Seventy years ago, in the opening sequence of The Seven Year Itch (1955), the narrator tells how every August the men of Manhattan Island have always sent their wives and children off to cooler climes, thus granting themselves a pink ticket. And even a liaison with Marilyn Monroe. Clubland imitates this tradition when clubs such as the Garrick and Beefsteak close for three weeks in August. The rest are obliged to open their doors to the most debauched tribe in the city: the reciprocals. Summon up the entire membership of the Drones Club on day release. Shameless in their sharp-elbowing past the actual members at the bar while grabbing fistfuls of nuts, the raffish ones boast of the clubs they have already plundered that week, while ungraciously marking each host club down. ‘Worst Bloody Mary ever at White’s’; ‘Nothing but Scotch eggs at Pratt’s’. Actual members are appalled when they...
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