ALL ABOUT THE CLUB
The History of the Fourth Street Club
(Excerpts from 50th Anniversary Dinner)
In the year of Our Lord 1909, when a Philadelphia society girl named Violet Ridgeway took a 200-mile balloon ride, the Reading Railroad reduced commutation fares, 7,000 shirtwaist makers went out on strike and the clergymen of the city protested against a performance of SALOME with all her seven veils, four young men who had been members of the same fraternity in their respective colleges, George B. Atlee, George I. Bodine, Jr., Charles T. Brown and Fred T. Thomas conceived the notion that a luncheon club for the other young fraternity brothers in the neighborhood of 4thand Chestnut Streets would be a cheerful thing. There have been many such notions in the history of the Republic, most of which have lost the breath of life during the talking-over period and faded quietly away, but this particular one had more vitality. The four young men found that the fraternity angle was not workable, so they rounded up nine more prospective luncheon eaters who were also getting started on their business careers. They were Harry Bell, Ernst Kennedy, Robert MacDonald, Jr., Guy Rogers, Charles Dulles, Jr., William Kurtz, Edward Maxwell, Horace Smith, Jr., and Cornelius Bodine, and they gathered in Bob MacDonald’s office at Walter A. Ross & Co., 112 South 4th Street, to talk over their idea. They decided to call themselves the Fourth Street Club; and somehow a spirit of friendliness and intimacy took hold on that day which carried them through the preliminaries, helped them establish the Club, and has stayed with their idea to this day.
Whatever records they kept of the first meeting – if they kept any – have long since vanished. Our earliest written history only mentions them by complaining by their lack of same. By May of that year, there was a clubroom on the second floor over Barnes & Lofland’s, at the southeast corner of 4th and Harmony Streets. The building was next to Jennings’ Restaurant, and a doorway had been cut through the wall so that Emma (the Club’s first waitress) could serve the members. Herb Timanus, an early member, recalled her daily question: “Duz any of yez care fer tay?” Apparently, Emma was well-liked and she was perceived to have set the tone for all the good folks who were on staff over the years.
As the Club prospered, it became necessary to formalize the Association, and as a result John Arthur Brown, an attorney, was engaged to draw up a Charter and arrange for incorporation. (A further note about Mr. John Arthur Brown – he was later to become a member of the Club and also President of Pine Valley Golf Club. He was instrumental in the good relations that the Club still enjoys with Pine Valley to this day). This Charter, dated September 22, 1909, was their first Christmas present to themselves. It holds the signatures of the six charter members:
George I. Bodine, Jr.
Robert MacDonald, Jr.
Guy W. Rogers
Henry Bell, Jr.
J. Herbert Timanus
Charles T. Brown
It was then that the first of the Annual Christmas Parties was held. The feature was the punch, made according to Ed Clark’s recipe, with Fred Thomas assisting. The Annual Christmas Party is still a tradition, although the secret punch recipe appears to have been misplaced.
1910 seems to have been an uneventful one, for there are no surviving records. The Club was growing and becoming stronger as it entered 1911, which got off to an exciting start when the first pantaloon skirt appeared on Chestnut Street in March. This upset everyone in one way or the other, and seemed to affect Fourth Streeters in an odd way: they began to wish for better food and more rooms. The Board of Directors and the House Committee combined talents in search of better facilities. At the same time, interest in baseball reached a fever pitch as a result of the success of the Philadelphia Athletics (now playing in Oakland, CA). The Fourth Street Club started their own team and began playing other organizations. While the A’s went on to win the World Series, the Fourth Street nine were not so well thought of according to recollections. After having played a team of Marines, the Marines commented: “I don’t know who they are, but they come from a Hell of a neighborhood.”
Whether because of the disparaging comments from the Marines or because of the need for better accommodations, the Board of Directors and members approved unanimously a move to new quarters at 112 South 4th Street, over the offices of Walter I. Ross & Co., among whose employees were Brown and MacDonald, and Van Hook’s Restaurant which was commissioned to serve the meals. The move was made in October of 1912 and, according to the historian of those days, it was after this move that the history of the Club really began. It was no longer an experiment, but had changed to a sound and growing organization. The early records recall such trying events of the day such as Teddy Roosevelt denouncing the “respectables” of the Union League for daring to endorse Taft, a convention of suffragettes at Witherspoon Hall, and the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company raising conductors’ wages to 27 cents per hour. Those were the days.
In 1913, local amusement was curtailed when the city ordered all cabarets to be closed in February of that year. The Fourth Streeters were unfazed and were doing so well that they decided to terminate the arrangement with van Hook’s Restaurant and employ a Club Steward. The third floor of the building was rented and a pool table installed. Though pool had its devotees, the most popular action was at the poker and bridge tables. Apparently, the aforementioned punch bowl (with Ed Clark’s, may he rest in peace, secret recipe) was a focal point and blamed for many a comatose member. 1914 was notable as the start of The Great War and the continued use of the punch bowl. In 1915, the Club held its first member golf championship. The first low gross champion was (who else?) Ed Clark, who apparently was a multi-talented fellow able to master the punch bowl and the flat stick as well.
Club records during this time recorded a number of activities. The Club still had a baseball team that played all over the area. There were receipts from such trips for whiskey at $1.30/quart and old menus for sirloin steaks at 50 cents each and deviled crabs at 25 cents. Other activities included golf, bridge, sniff, Mah Jongg, pool, cribbage and poker. There was also a contest, unhappily fallen out of favor when the members began to grow more sedentary, called a “crew race.” In this affair, two teams of eight men sat down on the floor, each with a bottle of beer. At the staring gun, the first man of each team went to work on his bottle, and when it was empty the second man took over. The race was won by the first team who drank its bottles dry and did not drown in the process. This might need to be revived for our Annual Meeting perhaps.
In the earlier days of the Club, most offices worked a 5-1/2 day work week. Many members would get off work at noon on Saturday and then go to the Club for lunch, often staying the afternoon playing bridge or poker and maybe having a beverage or two.
The United States entered The Great War in 1917. The Club records noted much activity related to the war. U-Boats were patrolling off the coast on New Jersey and locals were busy organizing Home Defense actions. There were acute sugar shortages, seven wheatless meals per week, and no meat served on Tuesdays. 39 Fourth Streeters joined the Armed Services during this time. Two men were killed in action. They were:
Richard F. Day
Robert J. Isett
During 1918, the war struck close to home as six ships were sunk off the coast of New Jersey. Lights had to be turned off along the coast line. In the autumn, a deadly outbreak of Spanish influenza broke out and all saloons were ordered closed. In November, the war finally ended and matters settled down somewhat after the difficult war years. In early 1919, troops began coming home including Fourth Streeters. This also was the onset of Prohibition. This also might have signaled the end of the “crew race.”
In 1920, the Interclub Bridge League was formed. The members included Germantown Cricket, Union League, Art, Princeton, Hamilton and the Fourth Street Club. However talented the IV men were, the first championship was not won until 1935.
Prohibition dominated the early 1920s and there are no records that the Fourth Street Club did not comply. However, it was noted that Bookbinder’s, located not so far away, was raided and $35,000 worth of booze was carted away.
1925 was a significant year for the Club. The news of the time included John L. Lewis leading a prolonged strike of mine workers and the local Schmidt’s brewery being raided for beer on hand. It was also this year that the club moved out of its home at 112 South 4th Street, when the building was sold and the lease was not extended. The Club moved to 330 Harmony Street and meals were supplied by a Mrs. Young. The new quarters were larger and more pleasantly furnished and the Club continued to do well. The social chairman at the time scheduled a two day party at Seaview which led to this becoming an annual event, where golf and other activities were played. Apparently, the members were so exuberant that the resort would not invite the Fourth Street Club back the following year. The annual Christmas party that year led to one member being so “confused” after the party that he was unable to find his house. His wife then called the Club leaders and complained about the party. A couple of weeks later, two officers showed up at the Club during lunch time where they found some cider that had transformed itself into an adult beverage. This did not sit well with the law and two directors were led to jail. For posterity, these brave men were named John V. (“Jack”) Hastings, Jr. and Bill Whitall. $600 bail was raised among the members and the IV men again walked among free citizens, but only after spending most of the night behind bars. Showing that Fourth Streeters were men’s men, Hastings’ wife delivered twins while he was in the pokey.
The depression arrived and affected the Club, as it did most entities of the time. Business firms began to move uptown and took some of our members with them. Attendance dropped and it looked as if there would be a flood of resignations. The Club changed boundaries for active members to 13th Street. As this westbound emigration became more general, some members began getting together at a table at the uptown Quaker Lady. From this single table, this eventually grew to an uptown Club Room, when the Club took over the second floor of 1525 Locust Street. As a result, there were two Club Rooms operating until 1953, when the downtown branch was closed. There was much sadness about closing the downtown location, but the area was later cleared for what is now the Independence Hall Mall.
The 1940s were dominated by World War II. 26 Fourth Street members served in the armed forces during the war, and it appears that all 26 made it home alive. After the war, activities picked up again with the restarting of the annual golf tournament and bridge was started back up.
In 1953, the Club moved to 1603 Latimer Street, in the rear of the new Quaker Lady Restaurant located at 1604 Locust Street. The members were happy to have added air-conditioning for the first time with this move. 1953 also marked the occasion of the first Sniff championship, which continue to this day.
The 50th Anniversary Party was held on October 15, 1959 at the clubhouse. There were 125 members at the time and the clubhouse was jam packed as only three members were unable to attend. John S. Williams, president of the club, presided over the evening’s toasts and remembrances. Dinner was held in the large dining room at the Quaker Lady Restaurant. Two of the speakers that evening were founding members of the Club, Fred Thomas and J. Herbert Timanus. It was noted that such a good time was had that a number of the members were “unpopular with our wives” for a while after the evening. To commemorate the evening, a plaque was commissioned that reads as follows:
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY DINNER
On this, the Fifteenth of October, 1959, we have gathered at our Club House to celebrate the Fiftieth Birthday of the Fourth Street Club. To boast of our golf, our sniff, our bridge; to chide our fellow Fourth Streeter for his foibles; to stand a moment in memory of those who are no longer with us; to drink a toast to the firm lasting friendships that this unique association has brought to us all, and to pledge a better fifty years to come.
(This plaque was signed by 125 members of the club who attended dinner.)
Oral History Post 1959
Sometime after 1959, the ownership of the Quaker Lady restaurant, who also served as the landlord for Fourth Street Club, changed hands and renamed the restaurant Le Panetiere. The Club remained a lively lunch spot during those years. A number of members still worked in center city and the restaurant provided really good meals directly from their kitchen, often at cost. A nice sirloin steak might be had for $3.00. Most days, 8 to 20 members came for lunch, which could stretch to 2 hours or more for some. Lunch in those days was served at a long table with pictures of all past presidents on the clubhouse wall. There is also a possibility that a martini or two might have been consumed over a hand of bridge in those days.
Bridge and Sniff were the most popular pastimes at the Club in the 1960s and early 1970s. There were often 3 or 4 tables going at lunch time for both games. Many of the members were quite good bridge players. In fact, a member named Bob Thomas was a regular playing partner of Charles Goren, the reigning bridge guru of the times. Thomas was able to play superb bridge while never arranging the cards in his hand, for fear of tipping his opponents of what he might hold. The number one bridge table was manned by Thomas, Jimmy Sinkler, Jimmy Windsor, and Tommy Mikell. Bill Walker recalled a time just after he joined the Club when he was asked to join a game as the 4th player, whereupon he proceeded to misplay a no trump hand, and then was loudly referred to as an undesirable body part by his partner! Walker took up Sniff from that point on! These games were serious affairs by all accounts.
The Sniffmeister in those days was a member named Frank Deacon, who had games going daily. Deacon was not a big fan of the New Deal and would not carry Roosevelt dimes in his pocket. The Club maintained a special can in the bar where he would empty his pockets of Roosevelt dimes with great ceremony. So it seems that Sniffmeisters of every age have their eccentricities!
Each member had his own key to the Club, which led to some occasional after hours mischief with ladies it was said. Even though the miscreants have passed on, the code of silence is still in effect and names shall not be revealed here. The bar was available on an honor system. Each member would record how many drinks they had poured and payments made accordingly. Chuck Atmore recalled going to the state store on a regular basis with Frank Rutan and Andy Leith, Jr. to purchase the booze and haul it back to the Club, much to the delight of the older members.
Le Panetiere was approached by a center city law firm who wanted the space for their partners and possible entertainment of clients (maybe more late night escapades?). In or around 1981, they did not offer to renew the lease so the Club had to go looking for new quarters. One of the members at the time, Foster Jack, found a building close by at 1522 Latimer. It was a two story building that had been occupied by the Delaware Valley Building Association, a trade organization.
The building had potential, but it cost approximately $190,000 which was a challenge to the members. A limited partnership was formed with a share in the partnership costing $5000 each. Much more than the purchase price was required as the building required substantial renovation with a new kitchen being the most consequential. The renovations cost another $140,000. Fred Aldridge handled the legal matters related to this purchase and Bill Walker was named the General Partner for the LP.
For a while after the move to 1522 Latimore, the Club still had regular lunch usage and activity was brisk. As the demographics of the Club and the habits of the business community changed, attendance at lunch declined and the ability to support two full-time employees became a financial problem. The last employee and Club Steward was Gloria Shannon who would prepare sandwiches, then come right out and serve them. The red ink began to flow and the Club relied increasingly on voluntary contributions to get by. As the costs rose and the use fell, members began to resign. Membership declined to 69 by the early 1990s.
Member Bill Morgan had the idea to ask the limited partners who had financed the purchase of 1522 Latimer to donate their share to the Club. A letter was circulated to all limited partners and a large number, to their everlasting credit, stepped up and donated their shares back to the Club. This allowed for the possibility of selling the property. After a stormy negotiation, 1522 Latimer was sold to the Pen & Pencil Club leaving the Club with a substantial cash balance – and no place to go.
With the sale of 1522 Latimer imminent, the Club needed a home. There was discussion of becoming a “virtual” club with no home base, but it was thought this was not a structure that would survive. Bill Walker approached one of his business clients by the name of Sally Wirts, who was active with The Acorn Club. The Acorn Club is the oldest woman’s club in the USA and was located around the corner at 1519 Locust. A deal was struck with The Acorn Club and we moved into a third floor room, with arrangements similar to what exists today (2015). It has proven to be a successful partnership between two exclusive clubs, one for ladies and one for men.
The move itself was accomplished fairly easily, as most of the furnishings were included in the sale and left behind. The “moving company” was called in – Cliffe Cheston, Harry Lonsdale, Jim Smartt, Bob Glendinning, and Jud Van Dervort – and took all of the remaining belongings in two trucks one afternoon and took them directly to The Acorn Club. This move took place in 1995 during Glendinning’s time as President.
With the change in business and lunch habits over the years, the Club instituted a First Tuesday lunch that attracted members into the Club for monthly gatherings. With the newfound cash balance and a substantial dues increase (to $150!), the Club also began the practice of holding a “free” annual meeting dinner each January and a “free” Christmas sing-a-long luncheon each December. These proved very popular and continue to draw a large annual attendance to this day.
For many years dating back to 1970s, the Club has had golf outings to bring members together outside of the clubhouse. Most years, these were played at local clubs with one out of town trip per year. Beginning in the 1990s, the Club began to branch out to play a more adventurous schedule at many of the top courses in the northeast and beyond. The golf courses played include such names as Pine Valley, Merion, The National, Winged Foot, Somerset Hills, Muirfield Village, Seminole, Fishers Island, Yeamans Hall, and many many more world reknown venues as well as less publicized gems.
With the daily lunch business gone, another innovation was initiated to bring members together on a regular basis. Under the leadership of Harry Hill, the Club began to offer dining experiences at other private venues in the Philadelphia area, where Fourth Streeters were also members. An annual fishing tournament was begun. There is an annual Masters’ night and putting contest (Ross Campbell host at Sunnybrook Club), an annual beer tasting (Greg Wolcott innovation held at Merion Golf), and regular wine dinners and history talks. As this is written, the Club continues to innovate and offer a varied social experience to our Club members.
In 2009, the Fourth Street Club made preparations to celebrate its 100th year anniversary. We were proud of the fact that we had survived and even prospered for this period. A black tie dinner was held at The Union League on May 20, 2009 and was attended by almost every member. Elsewhere on this web site in the Archives section, the menu and the schedule of proceedings from that evening are posted for remembering. It was a most enjoyable night, made more so by the large gathering. Remarks by past presidents retraced the history of the Club. A toast was given for all those who have passed on and for the future. Later in the year, a more light-hearted evening was held at Gulph Mills Golf Club with food and entertainment enjoyed by members and spouses.
Another milestone was celebrated in 2015 when the club held its centennial golf championship marking 100 years since the first championship. It has been held continuously for 100 years with the lone exception of the war year of 1942. The 1915 champions were Edward Clark III and Sigourney Mellor and the 2015 champs were Joe Somers and Rich Aldridge, with a lot of golf “wedged” in the intervening years. A full summary of the centennial golf outing can be found in the Archives.
As this is written in 2017, The Fourth Street Club has a full membership, a robust social and golf calendar each year, and looking forward to future milestones as we preserve this fine institution. There is even talk of petitioning Seaview to lift their ban on the Club and making a return visit after more than 80 years! UPDATE: the Seaview ban was lifted in the year 2017 thus removing a stain on the honor of our fine club. A more complete report on this momentous event can be found in the Archives.