Freemasonry is a post-collegiate mostly-all male fraternity dedicated to the social development of the member to form a broader sense of the self and their community.
When the gathering of the family, that is a joy, but goes on and on during the holiday season, and exhaustion sets in for all the partying, it is nice to get away and curl up in a cozy corner all by one’s self to relax. At such times a good book will be just the elixir that one needs.
In just such a getaway moment I reached for an old book not touched for years on end from my bookcase. And what to my surprise should appear in my hands but Carl Claudy’s These Were Brethren, a collection of 24 Masonic short stories. Claudy is the master of the short story and not a bad playwright to boot. He is often best remembered for his Old Tiler Talks.
The very first story,The Gentle Masonic Way, had me in a state of nostalgic Masonic bliss. Here I met once again Worshipful Master Amos Andrews, Secretary Jeffries, Billy Morton, Dr. Witherspoon, Sneed and all the regulars from Doric Lodge.
My first encounter with Doric Lodge and all its characters was when I performed with a group of Masonic players who put on the Carl Claudy play A Rose Upon The Altar. It has been ten years since I played the part of Squire Bentley in a tear jerking performance.
Now here was Amos Andrews once again up to his eyeballs in what the British would call a “sticky wicket.” It seems that his son has come of age and petitioned Doric Lodge for membership. Repeated balloting a year apart has brought forth a black ball each time. The suspected culprit is an old time member of the Lodge who owns an expensive herd of cattle. The story goes that young Andrews shot his prize bull, worth a great deal of money, as it was mauling a vagrant. Now it is payback time.
Worshipful Andrews will not resort to subterfuge to sneak his son through the balloting process. But after the ranch owner fires his ranch foreman and all the workers he comes down with an illness that leaves him bedridden. Meanwhile a crippling winter blizzard hits the area and this ranch owner cannot feed and care for his cattle.
As the story comes to an end this bitter rancher out for revenge comes to Lodge a week later to once again participate in the balloting on young Andrews. But this time he has a change of heart and drops a white ball as he reveals that Worshipful Andrews spent three whole days and nights in his barn feeding and caring for his cows.
Claudy’s references to farming and cows are dated with analogies not easy to visualize in this day of mechanization and The Information Age. But the stories are timeless just as the references to sheep and sheep herding in the Bible provide analogies to timeless parables.
There are 23 more stories to tickle your fancy in this book including an outstanding mystery. So once in awhile reach into your bookcase and reacquaint yourself once again with a work of inspiration you have not visited in years, thereby renewing a right spirit within yourself.
If you are a traditional Mainstream or Prince Hall Mason, hereafter referred to as a Malecraft Mason, then you probably have the perception that a woman in Masonry is a member of the Eastern Star or Heroines of Jericho. You would be wrong.
Co-Masonry, as Kidd tells us, started with the making a Mason of Maria Deraismes, a well known advocate of women’s rights, in France by a Malecraft Lodge in 1882.
Deraismes, along with Georges Martin, founded Le Droit Humain later called International Co-Freemasonry.
From this modest beginning by 1900 sprang the Supreme Council of Universal Co-Freemasonry, incorporating the 33 degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This body claimed for itself worldwide jurisdiction of Co-Masonry and chartered new Lodges in many different areas. One of those areas was Britain where Annie Besant organized Co-Masonry.
And if you thought that a woman in Masonry would be an isolated case you would be wrong again. And if you thought that a woman in Masonry was a recent development and a passing fad, you would still be wrong one more time.
Karen Kidd, in her first book Haunted Chambers, catalogs the lives and occurrences of the first women who were admitted to Male-craft Masonry or who sneaked in. Now in her second book, On Holy Ground: A History of The Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry, Kidd publishes a detailed history of Co- Masonry, the institution that is the Obedience that admits men and women of all religions and national origins.Co-Masonry started in the 1880s. The belief that Co-Masonry sprung up on its own, independently from Malecraft Masonry and developed its own theory on Masonry all by itself is another perception to be shattered. Kidd quotes Annie Besant, founder of Co-Masonry in Great Britain and India.“ Co-Masonry has arisen from the bosom of Masculine Masonry in order to bring women into that ancient fraternity on exactly the same terms as men, and thus to restore the whole Brotherhood to the position from which it fell; when it broke its link with the Ancient Mysteries by excluding women from its ranks, by recognizing distinction of sexes within the pure sanctuary of the Temple.” Maria Deraismes
In 1903 Antoine Muzzarrelli a French born Mason of Italian descent and an educator, lecturer, author and private tutor convinced Georges Martin in France into letting him found North American Co-Masonry on behalf of LDH. Muzzarrelli had become a protector of French Masons in the United States working with the Grand Orient of France. But issues with the GOdF led him to seek another avenue for his Masonic expression and one where he could be the big cheese. Muzzarrelli tapped the anarchist turned Socialist Louis Goaziou, a newspaper publisher in Charleroi, Pennsylvania as his chief deputy and Master of the first North American Co-Masonic Lodge in America, Alpha Lodge #301 formed by The American Federation of Human Rights the name Muzzarrelli chose for this new American Obedience. Alpha Lodge #301 was formerly consecrated with 21 Brethren, of which three were women, on October 18 and 19, 1903 in Charleroi.
In the next five years The American Federation of Human Rights would grow to over 40 Lodges. But Muzzarrelli’s tenure was short lived and towards the end he was beset with financial difficulties and irregularities, litigation and clamor for a National Convention. In 1908 Muzzarrelli was dead by his own hand and the Order was in chaos.
Goaziou reluctantly took over and served as head of the Order from 1908-1937, almost 30 years. His first duty was to get the finances in order. Then he permitted that National Convention in 1908 and presided over it. On May 26, 1909 he reincorporated The American Federation of Human Rights with some needed updates to the original. On January 20, 1910 the Supreme Council of the International Order issued a Charter to The American Federation of Human Rights.
Goaziou presided over the second National Convention in 1913. His most noted achievement was probably the purchase of land in Larkspur, Colorado and establishing the National Headquarters there.
But all was not roses for Goaziou.
Like Muzzarrelli, he had a skirmish with traditional Male-craft Masonry, and the Great Depression hurt the Order badly. Bank closings and the freezing of Federation money made for a very lean bare bones version of Masonry. Not only was their little expansion but some Lodges had to close because of financial difficulties.
But the one difficulty that sent this writer to the research books was the beginning of a long altercation between Theosophist and non-Theosophist Brothers for control of the Order. French Co-Masonry was decidedly secular while English Co-Masonry was decidedly Theosophist in nature. American Co-Masonry started out impartial and very much in the French mode but later developed to resemble more English Co-Masonry.
This factional dispute bled over into Goaaziou’s successor, Edith Armour who was the Order’s first female leader and first Theosophist leader. Although Goasiou had brought many fellow Socialists into Co-Masonry he prided himself on guiding the American Federation of Human rights along a middle path not dominated by any single philosophical, religious or political group. Armour tried vainly to do the same but her Theosophical commitment had the Order leaning to favoritism even if it wasn’t deliberate. This led to a challenge to her leadership by Helen Sturgis who Goaziou had to deal with earlier. Armour survived victorious but her reign saw a marked decline in membership. Yet, to be fair, one must factor in the effect that WWII had on the Order.
Kidd sums up the Theosophist battle thusly:
“To be sure, the Theosphical society is still active and supportive of Co-Freemasonry even today. It simply does not have now, nor had it ever, the ability to fully populate what is intended to be an inclusive, diverse, independent and free thinking body. No single religion, philosophy, creed, or political persuasion can possibly do that for Freemasonry. By necessity, Freemasonry must be mixed.”
“As Armour herself observed in 1936, differences in interpretation ‘are stimulating and refreshing.’ The lack of these differences caused the Order to become sluggish and stagnant. This is not what Armour ever intended but by the time she realized what was happening, she was too worn and tired to struggle against it, let alone undo it.”
Armour served as the leader of the American Federation for over twenty years from 1937-1959 and she was the first Most Puissant Grand commander to step down rather than die in office.
The docile Bertha Williams followed in 1959 and her weakness finally resulted in her quitting in 1967.
Helen Wycherley followed and she immediately put some backbone back into the office, Kidd tells us:
“She soon made it very clear the Federation would be beholden to no single religious, political or philosophical body. Herself a Theosophist, Wycherley ended American Federation’s time in the Theosophical shadow.”
Wycherley selected Calla Hack as her successor in 1983. The move proved to be a disaster, so much so that Wycherley would come back to campaign against her in a bold attempt to remove her. Hack lost $70,000 of the Federation’s money investing in the stock market totally on her own. She embarked on a campaign to remove a most popular Grand Orator. She was not a Theosophist and had close ties with Paris, so much so that The Federation became divided between the “Loyalists” whose first allegiance was to The International Order and the “Secessionists” whose first loyalty was to the American Federation.
Hack resigned in 1992 and what followed would change The American Federation of Human Rights forever. This time Hack’s successor was chosen by a true election. There were three candidates, Magdalena Cumsille, Rosario Menocal and Vera Bressler. Cumsille got 70% of the vote and Bressler got 6%. Clearly the American Federation had chosen Cumsille. Now in past years all newly selected Most Puissant Grand Commanders were ratified by LDH in Paris. This always had been a rubber stamp of whatever American Co-Masonry had decided.
This time was different. Paris demanded that Bressler be appointed MPGC and so she was. It also remanded American by-law changes, and changes giving the MPGC more autocratic power. By Colorado law, by-law changes to a nonprofit corporation must be ratified by its membership. By a vote of 70-30 it was not and the battle was on. It took a number of years but in due time the American Federation of Human Rights divorced itself from the International Order of Co-Freemasonry, Le Droit Humain. Le Droit Humain founded a new organization in the United States, incorporating in Delaware, and calling itself the “Order of International Co-Freemasonry Le Droit Humain – American Federation.” The old American Federation renamed itself “ the Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry, the American Federation of Human Rights.” Some Lodges stayed with Le Droit Humain in their new American Order but a larger number remained with the newly separated American Federation which elected Magdalena Cumsille MPGC by an overwhelming majority and she continues in that office today.
Karen Kidd has penned a monumental work of distinction in On Holy Ground: A History of The Honorable Order of American Co-Masonry. It’s a powerful work, written with great gusto. And it is interesting reading. It’s interesting because Kidd doesn’t forget to include the human factor. People are human beings to Kidd not just robots in a jig saw puzzle to be fitted together by proper accounting.
In a number of instances Kidd has been able to correct misinformation. Because she is a member Of the American Federation of Human Rights she is privy to files and records off limits to outsiders. Thus she has been able to set the record straight on controversies and assertions that have been made in error.
Her research is meticulous and thorough. She maintains her objectivity. She has no agenda. She doesn’t fill in the blanks with a guess. This book is well documented with a ton of footnotes. At the end are a number of full length manuscripts which is a really nice addition to this work and accentuates the ideas and the struggles of this Order. There are many good pictures. Some of the images and documents have never been published before.
Stories of Prince Hall & Mainstream interaction are popping out everywhere. And the beautiful aspect of it all is that there is great appreciation and joy at this intermingling. Brotherly love and affection prevail and every moral and social virtue cements Brothers of different traditions.
The Beehive reported recently the story of the Mainstream Grand Master of Michigan visiting a Prince Hall Lodge with many of his Michigan Brethren in “Bridging The Gap.” The latest example of this joyous cross visitation comes from a personal friend, Brother Tofique Fatehi from Mumbai, India. Brother Fatehi and I met on the Global Fraternal Network in the late 90s. Soon, thereafter, Brother Fatehi journeyed to Massachusetts to visit his son who is living here. When an opportunity to see the Paul Revere Colonial Degree Team perform in Southern Maine arose, Tofique took the opportunity to accompany us and see US Mainstream Masonry.
Tofique returned this fall for another family visit and got in touch with me to see about visiting a Prince Hall Lodge in Massachusetts. I turned him over to the capable hands of Worshipful Jim Bennette of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, another good friend who has a strong relationship with Massachusetts Prince Hall.
Tofique reports in the Global Fraternal Network newsletter:
While in Massachusetts I visited a PH Lodge in Boston. Bro. Fred Milliken (now in Texas) arranged for my introductions. I attended the Widow Son Lodge in Dorchester (South Boston).
L to R – SW Otis Sams, WM Dexter McKenzie, Bro. Tofique Fatehi, JW Linus Eyong
Tofique reports that they rolled out the red carpet for him and he had a great time and was impressed by their ritual & knowledge.
All this goes to show that it is time now for all the old barriers to be taken down. We are in the second decade of the 21st century and the manner in which different races and cultures have heretofore interacted is a thing of the past. The future brings us all closer together in brotherly love and affection.
So let us all do our part to see that the state of Freemasonry in the world opens up into a celebration of its diversity and a new age of the expression of what Freemasonry truly exemplifies.
Some old time Masons are learning the hard way that in 2011 we are very much in the Information Age. The ability to take hurtful action and have nobody else notice is long gone. “Public Opinion,” that is the exposure that Freemason Information offered in this case and the resulting reaction by Masons across this great nation, has turned lemons into lemonade, a defeat into a victory.
Full story is here with pictures. Congratulations to Marshall & Waters!
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
Brethren of West Virginia, Arkansas, even my own state of Texas and others – take due notice and govern yourselves accordingly.
Bridging the Gap
MW Fred Kaiser & Wor. Harry Weaver III
I have been a Brother of Redeemer Lodge #53 for nine years. Since my initiation, I have had the pleasure of visiting with Brothers from the “mainstream” lodges under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Michigan. During this time, I have made many, many great friends. One of these wonderful friends is a Brother by the name of Richard Mackie. Bro. Mackie is the liaison from the Grand Lodge of Michigan to the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Michigan. Bro. Mackie and I have remained in close contact throughout the years and he has attended many Redeemer functions and is an honorary member of Redeemer Lodge #53. When I was elected Junior Warden, Bro. Mackie informed me that he wanted to do something special when I become Worshipful Master. I didn’t think much of it then because it seemed as if that would take an eternity. I was elected Worshipful Master in December of 2010 and Bro. Mackie kept his promise.
In September of 2011, Bro. Mackie called me and asked me if I was prepared to do something special. He proceeded to inform me that he had spoken with his Grand Master, Most Worshipful Bro. Fred Kaiser, who wanted to visit Redeemer. Of course I agreed, not knowing what I was really getting myself into. After a series of emails and phone conversations between Bro. Mackey and I, we decided that the Grand Master would attend our Master Mason degree on November 26, 2011. Bro. Mackie promised to get a guest list together and send it to me prior to the degree so that we could properly prepare. I really didn’t know what kind of number to expect so I waited patiently. I received an email from Bro. Mackie a few days prior to the degree stating that he had 29 guests confirmed. I was elated with this and moved forward with planning the repast to follow the degree.
From Labor To Refreshment, Redeemer #53
On the evening of November 26, 2011, Redeemer Lodge made history. This day marks the first such occasion when a sitting Grand Master from the Grand Lodge of Michigan has ever sat in a tyled lodge under the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Michigan. It turns out that included in those 29 guests were the Grand Wardens along with several appointed Grand Lodge officers. While 29 guests RSVP’d, we ended up with about 60 Brothers from the Grand Lodge of Michigan and an additional 15 Brothers visiting from other PHA lodges in the jurisdiction visiting to witness the raising of Bro. David Robinson and Bro. Tom Robinson to the Sublime Degree. This was truly a momentous occasion and I could never have imagined such an outcome. I am proud to have been the Worshipful Master for such an amazing event. Redeemer was nearly flawless with the ritual work, as always but we were absolutely flawless in the spreading of Brotherly love and affection in fellowshipping with ALL of our Brethren. The Brothers that were raised had an awesome experience that they will never forget. Their journey began with them knowing that we are ALL Brothers, regardless of our skin color, political beliefs, religious beliefs or any other matter. We meet on the Level, act by the Plumb and part on the Square.
Redeemer Lodge #53, F & AM, PHA, MI
Fraternally,
Bro. Harry Weaver, III
Worshipful Master
Redeemer Lodge #53, F&AM, PHA
Detroit, MI
Freemasonry cannot serve two masters, the world and itself. The biggest mistake it has made is to listen to the whining attacks made by its detractors. Freemasonry just benefits Freemasons they say as if they had some claim on what we are, what we do and what we say. Our critics have embarrassed us, claiming that we are an exclusive, snobbish, selfish group that exists exclusively for the betterment of its members and that we show so much favoritism for each other that the result is a discrimination of the rest of society.
Thus post Vietnam War Freemasonry changed the focus of the Craft. Some of the changes came right after WWII but the Vietnam War era marked the rapid decline in membership that swung the pendulum of modern day Freemasonry squarely into the camp of Masonic revisionism.
What that involved is taking Freemasonry from a contemplative, learning, value orientated society to one of action, action for the betterment of society as a whole. Freemasonry did this partially to appease its critics and partially to adopt the Shrine model of recruitment. But appeasement didn’t work for Chamberlain in dealing with Hitler and it hasn’t worked to appease our detractors. Our critics are as vocal as ever. Meanwhile we have diluted and corrupted our beloved fraternity in order to try to please others or to take the easy way out in the area of growth.
The ancient mystery schools of Egypt, Greece and Rome, on which Freemasonry is modeled, did not try to be something to everybody. Rather they concentrated their efforts on improving their members through knowledge, instruction, brotherhood and spirituality.
Does that mean Freemasons should be a cloistered sect of Monks having no dealings with the outside world and no right to comment on anything civil or spiritual? The answer is No! We, as Freemasons, can get behind ideas but not policies. No marching in the streets or sponsorship of legislative bills for Freemasonry. Instead we can seek to educate the public on the ideals of political freedom and democratic government, public education, religious freedom with the separation of church and state and the worthiness of the individual. These were ideals imbued into Freemasonry from the Enlightenment from which Freemasonry arose.
Three main corruptions have come out of post Vietnam War Freemasonry.
Increased power of Grand Lodges at the expense of local Lodges
The marketing of Freemasonry
Charity to all mankind
In the modern era Grand Lodges and Grand Masters have assumed powers never before granted to them. Some Grand Lodges are running wild squashing dissent, stifling creativity and purging the ranks of any and all who do not toe the line. In the process they have, in order to save the fraternity they tell us, foisted upon Freemasonry the evils of marketing Freemasonry which removes from Freemasonry the ability to practice Freemasonry and extensive Self Perpetuating Institutionalized giveaways to civil society that is bankrupting the fraternity. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is a prime example of a Grand Lodge so into Institutionalized charity and running a complex health system out of multiple locations that it has had to drastically increase Grand Lodge dues and assessments to its charted Lodges in order to pay for its excesses. See Massachusetts to Double Dues?
Do we have to beg the community to notice us and in the process try to market Freemasonry or do we create a better Order internally and let membership grow by word of mouth? Do we have to try to convince someone to become a Mason or do we create such a good product that the worthy uninitiated will come in large numbers knocking on our door of their own free will and accord? Do we have to try to save the world or can we be content with taking care of our own without being made to feel guilty? Do we exist to march in parades, raise funds for the Cancer Society or the Heart Fund and run CHIP programs for civil society or are we here for Brothers in need, our widows and orphans and scholarships for our young? Do we intend, forever, to let our critics portray us as a religion? Do we intend to let non Masons set the agenda for Master Masons? Can we learn how to survive as we downsize?
Plainly we are not an action society; we are a self improvement brotherhood. The road to sustainable growth is returning Freemasonry into a sharing Brotherhood who cares for itself and revives itself by doing a better job of inculcating its ideals, virtues and tenets into its membership, by decentralizing its governance, by stop trying to sell Freemasonry as one sells used cars and by leaving the saving of the world to others.
The 1930 DeMoulin Bros. & Co. Fraternal Supply Catalog No. 439 Burlesque and Side Degree Specialties; Paraphenalia and Costumes
Stunt Props, Tricks, Pranks, Practical Jokes, Humor, Magic, Goat Riding Carts, Paddling Machines, Electric Carpets and much, much, more!!!
Pictured at left is the cover of the 1930 edition of the DeMoulin Bros. & Co. catalog titled “Burlesque and Side Degree Specialties, Paraphernalia and Costumes.”
We believe that this was the best and last “side degree” catalog the DeMoulin Bros. produced, as this company suffered the same fate that many businesses did with the onset of the Great Depression. Today, they are one of the largest suppliers of marching band uniforms in the country. In the broken economy of the 1930’s, the fraternalism items this company produced and sold were not considered a high priority on the “need or necessity” list of many Lodges. Yet, the side degree specialties that they sold were the very items that increased Lodge membership, their donations to charities and interest in “Lodge Life” itself. These side degrees added to the “degree of laughter” early Lodge Brethren engaged in when initiating new members! We have reproduced the DeMoulin Catalog here in its entirety. Pay particular attention to the various testimonials at the bottom on some of the below catalog pages. These testimonials were sent in by the Woodmen and Odd Fellow Lodges who purchased this paraphernalia and they described how it worked for them. (Note: Although Freemasons joke about “Riding the Goat” with their new initiates they never engaged in this activity inside of any Masonic Lodge.) In the end you’ll see that the wholesome fun… “light hazing,” endured by the candidates made them feel more apart of the Lodge and fostered Brotherly Love and Affection.
(Legal Notice: Be advised that Phoenixmasonry, Inc. will not be held responsible for any accidental property damage, injury or loss of life due to any irresponsible manufacture or use of the items listed in or made as a replica shown in this catalog or pictured on this website.)
Now you can get a reprinted copy of this catalog when you purchase
A Novel Way to Introduce the Goat – Trick or Surprise Chair – De Stink or Bad Egg Test – Courage Test, or Meat Test – The Trick Camera – The Devil’s Slide – The Cannon
The Spikey Stool – The Mutoscope – Trick Coffee Urn – Treadmill – The Guillotine – Trip Through a Stormy Desert – Moral Athletics – The Electric Wheel Barrow – Electric Carpet – The Tack Test
The Electric Carpet (another way) – The Electric Spiked Pathway – A Current Affair – Crossing The Swinging Bridge – Rocky Road to Dublin – Electric Razor – The Jag Producer – Invisible Paddle Machine – Improved Lifting and Spanking Machine – Lifting Machine – The Muscular Test – DeMoulin’s Patent Lung Tester
Traitor’s Judgment Stand – Tunnel of Trouble – Baby Doll – Striking Maul – “Upward, Onward, Downward” – The Wireless Trick Telephone – Pillow Fight – The Toss Up – Pillory – Throne of Honor – Liquid Air Tank – Zig Zag Road – Cleanliness is Next to Godliness – The Coin Test – Electric Fountain
Every once in awhile you come across a book that is so out of the ordinary, in the subject field that your are studying, that it intrigues your fancy. Such is the book that Julia Suits has written about fraternal society initiation equipment. And equipment in this context covers a lot of ground.
Now before all you stiff and proper Freemasons get your knickers in a twist, you will be happy to know that most of this “foolishness” was never sanctioned by Freemasonry or by the Odd Fellows either.
So if Freemasonry, by and large, was not using all this prank paraphernalia, who was? The most notable organizations who succumbed to the prank phase were:
Then there were the “Spoof Orders” who ridiculed all Fraternal Societies. The Clampers (E Clampus Vitus) and the Hoo-Hoos (The International Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo Inc.) were two of the most well known.
The heyday of fraternal orders were the years from 1890-1920. During that stretch of time even medium sized towns could boast of approximately 15 different fraternal orders meeting in various places. It was not unheard of for a member of one order to belong to several others also. To spike interest in an era of stiff competition for membership between fraternal societies, many fraternal orders, other than Freemasonry, decided that the way to go was “to spice things up a bit” and have some fun, at the expense of others of course.
David Copperfield in his foreword to the book tells us:
They (The DeMoulin Brothers) were subversive, the brothers, in the way artists are subversive. They satirized sobriety and high seriousness; they tossed pomp on its ass and made dignity pee in its pants. They were Lords of Misrule, and their marvelous devices were tools available to anyone who wanted to have fun at someone else’s expense, one of the finest forms of fun there is. Screw ’em if they can’t take a joke (I don’t know who said it first. I know it’s not in the Torah). Every oversized ego is in need of deflation. Every overly solemn occasion is in need of someone willing to fart. This stuff is more than just fancy pranks. It’s Americana.
And that is precisely what Suits does in her book – offer us a tongue-in-cheek look at America a hundred or so years ago, a time that was the heyday of fraternal societies that abounded in every city and town from coast to coast. These societies were the centers of help, aid and assistance for those in need as well as social and entertainment centers. Most of them are long gone and the manner in which Americans associate and entertain themselves became far different with the advent of the Great Depression and WWII, so different that DeMoulin printed its last prank catalog in 1930.
Suits puts it this way:
It (this book) is a lens, or if you prefer, a kind of time machine. Its wiring may zap you; its eccentric wheels may cause you to catch your bearings – but get in. You’ll enjoy the ride.
The DeMoulin Brothers were the leaders in the field of prank devices. Yet fraternal prank machines were only part or their business. They also made furniture, church furniture and pews as well as Lodge furniture. They did upholstering, iron machine work and iron forgings, iron, brass and aluminum castings, art and scenic painting. They made swords, jewelry, uniforms, caps and gowns, head gear of all kinds, costumes, regalia, badges and button novelties and much more. To promote their business they followed the Montgomery Ward model of marketing later adopted by Sears & Roebuck – print and distribute sophisticated, professionally designed, artistic and detailed catalogs. Instead of the radio, TV and Internet advertising of today, DeMoulin sent out catalogs everywhere. For the most popular fraternal societies there were specific catalogs for each Order. Then there was the “Burlesque and Side Degree Specialties, Paraphernalia and Costume” catalog for everybody. The first catalog was printed in 1895 for the Modern Woodmen of America. The last prank catalog was printed in 1930.
The first prank was devised by Ed Demoulin, a Woodman, for the Greenville, Illinois Woodmen Fraternal Lodge. It was called “The Molten Lead Test” and involved forcing the hands of a candidate into a cauldron of fake molten lead.
From there the DeMoulin Brothers produced a ton more of prank paraphernalia, some of which were quite intricate.
Suits classifies them into a few different categories. There was the Side Degree fun work equipment, Factory Goats, The Shockers, The Mechanicals and The Wearables.
SIDE DEGREE FUN WORK
In this category some of what you could find was:
The Throne of Honor
The Whirling Elevator
The Tunnel of Trouble
The Striking Maul
The Greased Pole
FACTORY GOATS Freemasons would often tease their candidates with a threat of having to “ride the goat.” However, other fraternities actually used goat riding in their initiations.
The DeMoulins, Suits tells us, patented and manufactured at least thirteen varieties of mechanical goats. So famous were they for their goats that the DeMoulin enterprise was often referred to as “The Goat Factory.”
Many of these mechanical goats sat astride wheels with their hubs off center. This made for a bouncy ride. A few goats ran on a track that could be tipped up and down. Then there was the Ferris wheel goat. A double hump camel was sneaked in amongst all these goats for variety. It worked on the DeMoulin goat principle. Suits blends into equipment description a healthy amount of “goat stories” that will tickle your fancy.
SHOCKERS
Here the gag is juiced up with electrical current.
Just some of the devices are:
The Glad Hand
The Electric Branding Iron
The Electric Wrench
The Treadmill
Electric Carpets
Electric Tunnels
The Electric Cane
The Electric Teeter Totter
The Human Centipede
The Electric Bench
The Electric Hammock
Electricity was just coming into wide use at this time and it was the “in thing” to experiment with.
MECHANICALS These included:
The Bomb Stunt
The Saw Mill
The Sliding Stairs
The Ocean Wave Boat
The Wireless Trick Telephone
The Lung Tester
The Pie Table
The Guillotine
The Flying Machine
The Submarine
The Mutoscope
Abundant in this category were a number of trick chairs and spanking machines
THE WEARABLES
This category deals heavily with regalia and costumes. You will find masks, wigs, and beards, papermache human heads, animal heads, animal masks, nationality masks, animal costumes, burlesque costumes, Indian costumes, Zouave uniforms (see below), race costumes, and assortment of hoodwinks, handcuffs, cowbells, outlaw costumes and the DeMoulin famous Smoking Camel.
It’s a good bet that nobody else will write a book such as Suits has penned. Her book will be a very distinctive one of a kind. The Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: The Curious World of the Demoulin Brothers and Their Fraternal Lodge Prank Machines – from Human Centipedes and Revolving Goats to ElectricCarpets and is a well presented, well organized and thoroughly entertaining piece of work. It is heavily illustrated while at the same time interwoven with human interest stories. This book is a showcase of a bygone era. It is history and a peek into American culture of a hundred years ago. Suits has the distinctive knack of not saying too much. This lets the readers create their own vision of how this material might affect them. She doesn’t try to structure the imagination of the reader; rather she just whets their appetite and then leaves it up to the reader’s mind to do the rest. That’s good writing. And this is a book you will want prominently displayed on your bookshelf.
In a stunning reversal by Georgia Scottish Rite, Brothers Victor Marshall and Zeithlin Waters of Gate City Lodge No. 2 have been approved to receive the Degrees. The SGIG set aside the ballots of two weeks ago and approved Marshall and waters for membership. They are being accorded the ritual of the Scottish Rite at Friday and Saturday’s Reunion 11/4/11 & 11/5/11.
A big thank you to Georgia Masons who spoke out and by the force of their will to stand up for the principles of Freemasonry convinced the Scottish Rite leadership to reverse the unwarranted initial decision to exclude Marshall & Waters. A big thank you to all those Masons outside of Georgia who spoke out and dared to criticize the actions of a jurisdiction outside their own.
By the will of the people justice has been done. Long live the virtues of our beloved fraternity!
As I sat by the window looking up on high
Trying to see the figures in the darken skies
My imagination creating forms of pleasure
As the clouds moved east, geometric measures
Now the clouds got thick, heavy they became
when the winds picked up, followed heavy rains
as the waters clashed against the window ledge
the leaves off trees blew away the hedge
The scenery was furious like a hurricane
Throwing all its might like a cargo train
But in one quick second everything just stopped
Everything was calmer, not even one raindrop
From the skies above came the brighten SUN
The magnificent rays broke the clouds of heaven
I understood why darkness compliments the day
I understood why man was molded out of clay
And so I saw creation right before my eyes
How it all appeared, from within it lies
There’re no shadows cast on an opened mind
The no-limit space where there is no time
I can just recall when I joined the Lodge
Holy Book on Altar, checkered floor mirage
Remember the window I looked out to see
It was not outside but inside of me
So as we shape the ashlar , that is made of stone
A long road is traveled, pass the borne unknown
You’ll one day lay down- your flesh and your bones
Rejoicing soul ascends, the flesh dies alone.