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The Problem Club
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 edition. ... No. xii The Pig-Keeper's Problem No. xii the pig-keeper'S problem 'Well, gentlemen,' said the chairman, Lord Herngill, ' you have been required to purchase a copy of the current issue of The Pig-Keepers' Friend. It is generally published on the seventh of every month, but if the talented editor happens to be thinking about something else at the time--as occasionally happens--it may come out a few days later. It is published according to the law, but it cannot be said to court circulation. It is exposed for sale in certain places, but I doubt if any copy has been purchased by the general public for the last year--at any rate, not until the members of this club went on the hunt for it. How did you get on, Major Byles?' 'Wish I'd never gone in for it,' snapped the Major. 'I told my regular newsagent to get me a copy. He said he hadn't heard of it, but would make inquiries. At the end of a week he came to me with a story that, as far as he had been able to learn, the paper had discontinued publication a year before. I knew that was a lie, of course, and told him so, and said I'd finished with him. There's only one other newsagent near me, and I had to go to him. His beastly boy leaves the wrong papers at the house every morning, and seems to think I'm a Socialist like himself. The end of it will be that I shall have to eat my own words and go back to the other man. Destroys all discipline, that kind of thing.' Dr Alden, Pusely-Smythe, and several others had hunted trade lists and directories in vain. Mr Matthews had lavished money on advertisements, offering a sovereign for a copy of the current issue of The Pig-Keepers' Friend, and had received no reply. Sir Charles Bunford had written to an old friend who held a high position at the...
34 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1919
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17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 14, 2016
A very old book and I found a copy online here - https://archive.org/details/problemcl...
The problem club is a group of 12 men who meet the first Saturday in every month at a restaurant in London. Every month they are given a problem to tackle with the club members competing with each other (except the chairman). The annual subscription is 124 pounds of which 110 pounds is awarded to the competition winner(s) and the rest for club expenses including dinner etc. At the monthly meeting, after a leisurely dinner, the chairman listens to how the problem was tackled and awards the amount to the winner or the one that came closest to solving it. Each member in turn acts as chairman at one dinner in the year while at the other eleven meetings he is himself a competitor.
Some of the problems given are:
Giraffe problem - It is required to induce a woman who is unaware of your intention to say to you, 'You ought to have been a giraffe.'
The free meal problem - It is required within the space of twenty-four consecutive hours to be the guest of one person at breakfast, of another at luncheon, and of a third at dinner, the host being in each case a person whom the competitor has not to his knowledge seen, and with whom he has held no communication previous to the sunrise preceding the meal. No direct request for a meal may be made and no remuneration may be given in return for any meal.
The Handkerchief Problem - It is required to steal as many handkerchiefs as possible from a member or members of the Problem Club. Violence may not be used and thefts detected in the act will not score. Restitution will be made of the stolen handkerchiefs within twentyfour hours of the adjudication, but felonious
intent is to be presumed in every case.
The Impersonation Problem — It is required to be mistaken for six different people in the course of one hour.
Its an amusing and smooth read. Good book to pick up to read in parts or in between some heavy tomes.
The problem club is a group of 12 men who meet the first Saturday in every month at a restaurant in London. Every month they are given a problem to tackle with the club members competing with each other (except the chairman). The annual subscription is 124 pounds of which 110 pounds is awarded to the competition winner(s) and the rest for club expenses including dinner etc. At the monthly meeting, after a leisurely dinner, the chairman listens to how the problem was tackled and awards the amount to the winner or the one that came closest to solving it. Each member in turn acts as chairman at one dinner in the year while at the other eleven meetings he is himself a competitor.
Some of the problems given are:
Giraffe problem - It is required to induce a woman who is unaware of your intention to say to you, 'You ought to have been a giraffe.'
The free meal problem - It is required within the space of twenty-four consecutive hours to be the guest of one person at breakfast, of another at luncheon, and of a third at dinner, the host being in each case a person whom the competitor has not to his knowledge seen, and with whom he has held no communication previous to the sunrise preceding the meal. No direct request for a meal may be made and no remuneration may be given in return for any meal.
The Handkerchief Problem - It is required to steal as many handkerchiefs as possible from a member or members of the Problem Club. Violence may not be used and thefts detected in the act will not score. Restitution will be made of the stolen handkerchiefs within twentyfour hours of the adjudication, but felonious
intent is to be presumed in every case.
The Impersonation Problem — It is required to be mistaken for six different people in the course of one hour.
Its an amusing and smooth read. Good book to pick up to read in parts or in between some heavy tomes.
March 16, 2025
Amusing and different. Club stories were almost as much a staple of English literature as clubs were of London life at one time, though this isn't a club in the Drones Club sense (with its own premises), but more like a supper club that meets each month in the private rooms of a restaurant. The members compete in quirky challenges like "who can steal the most handkerchiefs from other club members?" or "try to get someone to say to you, 'You ought to have been a giraffe'." It bears some similarities to G.K. Chesterton's
The Club of Queer Trades
.
The format of each story is the same. The month's challenge is announced (as a formal reminder) by the chairman, a rotating office among the twelve members, so each member is chairman once a year. The chairman doesn't compete, but adjudicates who among the other members has won. Most of the club subscription goes into a pool, which is taken by the winner or winners.
The chairman then goes around asking the members whether they have completed the challenge. It's all done on the honour system; these are pukka Englishmen, and while they might not blink at manipulating people (harmlessly) or bending the law a bit to complete the challenges, they would naturally never lie about whether they had won. Most of the entertainment value comes from the oddness of the challenges, the discomfiture of the non-winners and their unsuccessful attempts, and the ingenuity of the winners (though at least one winner is a winner by pure luck). Some people attempt to argue that they have won by a technicality involving the precise wording of the rules, and the chairman adjudicates. Once the prize is awarded (or not, if nobody has won; the prize is then added to the next month's pool), the next month's challenge is announced. The meeting then breaks up, and some members play bridge or otherwise socialise amongst themselves. Within this format, the stories are varied; different people, with different specialty knowledge or skills, stand out in each competition, the challenges are diverse, and the solutions even more so.
If you enjoy heist stories for the ingenuity of the plans and the ability of the characters to manipulate, this may be something you'd enjoy too. It's all good fun, nobody is harmed, and some of the club members set out to be clever and end up looking ridiculous.
Even though I found it amusing rather than hilarious, it was entertaining, and original and different enough that I've placed it in the Silver tier of my annual recommendation list. A lot of what I read is, inevitably, changes rung on old concepts, and this, despite being more than a century old, struck me as fresh and with further potential for development.
The format of each story is the same. The month's challenge is announced (as a formal reminder) by the chairman, a rotating office among the twelve members, so each member is chairman once a year. The chairman doesn't compete, but adjudicates who among the other members has won. Most of the club subscription goes into a pool, which is taken by the winner or winners.
The chairman then goes around asking the members whether they have completed the challenge. It's all done on the honour system; these are pukka Englishmen, and while they might not blink at manipulating people (harmlessly) or bending the law a bit to complete the challenges, they would naturally never lie about whether they had won. Most of the entertainment value comes from the oddness of the challenges, the discomfiture of the non-winners and their unsuccessful attempts, and the ingenuity of the winners (though at least one winner is a winner by pure luck). Some people attempt to argue that they have won by a technicality involving the precise wording of the rules, and the chairman adjudicates. Once the prize is awarded (or not, if nobody has won; the prize is then added to the next month's pool), the next month's challenge is announced. The meeting then breaks up, and some members play bridge or otherwise socialise amongst themselves. Within this format, the stories are varied; different people, with different specialty knowledge or skills, stand out in each competition, the challenges are diverse, and the solutions even more so.
If you enjoy heist stories for the ingenuity of the plans and the ability of the characters to manipulate, this may be something you'd enjoy too. It's all good fun, nobody is harmed, and some of the club members set out to be clever and end up looking ridiculous.
Even though I found it amusing rather than hilarious, it was entertaining, and original and different enough that I've placed it in the Silver tier of my annual recommendation list. A lot of what I read is, inevitably, changes rung on old concepts, and this, despite being more than a century old, struck me as fresh and with further potential for development.
Want to Read
January 12, 2019Synopsis: London's Problem Club, with 12 members, meets once a month to solve a range of challenges.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews