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WEDA (Wyckoff Economical Dining Association) Records

Call Number

MS 683

Date

1871-1955 (bulk 1886-1953), inclusive

Creator

Weda Club (New York, N.Y.)

Extent

2 Linear feet (3 boxes and 3 volumes)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English

Abstract

The WEDA (Wyckoff Economical Dining Association) Records contain documentation of a New York City men's club that met for dinner once a month for 118 years. The bulk of the material is scrapbooks which include menus and lists of members in attendance. Other materials include photographs, correspondence, and reports of the secretary.

Historical Note

Chronology

1838 After a complaint about the high price of dinners at the Union Club, a recently founded New York City men's social club, Alexander R. Wyckoff states that he could cater a dinner that was filling, yet inexpensive. Seventeen other Union Club members attend his dinner. The same group decides to throw a similar dinner catered by a different member. The men begin to meet on a regular basis and take the name "the Benedictines." The name is soon changed to "WEDA" to represent the "Wyckoff Economical Dining Association."
May 1871 WEDA Secretary William D. Robinson writes a report that includes a history of the club. He states that the members of WEDA have continually met once a month from October through May for 33 years at various clubhouses for dinner. Men who attend the dinners pay a fee for the meal, and men who cannot attend the dinners are charged a small fine. It is unclear if the men in WEDA must also be Union Club members.
April 1886 Vacancies in membership are solved by nomination and election. The club also creates a new category of Honorary Membership- a membership for a member above the age of 70 years who has the same rights as others, but does not have to pay a fine if absent from a dinner.
May1955 Unclear if association continued after this time.

Arrangement

The records are arranged by type of material. The material is then arranged chronologically or alphabetically.

The WEDA Records have been organized into the following series:

Missing Title

  1. Series 1: Administrative Material, 1871-1953
  2. Series 2: Dinner Scrapbooks, 1886-1955
  3. Series 3: Photographs, [ca. 1900-1940]

Scope and Content Note

The WEDA (Wyckoff Economical Dining Association) Collection contains documentation of a New York City men's club whose purpose was to meet for dinner once a month. It is arranged according to type of material and includes menus, photographs, correspondence, reports of the secretary, bills, and receipts.

The bulk of the material is scrapbooks that contain menus for each dinner meeting documented and lists of members in attendance. Although the organization was formed in 1838, the scrapbooks and minutes of the meetings do not begin until 1886. It is unclear how often the club met between 1838-1886. But, the scrapbooks contain a comprehensive collection of menus for almost every WEDA meeting from 1886-1955 and provide a look into food consumed by upper class men during that time. For example, the menus from the nineteenth century report a large amount of seafood for dinner including green turtle soup and a wide variety of oysters. The menus in the twentieth century have other dishes, such as caviar, and dinners that include more meat and less seafood. The menus also list other items named after the club such as "Weda Club Chowder" and "Weda Punch." A 1901 Report of the Secretary also includes a complete listing of minutes and menus from April 1886 until May 1901.

The material supports research on the history of men's clubs. Prominent New York men were members, and they met at existing clubs such as the Knickerbocker Club, the Union League Club, and the Metropolitan Club. The records list members' names and does not include much personal information about them. There are also few indications of current events or any political or economic discussions that might have taken place at the meetings. Events such as the Great Depression and the First and Second World Wars are almost completely absent from reports of the meetings. The only reflection of current affairs in the scrapbooks is a mention that the 1943 April meeting was the first one to be held with war rationing.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as WEDA Records, MS 683, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Cynthia R. Mead, May 2000.

Collection processed by

Maurita Baldock

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:05 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Processing Information

Processed by Maurita Baldock.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024