When we think about clubs and societies from the past, the first image that pops up is often a stuffy gentlemen’s club, but the reality was far more colorful. Hidden among the polished wood and cigar smoke were some truly bizarre clubs that pursued odd passions, quirky rules, and unusual camaraderie.
Bizarre Clubs: A Glimpse into Unusual History
10 Flirt Club
Born in the early 1920s in Washington, DC, the Anti‑Flirt Club aimed to shield young women from unsolicited advances by men cruising in automobiles. Its rules were printed in The Washington Post in 1923.
Rule No. 5 warned, “Don’t wink—a flutter of one eye may cause a tear in the other.” Rule No. 8 cautioned women not to fall for “the slick, dandified cake‑eater”—the unpolished gold of a real man outweighs the glossy lure of a lounge lizard.
Chapters sprouted in Manhattan, Chicago, and elsewhere. Intriguingly, Manhattan’s branch was run by men who wanted women to prosecute the “mashers”—aggressive suitors who flaunted their intentions.
A “masher” was a man who made brief, bold advances, while a “lounge lizard” was a well‑dressed charmer who used deceptive charm. Manhattan’s slogan read “Jail the flirt,” and its emblem featured a lizard pierced by a hatpin.Although the movement sparked headlines, it faded from the press by the 1930s.
9 Nose Club
During the 19th‑century syphilis epidemic, many sufferers lost their noses, turning the condition into a startlingly common deformity. This led to the formation of the No‑Nose Club.
On February 18 1874, the Star newspaper reported that an eccentric gentleman using the alias “Mr. Crampton” had witnessed so many noseless individuals on London’s streets that he invited them all to a tavern dinner.
The club convened monthly until Mr. Crampton’s death a year later, after which it dissolved. Its final meeting featured an elegy recited in memory of the members.
8 The Ugly Face Club
In the 18th and 19th centuries, people with facial deformities often faced social exclusion and even street harassment. The Ugly Face Clubs emerged as a defiant response—gentlemen’s societies where members proudly celebrated their eccentric visages.
These clubs rejected physiognomy, the pseudo‑science claiming that facial features revealed character. Members, ridiculed on the streets for their deformities, turned those very features into a badge of honor.
Take Liverpool’s Ugly Face Club: a group of bachelors who lampooned their own appearances and were fined if they ever married. Its roster boasted merchants, clergy, doctors, sea captains, and architects, who affectionately called each other “shark,” “pig,” “cod,” and the like.
7 The Blizzard Men Of ’88 Club
The Great Blizzard of 1888—one of America’s deadliest snowstorms—raked the corridor from Washington, DC, to Maine, killing over 400 people and dumping up to 55 inches of snow in some locales.
Survivors in New York, unwilling to let the catastrophe fade, founded an exclusive society of storm survivors in 1929. Until 1933, the group was male‑only and called the “Blizzard Men of ’88.”
Annual gatherings featured storytelling, but also whimsical pastimes: for the 50th anniversary, members staged a mechanical snowstorm to relive the fury.
Members liked to proclaim that every storm after 1888 was a mere joke. The club’s final chapter closed in 1969 when its last leader passed away.
6 The Potato Club
The Potato Club—also known as the Potato Society—was founded by Tsar Nicholas II and the brothers Alexander, Sergei, and George Mikhailovich. Its name supposedly traces back to a paper‑chase incident where a peasant exclaimed that the “fox” had “shot into the potatoes.”
Each member wore a gold pendant shaped like a potato around their neck. When Sergei Mikhailovich’s body was uncovered in Alapayevsk after his exile and execution by the Bolsheviks, the gold potato pendant was found clinging to him.
5 The Lying Club
In 1669, a witty gentleman named Harry Blunt allegedly founded the Lying Club at the Bell Tavern in Westminster. Blunt was famed for his uncanny ability to spin convincing deceptions.
The club arose as travelers’ hunting tales grew ever more fantastical and harder to believe. While the stories lacked reliability, they made up for it in sheer amusement.
Members of the Lying Club dedicated themselves to crafting elaborate falsehoods, judging each other’s “genius” based on the strength and creativity of their lies.
4 The Wig Club
Rooted in a Scottish Tory tradition, the Wig Club centered on wine, dining, and a curious reverence for a particular wig. The famed wig originally belonged to the Beggar’s Benison club and was rumored to be fashioned from the pubic hairs of King Charles II’s mistress.
After a quarrel among Beggar’s Benison members, the wig transferred to the Wig Club and became its mascot. Each member kissed the wig and contributed a hair from his own mistress to replace any that faded.
The wig even had a personal servant, and locking it away signaled the conclusion of the formal portion of a meeting.
3 Not Terribly Good Club Of Great Britain
Founded in 1976 by journalist Stephen Pile, the Not Terribly Good Club of Great Britain admitted only those who could demonstrate sheer incompetence. Meetings featured members showcasing their ineptitude at everyday tasks—from botched small talk to disastrous art attempts.
Pile later chronicled the club in his book The Incomplete Book of Failures, which recounted tales like “the worst tourist” who spent two days in New York convinced he was in Rome, and the “slowest crossword solution” that took 34 years.The book included a membership form, and within two months it attracted 20,000 applications—far too many for a club built on failure. By its own rules, the club was forced to dissolve.
2 The Molly Club
Molly Clubs—also called Molly Houses—were public houses in 18th‑century England that catered to a male homosexual clientele. The nickname “Molly” began as a pet form of “Mary” and a slang term for women in the oldest profession, eventually shifting to denote effeminate men.By the mid‑1720s, London authorities had identified at least 20 such establishments around Westminster. A particularly strange ritual was the mock birth ceremony, where a man pretended to give birth to a baby during Festival Nights in late December. The purpose of these mock births remains a mystery.
1 The Fat Men’s Club
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Fat Men’s Clubs blossomed across America, championing the motto “We’re fat, and we’re making the most of it!” Their secondary slogan declared, “I’ve got to be good‑natured; I can’t fight, and I can’t run.”
Membership required a minimum weight of 90 kg (200 lb), a $1 fee, and knowledge of a secret handshake and password. Meetings, held twice yearly, featured copious amounts of food. In 1884, the New York Fat Men’s Association’s president purportedly gained 4 kg (8 lb) just from one dinner.
Variations sprouted worldwide: France’s Les Cents Kilos formed in 1897 but never thrived; Serbia created a club in Belgrade in 1932; British versions added a twist—if a member fell short of the weight threshold, they were fined.