The Hysterical Society's High-Stakes Wager
An Everett group formalizes their political disagreements with a signed, notarized bet on the future of Theodore Roosevelt.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
National politics was the subject under debate at Wednesday morning's session of the Hysterical Society. After the political situation had been tossed back and forth until all were in the last state of mental exhaustion, the torrent of dispute broke out afresh when one of the patriarchs of the society recklessly hurled the name of Roosevelt into the ring of combatants. 'I'll wager,' spake the prophet, 'that Teddy is nominated for president by the Republican convention.' A dozen eager voices arose, but first and loudest was that of the youngest novitiate of the society. 'How much will you wager?' 'A box of cigars,' proudly spake the patriarch. 'You're on,' said the novitiate. Then spake the Most High Gazabo of the society: 'Verily, before have we been deceived by rash promises of our members and vainly waited for the passing of the fragrant Havanas. Prithee, then, reduce your wager to parchment for our fingers are crossed and we are knocking on wood.' So, amid the vigorous approval of the brethren, the following agreement was written, signed, attested, and locked up in the office safe, there to repose until after the big noise in Chicago next June.
“We do ask that the righteous judgment of an offended deity fall upon one or both of us twain if we so far forget our manhood as to repudiate this our obligation.”
This tongue-in-cheek account of a local club's political betting highlights the intense civic engagement of early 20th-century Everett organizations. While the 'Hysterical Society' was likely a satirical name for a local social or labor group, the act of enshrining a political wager in a formal contract captures the same partisan fervor seen in today's election-year cycles.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.