The Society for the Prevention of Progress

Marine biologist Joel Hedgpeth founded the Society for the Prevention of Progress in 1945. He was its sole member. According to his obituary in the Journal of Crustacean Biology: "Many a grad student and junior colleague wanted to join this august club, but Joel refused applications—growth in members would represent progress."

However, there were exceptions to his no-membership policy. For instance, Hedgpeth wrote to C.S. Lewis inviting him to become a member.

The initial inspiration for the Society seems to have been to protect the environment against the "encroachment of material civilization." The Society's statement of purpose (below), as well as the Society letter-head Hedgpeth had printed up, reflected this intent.



However, Hedgpeth evidently also intended his Society to embrace a much broader spirit of contrarianism, as seen in the manifesto outlined in the article below.

Decatur Herald - Feb 15, 1945

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 31, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations

Theora Carter, Apostle of the Toothbrush

Read more about the lady here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat May 07, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Hygiene, 1910s, Teeth

The Farmer’s Anti-Automobile Society of Arkansaw

I'm going to assume that there never was a "Farmer's Anti-Automobile Society of Arkansaw" (or any other state) and that the list of road rules they supposedly adopted was early twentieth-century humor meant to poke fun at car-hating farmers.

Although some blogs, such as here, seem to think that this list of crazy road rules might have been real.

The Carmen Headlight - Sep 10, 1909

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 07, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, 1900s, Parody, Cars

Whiffy’s Club

Because Marilyn Meissler had always wondered if she was the only person who liked the smell of skunks, in 1989 she placed an ad in USA Today seeking out other skunk lovers:


She got such a positive response that a year later she founded "Whiffy's Club" — a club for people who like the odor of skunks. For $35 members got a t-shirt, button, membership card, and newsletter. And for an extra $11, they got a bottle of skunk aroma.

Montreal Gazette - July 3, 1989

Sequoyah County Times - Jan 31, 1991

Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 03, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

International Association of People Who Dine Over the Kitchen Sink

Norm Hankoff had the idea for the "International Association of People Who Dine Over the Kitchen Sink" in 1991, while he was standing at the sink using potato chips to spoon tuna salad into his mouth.

The next year he founded the Association. He referred to its members as 'sinkies'. Then, in 1994, he came out with The Official Sinkies Don't Cook Book, which included "recipes" such as:

• cakeless frosting
• a handful of mashed potatoes
• a cracker topped with mayo, then another cracker, then American cheese, then another cracker, mustard, cracker, pickle chip, cracker and Swiss cheese
• chocolate cake in a glass of milk

Amazon Link

The Association still exists. Or, at least, it still has a website: sinkie.com.

Sinkies consider the day after Thanksgiving to be their annual holiday. They call it "Dine Over Your Kitchen Sink Day".

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 25, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Food, Thanksgiving

American Tentative Society

The officers of the American Tentative Society insisted that, despite the odd name, the society wasn't a joke. Its purpose, they explained, was to promote the idea that scientific knowledge should always be regarded as tentative — subject to growth, revision, and change.

The three founders of the society were science journalists Alton Blakeslee, Rennie Taylor, and Pat McGrady. They came up with the concept in the mid-1960s, but it remained nothing more than a crazy idea until 1974, when Taylor died. In his will he bequeathed $300,000 to making the society a reality. This left the other two stuck with the problem of how to spend the money. So they solicited ideas from the public.

As far as I can tell, they ended up using some of the money to give awards to scientists (such as Stephen Jay Gould) whom they viewed as embracing the tentative nature of scientific knowledge. The rest of it was eventually given to the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing to endow a fellowship awarded annually to students accepted for enrollment in graduate-level programs in science writing.

Science - May 24, 1974

Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 19, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Science, 1970s

Who’s Nobody in America

Back in 1979, when being in Who's Who still had some kind of cultural cachet, Derek Evans and Dave Fulwiler decided to create an anti-Who's-Who, which they called "Who's Nobody in America." To acquire entries, they placed the following ad in newspapers:


Applicants included:

• A woman who complained she had been seeing her psychiatrist monthly for eight years and he often called her Evelyn. Her name was Mildred.
• An entire American Legion post in Newport, Ky.

More info: Washington Post

Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 28, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Success & Failure, Books, Satire

Flagon and Trencher Society

In order to become a member of the Flagon and Trencher society, one has to satisfy the following rule of eligibility:




According to their website, the society was founded in 1962 by Walter Lee Shepard and the late Kenneth Stryker-Rodda. As of 2002, they had more than 1000 members.

There's a $200 fee to apply to join. But if you apply and can't satisfactorily prove descent from a colonial barkeep, you'll only get a portion of that fee back.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 08, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Inebriation and Intoxicants

International Stop Continental Drift Society

The International Stop Continental Drift Society (ISCDS) was founded in 1976 by geologist John Holden with these demands: "the continents to stop moving, the sea floor to stop spreading, and such inconveniences as major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to cease immediately." Its motto was "Eschew Sea-Floor Spreading." It also issued a newsletter that "like natural disasters will appear without warning".

By 1981 it had grown to 300 members. Mostly fellow geologists. However, Holden admitted, "So far, our demands have not been satisfactorily met."

By the mid-1980s it seems to have faded away. Although it does have a Facebook page (set to private) with 154 members.

More info: Science Year 1982, lgvweb.nl

"Dutch geologists drive a giant screw into the ground at Leiden, The Netherlands, in an attempt to stop the Eurasian tectonic plate from moving. The scientists are members of the International Stop Continental Drift Society whose purpose is to put some stability in the earth's crust."

Jack Holden - founder of the ISCDS
Longview Daily News - Sep 15, 1981

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 03, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Humor, Science

Uglies Unlimited

Uglies Unlimited was founded by Danny McCrory in 1973. Its purpose was to promote the rights of ugly people. As far as I can tell, it remained in existence for only about a year.

Seems ironic that the member the media chose to focus on (below) was obviously attractive.

Camden Courier-Post - Nov 14, 1973

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 09, 2021 - Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, 1970s