Until the 1830s the ascendency of Halifax's privileged elite remained unchallenged. Elitist life styles were epitomized by the Tandem Club, an association of the urban gentry which met regularly during the winter months. The entertainment began when "the Governor, and all the officials, the General, his staff, and a large proportion of the officers in garrison, and a large number of our wealthy citizens" gathered on the Grand Parade. Then followed a procession through town. "At the head of the Club rode the Captain of the day always with a six in hand. After him the Governor with a fine team of four horses and aprΦs lui le dΘluge, four in hands numerous and tandems without number, all forming a continuous line of splendid horses, handsome sleighs and gaily dressed people." First stop was at a local inn for cakes and negus, a drink made from wine, hot water, sugar, lemon juice and nutmeg. The club then journeyed twelve miles out of town to a second inn where they dined at 3:00 p.m. After six hours of drinking and eating, the numbers returned to Halifax. Many were too tipsy to make the trip without becoming stuck in a snowbank. It should be noted, however, that fashions had begun to change. By the 1830s many of the gentry were substituting new model moral earnestness for old fashioned self-indulgence. This coloured lithograph drawn by William Eagar (ca. 1796-1839) records the Tandem Club's activities.
