# Is There a Nice, Stuffy edwardian (London) Club I Can Join? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812 "2010-08-10T12:43:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/1 "2010-08-10T12:43:43Z")
Reading some Sherlock Holmes stories, I was struck by how important men’s clubs were in Edwardian England-it seemed that a lot of men spent most of their spare time at clubs. Are there any such places left? I mean, places with tall velvet chairs, where you can nod off after a few pink gins? With sonookes tables and butlers? Or are these clubs a tning of the past? How do you join up? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/2 "2010-08-10T12:44:51Z")
Srry! (With sonookes tables )-I emant “snookers tables”! ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/3 "2010-08-10T12:51:39Z")
Yeah totally, I would love to be a member of [Bertie Wooster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertie_Wooster)’s Drones Club. Cricket with bread rolls and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/4 "2010-08-10T13:31:05Z")
A lot of the ones from Victorian times (and earlier - White’s was opened in 1693) are still around: The Aetheneum, Garrick, Boodle’s, Brooks etc. I’ve no idea how you would join most of them. Some are military related eg The Special Forces Club where you have to be SF or secret services. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/5 "2010-08-10T13:35:41Z")
Start your own club! With blackjack! And snookers! ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/6 "2010-08-10T13:51:17Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > A lot of the ones from Victorian times (and earlier - White’s was opened in 1693) are still around: The Aetheneum, Garrick, Boodle’s, Brooks etc. I’ve no idea how you would join most of them. Some are military related eg The Special Forces Club where you have to be SF or secret services. I don’t know of any you can apply to as opposed to receiving an invitation to join. Some are simply by invitation of member, others by a more general invitation to people of a particular category. I get periodic invitations from the Oxford & Cambridge Club and the East India Club, but had no interest in joining either. Some of them tend towards a certain sector of the population (other than rich males) such as the theatrical profession or journalism, but this isn’t necessary by rule, more an unspoken thing that these are the people who should be invited. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/7 "2010-08-10T14:01:36Z")
Many of those clubs will have reciprocal arrangements with similar clubs in other parts of the world. So one way in would be to join an appropriate gentlemen’s club in your home town, then use those reciprocal arrangements while visiting London. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/8 "2010-08-10T14:08:25Z")
I used to belong to the QI Club (yes, that QI) in Oxford, which was mixed gender, not exclusively for gentlemen. Big fireplace, leather armchairs, lots of books and games around. It was great. I accidentally joined once when drunk in charge of a new credit card. It had reciprocal arrangements with a club in London. Sadly it got bought, turned into the Corner Club, then went bust. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/9 "2010-08-10T14:18:36Z")
How much does a club membership cost? Is it out of reach for the average Joe? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/10 "2010-08-10T15:09:59Z")
I assume that it would have to be expensive, otherwise they’d have a hard time maintaining their air of exclusivity. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/11 "2010-08-10T15:12:06Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Start your own club! With blackjack! And snookers! I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/12 "2010-08-10T15:39:48Z")
I dunno… any club with a Snookie table, I don’t want anything to do with… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/13 "2010-08-10T15:54:21Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > How much does a club membership cost? Is it out of reach for the average Joe? The one I joined was £250 for the year. That was a discounted price though - it should have been £500. But I’m sure the really ancient ones are way way more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/14 "2010-08-10T23:59:22Z")
Depending on where you went to college, you can possibly slide in the backdoor of one of those places. My university does not have its own club BUT has a deal worked out with another university who does so that I could join that club and THEN get reciprocity benefits with a number of clubs (not just university affiliated) worldwide. The list includes a number of stuffy old London clubs (think St. James, the military affiliated clubs, the Oxford and Cambridge Club). My impression is that a lot of those clubs have become not un-open to sort of pimping themselves out as quasi-hotels to the commoners as they tend to have a lot of valuable/centrally located real estate and the days of proper members living at their clubs or staying there while in town may have declined a bit. So as long as they can quasi-restrict it by requiring you to have **some** ostensibly-selective membership **somewhere** , they’ll take your trade. I’ve thought about doing it. The annual dues aren’t ridiculous and some of the room rates, while not super-cheap, are decent for central London. And, it’d be cool to be shooting billiards at the RAF Club. On the other hand, you might get former military guys (or barons, or whatever) staring daggers at the foreign civilian interloper. ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/15 "2010-08-11T00:45:57Z")
My FIL is a member of The Athenaeum Club. My understanding is that to join you would need a member to nominate you and another member to second it (the second member doesn’t need to know you - people will automatically second the people their friends nominate). I think I remember my FIL saying there was a veto system but I can’t remember what it was. Only very controversial nominations would have people voting against them though. There are several clubs that offer discounted annual fees to younger members because they’re having trouble attracting young men, and will obviously have problems once the current lot die out. I don’t know how much annual membership fees are, but my FIL mentioned that it’s not much more than a gym membership (a lot of gyms run about $1200 a year here), though “not much more” could mean anywhere from $1201 to $5000, who knows. The club doesn’t admit female members, but I’ve been a few times as a guest of my FIL. It’s not really my thing, but it’s definitely an interesting experience; staff who know all the members by name, really excellent and unobtrusive service, lots of mahogany and leather and fancy artwork, and a dress code for all members. They actually have pretty cool events too - a LOT of wine appreciation nights, regular black tie functions, and cooking classes held by chefs from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants. But most of it seems to be eating, drinking, and socializing with other upper middle class old men. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/16 "2010-08-11T04:30:26Z")
> [@Kayeby](#): > > …But most of it seems to be eating, drinking, and socializing with other upper middle class old men. Ah, but one of those Stuffy Olde Clubs in literature sounded ideal simply because socializing was frowned on. It wasn’t Bertie’s _Drones Club_, or Jeeves’s\* Junior Ganymedes\*… maybe Lord Peter Wimsey’s? At any rate, that’s what I want. A hidey-hole wherein members are assured of a snifter of brandy and a current copy of The Times in front of a fire. Without any glad-handing jackanape startling you with some of that “Well, well, well. Where have _you_ been keeping yourself?” To which I would raise the old eyebrow: “Well, well, well, I’ve been keeping myself right _here_, where I have been assured of a total lack of jackanapes glad-handing anyone.” And I shall rustle my Times and return to my perusal of the funnies therein… ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/17 "2010-08-11T10:55:00Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ah, but one of those Stuffy Olde Clubs in literature sounded ideal simply because socializing was frowned on. It wasn’t Bertie’s _Drones Club_, or Jeeves’s\* Junior Ganymedes\*… maybe Lord Peter Wimsey’s? Mycroft Holmes’s Diogenes Club restricted members from speaking aloud within its walls. In Lord Peter’s Bellona Club (a club for soldiers), conversation was not forbidden, but elderly members harrumph’d when young persons like WWI vet George Fentiman spoke too loudly and intemperately. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/18 "2010-08-11T11:20:14Z")
> [@Kayeby](#): > > The club [the Athenaeum] doesn’t admit female members… Actually, the Athenaeum has admitted women since 2002. This reflects a general trend among the older clubs towards less exclusivity. Which is being forced on them as the type of person who used to join them as a matter of course becomes increasingly rare. After all, who now would want to be a member of the Athenaeum or the Reform, if they can instead join the Groucho or Soho House? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/19 "2010-08-11T13:07:30Z")
I read too much Sherlock Holmes as a child and have always wanted to join a proper club. In my area, The Army and Navy Club in DC is quite nice, but also very expensive as I live close enough to the clubhouse to pay the full membership fee. The Engineers’ Club in Baltimore is cheaper and eager for members. Somehow that turns me off to joining there. I suspect Groucho had it right, I would not want to join any club that would actually have me as a member. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812/20 "2010-08-11T14:27:43Z")
There’s some interesting historical background in the Wikipedia article on [Gentlemen’s club.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen%27s_club) And here’s a [List of London’s gentlemen’s clubs.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_London%27s_gentlemen%27s_clubs) In the U.S., of course, “gentlemen’s club” usually means a strip club. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-nice-stuffy-edwardian-london-club-i-can-join/549812.md?page=2)