Owl club is one of the oldest and most preferred destinations of the men folk of Cape Town where they meet every month for dinner; drink and discuss about arts and sciences.
One of the oldest existing clubs in Cape Town, the Owl Club is a dining club for gentlemen. It was created in 1894 to provide men in Cape Town a social space where they could come together and meet for dinners and entertainment as well as engage in various kinds of discussions on arts and sciences.
Venue for Meetings
The members of Owl Club do not have any permanent meeting venue. For example for thirteen years, from 1975 to 1988, they met at Cape Town Club which is in Queen Victoria Street. Since 1998, they have been meeting in the Grill Room of Kelvin Grove Club at Newlands in Cape Town.
Owl Club Members
Only invitees are allowed to become members of the Owl Club. The member who invites a person for being a part of the club has to present curriculum vitae of the invitee to the club committee. The chief criterion should be the capability to adjust and share common interests with the fellow members of the club. In addition, he has to be an eminent person in his field of specialization, be it art, drama, science, music or literature.
Owl Club in Cape Town has five faculties namely art, literature, music, drama and science. The members are grouped on the basis of their interest or profession with respect to any of these five fields. A member may be placed in a group according to his profession but he may have an interest in more than one field.
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Monthly Program
The members of Owl Club meet once a month for dinner where they can bring with them only male guests. A guest makes a speech after which a member or a guest performer performs a musical show. Then comes a bar interval when the members and guests interact, engage in some discussion or chat with each other. This congregation generally takes place in the bar region where everyone relaxes with a drink.
The interval is followed by a second speech, this one by a member and not a guest. This one is shorter than the first and is known as 'The Waste Paper Basket'. After the speech is over, a second musical show is held with which the meeting comes to an end. The speeches are delivered in English and no one is allowed to interrupt or question the speaker.
Information about the Club
The Owl Club members meet on the third Tuesday of every month excepting January. Dinner takes place before the meeting, at 6.30 pm. The meeting starts at 8 pm and continues for approximately 2 and half hours, till 10.30 pm.
'The Owl Club' written by W.E. Ranby presents a detailed introduction to the history and the functioning of the club from 1894 to 1950. Records of the club proceedings have been maintained and these have been collected to create a book, 'The Third Tuesday'.
In this era of globalization and competitiveness, the Owl Club is an interesting way to meet socially and engage in formal dinners and discussions. It incorporates traits of the Victorian period in Cape Town and is a fascinating aspect of Cape Town society.
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