September 29, 1906 – On a “rainy, chilly, and
generally disagreeable” day [Chicago
Daily Tribune, September 30, 1906] the South Shore Country Club opens its
doors for the first time with 92 cases of champagne on hand to warm the 600
people in attendance. Everyone is on
edge as there are intimations that Arthur Burrage Farwell and the Hyde Park
Protective Association might try to storm the festivities in an effort to stop
the serving of alcohol, but at 4:30 p.m. the club’s president, William Thorne,
the president of Montgomery Ward and Company, opens the first bottle of
champagne on the club’s wind-swept veranda and calls one of the 200 waiters on
hand to serve his guests. “Here’s
defiance to Farwell,” is the toast that follows. Mr. Farwell’s organization is dedicated to
removing the perils of alcohol from the area.
“Their arguments – the sanctity of the family, the selling of liquor to
minors, the perceived threat to land values and suspicions of gambling and
prostitution – were used to garner community support for closing of the
taverns.” [Hyde Park Herald, February 20, 2014] The association didn’t stop the festivities
on this evening. As the Tribune reported, “Outside the angry surf
beat against the shore and the wind moaned above the strains of the orchestra,
but in the dining room, where 600 were served, in the reception hall, and the
spacious parlor, where the dark green furniture appeared in pleasing contrast
against the white woodwork, the scene was of good cheer.”
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