In 1946, a small group of men dressed in black tie formerly met at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia. They dubbed themselves the Salmon Anglers of Philadelphia. As a first step, they hatched a plan for “…an evening of conviviality to entertainment where you can talk Salmon with those who will understand.” They invited Lee Wulff to bring some of his “color motion pictures.”
In 1947, over one hundred folks donned in ‘dinner coats’ paid $10.00 for dinner and cocktails and were convivial and entertained. It was a success. The informality of the group is best conveyed in the invitation for the following year.
“Inasmuch as we had no complaints regarding the very successful party held in 1947, your new self-appointed committee has decided to follow in broad outline the program we had last year.”
Lee Wulff came for an encore and was joined by William T. Griffin from New Brunswick to extol the virtues of salmon fishing.
In 1950, the voice of the Pocono contingent was heard. “After all, for most Philadelphians salmon was a once-a-year tryst while trout was only just a car ride away.” By the end of the year, the committee and solemn conclave decided to formally organize themselves with officers, governors, by-laws and called themselves, “The Anglers’ Club of Philadelphia.”
Our first president, Joseph B. McCall, Jr., called “Junior,” wrote to those prior invitees.
“As a result of the successful Salmon Anglers’ Dinners of the past years, and because of popular demand, your committee has organized on a permanent basis ‘The Anglers’ Club of Philadelphia’ limited to one hundred members who are interested in both salmon and trout fishing.”
It did not take long to reach one hundred members or for women to cross the sill of the Club. Indeed, Eleanor Windsor became president in 1987.
A quote from an early welcoming letter sets the tone: “In general, the club maintains a purely social stance, leaving issues of water quality, stream preservation and so on to the various chapters of Trout Unlimited and other organizations which are in a far better position to tackle the same … The goal of the club is to be as fun and involving as the members would like.”
Through the years, the luminaries of the fly-fishing world have shared their knowledge and passion for the sport. Lee and Joan Wulff, Ernie Schweibert, Lefty Kreh, Gary LaFontaine, Barry and Cathy Beck, Joe Humphries, Paul Jorgensen, Dave Whitlock, Jim Bashline, George Daniel, Sarah Gardner, and some of our own members from Curt Windsor to Curt Hill. And Ed Jaworowski is always ready to instruct us to cast for fresh and saltwater quarries. One evening we had another kind of star, the .400 hitter Ted Williams, who charmed us all, talking about fishing for an hour and never even mentioning baseball.
Today, we celebrate a convivial past and nothing ahead of us but tight lines.
Do you know someone who should be one of The One Hundred? Have them attend one of our events and, if they like it, invite them to join.