BOOK TALK - MINI CLUB TOUR - TRIVIA CONTEST
The Princeton Eating Clubs
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
6:00pm hors d'oeuvres, wine and soft drinks
6:30pm presentation by Clifford W. Zink, author of The Princeton Eating Clubs
followed by mini-tour of Cottage Club Library
7:00pm Princeton Eating Clubs Trivia Contest!
Cottage Club, 51 Prospect Avenue, Princeton NJ
Put what you know about the Eating Clubs to the test!
Come take a walk down memory lane with fellow alumni, friends and Clifford Zink, who will present his new book, The Princeton Eating Clubs.
Signed books will be for sale at a discounted price.
Join in a lively Trivia Game about the Prospect Avenue Eating Clubs.
Walk-ins welcome, but help us manage food and drink by registering (via PayPal below) no later than Tuesday, January 30, 2018.
Contact Lydia '83 at activities@princetonaaa.org for information.
Answer questions like these (play along daily on our Facebook/Tweeter feeds!):
Which club is home to Rudy the Elk, whose head has adorned a wall since 1997? (Colonial)
In 1967, which club became the first to switch from the selective bicker system to a nonselective lottery “sign-in” system? (Terrace)
A fire in this club caused $16,000 worth of damage in 1949 but the Club maintained its operations and was ready to go in time for 1950 Houseparties. Since then, the Club is often fondly called “The Indestructible.” Which club is it? (Charter)
Tiger Inn was the last all-male eating club to take steps toward admitting women despite a sex discrimination lawsuit filed against the club in 1979 by whom? (Sally Frank)
Which is the only club on the street that offers its members a hot tub? (Cloister)
The university used this building to house the Office of Population Research and then the Freshman Writing Program. Today it is the home of which club that combines the name of four eating clubs? (Cannon Dial Elm Club; the 4 are Cannon Club, Dial Lodge, Elm Club, DEC)
Gulick House on Olden Street was where many Eating Clubs got their start, serving as a first home until money was raised for land and a clubhouse. For this reason, Gulick House had what nickname? (“The Incubator”)
Ivy was the first Eating Club, but its first home was not on Prospect Ave, but in Ivy Hall on what street in Princeton? (Mercer. The building is now part of Trinity Church.)
In This Side of Paradise, first published in 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald described this club as “an impressive melange of brilliant adventurers and well-dressed philanderers.”
(Cottage)
In 1917, five sophomores issued a manifesto in the Princetonian arguing that the eating clubs were against the best interests of the University. The spokesman of this revolt was the son of which US president? (Grover Cleveland)
In 1968, these two eating clubs were disbanded, and their clubhouses were converted into the nonselective Stevenson Hall, which later introduced the first Kosher dining facility in any Ivy League school. Name either or both of these defunct clubs. (Key and Seal; Court Club)
This eating club’s notable alumni include architect Robert Venturi, political heavyweights Adlai Stevenson and George P. Schultz and an uberwealthy tech and retail entrepreneur who started his business out of a garage in Seattle in 1994. (Quadrangle Club)
Win these great prizes:
Grand Prize: The Princeton Eating Clubs book ($75 value!), signed by author Clifford W. Zink
Runner-Up Prize: The Princeton Eating Clubs calendar
The Princeton Eating Clubs
One of Princeton University’s most storied hallmarks is its eating club system which thrives along a row of magnificent mansions on Prospect Avenue and around the corner on Washington Road. Princeton’s unique eating clubs have been the soul of the University’s undergraduate social life since the late 19th century, and they continue to provide homes away from home for tens of thousands of alumni when they return to campus. Now, for the first time, the evolution and architectural grandeur of the eating clubs are described in a captivating manner and with many displays of wonderful archival images and exclusive new photos in a new publication, The Princeton Eating Clubs. Researched and created by Princeton-based author and historic preservation consultant Clifford W. Zink, this book portrays not just the eleven extant eating clubs but also those whose buildings are now owned and used by the University and continue to bring character and aesthetic appeal to Prospect Avenue.
About the Author
Clifford W. Zink has authored six other books that have received five awards, including the 2012 New Jersey Author’s Award in popular non-fiction from the NJ Studies Academic Alliance for The Roebling Legacy. He has served as consulting curator at the Roebling Museum, and wrote and directed its orientation film, Roebling Stories. Mr. Zink also received the 2011 John A. Roebling Award from the Society for Industrial Archeology’s Roebling Chapter for an outstanding contribution to documenting or preserving the industrial heritage of the greater New York-New Jersey area. He has a M.S. in Historic Preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
The release of The Princeton Eating Clubs was initiated and supported by Princeton Prospect Foundation, a charitable entity that receives tax deductible donations from alumni directed to their eating clubs to specifically support their architectural and historic significance.
PA3 is grateful to Cottage Club for welcoming us to its treasured home!
Cottage Club, which was founded in 1886, built its current majestic clubhouse on Prospect Avenue in 1905. It was designed by Charles Follen McKim, one of the most prominent architects in America at the time and the leading authority on club architecture. In 1999, Cottage Club was entered onto the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places based on the architectural structure of the building and its high degree of historic integrity and significant cultural contributions to the community.