Buck's Club

Buck's Club is a gentlemen's club in London, located at 18 Clifford Street, established in June 1919 . P. G. Wodehouse mentions it in some stories and modelled his Drones Club mostly after Buck's. It is probably best known for the Buck's Fizz cocktail, created there in 1921 by its bartender M cGarry.

Overview

During the First World War, Captain H. J. Buckmaster RHG (sometimes "Herbert Buckmaster", or erroneously "Maurice Buckmaster") and some of his colleagues agreed that after the war it would be good to establish a gentlemen's club that was somewhat less stuffy than those that currently existed. Indeed, they particularly wanted a club with an American Cocktail Bar, something then beyond the pale for most traditional gentlemen's clubs.

The club was established in June 1919Cite web
author = English Heritage
year = 1963
title = "Cork Street and Savile Row Area: Clifford Street, South Side: No. 18 Clifford Street: Buck's Club" (page 482-88)
work = Survey of London: volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2 (at British History Online)
url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=41488#s6
accessdate = 2007-08-11
quote = Buck's Club was founded here in June 1919 by Captain H. J. Buckmaster 'and a number of fellow officers of the Blues'.Cite web
author = Alexander-Sinclair, Ian (report)
date = 2007
title = "Bertie Wooster's Mayfair"
work = Norman Murphy's talk at Wodehouse Week 2007 (The PGW Society UK)
url = http://www.pgwodehousesociety.org.uk/awwwnorman.htm
archiveurl = http://webcitation.org/query?date=2007-08-11&url=http://www.pgwodehousesociety.org.uk/awwwnorman.htm
archivedate = 2007-08-11
quote = [...] Buck's Club, founded in 1919 by Herbert Buckmaster in nearby Clifford Street [...] McGarry was the barman at Buck's from 1919 to 1941.Two less reliable and possibly inbred sources say 1918: [http://www.bachelors.se/web_clubs.htm Clubs list from The Royal Bachelors' Club] ; off-site wiki [http://wiki.webtender.com/wiki/Side-car Webtender.com] .and its American Bar was a focal point. American members were welcome although treated separately from a constitutional standpoint. The club for many years kept its tradition of sourcing members from the Household Cavalry regiments although its membership is now drawn from many walks of life.

The Club is probably best known for seeing the creation of the Buck's Fizz cocktail in 1921 by its first bartender, Mr McGarry. (Barman from 1919 to 1941, sometimes "Malachy McGarry" or "Pat McGarry", or spelled "MacGarry", he is also usually credited with creating the Sidecar cocktail).

Renowned for its exuberance and the youth of its membership, it receives three mentions in the stories of P. G. WodehouseThe Buck's Club is visited by Bertie Wooster in 1923's "The Inimitable Jeeves", mentionned in 1931's "Big Money", and 1931's "If I Were You", as listed at [http://www.blandings.org.uk/where/Clubs.htm#B Blandings.org.uk] .; Wodehouse modelled in his fictional Drones Club after the Buck's Club and the Bachelors' Club , even naming his club's barman "Mc Garry" too.

Some famous former members include Prime Minister Winston Churchill and actor Nigel Bruce.

References

; Sources consulted

; Endnotes

External links

* [http://www.bucksclub.co.uk/ Buck's Club.co.uk] - official website (empty, under construction as of September 2007)
* [http://www.welovelocal.com/en/london/westminster/soho/private-clubs/bucks-club-w1s3rf.html Location and photo of the Buck's Club]