It was my first social visit anywhere upon arriving in Whanganui all those years ago. On the Friday afternoon of my first week of work here, I was taken to the Cossie Club by an older colleague to be introduced.
I had not had anything to do with workingmen’s clubs until then, so this was all a new experience for me. It seemed like a fit for me. I was a working man from a working-class background.
I still remember what struck me when entering the building was the warmth and the cooking smells from Harold Wright’s kitchen and the friendliness of everyone. It was like a home away from home.
I was nominated for membership, but that took a while — membership was capped in those days. I have been a member, off and on, ever since.
Workingmen’s clubs started in the mid-19th century in the industrial areas of England. The first workingmen’s club in New Zealand was formed in Dunedin in 1874.
By 1896, there were at least 12, including the Wanganui Cosmopolitan Club founded in 1893. The club was set up in a property in Campbell Place, now Rutland St.
In 1900, the club opened its own premises on the corner of Rutland St and Drews Ave, still there today and used by other occupants.
The present clubrooms were opened in 1979 by then-Governor-General Sir Keith Holyoake.
Workingmen’s clubs were set up as an alternative to the heavy-drinking environment of pubs in the 19th century — an attempt to move working men away from drinking and to offer self-improvement opportunities.
Clubs had libraries where members could spend time reading widely if they wished.
The clubs also encouraged sporting adjuncts to get members out and about and to mix in friendly competition with other clubs and organisations.
In the 1920s, Returned Services Association clubs were also set up in New Zealand along similar lines for war veterans to meet and socialise.
Over the years many clubs changed their names to Cosmopolitan clubs to reflect the diversity of membership and continued to be well patronised.
In 2016, there were more than 300 chartered clubs (including gentlemen’s clubs) in New Zealand. The Petone Working Men’s Club had over 13,000 members and was a major landlord.
Whanganui is still blessed with four such clubs — Club Metro, Wanganui East Club, Castlecliff Club and St John’s Club.
There is also the Wanganui Club, still in its lovely old premises in St Hill St; and the Wanganui Commercial Club in Hatrick St, its beautiful, peaceful old building in St Hill St now a restaurant and a step back into the early 20th century when one visits.
My only not-so-happy memory of the then-Cossie Club is an employer taking me to lunch there one day and telling me I was being made redundant. You take the bad with the good in life. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
Club Metro will no doubt continue in its home, another fine old traditional Whanganui club.
