Rutherford has its own semi-secret society, a group called the Polytopics Club, whose history stretches back 92 years and involves the poet William Carlos Williams. The group was designed to serve as a social club in which the club would meet in fellow members' homes and a speaker, either chosen by the host or the host himself, would give a presentation on a topic of interest.
The group first met on April 17, 1916. It was started in part as an alternative to the Fortnightly Club, a similar discussion group whose origins stretch back even further.
John Dollar, a former Rutherford resident, Fairleigh Dickinson professor and member of the Polytopics Club, wrote about Williams and his relation to the group in an article from William Carlos Williams: Man and Poet, a collection of essays about Williams' life and works. The club was meant to be a "more irreverent" version of the Fortnightly Club, according to Dollar. Though they eventually settled on "The Polytopics Club," other possible names were tossed around by the members: names such as The Klever Klub, the Lunarites and the Assorted Nuts.
Early topics of discussion included Irish drama, epileptics, the music of Franz Liszt, the Bergen County Mosquito Commission, the works of George Bernard Shaw, tiger hunting in China and the high cost of living. Williams gave frequent readings of his own poetry and even wrote and performed in short plays written specifically for the occasion. The plays went over well, but Dollar notes Williams' poetry was a little avant garde for the group's tastes.
"In the early days many of the club members were skeptical of Dr. Williams' poetical ability," he writes. "In fact, Flossie [Williams' wife, Florence] told him not to read his poetry any more at the club meetings because some of the members were laughing at the wrong places." Nevertheless, after Williams received the Dial Award for Poetry in 1926, along with a substantial cash prize of $2,000, his fellow townspeople started taking his poetry more seriously and made numerous requests for readings.
Former Rutherford Historical Commission member Bill Neumann said groups like Polytopics and the Fortnightly Club were more common earlier in the 20th century and grew out of the notion of groups with a salon-setting, a regular meeting of people to talk about and engage the intellectual topics of the day.
Current and recent members of the club include Rutherford Mayor John Hipp, Rutherford Downtown Partnership Robin Reenstra-Bryant, Library Director Jane Fisher, former Rutherford resident and Fairleigh Dickinson professor John Dollar and several of the Van Winkles, including the late Edgar Van Winkle.
Hipp said he recently hosted a meeting at his home in which he gave a presentation on theories on the origin of the universe. Hipp said the host/presenter is at liberty to choose his or her own topic and needn't reveal it until the meeting.
"It's an aspect of Rutherford that unfortunately most people don't know about," said Hipp. "We don't seek publicity, but I don't interpret that as being a secret society."
Nevertheless, membership is by invitation only. Up until several years ago meetings of the club were a black tie affair, with men attending in dinner jackets and women in ball gowns. Hipp said the dress code has loosened somewhat in recent years.
