I sounds terribly exclusive,

> Since its founding there have been more than 10,000 members including heads of state, Supreme Court justices, governors, popes, professors, generals, and other notables.

But it’s just a small old club adding elite members as a joke.

> The person elected to membership in the society need not even know that they had been nominated.

> "I've always wondered what the reaction in the Vatican mail room is when they open the envelope and see the certificate."

I'll see your Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves and raise you the Society for the Prevention of Calling Sleeping Car Porters "George" (SPCSCPG)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_the_Prevention_of_...

There are many organizations that similarly outlived their usefulness.

The Junior Order of United American Mechanics is another one. This was the kid's section of the Order of United American Mechanics. It survived the parent organization and is still in existence. Or at least the web site, not updated since 2019, is still up.[1]

[1] https://www.jrouamnationalcouncil.org

"There is only one instance of a horse thief being caught by the Society"

Hmmm.

I just wanted to note how good the writing is on the first sign-up list when it was just 13 blokes in a local tavern.

> The great number of horses stolen from amongst us and in our vicinity is truly alarming, and calls for the attention of every well-disposed Citizen. It is evident that there has been, and probably will continue, a combination of Villains through the northern states to carry into effect this malignant design, and their frequent escape from the hand of justice stimulates them to that atrocious practice. And as that kind of property is most liable to be carried out of our knowledge, it requires the utmost exertion of every good member of society, to baffle and suppress depredations of this kind...

I do understand that it sounds fancy to us because of the old language, it was probably how normal people spoke back then. But man it’s still quite artful and epic the way they express such a mundane thing.

so glad it still exists. the point is the continuity itself. pity so few men ride horses anymore, but I can see how that happened, barns are feminine coded spaces now and it'd probably be like getting guys to do zumba. however, places need social fabrics and a way to connect. I live rurally and the closest thing here would be the volunteer firemen groups and masonic lodges in the area. it's important to have a way to share some dignity and recognition that isn't monopolized by the state. sure they can be exclusive, but the point was to make yourself worthy of welcome somewhere.

in my collections I have a ritual book for The Society of the Horseman's Word, which was a quasi-masonic fraternity for horsemen loosely based on one for ploughmen in 19th c. scotland and I thought about a fun reboot for it, but really there's nothing in it that regular masonry doesn't provide and imposing a constraint where guys need to be capable of anything outside their jobs these days (let alone, riding) is too much of a self-handicap. the other problem is do you really want to attract people who need what you're offering?

orgs like these are a social fabric that forms the quality of life we appreciate when we go into small towns and imagine how peaceful living there is. if there is something like it in your area, you should join one, as it's a way of providing stewardship for the places and ways of life people enjoy.

The Shirky principle would suggest they need to steal horses to ensure their continued existence.

False, red hooks is older: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hook_Society_for_the_Appre...

See also the one hundred and eleven Livery Companies of the City of London: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_company

Somehow this article reminds me of the Lemony Snicket novels.

Not clear how this Wikipedia article survived deletion, given that while the society seems to actually exist the subject is clearly not notable (memberships are sent without request or consent) and the article is plainly not NPOV and misleading, presumably written as a joke or as a proof-of-concept of an attack on Wikipedia.