The Cavendish Club was a prestigious

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

club founded in 1925 by Wilbur Whitehead in association with Gratz M. Scott and Edwin A. Wetzlar. Initially located at the Mayfair House (65th and Park Avenue) in New York City, it relocated several times with a final address in a townhouse on 73rd. St. It ceased operations at the end of May 1991 as a result of rent escalations and falling membership. The Cavendish had reciprocal arrangements with Crockford's in London, the Golfer's in Paris and the

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Sa ...

in Hollywood, California. In 1975, the Club inaugurated the Cavendish Invitational Pairs, now one of the strongest and most prestigious invitational

events in the world.

Notable members

The membership was held to 400 and included many notable bridge players - Mitchell Barnes, John Crawford,

Harry Fishbein Harry J. Fishbein (April 18, 1897 – February 19, 1976) was an American bridge player and club owner. He used to be a professional basketball player. In competition, Fishbein was a runner-up for the world championship in the 1959 Bermuda Bowl, ...

, Sam Fry,

Charles Goren Charles Henry Goren (March 4, 1901 – April 3, 1991) was an American bridge player and writer who significantly developed and popularized the game. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s – or 1940s and 1950s, as " ...

, Oswald Jacoby,

Edgar Kaplan Edgar Kaplan (April 18, 1925 – September 7, 1997) was an American bridge player and one of the principal contributors to the game. His career spanned six decades and covered every aspect of bridge. He was a teacher, author, editor, administrator, ...

Albert Morehead Albert Hodges Morehead, Jr. (August 7, 1909 – October 5, 1966) was a writer for ''The New York Times'', a bridge player, a lexicographer, and an author and editor of reference works. Early years Morehead was born in Flintstone, Taylor County, ...

, Harold Ogust,

Howard Schenken Howard Schenken (September 28, 1903 – February 20, 1979) was an American bridge player, writer, and long-time syndicated bridge columnist. He was from New York City. He won three Bermuda Bowl titles, and set several North American records. Most ...

, Freddy Sheinwold,

Helen Sobel Helen Elizabeth Sobel Smith (''née'' Martin; May 22, 1909 – September 11, 1969) was an American bridge player. She is said to have been the "greatest woman bridge player of all time" and "may well have been the most brilliant card player of ...

Samuel Stayman Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...

Tobias Stone Tobias Stone (June 6, 1919 – February 15, 2012) was an American bridge player and writer from New York City. Stone was born in Manhattan. He and Janice Gilbert married in 1955; divorced in 1975. He retired from bridge and in 1986 moved to Las V ...

Harold Vanderbilt Harold Stirling Vanderbilt CBE (July 6, 1884 – July 4, 1970) was an American railroad executive, a champion yachtsman, an innovator and champion player of contract bridge, and a member of the Vanderbilt family. Early life He was born in Oakdale ...

and Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Management

From 1941, the Cavendish Club was a not-for-profit membership corporation, managed by B. Jay Becker 1941-1947 and Rudolf Muhsam 1947-1973 (also club secretary), Thomas M. Smith 1973-1987, Thomas L. Snow, 1987-1990 and Richard Reisig, 1990-1991. Presidents were: Gratz M. Scott, 1925-1935; Frank Crowninshield, 1935-1947 Nate Spingold 1948-1958

, 1958-1961 and 1981-1982

, 1961-1964 Harold Ogust, 1964-1967 Leonard Hess, 1967-1970; Edward Loewenthal, 1970-1973 Roy V. Titus, 1973-1976 and 1980-1981 Archie A. Brauer, 1976-1979 Yehuda Koppel, 1979-1980 and 1985–86 William Roberts, 1982-1985 Sidney Rosen, 1986-1987 Claire Tornay, 1987-1990, and Thomas M. Smith, 1990-1991.

References

{{WPCBIndex Contract bridge clubs 1925 establishments in New York City