Over the past six decades the Club and the movement has had a number of Presidents. Some names may be familiar to you, others not.

1954/55 T W Hardy 1955/56 R W Clampett 1956/57 R D Crosby
1957/58 E D Ring 1958/59 R D Clark 1959/60 J E McLeay
1960/61 R W Robertson 1961/62 A M Russell 1962/63 S R Drew
1963/64 G E Fairbrother 1964/65 J S Robson 1965/66 H L Jolly
1966/67 T Partridge 1967/68 P M Cotton 1968/69 T W Wilton
1969/70 J A Mitchell 1970/71 P A Dalwood 1971/72 C R Lecher
1972/73 G B Stevens 1973/74 C E Wood 1974/75 H J Townsend
1975/76 A H Cross 1976/77 A E Brooker 1977/78 R D Crosby
1978/79 G Fairbrother 1979/80 B E Thompson 80/ 81 R J Martindale
1981/82 R G Bennett 1982/83 L R Macdonald 1983/84 E S Sim
1984/85 G L Mill 1985/86 P J Martindale 1986/87 G J Townsend
1987/88 P G Giacchino 1988/89 A H Cross 1989/90 A H Cross
1990/91 A H Cross 1991/92 K J Gramp 1992/93 K J Gramp
1993/ 94 I R Roberts 1994/95 I R Roberts 1995/96 P A Klienig
1996/97 P A Kleinig 1997/98 J M Macklin 1998/99 J M Macklin
1999 /00 P A S Davidson 2000/2001 P A S Davidson 2001/02 W J Walker
2002/03 W J Walker 2003/04 C H Thornquest 04/05 C H Thornquest

Here the records cease as we enter the modern era. Fairbrother and Crosby were members of the First Eight. David Crosby is interesting in so much as he appeared in a newspaper clipping dated November 8th 1976. Remember “The News”?

In this article by Tony Baker [Sol Simeon, for those who remember the food critic] David Crosby throws some light on the B&B movement of the time. Tony Baker credits him and his fellow members as “…owners of 30 of the most appreciative palates in South Australia”. Seems nothing has changed. The Clubs were all male affairs as there had been no demand from women to join, “..because they spend far more time than men in cooking and feeding families”, and your editor thought that women went with wine. However, Mrs Crosby was a founder of the all female Chicken and Chablis Club.

In case you are wondering why most wines are served “on the blind” it is so drinkers cannot identify them. David insists this is not snobbery, but to stop people pre-judging. He wants imbibers to become “thinker-drinkers”.

“Mr. Crosby says one aim of the B&B set is to break down the shibboleths of wine – such as exactly what wine to drink with precisely which dish.” The meal served on this November 8th, at the Highway Inn, started with olives and nuts, then Barramundi Mexican, rack of lamb Ned Kelly and with three cheeses to follow. ” B&B frowns on desserts,” so the piece runs. [oh really?]

It is of interest to note that other wine clubs of the day included the “First Thursday Club”, the “Second Thursday Club”, which met at Charlie Brown’s Restaurant, another blast from the past. There was also The Hogarth Club, which took its name from the room in which they met upstairs in Alan Archer’s Chesser Cellars. Another group was called the Double Seven Club as it had 14 members and yet another was named the Waffalers and another The Cork and Fork Club as well as the Classic Wines Club, which is still extant.

The article concludes with mention of the French writer on food, Brillat-Savarin, who once wrote that to gourmandise was far from gluttony. It “…combines the elegance of Athens, the luxury of Rome and the delicacy of France”. Sounds like B&B to me.

Written by Bob Bowes, Adelaide Club Committee Member