Gentlemen's club

A gentlemen's club, or formerly traditional gentlemen's club, is a members-only private club originally set up by and for British upper class men in the 18th century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Today, some clubs are more accommodating about the gender and social status of their members. Many countries outside the United Kingdom have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the British Empire, in particular, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have enthusiastically taken up the practice, and have a thriving club scene. That kind of sociability for gentlemen's was reproduced also in Continental Europe, as Maria Zozaya has shown, directly linked to this British way of male clubbing, but mixtured with French influences. Social History began to pay attention to the study of this clubs in Continental Europe especially since 1995-2000.

History

The original clubs were established in the West End of London. Today, the area of St James's is still sometimes called "clubland". Clubs took over some parts of the role occupied by coffee houses in 18th century London, and reached the height of their influence in the late 19th century. The first clubs, such as White's, Brooks's and Boodle's, were aristocratic in flavour, and provided an environment for gambling, which was illegal outside of members-only establishments.