Red Cap Snowshoeing Club

A little bit of History

In 1874 the Red Cap Snowshoe club was founded, made up of eleven male members. It was the oldest local sports organization, along with the Halifax Snowshoe Club and the Halifax Junior Snowshoe Club. These men established a "view to encourage a taste for the exercise of snowshoeing."

The members followed a first captain, second captain, treasurer and committee of two. These positions were elected at the annual general meeting through nominations. To be elected you had to be a male over 16 years old, and an amateur in sport. You must be proposed by another member, and could not belong to any other club. Talk about strict guidelines!

The club colors were blue, red, and white. All members wore a knitted jersey, with white and blue spots accompanied by a red sash, red hats with blue tassels, white knickerbockers, red stockings with white anklets and white gloves. The first captain wore white tassels and the second captain wore blue and white tassels. Quite the outfit!

Uniforms had to be worn at all times. These uniforms were quite expensive, along with the entrance fee of $5.00 and annual fee of $5.00, which was a lot of money at that time. You didn’t have to pay this fee if you were under sixteen years of age.

The Red Caps slogan was "Are we or are we not?" Reply, "We are!" Their headquarters were the Costen House in Halifax, where they went after each race to eat and drink. The club was an opportunity for these men to get together and be social, and get lots of exercise while they were at it!

How to Be a Red Cap

There were three different types of members in the Red Caps Club:

The first type was an Active Member. The club was only allowed to have fifty active members at one time.

Secondly, an Honorary Membership was given to people who had one-year activity with the club and had intentions of leaving the city. At this time you didn’t have to pay any dues. If you were returning to the city you could give the secretary three months notice of your return and you were made an active member, at which time you started to pay your dues again.

Lastly, a Lifetime Membership is when a member pays fifteen years dues or has had fifteen years with the organization as an active member.

Tramping all the Way...

Twice a week, between 40-50 men would meet at Burns Monument at the Public Gardens to take a "tramp", or hike. Once a month there were short distance races of 100, 200, and 440 yards.

The long distance races were held every couple of years. The first race was held in 1875 from Halifax - the willow tree to the four-mile house in Rockingham. This was 7 1/16 miles, and in 1886 Edward Richardson made record time in this race, finishing in one hour eleven minutes.

There were no records of the Red Cap club between 1918 and 1929 and the club stopped for World War 1 and the depression.

You can visit the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame located on 1645 Granville Street. They have an old Red Cap Uniform and articles you can read, along with the bylaws of the club. There is a great history of snowshoeing in Halifax—why not be a part of it? Be active, be healthy, and snowshoe this winter!