![]() (Newspapers_com) “The Manchester Courier” of England, 1891 July 25, The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, Section: The Manchester Courier Weekly Supplement, Unanswerable, Quote, Column 2, Greater Manchester, England. The same joke appeared in “The Alden Times” of Iowa, 1891 June 26, The Alden Times, Unanswerable, Quote, Column 3, Alden, Iowa. I don’t want to have anything to do with a company that would take a risk on me.” “I’d like to do it, Ferguson, but I don’t believe I would pass the medical examination.” “Jones, you’d better join our co-operative life insurance company before that cough of yours gets any worse.” Here are selected citations in chronological order.Īn entertaining precursor appeared in “The Chicago Daily Tribune” of Illinois in 1891: 1891 June 6, The Chicago Daily Tribune, In a Minor Key: Unanswerable, Quote, Column 5, Chicago, Illinois. No one seems to know the exact wording of the resignation message which is endlessly mutable. These four variants of the tale are the most salient in QI’s opinion, but several more are available. I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member. 1992, My Life with Groucho by Arthur Marx, Pages 187-188, Robson Books Ltd., London. In this version Groucho resigned from the Hillcrest Country Club and not the Friars Club or the Delaney Club. In 1988 Groucho’s son wrote another description of the resignation in his book “My Life with Groucho: A Son’s Eye View”. I DON’T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER. ![]() The following morning I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. In 1959 Groucho himself told about resigning a club in his memoir “Groucho and Me”, but he presented a fictionalized version of the story in which the club was referred to as the Delaney Club: 1995, Groucho and Me by Groucho Marx, Chapter 24,, Da Capo Press Inc., New York. My father promptly wrote back, “Because I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member!” In the next mail, he received a letter from the club’s president, wanting to know why he had resigned. So Groucho sent a letter of resignation: 1951 October 13, Collier’s magazine, Groucho Is My Pop by Arthur Marx,, Column 2, P.F. In 1951 he said that Groucho joined the Friars Club at the insistence of friends, but he did not participate. Over the years Arthur Marx recounted different narratives of this episode, and some will be presented further below. This is the earliest variant by a close family member with intimate knowledge of Groucho. On Octothe only son of Groucho, Arthur Marx, published a version of the anecdote in Collier’s Magazine. ![]() Groucho Marx’s letter of resignation to the Friars’ Club: “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.” This is the earliest instance located by QI: 1949 October 20, Dunkirk Evening Observer, In Hollywood by Erskine Johnson,, Column 5, Dunkirk, New York. On Octothe Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson published the tale. Yet, there is some agreement for example, sources concur that Groucho was resigning from a club, and he was not refusing to join one. However, the same evidence does not reveal the exact wording of his comical gem or the precise circumstances of its employment. Quote Investigator: Evidence shows that Groucho Marx crafted a magnificently humorous line that has become a comedy classic. The club is called: The Friars Club of Beverly Hills, The Delaney Club, The Lambs Club, The Beverly Hills Tennis Club, or The Hillcrest Country Club. I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.I don’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.He sends a telegram or a letter saying something like the following: In one version Groucho resigns from a club, and in another version he refuses to join a club. I have heard so many variants of this tale that I was hoping you would investigate. Friars Club? Delaney Club? Beverly Hills Tennis Club? Hillcrest Country Club?ĭear Quote Investigator: There is a wonderful story about Groucho Marx and an elite private club.
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