Show W 7 p are e you a ca A qu AM 1 0 0 ri 40 then ThenH here ereA re some organizations 10 you may have overlooked the society to lo prevent parents parent nam 0 the hats hat society of men who wear funny their offspring Off tpring clarence the ing society for the prevention of calling 0 the hay fever association Anocia tion sleeping car porters porter george the quiet birdmen birdeen the royal order of hard boiled owls owl the woodland bards bard t with rubber ears ear the caterpillar club the ancient and honorable order of the benjamin franklins franklin G wash wah puller the national society of long fellows fellow the a guild bild of former organ Pu ropers the society of giant engineers engineer the ancient order of froth blowers blower the fossils I 1 the ile slumbering ground hot hog lodge the cub reporters reporter association on the international bar flies the sick and sorry club ft the bald headed club of america the son of wild jackasses Jack Jac kasses axe club the society of authors author who have the ship model maker makers club been hissed hired the choit club the circus fans fan association the bean barrel club the ancient and honorable order of the polar bear club blue goose 0 the ancient honorable and mystical the six foot association Afo ciati on order of lapa lapas CH r is cher by ELMO SCOTT WATSON OME one has made the wisecrack wise crack a that it two or more men meet any where in the world and one of them Is an englishman he will immediately get busy and organize a club the insinuation being of course that the englishman Is by nature it a joiner even if that were true the fact remains that he has little if anything on his american cousin in this respect for reliable statistics show that there are in tho the united states more than lodges or fraternal organizations which should presumably satisfy the longing of the majority of americans for belonging but that take into account the innumerable clubs societies associations and other organizations and rare indeed Is the american who belong to one or more of these all of these of course are organized for a purpose social political civic business scientific professional patriotic and honorary and those purposes are earnestly fostered by millions of earnest americans and some of these earnest americans are so late interested rested in fostering those earnest purposes that they make an earnest effort to see how bow many of them they can join and then base their claim to tame fame on the number of organizations to which they belong but it if some aforesaid earnest american becomes just a bit bir tired of his membership in clubs which have a purpose he still has an outlet for his joining proclivities in some organizations izat ions which are not so purposeful these are the ones which have sometimes been designated as freak and fun clubs and it Is with this type of organization that this article deals so if you are a joiner and are looking for other club worlds to conquer take a look at the list at the head of this article and decide which one you would like to join of course the qualifications for some of them may be a bit difficult for you to meet but if you arent eligible tor for one you may be for another for instance it if you arent a white person six feet and one inch tall tail or more be almost instantly blackballed if you applied for membership in the national society of long fellows or the six foot association the national society of long fellows was started several years ago by phil E zimmerman of topeka kan when he be was hotel commissioner of the sunflower state since that time the club has grown so 80 rapidly that there are now several thousand members throughout the united states some of the objectives of the club are to fo get longer bath tubs shirts sox and other clothing higher awnings signs and ceilings bigger seats in theaters and leg room between the rows restaurant tables that do not require the long fellow to hold them up with his knees and pull roan man berths in which they can sleep without doubling up like a jackknife among members are john ansen aasen of los angeles calif who heads the list with a height of eight feet nine and one quarter inches next tallest Is allf thompson of wisconsin who Is eight feet and six inches three seven footers are 0 R williams of oklahoma and ruth duncan and forest glenn of illinois mr bit williams Is seven feet and five inches miss duncan is seven feet and one inch tall and mr glenn Is half an inch taller than she ten year old robert wadlow of alton ill III Is a member robert to IB six feet and eleven inches tall it if your personal appearance quality qualify yon for that one perhaps an absence of hair on your head will make you a knight of the gleaming skull in the bald head club of america that club was started away back in 1900 when paul meade a lawyer of new york took a photograph of six bald headed men seated on the steps of john beldens beldena Bel dens store to in falls village conn by chance a copy of this photograph tell fell into the hands of john Roder Ko demeyer a greenwich conn newspaperman newspaper man and presto I 1 john then and there formed a club now it has more than 1000 members and at every annual banquet some member gives a stirring speech on hair tonics which bald headed barbers barbera sell to bald headed boobs blobs or some such subject gub jact P S if youre addicted to covering your baldness with outlandish headgear then theres a place for you in the society of men who wear funny hats ever go to the circus sure you answer go every year dont care much about it myself but I 1 have to take the children but just because youre a regular attendant it mean that youre eligible for membership la in the circus fans of america not unless at some time in your juvenile career you earned you way into the show by carrying water for the elephant karl kae knecht an indiana newspaper cartoonist to onist who founded the C F r A some five years ago la Is authority for the statement that many successful men of today are proud of the fact that they once served the thirsty pachyderms and enthusiastic members of this club in a certain new york restaurant theres an unusual booth for diners over the entrance of what appears to be a tent are the words side show and adorning the front are two large gaudy circus banners one boldly announces nono the wild girl she speaks no language playmates are deadly serpents another heralds la belle rosa flower of the orient queen of the deserts favorite of sultans inside the tent are painted banners posters and photographs of circus performers and freaks this side show tent Is the luncheon meeting place of the P T barnum top no 1 of the circus fans of america each state and large city has its tent or top named for some famous circus man the organization Is primarily tor for fun yet it has a serious purpose say its members that Is to help the circus toward bigger and better things fans and lovers and friends of the circus are banded together to see it perpetuated and are eager that greater glory may come to the tented shows if you missed out on the juvenile joy just mentioned perhaps you used to pump a pipe organ if so your name can be spread on the roll of the guild of former organ bumpers Pum pers an association composed of those who by their pledged statements pumped a pipe organ in a church or chapel at some time in their youth its principal aim Is serious ato to perpetuate the memories of our decadent but honorable profession and to save for posterity some permanent evidence of the important part the played in the musical and ecclesiastical progress of the ages it has other alms aims oto to encourage the tha singing of the old hymns at sunday night gatherings and to prove that every successful man did not earn his first dollar selling newspapers but its primary purpose Is to achieve a belated recognition the guild was launched in 1926 1026 under the favorable auspices of a natural divinity aeolus the greek god and keeper of the winds and with the slogan pump tor for the wind Is fleeting the first meeting was held in new york city in 1928 1923 officers named after the stops on the organ were elected and the roster of members now holds the names of some of americas foremost citizens will hays the me czar of the movies did his pumping on a pipe organ in sullivan ind his birthplace ue lie received 10 cents for his efforts and the dime was paid him at the conclusion of the morning church service his mother then led him by the hand to his sunday school class where he placed the money in the usual collection james couzens united states senator from michigan pumped in the presbyterian church at chatham ont lie ile was paid 5 a year lie ile pumped conscientiously for two years at the end of that time he be collected the 10 he be had bad coming and this was a part of the original money he invested in stock of the ford motor company which eventually made him one of the nations richest men the late julius rosenwald cli chairman airman of the board ot of directors of sears roebuck co was also a he labored in the presbyterian church at springfield ill end and gladly accepted the 25 cent weekly stipend which was turned over quarterly but it if in your youth you turn an honest penny by pumping an organ perhaps you did it in a printing office as a helper to the print er publisher of the home town paper it if that wag vias far enough back you probably pul pulled leX a george washington hand press a bit of backbreaking labor necessary in the old days it if the newspaper reading public was to be kept informed on the affairs of the community if you did this athla then youre eligible tor for membership la in the ancient and honorable order of 0 wash pullers bullers Pul lers a society founded at the suggestion of harry C webster an old missouri print which carries on its membership rolls the name of a number of men who have risen high in the field of journalism and who are proud to say that they got their start in newspaper work at the lever of an old G wash then theres the cub reporters association composed of men who as young journalists sought bought the adventure which Is popularly supposed to be found in newspaper work found it perhaps and now in the midst of busy age look back fondly upon the time when they tolled under the lash of a simon legree city editor and dreamed the dream of all cub reporters that of scooping the world on a big story anyone who has been the victim of horseplay hazing kidding and razzing ratzing or even torture by the old time hard boiled demon city editor Is eligible for membership in the OOs quick hang ings dough prize fighting and horrible crimes meant hardships and toll toil for the cub reporter he hot footed it around for news bumping into all sorts of hard and trying experiences in the barrooms bar rooms were popular community centers and crimes were jobs for reporters to solve still in the field of journalism there tire are the fossils old newspaper men who as boys engaged in amateur journalism and are proud of their boyish efforts and although such a society has not yet been formed any man will tell you that theres a field for an organization to be known as the association of those who used to be newspaper men themselves are you a radio DX er do you sit up late at night getting new stations over your radio either shore wave or long wave then you can be initiated into the royal order of hard boiled owls with rubber ears with the howling ceremonies which mark such an initiation do you enjoy breaking the ice in a river lake or pond and taking a bath there no matter what the weather may be the polar bear club wants to fo hear bear from you it if you do do you ever arub hay bay feber ker choo chool 1 the nay hay fever association will be glad to send you a membership application blank do you have unlimited faith in the woodchuck as an accurate weather prophet so do the members of the slumbering ground ilog hog lodge located at Quarry quarryville ville pa organized by george W hensel jr who is hibernating governor this MIS lodge has tor for its chief aim to extol estol the virtues of the groundhog which they say has hag an intelligence telli gence of a higher order than that of any other animal from the tick of the blackberry to the elephant in the jungle and they take an oath to defend him his family and his reputation and to guard him as he slumbers its not easy to get into this lodge for you have to be elected by the seven patriarchs after seven years of observation by the defender of the faith the chief eye rubber the patriarch de da the treasurer and otter other officers cut but once you are elected you can join in the annual ceremony on february 2 around the groundhogs hole it if you believe that theres more than one name tor for the colored boys who look after your comfort on the pullman cars then you should join the society for the prevention of calling sleeping car porters george organized by george W dulany jr a chicago banker the society now has thousands of members all over the country george washington and george dewey are their patron saints george ads ade Is the poet laureate george M cohan the official song writer george william cardinal mundelein Mundel eln the chaplain georges clemenceau was french charge daf faires and george dabell babe ruth Is sergeant at arms all of the foregoing ate are organizations to which almost anyone might possibly belong but there are also others whose membership is necessarily rather limited to the certain professions for instance have to be a sailor in the united states navy in order to belong to the ancient honorable and mystic order of lapa lapa although there are many landlubbers land lubbers who are eminently fitted for membership the only qualification the prospective member must possess Is that he humbly acknowledge that he Is 13 a poor fish but only sailors know how to initiate candidates properly tor for it was two sailors who founded the organization at shanghai china in 1927 and sailors are keeping the order going you ton belong to the quiet birdeen birdmen unless you were a world war aviator nor to the caterpillar club unless you were an aviator who had bad to make an emergency parachute jump to save your life and you yon would be barred from membership in the club unless you were a new york york bond salesman engaged in selling municipal bonds the list of these fate interesting r esting organizations organizational could be extended indell indefinitely n rely were it ft not for the fact that the author 0 of f this article has lust just received notice of a meeting of those interested in forming a society for the prevention of form ing more societies and he be feels obligated to leave at once to attend the meeting Q by western W intern newspaper union |