Question: Many will recognize the photo this week and know what it represents. Do you know the story behind the bee mascot and when and how it originated?
Last week’s answer: When last week’s photo was taken by Mark Chapman in 1912, bowling was enjoying great popularity. The Dolls’ uniform shirts bear a combination “B’’ and “C” logo. The initials stood for The Bachelors’ Club. The club had organized a bowling league comprised of four teams: the Dolls, Cubs, Shamrocks and Chain Gang. Each team had four members; they bowled each Monday and Thursday evening and ended the season with a banquet honoring the winning team.
The Dolls won the season. Team members as seen in the photo, left to right, are: Ellery “Doll” Post, captain; Charles “Red” Steele, Harry “Bottles” Hooper, and Leon “Beauty” Conklin.
Although short lived as an active group, the Bachelors’ Club enjoyed social prominence. Its debut was reported in the Gazette and Farmers’ Journal in the March 3, 1910, issue:
“A new club composed of young men was organized in town last week, to be known as The Bachelors’ Club. The club has eleven charter members and will occupy rooms on the second floor of the Clark block in W. Genesee St, taking possession April 1st. The officers of the new club are: Harry Hooper, president; Thomas Flaherty, vice-president; Charles Kiley, secretary; John Foley, treasurer; and Clarence Smith, director.”
Later that year the Gazette reported on another new club organized by young male B’villians, Theta Sigma Fraternity. The fraternity occupied the former Sagawatha club house, a large and handsome boat house with spacious club rooms on its upper floor. The Sagawatha was on the north bank of the Seneca River west of the Vagabondia, which is immediately west of Mercer Park.
Both the Bachelors’ Club and the fraternity fielded football teams. The Gazette carried many colorful reports of the spirited competition between the two. Social events were a major activity of both groups. Many of the Bachelors’ Clubs dinners were held in Syracuse restaurants; the upscale menus were often described in the Gazette. The club supported local cultural activities, including a drive to secure a library of “500 leather covered books” for the village.
On February 11, 1914, the club held its closing banquet and disbanded. Several of its members were married shortly thereafter. The program from that evening’s event carried this message: “In years to come when the hand of time has placed its work upon us and our grandchildren climb upon our knee, may our hearts grow young again and memories carry us back to the good old Bachelor Club days and return to our minds the names of…” (a list followed).
A formal portrait was taken to mark the occasion (see below).
The closing banquet of 1914 was followed by a few reunions, the last being held in 1955.
Note: The impetus for this History Mystery was provided by Richard “Dick” Doran, whose dad, John, was a member of the Bachelors’ Club.
Email your guess to [email protected] or leave a message at 315-434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by noon Friday. If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo before the deadline, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
