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Chicago history
CLUBMAN'S REVOLT . . . Chicago's Tavern Club, atop the 333 N. Michigan building, is aptly named. It was organized in 1927 by defectors from the Cliff Dwellers club, then at Orchestra (now Symphony) Hall several blocks down the street. They wanted out because they were thirsty and neither cold, clear water nor iced ginger ale would fill the bill, though you would not know that from its web site, which says it was founded "to encourage the arts, intellectual recreation, and good-humored interest in life."
("Sensu aiente," yes, which is Latin for "as far as it goes, not ruling out more that can be said.")
"Over the years," the web site continues, "it's [sic] members have included . . . Carl Sandburg, Hellen [sic] Hayes, Frank Lloyd Wright, William Wrigley and Chicago's own late Mayor Richard J. Daley."
Demonstrating their contempt for the contemptible Volstead Act, the Tavern clubbers split. One of them, Root, asked his partner, Holabird, who had designed the new, not yet wholly rented, 333 building, about space. The rest is Tavern Club history.
I know about the Volstead-averse motivation because Bruce Felknor, Tavern Club historian, told me about it at the last Midland Authors soiree, at the Chicago Athletic Association, yet another Michigan Avenue organization. It's what you learn by keeping your ears unplugged.
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