Buck's Club

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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 McGarry.

[edit] 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 1919^[1]^[2]^[3] 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^[2], 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. Wodehouse^[4]; Wodehouse modelled in his fictional Drones Club after the Buck's Club and the Bachelors' Club, even naming his club's barman "McGarry" too.

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

[edit] References

Sources consulted

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

Endnotes

^ English Heritage (1963). "Cork Street and Savile Row Area: Clifford Street, South Side: No. 18 Clifford Street: Buck's Club" (page 482-88). Survey of London: volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2 (at British History Online). Retrieved on 2007-08-11. “Buck's Club was founded here in June 1919 by Captain H. J. Buckmaster 'and a number of fellow officers of the Blues'.”
^ ^a ^b Alexander-Sinclair, Ian (report) (2007). "Bertie Wooster's Mayfair". Norman Murphy's talk at Wodehouse Week 2007 (The PGW Society UK). Archived from the original on 2007-08-11. “[...] 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: Clubs list from The Royal Bachelors' Club; off-site wiki Webtender.com.
^ The 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 Blandings.org.uk.