The Canadian Club of Boston

An Incomplete History of the Canadian Club of Boston

Although the roots of The Canadian Club of Boston begin before the turn of the century, the club itself was formally organized in 1905 as a social organization to support Canadian living in Boston area. At various times in its past, the Club boasted over one thousand members, a house on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Royal Visitors, and a Newsletter. The first president of the Canadian Club was Charles H. McIntyre who served 1905/1906.

The 50s were spent in efforts to build up club memberships and this proved to be quite successful. In 1957 the club obtained new quarters on Commonwealth Avenue. This was maintained until 1963 and then was sold. After the sale of the club property on Commonwealth Avenue the club rented two floors above Pattons Restaurant which was across from the Custom House in Boston. Here the various functions were conducted until the late 60s. At this time the furniture and the fixtures were sold, mostly to club members. For a few years the club utilized the Engineers club of Boston for its dinner and meetings. This was on the 46th Floor of the Prudential Building.

Curling first became of interest to the Canadian Club members about 1960, using ice at the Brae Burn Country Club in Newton, MA.. This in itself is quite interesting as the game is a prominent Canadian sport. For the first year or two club members participated on various teams named after Canadian provinces. The Canadian Club became a member of the Grand National Curling Club of America in 1961-1962 and members then began attending bonspiels in New England, Montreal New York, New Brunswick and elsewhere. Some of the members even went over to Scotland. The club held a few bonspiels of its own when Brae Burn was operating its curling facility. When Brae Burn closed its curling ice, the club found a new home at The Country Club in Brookline, MA.


Archived History Section>
The Canadian Club "New House" Brochure
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The Canadian Club Charter

The Gordon International Competition

Curling Clubs began springing up in the mid-1880's in both Canada and the United States and it was natural that international contests would soon follow. On January 25th, 1884, Mr. Robert Gordon of New York City presented a handsome gold medal to the curlers of the United States and Canada to be played for in annual competition.

Mr. Gordon was a member of the St. Andrews Curling Club of New York and was the first patron of the Grand National Curling Club of America, retaining that honor until his return to Scotland in the summer of 1884. He was born in Dumfries, Scotland, November 17, 1829, and educated in Scottish schools and Glascow University. In 1849, when he was 20 years of age, he came to New York and was connected in business with the firm of Maitland Phelps & Co., a financial house. Mr. Gordon retired from business in April of 1900, and he died at Christchurch in 1918 at the age of 89.

The first match for the Medal was played at Montreal on February 8, 1884 and was won by the Milwaukee Curling Club. Terms of the original rules governing the Match established Montreal as the venue of play, and the Canadian Branch of the RCCC as the governiong authority. Subsequently, as a result of a request made jointly to the Canadian Branch by the Donor of the Medal and the GNCC, it was mutually agreed to have the Match alternate between Canada and the United States. The first match in the United States was at the Albany City Curling Club on February 20, 1890.

Records indicate that over the 114 year period, matches were postponed due to smallpox epidemics in 1885, 1886, and 1887; due to lack of ice in 1897, 1898, and 1902; and due to Wars in 1916, 1917, 1918 and again in 1942 and 1945.

Until 1901, the Match was played with two rinks on a side, then by agreement, the rule was changed to provide for the Medal to by played for by two or more rinks on each side - the number being arrived at by agreement each year. Today, when the medal is played for in the United States, there are 20 Canadian teams and 20 American teams each playing two ten-end games. The outcome is determined by the total number of stones scored by each country in the two games. There are two other competitions within the Gordon International. The J.C. Stevens Memorial Shield has been presented since 1988 to the point-total winner of the Friendly games. The Add Hastings International Bowl has been awarded since 1968 to the rink on either side that has the largest plus score in any single Gordon game.

The Gordon Medal has been played for on 102 occasions with Canada winning 75 times and the United States winning 27 matches. In the recent past 1970-1997 the United States has only managed to win once, by 4 stones in Boston in 1982. The total rock count to date is 29,148 to 25,406 in favor of the Canadians. 1998 will be the 21st time The Utica Curling Club has hosted this event.

[This history is taken, with thanks, from information provided by Utica's Tom Garber at the 1998 Gordon Competition]

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