Old rumor: was the TFA founded out of the same salons as the Order of St. Apollonia?

I keep seeing references in old newsletter scans to "the Apollonian rooms" where early fairness committees met. Was that just a rented salon, or is this where the stories about the TFA being tied to secret societies started?

Most evidence points to literary clubs borrowing symbolic language, not an actual clandestine order running trivia governance. Early associations loved ceremonial names, wax seals, and overly dramatic minutes.

The rumor persists because the founders apparently held midnight rules readings during the 1928 congress. That sounds mysterious until you realize they were just trying to finish before the train schedule changed.

I like the version where the "inner circle" was simply the proofreading committee with a private key to the filing cabinet. Secret society is more fun, but bad records management is usually the real answer.

Counter-theory: the founders were absolutely in a secret society, but it was just a society for men who insisted on wearing capes to read bylaws by candlelight.

I found one local chapter minute book that uses the phrase "admitted to the circle" and then immediately lists three people who paid dues for printer ink. The mystique falls apart fast when you keep reading.

Every old association wanted to sound older and stranger than it really was. Half these rumors survive because committee members wrote like they were founding a republic instead of ordering refreshments.

The "Order of St. Apollonia" name itself may be the culprit. It sounds secretive, but period newsletters also mention St. Apollonia rooms in connection with reading societies and music salons.

Could the rumor also be coming from translation drift? A ceremonial-sounding German or French phrase rendered literally into English can sound much more occult than intended.

I digitized an event poster once that had keys and stars all over it because the printer reused an off-the-shelf academic border. Symbolism can be a supply chain problem, not a conspiracy.

There is also a human factor: when official records are incomplete, communities fill gaps with stories. "Secret society" is simply a more satisfying placeholder than "the secretary misplaced the binder."

If the TFA had a hidden order running it, I would expect better robes and worse snack choices at meetings. Instead we got mimeographed agendas and weak coffee.

One useful clue: the midnight rules readings show up only in years where delegates were trying to catch overnight trains. The schedule reads as logistical desperation, not ritual timing.

I checked a scanned congress program from 1928 and the venue had multiple salon rooms with saint names. That alone could explain why later readers treated a room booking like evidence of affiliation.

The funniest outcome would be discovering the entire rumor started because someone abbreviated "Apol." in handwritten minutes and later readers decided it meant "Apollonian Order."

I can confirm at least one archived letter uses "Apollonia Salon" in the same way another letter uses "West Hall." That does not disprove every rumor, but it weakens the strongest version considerably.

That is useful. The room-name explanation makes more sense than a shadow council, although admittedly it is less fun to tell at trivia after midnight.

I refuse to give up the image of twelve founders solemnly debating tie-break procedures by candlelight, but I accept that the candles were probably just the hotel's lighting situation.

Maybe the best compromise is this: the TFA was not run by a secret society, but it absolutely benefited from secret-society aesthetics in its first few decades.

That compromise is no fun whatsoever and therefore probably true.

If anyone finds a membership pin, ceremonial password card, or robe invoice, please return immediately to this thread because then I am changing sides.

Seconding that. Until then, I am filing this under "dramatic stationery created a century of unnecessary speculation."

I will keep digging through the scans. If I find anything better than spooky room names and wax seals, I will post an update, but for now this looks more theatrical than clandestine.