Home Where's Where About this page

Blandings - the logo of www.blandings.org.uk, the Companion to the works of P G Wodehouse

Clubs


NB: These are gentlemen's or ladies' clubs. Night clubs and dance clubs with restaurants are listed under Restaurants. Real clubs are noted; those not indicated are probably invented. See also general notes on gentlemen's clubs concerning the older London clubs.

Les Ambassadeurs
A real gaming club/casino in Hamilton Place, London, mentioned in Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin.
Antiquarian's
In Pall Mall, mentioned in Bill the Conqueror.
Athenaeum
A real and highly respected club at 107 Pall Mall, London, established 1823. Referred to in many books.
Bachelor's Club
Piccadilly, London. Freddie Rooke and Derek Underhill lunched there in Jill the Reckless. Also mentioned in Piccadilly Jim and Leave it to Psmith and others, it existed around the turn of the century (19th - 20th) but no trace since.
Barrel Club
153 York St., Covent Garden, London. Distinguished by members sitting on upturned barrels, it features in Not George Washington.
Bat Club
A real club in London at least from 1928-33, i.e. at the time of Big Money.
Boodle's
A real club in St. James's Street, London, mentioned in The Inimitable Jeeves.
Brooks's
A real club at 60 St. James's Street, established in 1778. (Ukridge Sees Her Through)
Brown's Club
In St. James St., London; a safe address for a fictional club. The club secretary was Lord Dawlish, in Uneasy Money.
Buck's
Clifford Street, London. Visited by Bertie Wooster in The Inimitable Jeeves and mentioned in Big Money and If I Were You. An old club, said to be where Buck's Fizz originated.
Buffers
London. Includes Lord Yaxley as a member in Indian Summer of an Uncle.
Butterfly Club
New York. Mrs McCall gave a lecture there in The Indiscretions of Archie and Mrs Hignett is invited to in The Girl on the Boat.
Carlton Club
A real club at 69 St. James's Street, established 1832. (Ukridge Sees Her Through)
Coffee-House Club
New York. A real club for literary and artistic people at 70 W 45th Street. Mentioned in The Indiscretions of Archie. Wodehouse was a member.
Collectors Club
New York, mentioned in Company for Henry.
Demosthenes Club
In Dover Street, opposite the Drones. Members include Sir Raymond Bastable and Sir Roderick Glossop (Cocktail Time) and John Shoesmith and Mr Lucas-Gore (Ice in the Bedroom).
Devonshire Club
St. James's Street, London. Used by Lord Bittlesham and Bingo Little in The Inimitable Jeeves. A real club until 1976 when it merged with the East India Club. The building was occupied by the Jamaican High Commission for a while but is now the Ritz Casino so coming full circle from its first use as a place of gambling.
Drones
In Dover Street, London, the Drones has many members.
Embassy Club
A real club in Old Bond Street (not the later one of the same name). Mentioned as a member's club in The Inimitable Jeeves and visited by Ann Moon in Big Money.
Explorer's Club
Probably in England (London) counting Col. Pashley-Drake among its members as mentioned in A Good Cigar is a Smoke.
Friar's Club
New York, a real club for people in entertainment, originally at 107 West 45th Street and mentioned in The Indiscretions of Archie.
Garrick Club
London, a real private members club associated with the theatre and literary world, located at 15 Garrick St, Old Covent Garden. Mentioned in The Fat of the Land and The Adventures of Sally. Wodehouse was a member.
Green-Room Club
Has Walter Jeliffe as a member, mentioned in Bill the Bloodhound.
Harvard Club
A real club in New York, founded in 1887, for people associated with Harvard College. (A Prince for Hire)
In and Out Club
Nickname for the Naval and Military club, from the prominent signs outside its old premises at 94 Piccadilly. Founded in 1862 it moved to Piccadilly after 5 years before moving in 1999 to 4 St. James's Street. Mentioned in A Damsel in Distress.
Junior Arts Club
Mentioned in Money in the Bank with Lionel Green as a member.
Junior Bird-fanciers
Mentioned in The Ordeal of Osbert Mulliner.
Junior Constitutional Club
Percy Pilbeam is a member. Note 1.
Junior Ganymede Club
A club for butlers and valets in Curzon Street, London. Under Rule 11, every new member is required to provide the club with full information regarding his employer. Jeeves is a member. Note 2.
Junior Lipstick Club
London, for women, mentioned in Came the Dawn and The Reverent Wooing of Archibald.
Junior Rotters
Probably in London, mentioned in Reggie and the Greasy Bird.
Kit-Kat
A real haunt of the 20s-30s smart set, mentioned in Big Money.
Lamb's Club
A real theatrical club established 1874, it operated during Wodehouse's time at 128 West 44th Street, New York (until it moved in 1975 to 51st Street). Mentioned in The Inimitable Jeeves, Piccadilly Jim, The Coming of Bill, The Indiscretions of Archie and Barmy in Wonderland. PG knew many past members so might well have been invited inside at some time.
Mausoleum Club
Somewhere in London, frequented by Lord Uffenham in Something Fishy. Obviously a fake name.
Mayfair
The Mayfair Club was in Berkeley Street, Mayfair. It is probably the one mentioned in Big Money.
Morpheus Club
Near Green park tube station, Lord Middlewick lunches with Ralston McTodd there in the stage version of Leave it to Psmith.
National Liberal Club
A real club in Whitehall Place, London SW1, founded 1887. Its terraces overlook the Thames. Mentioned in (The Adventures of Sally) and others.
National Sporting Club
A real club in London, based at the Café Royal in Regent Street. Founded in 1891, it claims responsibility for introducing the Queensbury Rules to boxing. Mentioned in Something Fresh and many others.
Negative and Solution
For photographers, in Pall Mall and mentioned in The Romance of a Bulb-Squeezer.
Pelican Club
Galahad Threepwood is probably the most distinguished of the living members of this long-closed club. (It was a real club, founded in the 1880s, whose members lived fast but usually short lives. The club premises were in Denman Street.)
P.E.N. Club
Mentioned in Laughing Gas as something to do with literary circles. In The Girl in Blue, its members include Homer Pyle, Duane Stottlemeyer and Vera Upshaw, all amateur poets or writers. It is a real worldwide association, founded in 1921 to promote co-operation between and the rights of writers.
Pen and Ink Club (London)
1. Somewhere in London. Affiliated with the New York Players Club and used for a quiet meeting in Uneasy Money.
2. Its president is Julia Ukridge and membership, limited to 100, is by invitation only - in First Aid for Dora and Ukridge Sees Her Through.
3. Lady Wickham attended a dinner there, as mentioned in Mr Potter Takes a Rest Cure.
4. Rosie M. Banks attended a meeting (and might be a member) in Leave it to Algy.
5. Leila Yorke speaks there in Ice in the Bedroom.
Pen and Ink Club (NY)
Fifth Avenue, New York, one of several clubs frequented by Archie Moffam in The Indiscretions of Archie. Also mentioned in Uneasy Money. While there are now real clubs with this name, PG seems to have got there first.
Players
A real club at 16 Grammercy Park. Founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, with General W. T. Sherman and Mark Twain among others. Mentioned in In Alcala, Uneasy Money, The Indiscretions of Archie and Barmy in Wonderland.
Poet's
Somewhere in Bloomsbury, London, mentioned in A Good Cigar is a Smoke.
Press Club
A real club founded in 1882, mentioned in Sam the Sudden.
Prince's
A real sports club in Knightsbridge, London, from 1883/4, offering rackets, real tennis and, from 1900, ice hockey. Used by Derek Underhill and Jill Mariner in Jill the Reckless.
Savage Club
A real club in Whitehall Place, London, founded 1857 for London Bohemians and mentioned as the model for the fictional Stroller's Club (see below) in A Gentleman of Leisure. Also mentioned in Ukridge Rounds a Nasty Corner.
Senior Bloodstain
A detectives club in Rupert Street in The Smile That Wins. The street is real.
Senior Buffers
London, has Lord Shortlands as a member, mentioned in Spring Fever.
Senior Conservative
1. Includes Messrs. Psmith and Bickersdyke in Psmith in the City. At this time there were 3,718 members.
2. Includes Lord Emsworth (a country member who joined in 1888) and Mr Simmonds in Something Fresh. The head steward is Adams.
3. Psmith and Lord E. dine there in Leave it to Psmith by which time membership has risen to 6,111 members.
4. Lord E. and James Belford lunch there in Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey! and disturb the other diners.
5. Lord E. visits again in Full Moon.
6. A later reference in A Tithe for Charity puts the club in Northumberland Avenue. This suggests that it's based on PG's own club, the Constitutional, in that street.
7. Used as a meeting place by Mr Butterwick before taking Ivor Llewellyn elsewhere for lunch in Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin.
Note: The real Conservative Club is in St. James's Street.
Senior Liberal Club
London. Used by the Drones one year while their premises were cleaned. (The Inimitable Jeeves)
Senior Test Tubes
St. James's, London. Includes Wilfred Mulliner, inventor of Buck-U-Uppo in its membership. (A Slice of Life)
Six Hundred Club
Fashionable night club in Regent Street, London, mentioned in Piccadilly Jim. It does not appear to be real.
Stroller's Club
New York. After 11pm it is given over to the stage, mainly actors etc. but also theatre-goers. Featured at the beginning of A Gentleman of Leisure.
Sybarites' Club
Mentioned in Archibald's Benefit so somewhere in New Jersey or nearby.
United Jade-Collectors
Has Osbert Mulliner as a member in The Ordeal of Osbert Mulliner.
Union League Club
Has J. Chichester Clam as a member (probably in New York) in Joy in the Morning.
United Rovers Club
In Northumberland Avenue, London. Probably counts Captain Biggar among its members as suggested in Ring for Jeeves.
White's
Founded in 1693 and now in St. James's, London. (The Gem Collector)

Return to top of page Horizontal blue bar

1. Wodehouse stayed at the Constitutional Club in Northumberland Avenue, London more than once during the 1920's.
2. In Greek mythology, Ganymede was the cup-bearer of Zeus. It was also a jocular name for a waiter, now long out of use.