 hole golf course, tennis courts, and many other sports amenities; and a wide variety of trees, tropical plants and birds. Membership consists of extremely wealthy people, and their families; most of the Indian members are Parsees (Zoroastrians). A Credit Rating of 60% is required for a character to be a member of this club; women are admitted as guests. Reciprocal membership in some golf courses in the UK would be the best way for a character to visit.
New York Clubs
If not otherwise stated, all of these clubs require Credit Rating 60% or more, and members must be white, non-Jewish men. There are of course prominent clubs without notable permanent quarters, such as "The Room". These clubs don't usually allow members or guests to conduct "business" in their public rooms -- though plenty still gets done in private meeting-rooms, etc.
In addition, there are many more "principal" clubs not listed here; and hundreds ... maybe a couple thousand ... clubs with a lower Credit Rating requirement.
Members of some of these clubs play the obscure game of bottle pool.
New York Athletic Club
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180 Central Park South at Seventh Ave. Founded 1868; their Manhattan building (the 24 story "City House") was constructed 1929 in Renaissance Revival style. 6,000 members, who must have a Credit Rating of 40% or more; no specific "athletic" skill is required. The club also owns Travers Island, a 30 acre facility in Long Island Sound. Every possible non-motorized sport is practiced by the club's members, including de Alfonce tennis; the club building includes a swimming pool and a gigantic gymnasium. Reciprocating clubs include many golf courses; and in London the Landsdowne Club, Naval & Military Club, Royal Automobile Club, and the St. James Club.
Bankers' Club of America
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120 Broadway (The Equitable Building). Founded 1915; the current building was built in 1915, the club has leased premises on the top three floors (38-40). Entrance fee $100, annual fee $100; guests can be invited, and "strangers of distinction" may be invited to use the club's facilities by the Board of Governors. 2000 members; they must have a Credit Rating of 90% or more, and should work in the banking or financial sectors.
The Brook
Century Club
Colony Club
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564 Park Avenue. Founded 1903. 2200 members, entirely women, with a Credit Rating of 90% or more -- members include Morgans, Rockefellers, Astors, Vanderbilts, etc.. However, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned in protest because the club does not admit Jewish members. It includes a basement swimming pool, spa and gymnasium, and two dozen bedrooms for members or their (female) guests.
Harmonie Club
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4 East 60th St. Founded 1852. The fourth-oldest social club in the city; the current building was constructed in 1905. Originally most members were German-speaking Jews; almost all members are Jewish men, most know German, and the American Jewish Committee holds its meetings here. The club also owns the North Shore Country Club on Long Island. 850 members.
Harvard Club of New York City
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27 West 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Founded 1887, building constructed 1894 to 1915 in Neo-Georgian style. 5564 members, who must be graduates or tenured faculty members of Harvard University. FDR (degree in 1903) is a member. Members must have an EDU of at least 16; it's possible that some of the women who attended graduate school at Harvard could be members (I don't know for sure). Reciprocating clubs include many other university clubs around the world.
Knickerbocker Club
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2 East 62nd Street, at Fifth Ave. Founded 1871; their current building was constructed 1913 in Neo-Georgian style. Has reciprocal membership with several overseas clubs, including Brooks and the Turf Club in London, the Caccia in Rome, the Jockey-Club and the Nouveau Cercle in Paris, etc.. 700 members; they must have a Credit Rating of at least 90%; FDR and Douglas Fairbanks are members.
The Links
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36 East 62nd St. Founded 1916. While founded as a golf club, it's best known for company chairmen, presidents of banks, important government officials, generals, and other VIPs. Members have a Credit Rating of 90% or more, or only 60% if they are a notable golfer (or are president of the USGA). The club has no course, but has reciprocal membership arrangements with many important golf clubs around the world.
Metropolitan Club
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1 East 60th St. at Fifth Ave. Founded 1893 by very rich men. Constructed 1893 (east wing 1912) in Renaissance Revival style.Women can become members, but they are mostly restricted to an annex; no black or Jewish members, however. Formal dress required at all times. 1014 members.
Players' Club
Racquet and Tennis Club
Union Club of the City of New York
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101 East 69th at Park Ave. Founded 1836 (the oldest club in New York), the current building was constructed in 1933 in Neo-Georgian style. Very conservative -- formal dress required at all times. The 1400 members have a Credit Rating of 90% or more (mostly to represent the fact that they are all very, very rich).
Union League Club
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38 East 37th St. The current clubhouse opened in 1931. Founded 1863, by abolitionists who left the Union Club. The club is devoted to governmental reform and "public spiritedness". There are 1800 members, including Herbert Hoover; however, Jews (since the 1890s), non-white men, or women may not join.
University Club of New York
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1 West 54th Street, at Fifth Ave. Founded 1865; its current building was constructed in 1900 in Renaissance Revival style. 3420 members, all must have Credit Rating of at least 80%, and college degrees (i.e., an EDU of at least 14); most are alumni of Yale, Columbia, or other Ivy League schools. Formal wear is required in the evenings (at least). Reciprocating clubs include many university clubs around the world.
New York Yacht Club
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37 West 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Ave. Founded 1844, the current Manhattan clubhouse was constructed 1901 in Beaux-Arts style. They also own several small "stations" at various places between New York City and Rhode Island. Members must have a Credit Rating of at least 75%, and at least 40% Pilot Boat. Women have been eligible to become members since 1894.
Yale Club of New York City
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50 Vanderbilt Avenue. Founded 1897. 4800 members, almost entirely alumni or faculty of Yale University (and must have an EDU of 16 or more); note there are no female students or faculty at Yale. The 22 story clubhouse was completed in 1915. The club was able to store enough liquor on the premises to last entirely through Prohibition. Reciprocating clubs include many university clubs around the world.
Other Clubs
Clubs not listed above, but on a social par with London's best clubs: the Royal Cork Yacht Club; the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo; the Caccia in Rome; the Casino in Berlin; the British-American Club at Biarritz; the Union in Port Said; the Gezira Sporting Club, in Cairo, Egypt; the Union and Harvard in Boston; the Reading Room in Newport; and the St. James in Montreal among them. All of these require at least 60% Credit Rating skill for membership (except for some that automatically allow military or government officials to join).
Primary Sources: The Gentlemen's Clubs of London, by Anthony Lejeune; pub. Macdonald & Janes, London, 1979; Dickens's Dictionary of London 1888, by Charles Dickens; pub. Macmillan & Co., London 1888 (in facsimile by Old House Books, Newton Abbot, 1993); Baedeker's London and Its Environs, by Karl Baedeker; pub. by Karl Baedeker, Leipzig, var. dates; The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, by Elizabeth Crawford, 2001; Kelly's Handbook to the Upper Ten Thousand 1879, 5th Edition; pub. by Kelly and Co., London, 1879; Kelly's Handbook of Distinguished People 1938, pub. by Kelly's Directories Ltd., London 1938; A Tour of New York's Clubland, in The City Journal, Winter 1992, by Anthony Lejeune; De Alfonce Tennis, by J.P. Donleavy, pub. E.P. Dutton, New York, 1984.
Pulp Clubs
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Comments (2)
Michael said
at 10:42 am on Mar 4, 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlton_House_Terrace
Michael said
at 10:41 am on Mar 4, 2014
Oddly enough, the Diogenes Club seems to share its street address with the Union Club now. Floor plans are at http://10-11cht.com/about/
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