History of The Saturday Club: 1980-2010

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1980 to 2010

• In 1982, The Saturday Club published its first cookbook, Philadelphia Main Line Classics. Now in its eigth printing with over 75,000 copies, the cookbook boasts over 700 recipes and features station stops along the Main Line. The cookbook features wonderful illustrations of the stations by Jane Curtis and histories of each town. From 1982-1996, this cookbook enabled our club to donate more than $170,000 to charities in the greater Philadelphia region.
• In 1986 The Saturday Club celebrated its Centennial Anniversary; during this time it was decided that the three self-governing sections of the Club (The Saturday Club, The Junior Section and the Evening Section) would operate under one Corporation Board.
• The painting of the clubhouse that hangs over the fireplace was commissioned for the 100th Anniversary in 1986.
• The annual Holiday Market began in the 1980s and is still held today in conjunction with the November Membership Meeting.
• One budget was created in 1990 and the Executive Board of the Juniors served as the Corporation Board.
• The Saturday Club Cotillion was established in 1991 under the direction of Mrs. Patty Best. Cotillion continues to educate community youth on etiquette and manners today through the Jon D. Williams Cotillion program.
• Our second award-winning cookbook, Main Line Classics II: Cooking Up a Little History, was published in 1996. It was introduced on QVC’s “Best of Pennsylvania” show and won many accolades including the 1997 Tabasco Community Cookbook Award. The cookbook contains over 400 kitchen-tested recipes and includes ghost stories, secrets, and folklore of Philadelphia’s prestigious Main Line homes and historic taverns.
• The word ‘Junior’ was removed from the Club name in 1997 and once again became ‘The Saturday Club’
• In 2002, the Club obtained its official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization status from the Internal Revenue Service.
• Our third cookbook, Main Line Entertains, was published in the fall of 2005. Produced with the support of an impressive number of community and corporate sponsors, this cookbook takes a departure from the traditional comb-bound books as a beautiful coffee table style book. It includes over 200 recipes, many from the Main Line’s finest restaurants and culinary professionals, seasonal entertaining menu ideas, and creative party-planning tips. The Main Line Chamber of Commerce has endorsed it as “the official cookbook of the 21st century Main Line.”
• The American Girl Fashion Show ran from 2003-2010 and raised more than $750,000 for organizations including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Dragonfly Forest, Mommy’s Light Lives On, The Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and The Center for Autism.
• A Keystone Preservation Grant in 2005 enabled the Club to make updates and repairs as well as install a handicap accessible bathroom and ramp.
• Our popular bi-annual Women’s & Children’s Consignment Sale began in 2009. It continues to be run bi-annually and while cancelled in the Fall of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was held in the parking lot of the Clubhouse in the Spring of 2021.