Mory's

The Whiffenpoofs, the a cappella group made up of Yale seniors who are recruited from other Yale undergraduate singing groups, sings weekly, usually on Monday evenings, in the dining areas of the club. They often perform the famous "Whiffenpoof Song" which mentions Mory's as the "place where Louis [or 'Louie'; pronounced as the latter or the French version of the former] dwells." It was through this song, which was sung and recorded by Rudy Vallee, Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley, that the Club became part of the national consciousness in the early part of the twentieth century.

In 1913, four young men met at Mory's to create a light-hearted alternative to the more serious Whiffenpoofs.[7] They decided upon the "Spizzwinks," a reference to a mythical creature to which the Corn Blight of 1906 had been whimsically attributed.

Mory's, circa 1914

Another tradition is the ritualistic consumption of a "Cup," in which a party of members gather to share drinks of assorted colors and ingredients (usually containing alcohol, although a non-alcoholic "Imperial Cup" is available) from large silver trophy cups that look like handled urns and are passed amongst the gathered company. The cups are ordered by color, and some are based on sparkling wines, while others are based on beer. There is an elaborate ritual, including at the completion of a cup a drinking song, associated with the tradition. Cups come in many colors including red, gold, purple, blue, green, and velvet.

When a member is about to finish a Cup, he or she faces the decades-old challenge of "cleaning the cup"—removing all moisture from the cup by using only his or her mouth and, to finish the job, hair. Friends to the left and right are at the ready with napkins to minimize drippage during this process. While the member is finishing, and to give that member extra time to "clean the cup," his or her friends are wont to chant the Mory's Song (an adaptation, for a diametrically opposite purpose, of the Salvation Army camp song "Put a Nickel on the Drum", with the finishing member's name as the hero of the song:

It's [Name], it's [Name],
It's [Name] that makes the world go 'round,
It's [Na-ame], [Na-ame],
[Name] that makes the world go 'round,
It's [Name], it's [Name],
It's [Name] that makes the world go 'round,
It's [Name] that makes the world go 'round!

Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum;
Save another drunken bum!
Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum and you'll be saved.

I'm H-A-P-P-Y to be F-R-double-E,
F-R-double-E to be S-A-V-E-D,
S-A-V-E-D from the bonds of S-I-N;
Glory, glory, Hallelujah; hip-hooray, amen!

Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum;
Save another drunken bum!
Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum and you'll be saved!

I was lying in the gutter,
I was covered up in beer, (BEER!)
Pretzels in my moustache [or "eyebrows"],
I thought the end was near, (BEER!)
Then along came [Name]
And saved me from my curse [or "the hearse"]!
Glory, glory, Hallelujah; sing another verse!

Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum;
Save another drunken bum!
Sing Hallelujah! Sing Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum and you'll be saved!

At the conclusion of the Mory's Song, the member places the trophy cup, upside down, on top of a cloth (or, for greater challenge due to the latter's higher absorbency, a paper) napkin, whereupon three friends place their respective hands atop the base of the cup and tap firmly. The cup is then whisked away, and the napkin is inspected for any signs of moisture. In decades past, and to date for some more conservative organizations, if the napkin were wet, then the finishing member would be forced to pay for the cup; if the napkin were dry, the member to the finishing member's left—who himself chose to forgo finishing the cup—would have to pay. (Organizations still following these rules often vary them as to the specifics: Some organizations requiring that the cost of the cup be divided among the two or three previous drinkers rather than only the immediately previous one. Some organizations exempt women preceding the "draining" drinker from having to pay, instead assessing only the man or men to that drinker's left for the cup's cost, on the grounds that a woman should not be expected to drain the cup and therefore did not forgo a clear opportunity to do so.) In more modern times, most toasting parties split the bill evenly amongst members, regardless of who fails to drain or declines the opportunity to drain a cup.

Another tradition was the encouraged practice of carving the tops of the dining tables at which one sat. The carving might be simply initials or names, or, in the case of the Whiffs' table, a Pendragon rampant.

Since the early-to-middle 20th century, some of the parties of the Yale Political Union (particularly those on the right) have adjourned to Mory's, "as is traditional." While the parties no longer actually go to Mory's after debates as party debates have gotten longer and Mory's hours shorter over the years, the tradition of saying that a debate caucus adjourns to Mory's remains. The parties of the Union have, over time, picked up the tradition of dining at Mory's, though, particularly for weekly Friday lunches, and most hold toasting sessions there as often as two or three times each semester. Current and past club members include John Kerry, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, John R. Bolton, George Pataki, Joe Lieberman, John Heinz, Paul Mellon, William Howard Taft, and William F. Buckley, Jr..

There are two special menu items that brings the denizens of Mory's back to the carved wooden tables and the walls covered with trophies of the past. They are Baker Soup,[8] a potage heavy on tomato, curry, and cream and topped with croutons; and The Rabbit, a version of Welsh rabbit.