Twilight Club

The Twilight Club was a dinner club in New York City that operated from 1883 until 1904. It was founded by Charles F. Wingate "to cultivate good fellowship and enjoy rational recreation."

On January 4, 1883, the Twilight Club was founded by Charles Frederick Wingate during "a gathering at Mouquin's restaurant of a number of congenial friends..." Meetings consisted of dinner or discussions both humorous and serious on disputable topics of the day. Some recorded topics were fishing, rearing of children and the value of a college education. Sometimes the questions would be hypotheticals such as "what would you do if you were King of Manhattan Island?", or "who is the most remarkable man on earth?"

The inspiration for the club came from a dinner at Delmonico's held to honor sociologist Herbert Spencer on November 9, 1882, prior to his departure from the United States. Herbert Spencer made a speech on this occasion in which he said, "We have had somewhat too much of the Gospel of Work; it is time to preach the Gospel of Relaxation." This motto engendered the formation of the Twilight Club. Herbert Spencer did not participate in the Club. However, Charles Wingate offered him an honorary membership, which, upon acceptance, he offered this advice to the Club, "I would, however, remark that the reports of your proceedings seem to imply rather more gravity of speech in your conversations than is altogether consistent with the 'expectation of relaxation.'" The official motto of the club was, "To cultivate good fellowship and enjoy rational recreation."

An article in 1884, states, "Among all the clubs in New York, of which prominent men are members, few are not better known than the Twilight club, and, at the same time, few are more worthy of note…" While the members were "club-able fellows with $1," some dinners were "ladies' nights", where women were involved and active in the discussions. By January 1887, the Club went through growing pains and found that their membership dues of $1 per year could not cover their expenses and raised the amount to $2 per year and later to $3 per year. "Full dress was absolutely prohibited", although sometimes diners would wear full dinner dress. Instead of rules, they had principles. Additions and amendments were accepted, but they were required to be submitted in writing, along with a deposit of $17.34 (as a guarantee of good faith) two years before being voted on.

PRINCIPLES OF THE TWILIGHT CLUB

There was an executive committee. However, the only officer was Charles F. Wingate, who acted as "secretary, treasurer, committee of admission, and head and doer of what ever was to be done." Wingate kept a complete list of members, which was published in a contemporaneous biography of the Club and corroborated in multiple newspaper articles at the time.

Dinner began promptly at 6 and ran until 8 followed by two and a half hours of intellectual discussion. Speeches were limited to 5 minutes "with the express understanding that each orator will speak his inmost thoughts without hesitation or reserve, and with the perfect assurance of the esteem and good-will of all his listeners." During its most active period, the club met every two weeks, eight months of the year. It was called the Twilight Club because the meetings happened much earlier than other clubs in the city. Meetings could be over before other similar clubs had begun dinner. The low cost, sometimes just the cost of dinner, the early hours and the casual nature of the discussions were unique factors that led to the Club's popularity among its members.

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