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The Masons in St. Louis, where I used to live, were pretty open and welcoming of the public — up to a point — from at least the 80’s. Still, a guy I worked with was a rookie-level Mason member, and he seemed surprised I’d even heard of them. Maybe their outreach to the public is a secret not shared with their own acolytes.

I’m partial to The Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Their building, with the name worked in brick across the the cornice, is the tallest (4 storeys!) in my current little town. It’s simply lovely, but, alas, vacant now.

The Masons are still very “hot” in much of the Continent, especially Italy. I knew a chap who grew up in Italy, and came to the U.S. as an adult. He recalled being shocked the first time he saw a Masonic lodge with informational signage in front. It was like seeing a sign that read “Black Helicopter parking here”.

Did you get any pictures of the Illuminati booth?

Dunno about the Masons, but I’ve noticed more than a few of my age-peers (early 50’s) posting about joining the Moose / Elks / Royal order of Water Buffalo / etc. Primary benefit seems to be access to a private bar / clubhouse wherever they travel. Seems a convincing argument…

The Masons were pretty big in the Army. I would see vehicles with the little masonic emblems indicating their rank/house/ affiliation/order/blood sacrifices all the time. My Ex joined when he was still in, as apparently it was the only way to really network and further your military career since all of the senior NCOs were involved in it. They even have their own version of the bible. I say meh, whatever.

I’m going to start a Hermit Society and decline any member who actively applies to be admitted. You only get accepted if you refuse to join.

The Masons are about as sinister as the Women’s Institute.

Suggested viewing: Simpsons “Homer the Great” (Season 6, Episode 12) Homer joins the Stonecutters for the benefits and socializing (“Beer busts, beer blasts, keggers, stein hoists, AA meetings, beer night. It’s wonderful, Marge. I’ve never felt so accepted in all my life. These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.” -Homer) Pretty good parody of secret fraternities, with some memorable songs, too.

I spent five of my teenage years as a member of Job’s Daughters in southern California, and am a PHQ. I was forced to join; my Dad was Past Master of a Lodge in Wisconsin. No girl was denied membership. All comers were welcome. Meetings were closed to the public, and ritualistic, but the proceedings were as esoteric as Sunday School. On the first and third Saturday of each month we met.. On the second Saturday we did fun things. On the fourth Saturday we were money grubbers, occasionally aided by the local DeMolay chapter.

Downtown, at the Masonic Temple, we hit on passers-by, friends, and supporters, selling home-baked goods, snow cones, garden plants, fresh fruit, kindling, Christmas trees and wreaths, and hand-crafted items. We held “jumble” sales, car washes, collected aluminum and other metals for the salvage yard. For a reasonable fee, we served meals and did clean-up for all sorts of outside groups’ monthly banquets, and for conventions. (The most illuminating was a three-day, statewide gathering of Buddhists.) We also did volunteer work, weeding, planting trees, directing car-parking at special events, decorating Rose Parade floats, visiting and singing for shut-ins, etc. Our earned proceeds helped fund Bethel trips and summer camp, and much was donated to the Shriners hospitals, March of Dimes, Red Cross, United Way, American Cancer Society, and other charities.

All that busy-ness under the watchful eyes of Masons, Evening Star ladies, and Shriners brought me lifelong friends and the ability to speak in front of groups of strangers without falling apart. Best of all, it kept me out of all kinds of trouble I otherwise would very likely have gotten myself into. In those days, the prerequisite to joining the Masonic Order was simply to ask to. I’m appalled by the absurd comments I often hear or read about Masons and their intrigues. I hate to say it, Feynmangroupie, but they’re apple-pie.

http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/

But ‘pedia doesn’t say when they stepped out of the shadows.

Is the apostrophe a placeholder for the second ‘t’?

Hmm, I hadn’t heard of that one…

catnip @ August 6, 2016, 10:01 am:
On the fourth Saturday we were money grubbers, occasionally aided by the local DeMolay chapter.

I wonder how many members of the De Molay chapter knew their group was named in honor of a man who was burned at the stake for sodomy, blasphemy, heresy, and sorcery. (And controlling a lot of money the King of France wanted.)

Or that when Louis XVI was guillotined, a man rushed up to the platform, dabbled a handkerchief in the king’s blood, and waved it overhead, shouting “Jacques de Molay, thou art avenged!”

In the book ‘A Distant Mirror’ by Barbra Tuchman, she writes a bit about the trial of Jacques De Molay. Worth reading. And in the interest of honesty, I have been a Master Mason for 40+ years.