The Curious Book of Clampus, or Gumshaniana.

[E CLAMPUS VITUS]

Verlag: Platrix Press, Yerba Buena, 1935

First edition. One of 200 copies. #2 (as always). Octavo. 27, [3] pp. with color frontispiece, chapter headings in green and opening initials in red. Publisher's blue-gray boards with printed paper cover label. Endpapers toned due to binding (as always). An excellent copy.The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus is a fraternal society established in California during the Gold Rush. Dormant by the early 20th century, it was revived in 1930 as the New Dispensation of E Clampus Vitus. From 1934 to the centennial of the Gold Rush in 1949, six volumes of New Dispensation lore were written to announce and explain E Clampus Vitus. This is the second of these publications and concerns the mythical arrival of the Chinese in California.Some Californians are Elks, others are Moose, and some even are Lions. But the most colorful of them all are the Clampers, members of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV), a fraternal organization founded back in the gold rush days. It all began as a spoof on other lodges and secret societies, and its early history is a little difficult to reconstruct. The early meetings of E Clampus Vitus in the California gold fields were devoted so completely to drinking and carousing that none of the Clampers was ever in any condition to keep minutes, let alone remember what had happened the next day!The Clampers held that "All members were officers" and "All officers were of equal indignity," but some, such as the Clampatriarch and the Noble Grand Humbug, were more equal than others. The official purpose of the Order was to take care of the widows and orphans.By tradition, a person could join E Clampus Vitus by invitation only and then was expected to endure an elaborate, humorous and sometimes grueling initiation ceremony. Membership in E Clampus Vitus declined in the late 1800s, but experienced a revival in the 1930s and is still going strong today. Modern-day Clampers typically dress up in garb reminiscent of the gold-rush -- usually a red miner?s shirt, and black hat -- and they still hold their unique initiation ceremonies, but now specialize in putting up commemorative plaques of historical and hysterical interest. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 76750

Bibliografische Details

Titel: The Curious Book of Clampus, or Gumshaniana.
Verlag: Platrix Press, Yerba Buena
Erscheinungsdatum: 1935