Esteemed Member of The Corduroy Appreciation Club,

The Corduroy Appreciation Club shall convene on the date which most closely resembles Corduroy, November 11th, 11|11. Here are the particulars and secret location of our meeting:

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Hilarious BEST SELLING AUTHOR of I Was Told There’d Be Cake, SLOANE CROSLEY!

$11.11 (A price which resembles Corduroy). Please Purchase here at this time.

THE GARAGE at THE OLD AMERICAN CAN FACTORY
232 THIRD STREET • BROOKLYN, NY 11215 (map)
Corduroy Club Symbols will lead you through the labyrinth deep into factory.
DOORS OPEN 7 PM • MEETING COMMENCES 8:11 PM SHARP

• The Main Squeeze Accordion Orchestra
• Princeton University Scholar Deborah Kaple reading NPR 3 Minute Corduroy Fiction
• Revealing of Corduroy Club iPhone Application
• An opportunity to purchase Bonobo’s Corduroy Pants at a discounted price
• Awards for Exemplary Usage of Corduroy
• Awards for Best Dressed Presented by CORDAROUNDS
• Strange Rituals
• Six Point Craft Beer
• And…a ROUSING Barnburning SPEECH BY YOUR PRESIDENT, Miles Rohan

Please purchase your admission as soon as possible so that we may know how many people to expect and have everything in order for your arrival.

TWO CORDUROY ITEM RULE IN EFFECT

NO PHOTOGRAPHY DURING SECRET RITUALS

Download attractive invitation here.

HAIL THE WALE!

Click here to view the embedded video.

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• Formation of a Board of Directors so that tasks (event planning, membership, merchandise, website maintenance) may not fall upon the Corduroy clad  shoulders of one.
• Selecting of Regional Officers to support our global expansion
• Development of a charitable arm of the club
• Fundraising, sponsorships and partnerships
• Recruitment and membership drives

More details will follow in the coming weeks. Due to location of CAC HQ in New York, the meeting will likely occur there, but surely in this age of the shrinking globe we should be able to evade the constraints of obstacles like oceans, space and time.

All suggestions and ideas are welcome. HAIL THE WALE!

Yours,

Miles Rohan
Founder

Corduroy, the familiar durable fabric, has no known linguistic parents though it is said to be the offspring of many a word. Folk etymology has it as originating from French ‘corde du roi’ (cord of the King), but in French the term for the cloth is velours À côtes.

French lineage?

The OED assertion that an 1807 French list of manufactured fabrics included the English words ‘kings-cordes’ cast doubt on fabric’s French lineage. Since the term first appeared in American English in 1787, and ‘cord’ is used for a specific quantity of cut wood, a stack of cut wood could have led to the thick strong cotton cloth (duroy) with thin raised lines on it being called corduroy.

Corde is from Latin corda, meaning string, hence an electric cord. Duroy was a type of rough woollen cloth made in England (17-19 centuries). Therefore someone with active imagination could have called duroy that was ribbed as corduroy. Another possible explanation is that when corduroy was first made from silk, some enterprising manufacturer with a surname Corderoy (there is such a surname) named it after himself as a sales or promotion gimmick.

Neglected, of course, are thoughts on exactly where Corduroy the fabric, regardless of name, came from. I subscribe to the Fustian theory which suggests Corduroy was from ancient Egypt. But as far as the name, Corduroy, I like to think there was just somebody named Corduroy.

Corduroy is referred to as a “lesser” fabric at one point, which is unfortunate, but please read the article in it’s entirety here. If you can wade through all the garbage about velvet, there’s a good bit on satin, which seems has always reminded me of Satan, but that’s another story.

Lastly, to all you know-it-alls out there, who simply cannot resist telling me the following: “Are you aware that Corduroy was the kings cloth? Yep. It was worn by French royalty!” PLEASE. Just. Stop.

In 2006, I invited Ambassador Guzman to attended the 1111 meeting after high-level beltway sources reported he was wearing Corduroy to important meetings in Washington D.C. Not surprisingly he had other matters to attend to that 1111. But he did send us this kind and inspiring note below. I wish him the very best.

Liberty and its exercise take various forms, and they can occur in
every space imaginable. For example, true art is only explained by
the determined passion of liberation. Many are the instances in which
exercising liberty also brings the equally vital exercise of
provocation. To all this must be added a good dose of aesthetics, and
it is here we refer to the magnificent fabric of liberty and of
provocation, corduroy.

Enjoy your celebration, and may we meet someday soon.

Warm Regards,
His Excellency Gustavo Guzmán
Ambassador of Bolivia
Washington, D.C.

As some may know, Bolivia has a special place in my heart and was the site of my “Corduroy vision,” which lead to the founding of the CAC.

-Miles Rohan