History and Records of the Elephant Club

Q. K. Philander Doesticks

Read by Don W. Jenkins

Mortimer Q. Thomson (September 2, 1832 – June 25, 1875) was an American journalist and humorist who wrote under the pseudonym Q. K. Philander Doesticks. He was born in Riga, New York and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended Michigan University in Ann Arbor, but was expelled along with several others either for his involvement in secret societies or for "too much enterprise in securing subjects for the dissecting room." After a brief period working in theater, he became a journalist and lecturer.

For his published writings he used the pen name "Q. K. Philander Doesticks, P. B.", a pseudonym he had first used in university (the full version is "Queer Kritter Philander Doesticks, Perfect Brick"). Knight Russ Ockside is apparently a pen name for Edward Fitch Underhill, however no information is available for either name. The Elephant Club describes the formation and adventures of six strangers who all met by chance the same day and decided that they would like to continue the group by forming a club to get to know their city, New York, again and share their experiences. THE ELEPHANT CLUB, and having in view the following OBJECTS:

1. The enjoyment and amusement of its members through.

2. A profound study of the Metropolitan Elephant, by surveying him in
all his majesty of proportion, by tracing him to his secret haunts, and
observing his habits, both in his wild and domestic state.
- Summary by Wikipedia, Don W. Jenkins (6 hr 15 min)

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