The origin/s of the expressions "Marching and Chowder Society" or
"Chowder and Marching Society"

Hello Rowrbazzle,


I’ve found two sources for the origin of the phrase Chowder and
Marching Society.


In a Google Newsgroup posting, Jack Applin states that it’s from the
comic strip "Barnaby".

“The lead character, Barnaby, is a little boy.  His Fairy Godfather is
Mr. O'Malley, who belongs to the "Elves, Leprechauns, and Little Men's
Chowder & Marching Society."

“The quote is from p. 245 of The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper
Comics, which devotes several pages to a Barnaby sequence introducing
Gus the Ghost.”

Source: Google Newsgroup
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=47s198%24i8m%40fcnews.fc.hp.com


From Toonpedia:

“Other magical characters quickly joined the cast. Gus was a ghost
writer from a haunted house in Barnaby's neighborhood. Gorgon was a
dog who could talk, but only when adults weren't looking (like Buster
Brown's dog, Tige). Launcelot McSnoyd was an invisible leprechaun with
a Brooklyn accent. And then there was O'Malley's social club, the
Elves, Gnomes and Little Men's Chowder & Marching Society. The
Chowder-and-Marchers never appeared on stage, but O'Malley's stories
about their meetings were sometimes capable of scandalizing the
innocent Barnaby.

Toonpedia 
http://www.toonopedia.com/barnaby.htm


---------------------------------------


According to John McDonald, the origin of “Chowder and Marching
Society” was in 1868 when Eldridge T. Hooper founded the Cherryfield
Chowder Society in Cherryfield, Maine.

 
“The organization's early meetings were in the old Cherryfield Town
Hall where Hooper and a small band of charter members would show up
with their fixins and make themselves a huge pan of chowder and then
serve it.”

“Word of their chowder spread and before long anyone who was anyone in
Cherryfield wanted to join the chowder society. That's when they began
adding things like their secret chowder recipes and their secret way
of eating chowder and the society's flag - a white chowder tureen and
two crossed soup spoons on a navy blue field. Eventually the society
adopted a set of secret bylaws.”

“By the early 1870s members decided there should be more to the
organization than just chowder.”

After many discussions they decided that after their chowder they
would get up and march around the lodge.

“Since you can't march without music the society then voted to form a
marching band and before long they became the Cherryfield Chowder and
Marching Society. (..) complete with secret spoon designs and
intriguing marches.”

Sources:

The Wordwizard 
http://www.wordwizard.com/clubhouse/founddiscuss.asp?Num=3498

Maine Story Tellers
http://storytellers.maine.com/newspapers.html


Search Criteria:

Chowder and Marching Society +origin
Marching and Chowder Society +source
Phrase origins +chowder
Phrase origins +marching


I hope you find this helpful. If anything is unclear or if a link does
not function, please let me know and I’ll be glad to offer further
assistance.


Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

My first try on this service. Since I'm looking for "derivation" the
answer from 1868 COULD be correct, or it mightn't be. I guess when one
person answers that "closes the door" to another researcher who may
have found a better answer, but diden't submit it in time?

rowrbazzle,

You are unlikely ever to find a Google Answers Researcher whose
answers will be better than those provided by Bobbie7, who has
answered more questions on GA than any other Researcher, and whose
overall rating is among the highest. Bobbie has set a standard to
which many of us aspire.

Although a question can only receive an official answer from one
Researcher, this does not close it to comments from other Researchers.
If anyone can add to Bobbie's excellent work, he or she is still able
to do so.

Best regards,
pinkfreud, Google Answers Researcher