History of the Gluttons

Like the Club itself, our motto "E.S.S." began at Beaumont High School, appropriately in a history class: Miss Rydell's history class. During a heated debate with another student, whose name has been lost, Joan Holt (no relation) ended her part of the debate with the words: "Eat some shit!" The debate was over, but the words would live on.

The Gluttons knew a good phrase when they heard it, and used it enough that it became slogan-like. The words were often shortened in public use to "E.S.S." as few desired the consequences that would certainly fall on a student using the word "shit" in front of teachers or school administrators. When questioned about the meaning of "E.S.S." replies ranged from "Epsilon Sigma Sigma" to "Every Saturday and Sunday," "Every Senior Smiles," "Elect Safety Sam (our school safety mascot)" and anything else that seemed to be safe phrasing.

The original Glutton shirts were white, short sleeved sweatshirts with black lettering. They featured the Glutton shield on the front and the name Gluttons and the letters E.S.S. on the back.  The Glutton shield was designed by Charlie Barnicle, who liberally borrowed the shield from the logo of Falstaff beer, and placed the name Gluttons in the shield where the name Falstaff appeared. Copyright Laws? The Gluttons were high school students and the year was 1964. We knew little of copyright laws but knew a cool design when we saw one, and Charlie's design of the Glutton Shield and motto became the working design for the soon to be ordered Glutton sweatshirts.  Minnigerode Sporting Goods on North Grand Ave., not far from Beaumont, was contracted to make the first Glutton shirts, at the cost of $10.00 per shirt. The store would make the shirts in groups of twelve.

Armed with an idea, a design and a cost, Glutton organizers set out to determine how many Glutton shirts would be ordered. The orders were not confined to Beaumont High School, and friends who attended other schools, or had graduated, and were part of the Glutton social group, also ordered shirts.  Thirty-six shirts were ordered, and plans were made to celebrate the debut of the shirts, and the Gluttons Club, by holding Glutton Sweatshirt Day. Glutton Sweatshirt Day was to be held on a school day. Each Glutton was to wear his shirt to school, or work, that day. While the exact date of the event is lost, the results are not. At Beaumont High School, teachers and administrators did not see the humor nor did they participate in the joy of the occasion. Glutton shirts were banned from the school, as was the name Gluttons and "E.S.S."

A favorite Saturday afternoon activity in the Spring of 1964, was an excursion to wherever our imaginations, and Paul Heacock's car, would take us. One particular Saturday afternoon found a small group of Gluttons in the Heacock pickup truck.  These Glutton explorers were traveling across the Chain of Rocks Bridge to Illinois to discover a route to the site of a smokestack that was on the bank of the Mississippi River and visible from the Missouri side of the river.

There were many questions to be answered. What was the smokestack? Why was it there? And, most important, was it a landmark calling us to a place where we could, in relative safety, drink and party?

What was discovered was, for all intents and purposes, a bona fide beach: Sand, water, and far enough away from civilization that we could be as obnoxious as possible while bothering only a few isolated fishermen and an occasional boater.  Glutton Beach, as we called it, became the site of weekend parties and gatherings, and the setting of many Glutton stories that will not be told on these pages, but were immortalized in the Glutton song: "The Gluttons Go Marching.”

The founding of The Gluttons, and the graduation of most members from high school happened within the period of a few months. While we were all going to the same schools, living in the same neighborhoods, and going to Circle Steak and Shake, it was easy for everyone to stay in touch. Few thought about the effect that high school graduation and subsequent college attendance, service, work and careers, could have on friendships that had developed.  It was Fred Buckhold, better known as Big Fred, who was the inspiration behind the idea of renting a place for us to use as a meeting/gathering place. One night, while a few Gluttons were eating in a small Walnut Park restaurant (the name has been lost), Fred remarked that it would be a shame if we lost contact with each other due to college and other factors. It would be nice if we had a place, maybe a Club House, that we could use as a meeting and gathering site. Those who lived in the area could use it year round, and those who lived out of town or at college, could go there whenever they were home.  The genius of Fred's idea was realized by those present and it was decided that we should look for such a place. Fred, assisted by a small committee, set out on the quest to find a place we could rent.

The best site located was a vacant store front located at 5611 Riverview in the middle of a city block in Walnut Park. The store front was connected to a small apartment, in which a family could live. The residence behind the store front was three levels: a basement; a main floor consisting of a kitchen, bath, and two large rooms; and an upper floor which was one large room. The site was almost perfect for use as a Club. In the attached building next door was a printing business. Directly to the other side was an alley way.  Limited parking was available on the street and in a small lot next to the printer. Across the street was Lombardo's Restaurant and the Rio Show, and the Rio Bar was within walking distance. Any private residence was far enough away that noise was not a great concern.

The Gluttons still faced obstacles. A major obstacle was that a rental agreement had to be signed. Even in 1964 realtors and others were reluctant to enter into a financial agreement with individuals (or groups) who were recent high school graduates and had no money or steady jobs. That obstacle was overcome when Bill Cameron, the only person in The Gluttons who was twenty-one years old and had a job and established credit, agreed to sign the rental agreement. Bill signed the agreement with Louis C. Noce in August of 1965, and the Gluttons officially moved into their clubhouse on September 1, 1965.

Another obstacle we faced was financial. Where were we to get the money needed to pay rent and other expenses? We had formed a Club called The Gluttons but at this time the Club was not registered with the State of Missouri or any other entity. While the first official minutes that remain are dated March 28, 1966, member recollection tells us that each member agreed to pay an equal share toward covering the rent and expenses needed to operate the Club on a monthly basis. Permanent St. Louis residents paid $10.00 a month dues. Those at college paid the monthly dues when they were "in town," such as during breaks and during the Summer. It needs to be noted that during this time, it was common for members to "drop in and out" of membership for financial reasons.  The dues system established, to the surprise of all, worked. By March 28, 1966, the date of the first recorded minutes that remain, the treasurer reported a balance of $214.00 in the bank.  The treasurer also reported that the Club made $65.00 on a fundraiser: the election of honorary officers.  With that, the foundation was set.  We were The Gluttons, and our headquarters and identity were based in St, Louis, Missouri. 

But how did we become the International Brotherhood of Gluttons? Although we did not use the term in our name, we were a brotherhood by any definition of the word. When we learned that some of our members who were in the military had been assigned to serve in other areas of the world like Viet Nam and Turkey, we realized that we had become an international organization, and our presence and influence was expanding across the globe. We had an obligation to these members to let them know that they were still a part of us, as we were still a part of them, even though we had been parted by our nation’s war. There is no record of a vote changing our name but by general agreement we became the International Brotherhood of Gluttons. The international title served us well as our membership extended to Korea, Japan, the Mediterranean Sea and, in more recent years, Iran. The fact that at times, and currently, we have no members or branches in another nation is meaningless. We are an international organization and are ready for our brothers in other nations when they are ready for us. 

The Glutton Hymn (Tune of “Far Above Cayuga’s Waters” the Alma Mater of Cornell University) was written on evening at the Old Club by Steve Kettner and Dave Brink. As it was the only hymn, we had it became the closing ceremony at membership meetings and a ritual at wedding receptions. In recent years the hymn has seldom been sung because of two factors: 

1. we forgot about it and 
2. members either do not know the words or are confused about them. 

There is no excuse for #1 but there is some reason for #2, and that reason is the move from Walnut Park to Redman Acres. The Chorus of the hymn includes the address of the club. The move caused the address to change and, as a result, the chorus was changed to include the new address. While this change seemed necessary and to make sense, it caused problems. First of all, some members believed that the change was not necessary as tradition dictated that the hymn remain the same no matter what the address was. These members refused to sing the new words. Problems also were caused by members who did not know the words to begin with and merely “sang along” with someone who they thought knew the words. This resulted in some members singing along with those singing the old lyrics, some singing along with those singing the new lyrics, and some singing a combination of old and new lyrics. Problems were also caused by the fact that all of the verses of the hymn are so much alike that often few, if any, knew what was being sung to begin with and thought the hymn was “Sweet Caroline.” 

Check back for more history when our webmaster has more time to format the story of the Gluttons!