The Savage Clubs1 a spirit of ‘Bohemian comradeship’

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 31, 1 January 1998, Page 43

Allan Thomas

The Savage Clubs 1 a spirit of ‘Bohemian comradeship ’

In the last decades of the 19th century and into the first decades of the 20th century, men’s social clubs were established and thrived in many New Zealand cities and towns. They took the name ‘Savage Club’ from a London club which began in 1857, but they developed ceremonies that were distinctively New Zealand, including borrowing elements of Maori culture. Today this feature sometimes has the charge of cultural insensitivity levelled at it, but at that time the Maori cultural features of the Savage clubs were seen as a homage to Maori tradition and as a reinforcement of the ‘Bohemian comradeship’ 2 to which the clubs aspired.

The clubs were a distinctive world of their own, exhibiting a love of ritual and formal procedure, of humour and alcohol, doggerel verse and caricature drawing, song and dance. But these practices also resonated through the performance arts and social life of the same period. Though the Savage clubs were a distinctive group, a similar humour and caricature was seen in journals and periodicals of the time, and similar dramatic sketches and musical performances were presented at functions throughout the community.

The camaraderie of the Savage clubs was also a feature of a pantheon of men’s organisations - from the Masons and Hibernians, through Buffalos and Oddfellows, and later to the RSA (Returned Servicemen’s Association), Rotary and Lions. The Savage clubs had a position about midway on the social scale, below the Gentlemen’s clubs

(often grandly named for the locality: Northern, Poverty Bay, Wellington) and above the Workingmen’s clubs. The Savages, especially in the larger centres, were based in middle-class (i.e. business and professional) occupations. 3 Yet the Wellington Savage Club in its early years frequently had the Governor General as Chief Savage or Ariki Nui, 4 and on occasions the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition could be present at a meeting. The Savage Club at Victoria University College in the years before World War One included both staff and students. 5

This present research into Savage clubs resulted from listening to music recordings made in 1946 of the club in the town of Hawera. 6 These recordings show a wide range of musical performance - orchestra, solo song and chorus, instrumental item, dance accompaniment - which was complemented by dramatic sketches and humour shown in the programmes and logbooks of the club made available by current members and officers. Comparison with the Wellington Savage Club showed a similar range of activities, though one with less of the earthy humour of the small Taranaki town. Wellington’s club was also less central to the cultural activities of the capital city than the Savage club in a small isolated town like Hawera. Each club eventually owned its own premises: after leasing various halls in town, the Hawera club built their own, while the Wellington Savages hired the Masons hall (Boulcott Street), then the RSA hall (Victoria Street) before purchasing the Oddfellows hall in Kent Terrace. The activities of the two clubs provide an interesting contrast within the Savage club movement, and this preliminary survey draws largely from their records. 7 Savage clubs continue in both places and in a number of other New Zealand towns and cities, though the movement was at its strongest in the decades considered in this article, from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

Origin of the clubs Savage clubs frequently tell the story of their origin in the London Savage Club of the early 19th century. Their link with the London club is a whakapapa - though they do not use this Maori term - of which they are particularly proud. Here is one such account of the London origin, from the Hawera star newspaper on the 60th anniversary of the Hawera Savage Club in 1985:

There was a little band of authors, journalists and artists that found the need of a place of reunion where, in their hours of leisure, they might gather together and enjoy each others society [. . .] these men were happy and carefree enjoying a truly Bohemian type of life not in the sense of a rough gypsy life but in being a true man and brother. 8

In a slightly more extended explanation of the name of the Savages, Harrison Cook of the Wellington Savage Club drew on a letter to the London Observer which stated that (at the inaugural meeting in London in 1857) various literary names for the club

were suggested, including ‘Addison’, ‘Johnson’, ‘Goldsmith’ and ‘Shakespeare’, but that these were regarded as too pretentious. Whereupon a member called out [the suggestion] ‘The Savage’. ‘The very thing’, [the chairman] exclaimed, ‘No one can say there is anything pretentious in assuming that name. If we accept Richard Savage 10 as our godfather it shows there is no pride about us; if we mean that we are “saevi”, why then it will be a pleasant surprise for those who may join us to find the wigwam a “lucus a non lucendo”.’ And so in a frolicsome humour, our little society was christened the ‘Savage Club. 11

When George Toogood and Bill Honey, the instigators of the Wellington Savage Club, canvassed for members they sent a circular letter to 250 prominent citizens selected as ‘likely to prove good Bohemians’, 12 using the same term ‘Bohemian’ that William McKeon (a member of the club in later decades) used to describe his experiences as a Savage. 13

The terms ‘Bohemian’ and ‘Savage’ were used to identify the club, but in combination they create certain ambiguities which were also exploited, according to Harrison Cook’s notes (quoted above), in the origin of the name of the club. The two terms were somewhat contradictory. The ‘Savage’ (according to 19th century thinking) was a child of nature, not one who could fashion a musical composition or construct a work of literature. 14 But the ‘Bohemian’ was a creative artist with ‘free and easy habits, manners and sometimes morals’. I? The Savage clubs were not notably ‘free and easy’ in this sense - membership of the club was strictly controlled, dinner jacket was the required dress, alcohol was not used to excess (at least in the formal part of the meeting), and entertainment items had to be of good standard and avoid political or religious controversy. Balancing these ideas of the Savage was the often repeated link to the London club, a link which was not established with any formal connection but which was frequently mentioned, as a ‘myth of origin’, in order to emphasise the Britishness of the Savage Club in New Zealand.

In Hawera the Savage Club was not established until 1925, more than four decades after the friendly societies such as the Masons, Hibernians and Oddfellows which were formed in the town in the 1880 s. This pattern also seems to have been followed in the larger centres, where the Savage clubs were established in the late 19th century, well after the major friendly societies. Auckland’s Savage Club was established in 1888, Christchurch in 1893, Dunedin in 1896, and Wellington in 1905. The time lag of 40 or 50 years between the founding of the serious welfare societies (Masons, Oddfellows, Hibernians) and the creation of the social clubs underlines the difference between these men’s societies.

Welfare Savage clubs were not primarily welfare institutions, though proceeds from an event might be given to a deserving charity, and the Hawera club regularly provided entertainment at old people’s homes and hospitals.

At Christmas 1931 the Hawera Savage Club gave a joint of meat to every married man, and a grocery parcel (worth £3 for those with three children, £1 9s. for those with two children, and £1 3s. for those with one or no child) and this continued until 1936, when working boots and clothing were also given. During World War Two the Hawera club sent postcards and letters to its members overseas, and in 1950 it provided Christmas cheer for the Polish refugee children quartered in Hawera. In present-day Hawera, members turn out wearing their club uniform blazer for the funeral of a former member.

In the late 19505, the Wellington Savage Club set up a fund to assist the study of ‘music, drama, ballet, fine arts, architecture and literature’. The fund was to supplement the recently established government bursary and the first awards of £SO were made in 1962. The first holders of these scholarships were Marilyn Bartlett, Cheryl Julian, and Evelyn Killoh. Another club assisted the distinguished New Zealand singer Inia Te Wiata with travel costs and tuition fees. However, the Wellington Savage Club fund was discontinued in the early 1970 s and the money distributed to Downstage theatre and Ngati Poneke building fund.

Ceremonial Savage club meetings take their nomenclature and some ceremonial references from Maori culture. The leader, who wears a Maori cloak and holds a carved stick or club, has the title ‘Rangatira’, ‘Ariki’ or ‘Tohunga’; the stage or dais is framed with Maori carvings in the shape of a meeting house; the evening entertainment is called a korero, and visiting groups are hapu. The secretary of the Hawera club today is called ‘Hekeretari’. The association of Maori culture with the Savage motif also occurs in the club’s badge and, in a more light-hearted vein, on the programmes of events.

It was not, however, until 1952 that the central symbol of the Wellington Savage Club changed from the Indian tepee or wigwam to a Maori carving. The tepee was modelled on that used in the London Savage Club and was only discarded after considerable discussion by the committee and some expressions of regret that a familiar symbol was to be removed. Although there are some references to other cultures, for example to ‘smoking the pipe of peace’, and the wigwam or tepee, the references today are predominantly to Maori culture. The haka performance is an important aspect of the evening’s programme; the Wellington Savage Club resolved in 1951 that the haka should be performed first in the programme - no doubt an example of Maori protocol requirements. Two

members of the haka team in 1951 had not paid their subscription but (reading between the lines) they were so valuable to the team that the committee discussed whether their subscriptions should be waived. In the event this was not necessary, as both subscriptions were forthcoming. The Wellington Savage Club also produced their own recording of haka in 1951, although no copy has so far been located. 16 The Maori elements of the club were also combined with other ceremonial procedures:

At the start of each korero, the Rangatira and his council march in, while the audience, in almost military fashion, stands to attention. All remain standing while the national anthem is sung, along with the club waiata, which is a war song. All then recite the club’s creed. The Rangatira is then presented with the cloak of office. At this point, the Rangatira will invite the men to sit, resuming his own seat in a throne-like arrangement with the immediate past president. The show can now commence. 17

Stephen Watters makes the point that this etiquette draws from the courtroom, the parade ground, and the swearing in of political or judicial office-holders. Interwoven into the British pageantry are the Maori elements: the song, the Rangatira’s feather cloak, and the stage setting with carvings. 18 At least some of this pomp and ceremony was derived from and encouraged in its development by the knowledge of other men’s societies such as the Masons, where regalia and other symbols, oaths and creeds were long established. Ritual or ceremonial in these contexts served to elevate the association and fellowship of the members. The observances provided a particular stability to the Savage clubs which otherwise relied on the ephemeral and changing programme of performances as their central feature.

Raids One of the most distinctive activities of the Savage clubs and their kindred organisation the Orphans clubs 14 were visits to a neighbouring club, termed ‘raids’. The group making the raid was sometimes called a ‘war party’. In 1953 the minutes of the Wellington Savage Club record the arrangements for raids in that year:

It was resolved that the secretary be instructed to write to the Gisborne Savage Club and enquire if it would be convenient to raid them during the coming season and to further investigate the

possibility of raiding the Napier Savage Club en route . . . [and whether the] New Plymouth Savage Club would welcome a raid during the coming season and if so what date would be convenient. The Secretary was also instructed to write a tactful letter to the Auckland club and suggest that any raids or acceptance of raids be deferred until next year. Resolved further that the Secretary write to the Hawera and Wanganui Savage clubs and advise them that the club would welcome a raid from them this season. 20

The newspaper account of the raid of Wellington Savages on Hawera on Saturday 13 June 1959 shows the kind of noisy commotion and fun that attended these events. For some occasions the town band would turn out to escort the visitors into town - as one informant noted, it was all ‘a bit of a hoo-haa’:

The largest crowd ever to greet a visiting Savage Club party at Hawera gathered on Saturday afternoon at the overhead bridge just south of the town to enjoy the rollicking welcome with which Hawera Savages brought in a ‘raiding party’ from the Wellington club. The visitors travelling in a special bus were heralded by four aircraft who made bombing raids and scored some near misses with flour bombs. An effigy hanging from the overhead bridge brought the party to a halt and a lively haka of welcome greeted them as they came out of their bus, with any idea of sitting inside to watch the fun dispelled by the efforts of Hawera ‘braves’ in a variety of guises including clowns, harem ladies and students of St Trinian’s. The Wellingtonians were then solemnly weighed on bobby calf scales, all fortunately coming up to the required standards. Their rangatira, Mr D. A. Highet, was transferred to the comfort of an invalid chair for the remainder of his journey into Hawera and the fire brigade added considerably to the fun as the procession moved into the town.

At the Savage Club Hall special precautions were taken against mucosal disease infection. The visitors, divested of their footware, walked a slightly uncomfortable path through a tray of water richly infused with Condy’s crystals to which a layer of pebbles was added for walking comfort. For the public the fun was now over and only Savages know of the difficulties that can result from putting 60 assorted shoes and socks in a sack and then trying to make them again into 30 matching pairs. At the evening’s korero the Hawera rangatira ceremoniously installed Mr Highet in the place of honour as rangatira. An impressive traditional challenge haka by the Hawera team, with the stick ceremony [whero] opened the programme. 21

Many of the indignities the Hawera Club inflicted on its visitors have reference to the farming community - the ‘drench’ squirted in visitors’ mouths, and the visitors being loaded into a cattle truck or weighed on bobby calf scales. The nearby Savage club at Stratford made visitors walk through a bath in which live eels were swimming. However, on one occasion in Hawera the jesting turned to tragedy when the small top-dressing plane which was ‘bombing’ the visitors crashed, killing the pilot.

The evening’s korero entertainment provided by the visiting club was a combination of musical items and dramatic sketches. The ‘Aftermath’ which followed the korero, was a more informal yarning, with drinks and items lasting long into the night. In his autobiography Savage William McKeon notes that the Aftermath, for which the audience returned to the supper room (presumably after the women helpers or caterers had cleared away), often outdid the korero as ‘members from the floor were hoisted onto the table to give impromptu items’. 22

The Savage clubs promoted the arts, music, drama, writing, and visual arts. The major criterion for membership of the club, understood where it was not formally stated, was that men should entertain, or perform songs and instrumental items, dramatic sketches and recitations, dance, novelties and humour. Their regular meetings, raids to neighbouring clubs, the occasional ‘Ladies’ Nights’ for wives of members, and the public variety concert or revue, all incorporated the full range of amateur performances of the time.

Visual arts The Savage clubs included the visual arts (lightning drawings, cartoons and programmes) within their charter. Some members specialised in lightning drawings - rapid drawings of members on a club night. Included in the collection of the Wellington Savage Club in the Alexander Turnbull Library are some remarkable examples of these, such as a picture of Sir James Carroll (on the last visit before his death to give his blessing to the club) by Alan Paterson (1926), and a picture of Chief Savage Wilford by H. Linley Richardson (circa 1910).

Portraits that had an element of cartoon or caricature were a favourite. Several of these have survived from the Wellington club where the talented Alan Paterson drew a number of korero and visitors to the club such as Mark Hambourg and Peter Dawson in 1931. Leslie Tyler drew the Aftermath in 1962, and Gordon Minhinnick (visiting from the Auckland Savage Club) drew a humorous map of New Zealand with Wellington located in the far south. William Macbeth’s drawing of a korero in 1908 is shown on page 55.

Literary A number of literary activities (verbal, dramatic and written) occurred, ranging from the writing of dramatic sketches and doggerel odes to the keeping of the logbook and diary of the club. Often the minute-books or logbooks do not show any especial literary merit but they are an institution, maintained out of a sense of the club’s tradition, and provide an accurate representation of the club and its activities. In Hawera, all visiting members were required to sign the logbook and there was a written account of the korero or raid. These accounts are interesting, often being written as spoken English with colloquial phrases such as ‘a drop of the doings’ in the example below, which is an extract from an account of the visit of the Hawera Club to Wellington in 1982:

After the short welcome we were taken, some via the elevator, and some by umteen stairs to the third Floor, where we were given Hot Soup and Refreshments (Sandwiches and Cakes etc) not forgetting a drop of the Doings. The first person I met when I walked into the room was Francie Williams, late of the Hawera and Wellington Clubs. Francie lives in Auckland and is an Administrator for one of the Air Company’s. When he heard that the Hawera Savage Club was raiding Wellington, He Hopted on a Plane and flew to Wellington. 23 One particular literary activity was the writing of doggerel odes, some of which were sung. One common feature of odes is that they poke fun at the office-holders when

one club visits another. They were occasional compositions used only once, such as this closing ode: This korero we close, We feel exceeding sorry We go and seek repose In wigwam and in whare This course will meet applause From all of our wahines We’ll go and join our squaws Our gins and piccaninnes 24 However, the most prolific area of literary activity was the writing of sketches - short dramatic scenes, for a humorous response. The type of humour can be gauged from thetitles: ‘How to Be Happy Though Married’, ‘Lipstick’, ‘Kleptomania’, ‘Skinflint’.

One dramatic sketch pasted into the Hawera club logbook is titled ‘Two Hippies Seated on a Bench in Park’. Its direct and punchy humour is probably typical of the genre, as is its focus on current issues. The various concerns of the decades, whether hippies, women’s lib, or the Vietnam War, all make their way into these short pieces.

Two Hippies Seated on a Bench in Park Cecil: By joves this is the life for one, what do you say Ronnie? Ronnie: You can say that again Cecil, lovely day nothing to do, but enjoy it. Cecil: Just think of all those people working, coming home every night tired. Ronnie: Stop it Cecil, you’re making me tired just thinking about it. Cecil: How long since you done any work Ronnie? Ronnie: About three years since I saw the light. (Enter Nun with arm in a sling, she walks across and tries to climb over stile)

Ronnie: You know Cecil, I think the sister is having trouble, do you think we should help her? Cecil: Oh I don’t know its a bit hot. Ronnie: Come on it won’t take very long. Cecil: Oh all right. (They wander over) Ronnie: Here give me your hand Sister, and we shall soon have you over. Sister: Oh thankyou very much. I slipped getting out of the bath and broke my arm.

(The two hippies wander back to the park bench) Cecil. Well that didn’t take so long. Ronnie Long enough I reco’n I’ve done enough work to last me a while. Cecil'. I say Ronnie did you hear her say she broke her arm getting out of the bath. Ronnie: Of course I did, there’s nothing wrong with my ears. Cecil: What’s a bath Ronnie? Ronnie: How in hell would I know, I’m not a Catholic. 25

Music The Savage club meetings provided an opportunity for members to perform music in both song and orchestra. In the first decades of the club this meant especially the solo songs from the classical and drawing room repertoire with piano accompaniment such as ‘Who Is Sylvia?’ or ‘The Road to Mandalay’. Many songs were patriotic,

some were humorous. These songs were familiar from domestic musical gatherings and from the entertainments at town events such as welcomes and farewells. 26 Other songs, used in sing-along fashion on travel to raids or in the Aftermath, reveal the extensive repertoire of well-known tunes - the Mount Maunganui Orphans Club had 100 of these songs collected together in a book, similar to a Tramping Club songbook. It contains a varied repertoire of spirituals and carols, Stephen Foster songs and Irish ballads, music hall and songs from the world wars, Hawaiian and Maori songs, and many others.

Another feature was the orchestra of Savage Club members, which played marches, overtures and occasional pieces. Both the Hawera and Wellington Savage clubs had orchestras numbering perhaps 20 or more players. Each club was conducted by a long-serving member and town musician: H. C. A. Fox in Hawera and Frank Thomas in Wellington. 27 The workings of these orchestras give a glimpse of amateur music-making. New Zealand had many small orchestras - family orchestras, ladies’ orchestras, cinema orchestras and radio orchestras. In Wellington the club had an advantage in that there were links with the government Broadcasting Service and other orchestras for the supply of music - the Working Men’s Club orchestra, the Tin Hat Club (an RSA fund-raising organisation) orchestra, and the Orphans Club orchestra. In fact, when the Working Men’s and Tin Hat Club orchestras disbanded, the Savage Club orchestra obtained various items from their libraries.

In 1923 the Wellington Savage Club orchestra played the ‘Dance and Willow Song’ from the Othello Suite; several marches including Sousa, ‘Stars and Stripes’ and ‘Manhattan Beach’; Faust, Ballets No. 6 and 7; and the ‘Morning, Noon and Night’ overture by Suppe. In 1946 the first korero had the ‘Minnehaha Suite’, ‘Four Characteristic Waltzes’, and ‘Sea Chanty’. The orchestra formed its own separate committee, which spent much of its time recruiting new players to keep the ranks of the orchestra full. In 1946 the viola player was leaving to set up in business in Pukekohe so an advertisement was put in the daily papers and various Savage club members were approached to fill this and other vacancies. In 1957 Mr Antonelli, violinist and past member of the National Orchestra was approached to join and it was noted that a bass player from the Russian Ballet had been listening to rehearsals with a view to joining. Membership of the orchestra involved a considerable commitment. In 1965 the orchestra met 43 times - for 30 rehearsals and 13 korero or ladies’ nights.

The Wellington Savage Club Orchestra committee also discussed minor matters of organisation, which were nonetheless significant in their own way. In July 1946, for example, the committee chairman, conductor Mr Frank Thomas, Said that he wished to bring to the notice of the committee a matter that was causing him some concern viz the seating of the orchestra on korero

nights, and the unreferred action taken by Savage Crump in bringing his bassoon down and thereby doubling the instrument in one part. 28

After some discussion it was agreed that the secretary should approach Savage Crump. The next meeting of the Orchestra Committee was also taken up by this issue:

The secretary reported that Savage Crump was quite prepared to play any instrument or any part as long as he could sit away from the draft that came from the stage door. As he was no longer a young man he felt that his health came first. He did not think it would be fair to change the

brass over to the woodwind seating as they would then have the same inconvenience that the woodwind experienced. He was prepared to sit in any other place provided that it did not inconvenience any other player. The Chairman was very appreciative of Savage Crump’s helpful attitude [...] and it was decided to try seating Savage Crump against the stage wall. 29

In addition to domestic matters, the committee discussed programmes and repertoire. Items by orchestra members - solo items or duets, trios etc. - were also planned. Occasionally the choice of music or performance was questioned: at one meeting Savage McAllister asked if the conductor had considered playing the marches at a slower tempo. And at another Savage Bishop said that in his opinion ‘the programmes had not improved in recent years and were a little moth-eaten and out-moded’. 30

Revue & variety concert The natural occasion for the arts of the Savage Club was a revue or variety concert. The programme was essentially the same whether it was a members’ evening, the raid on a neighbouring club, a ladies’ night, or an entertainment at the hospital or old people’s home. The occasion typically brought out newly written words in a welcoming ode, Maori items, solo items by members (songs, instrumental performances, or recitations), the playing of the orchestra, and humorous sketches. This range of items is the essence of a variety show or a revue, which over time had developed from vaudeville. New Zealand had near-permanent public vaudeville shows in the main centres and touring through the country until the 19305, which Maurice Hurst has described:

Part One of the vaudeville programme consisted of a variation of the nigger minstrel show, with a set stage-scene and a spruce interlocutor (master of ceremonies) and two or four ‘darkies’ - tambo and bones - at the right and left of the stage. The other performers played their parts in that setting until half time, after which the scene was changed and ‘variety’ held full sway. 31

The Savage club entertainment fitted perfectly in this mould. There was a great variety of song and dance and spoken items, and opportunities for jokes and humour. New musical instruments were featured such as the accordion bands and harmonicas when these became popular. Barber-shop quartet singing, often performing established Negro spirituals such as ‘Steal Away to Jesus’ or sentimental songs like ‘Love’s Old Sweet Song’, varied the solo song or chorus items. Maori items replaced the

American Negro scenes of vaudeville - sometimes these were elaborate ‘Scenes at the Pa’ or a flimsy story line into which a haka or action song could be inserted. Michael Jackson’s semi-autobiographical novel Rainshadow describes a visit to such a variety performance:

Suddenly a spotlight picked out a park bench centre-stage where a recumbent tramp in frayed overcoat was frantically scratching himself. Sketch: gentleman comes along and occupies other end of bench. Is soon similarly infected. Lady now arrives and sits beside him. She also begins to scratch herself, despite an obvious reluctance to betray the nature and exact location of the itch. More people turn up. There is a chain-reaction of scratching and the tramp is elbowed off his end of the bench. He tumbles to the ground. Disgruntled, he gets up, but exits smiling, well rid of his fleas. The gentry on the bench are left in paroxysms of scratching. There followed a Barber’s Shop Quartet in white ducks and boaters, crooning Roses in Picardy; then a gully-gully man turned water into wine and dragged endless tatty handkerchiefs out of a top hat... [And then] the M.C. with his jokes, and the men’s chorus line in ‘taffeta and falsies’. 32

The highlight of such shows was the ballet (and sometimes mannequin parades) called ‘classique ballet’ and performed by men dressed as ballerinas. The Taranaki daily news had this report of a ballet in the Savage Club Revue in 1946: Most impressive perhaps were the mannequin parade and ballet which although not attempts at burlesque could not help but throw the crowd into hysterics. However there was no denying the fact that some of the ballet members would not have disgraced a real troupe. 33

The male ballet was said to be a new feature in Hawera in 1930. The newspaper report at that time noted that it featured Lofty Poison (6 feet 6 inches tall) and ‘dainty’ Arthur Harrop. Ballets, presented by men dressed as ballerinas, became a popular feature of the shows. Informants in the Hawera Savage Club, when asked if the young men felt embarrassed by the dress, the make-up, and the public exposure, answered ‘Oh no, they loved it!’. On one of the programmes in the Hawera logbook, which apparently had been put up in the dressing room of one show, was the instruction in block letters: ‘Use make-up where possible, we want a good show’. The Savages were not alone in these activities. All kinds of male organisations presented transvestite performances in New Zealand - from the Piha Surf Lifesaving Club 34 to the Kiwi Concert Party of World War Two. University Capping concerts

had almost obligatory items of female impersonation such as the Selwyn College Ballet at Otago University graduations. 3 ' What distinguished the Savage club ‘women’s’ performances was the great care taken with the costume and dance - a ballet teacher was employed to train the troupe; the costume was a genuine tutu or a woman’s dress; the choreography was sometimes genuine also. But, although this was a thorough presentation which was well rehearsed, its effect was always caricature or burlesque.

A real thread of caricature pervades the amateur entertainment: the artist drew humorous portraits of visitors and members, the versifiers poked fun at officeholders; the sketches parodied local attitudes, sometimes to new social phenomena, sometimes to age old concerns of matrimony and courtship. Yet the orchestra played straight - it rehearsed, it was not part of the parody - and the solo singers sang earnestly, ‘Who Is Sylvia?’. But what of the Maori group and the men’s ballet; were they caricature or intended as a genuine gesture?

Issues As the decades passed, the Savage clubs faced two challenges. The Savages themselves saw the threat to the club from dwindling membership, probably brought about by the competition from the entertainment provided by television, which itself

was a professional entertainment rather than an amateur one. 36 Amateur musical endeavour dwindled as professional groups were established in theatres and in music - such as the National Orchestra and the Chamber Music Federation from the late 1940 s - and as their efforts were heard on radio and television. The performances of amateurs lost their interest and impact.

The other challenge to the Savage clubs came from the groups who were, in a sense, excluded from the clubs, but who were nonetheless essential to them - women and Maori. There is no evidence that women found the antics of men dressed as women doing ballet or in sketches offensive. Indeed it was the highlight of public entertainment. However, the men’s club could only exist with the goodwill and work of women - whether as caterers, costumiers, musicians, or (occasionally) as dance teachers. A willing pool of women was needed to keep the Savage clubs going; early on this was called the Wahines’ group, which later attained the status of a separate club or section of the club. In some places women went on to become full members. 37

Maori were apparently willing to assist the Savage clubs in the early years and there seems no doubt that much of the club activities was in genuine homage to Maori. The twice-weekly rehearsals of the haka group were directed by a Maori expert and the regalia and ornaments of the club were made especially for their use. There were a number of prominent Maori involved in the club who apparently saw it as both an acknowledgement of their culture and a bridge between the races. 38 We can understand the use of Maori references in the Savage clubs by considering it in the context of other romantic uses of Maori images in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - in tourist promotions, museums and exhibitions, popular scholarship, and early film. The elements of ‘Maoriland’ gave character to many New Zealand enterprises. 9

However, the ceremonial use of Maori culture within the Savage clubs was not responsive to the changes that would occur as New Zealand moved away from the depictions of ‘Maoriland’. Indeed, the survival of some Savage club ritual gives a graphic demonstration of how far the expectation of Maori (accompanied by Pakeha support and acceptance) has moved in the area of cultural property rights. Today we are in the midst of a revolution in attitudes to indigenous culture, so it is hard to imagine the earlier era in which Maori culture could be more freely studied, possessed, or performed.

Looking at the history of the Savage clubs, then, we need not demonise the founding Savages for their lack of ‘sensitivity’ to Maori culture, nor patronise the Maori leaders and Maori experts who assisted the Savages by calling them ‘collaborators’. The early Savage clubs partook of the standard attitudes of the time to Maori culture, attitudes which were shared by Maori and Pakeha.

However, the Savage clubs’ programmes degenerated into ‘Hori’ jokes (curiously appropriate to the vaudeville tradition), pidgin English-Maori, and included the caricatures that portrayed stone-age primitives in a grotesque and offensive way as ‘ cartoon-cannibals ’. These cartoon-cannibals almost certainly came to offend Maori people and it is possibly this (though there is no direct confirmation) which is referred to in the Waitangi Tribunal report on Taranaki claims:

Within the pakeha community, Maori complain, they were regularly ‘depicted in cartoons, papers and periodicals in an unwholesome way .. . [and such] cartoon images of a heathen and contemptible people survived to influence generations of racial attitudes ’ . 40

The Savage clubs may have earnestly believed they were providing ‘rationalentertainment’, ‘encouragingtolerance and understanding’ (as noted in their Aims and Objectives) and genuinely providing a cultural outlet for their members. However, they potentially at least provided offence to two groups who were outside their boundaries - women and Maori. Both groups were excluded from some of the privileges of citizenship in wider society and lacked access to the power that was taken for granted by Pakeha men. Both groups, then, were disadvantaged, though in the first years of the existence of Savage clubs they may not have described themselves as such.

Looking inwards, then, the clubs of the 1940 s and earlier were undoubtedly places of camaraderie, where a folk culture thrived in their performances and arts activities. Looking outwards, they potentially provided offence to particular groups in society.

Changing social pressures in the second half of the 20th century would force changes in the clubs, such as allowing the full inclusion of women. The ‘Maoriland’ attitude, too, was an aspect of an earlier time which came to be viewed with hostility. Finally, the amateur status of the entertainment provided by the clubs became outmoded when professional orchestras, theatre companies, radio, film and television entertainment developed. The ‘Bohemian comradeship’ of the Savage clubs, which reflected the needs and aspirations of those earlier decades, was no longer relevant.

Turnbull Library Record 31 (1998), 43-62

References 1 This paper was given first in May 1998 as a seminar at Victoria University’s Stout Research Centre for the Study of New Zealand Society, History and Culture, and thanks are recorded for the comments of colleagues and participants at that time. Acknowledgement is also made to the Savage Club members, and to the librarians and archivists who have assisted with this study. 2 William J. McKeon, The fruitful years: A cavalcade of memories (Wellington: The Author, [1971?]), p. 225. An autobiography. 3 An occupational analysis of the 1922 Manawatu Savage Club showed about 70% professional, 16% clerical/public servants, 12% skilled manual or unskilled. Between 1922 and 1941 professional numbers decreased by 10%, and skilled/unskilled manual increased by a similar proportion. Source: Stephen T. Watters, ‘Savage pursuits: The pursuit of leisure in the Manawatu Savage Club, 1921-1941’ (undated graduate essay, History Department, Victoria University of Wellington). 4 In New Zealand several Governors General were Chief Savage in the Wellington Savage Club, including Lord Plunket (1905), Lord Islington (1911) and Viscount Jellicoe (1921). 5 Spike, 11 n 0.2 (October 1912).

6 Recordings of the Mobile Recording Unit of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service 1946-48 are held in the Sound Archive of Radio New Zealand, Christchurch. The recordings from Hawera have formed the basis of a study of the town’s music (Allan Thomas, forthcoming). 7 The article is based on two primary research resources: the papers of the Hawera Savage Club (which are still held by the officers of that club), and the Wellington Savage Club Records, held by the Alexander Turnbull Library (MS-Group-0557), which include minutes and ephemera for the period 1905-1982. Other archival resources referred to in the article are separately referenced. 8 Clipping in the Hawera Savage Club Logbook, Hawera Star, 1985. 9 Observer, 18 August 1935. 10 Richard Savage, known as an actor, poet and dramatist, died in the Debtors’ Prison in Bristol in 1743. He was given a pension of £2OO a year to prevent him from publishing his poem ‘The Bastard’, which attacked his high-born mother. Source: Harrison Cook, Notes on the Wellington Savage Club, Alexander Turnbull Library MS-0605, p. 3. 11 Harrison Cook, ‘Notes’, p. 3. 12 Ibid.

13 McKeon, The fruitful years, p. 225. 14 See, for example, Bernard Smith, European vision and the South Pacific, 2nd ed. (Sydney: Harper & Row, 1985), pp. 317-332. 15 Concise Oxford Dictionary, 6th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964). 16 Fifteen records were pressed, for personal and presentation copies, costing about £l9 each. The recording had spoken introduction and haka on each side and in addition (on side one) a performance of waiata poi sung by Savage Tahiwi, prominent Maori musician of the time. 17 Watters, ‘Savage pursuits’, pp. 43-44. 18 Ibid. 19 The Orphans clubs are said to have been established because the Savage clubs had a limit on membership numbers. Larger centres had both Savage and Orphans clubs; smaller centres may have had one or the other. 20 Wellington Savage Club Minutes, 29 April 1953, in Francis Marks, Scrapbook, Alexander Turnbull Library MS-1552. 21 Clipping in the Hawera Savage Club Logbook, Hawera Star, 13 June 1959. 22 McKeon, The fruitful years, p. 224. 23 Handwritten account (unsigned) in the Hawera Savage Club Logbook, 26 June 1982.

24 ‘A Closing Ode’, written by G. P. Williams, first used 1 May 1893, and printed in the Christchurch Savage Club Jubilee booklet (in the possession of the Hawera Savage Club). 25 Hawera Savage Club Logbook, unsigned, undated. 26 Allan Thomas, ‘The family album of drawing-room songs’, Music in New Zealand, 28 (1998), 30-43. 27 Savage F. F. Thomas (1880-1965) conducted the Wellington Savage Club orchestra for 36 years, retiring in April 1951. Frank Thomas had grown up in Adelaide, giving his first solo concert there at the age of 12 years and coming to New Zealand about 1900. He was active as an official accompanist to the Competitions, and organist for Masonic functions and at St Andrew’s on The Terrace, Wellington. Savage H. C. A. Fox (1889-1960) was a ‘Mr Music’ in Hawera, conducting the Municipal Band and school bands, the town orchestra and male voice choir, and a church choir. His background was in brass bands and he had been a leading soloist or conductor of awardwinning bands in England and in New Zealand. 28 Minutes, Wellington Savage Club Orchestra committee, 9 July 1946, in Wellington Savage Club, Records, Alexander Turnbull Library MS-Group-0557. 29 Ibid., undated, a month later. 30 Ibid., 2 May 1951.

31 Maurice Hurst, Music and the stage in New Zealand: A century of entertainment 1840-1943 (Auckland: Charles Begg, 1944), p. 89. 32 Michael Jackson, Rainshadow (Dunedin: Mclndoe, 1988), p. 84; Michael Jackson attended this Savage club revue in Inglewood, Taranaki, in the early 19505. 33 Taranaki Daily News, 3 December 1946. 34 Listener, 27 December 1997, p. 13. 35 Moira Smith, ‘The ritual humor of students: Capping at Victoria University 1902-1988’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, Indiana University, 1992). 36 One member also saw the drop in popularity of the Savage clubs because of the change from 6 o’clock closing. Alcohol was more freely available for social drinking during the evenings and men did not need to join the Savages.

37 Barbara Rogers’s study of men’s clubs sees the clubs as places of privilege and decision-making which - by excluding women - excluded them from equal opportunity; see Rogers, Men only, An investigation into men’s organisations (London: Pandora, 1988). 38 Sir Apirana Ngata and Peter Buck, Na to hoa aroha: From your dear friend; the correspondence between Sir Apirana Ngata and Sir Peter Buck 1925-1950, vol.l, ed. by M. P. K. Sorrenson (Auckland: Auckland University Press in association with the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust and the Maori Purposes Fund Board, 1986). 39 J. O. C. Phillips, ‘Musings in “Maoriland” - Or was there a Bulletin school in New Zealand?’, Historical Studies, 20 no.Bl (1983), 520-35; Bernard Kemot, ‘Maoriland metaphors and the model pa’, in Farewell colonialism: The New Zealand International Exhibition, Christchurch, 1906-07, ed. by J. M. Thomson (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1998). 40 Waitangi Tribunal, The Taranaki report: Kaupapa tuatahi, (Wai 143) (Wellington: GP Publications, 1996), p. 105.