May 19 2011
"Carving out special access to nightclubs is about as old as nightclubs themselves. During Prohibition, the Mansion, a speakeasy on West 51st Street, opened its doors only to permanent guests possessing “a unique wooden card,” which was “distributed with caution,” Al Hirschfeld and Gordon Kahn wrote in their classic book, “The Speakeasies of 1932."
— At Nightclubs, Mysteries of the Permanent Guest List - NYTimes.com