Hashtory

Once upon a time these blokes had a few too many beers. The next night they decided to go and have a bit of a run to run off the effects of their binge.

After the run they got stuck right back into the grog and that's how the Hash House Harrier movement started.

That's REALLY the short of it - here's a bit more detail if you're really keen:

The "Hash House"

The "Hash House" was the mildly derogative nickname given (for its unimaginative, monotonous food) to the Royal Selangor Club Chambers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by the British Civil Servants and businessmen who lived and dined there between the two World Wars, when it had become something of a social center of the times. Situated close to and behind the present Selangor Club, its function changed after independence and it became an office for the Water Board.

Sadly, the "Hash House" was demolished around 1964, to make way for a new highway, Jalan Kuching, although the buildings housing the original stables and servants quarters are still in existence.

The Ancient Harriers

The idea of harriers chasing paper trails was not new to Malaya in 1938, as there had been such clubs before in Kuala Lumpur and Johore Bahru, and there were clubs in existence in Malacca and Ipoh (the Kinta Harriers) at the time. "Horse" Thomson (one of the KLH3 founding fathers) recalled being invited on a run, shortly after his arrival in Johore Bahru in 1932, which chased a paper trail and followed basic Hash rules every week but was so magically organized that it had no name. The club flourished in the early 1930's but is believed to have died out around 1935.

The other branch of our ancestry comes from Malacca, where A.S.("G") Gispert was posted in 1937 and joined a club called the Springgit Harriers, who also operated weekly under Hash rules and are believed to have been formed in 1935. Some months later, "Torch" Bennett visited him and came as a guest on a few runs.

The Hash House Harriers

By 1938, "G" Gispert, "Horse" Thompson, and "Torch" Bennett had all moved to KL and, joined by Cecil Lee, Eric Galvin and H.M. Doig, they founded their own club, following the rules they had learnt elsewhere. Gispert is credited with proposing the name "Hash House Harriers" when the Registrar of Societies required the gathering to be legally registered. Other early members included Frank Woodward, Philip Wickens, Lew Davidson, John Wyatt-Smith and M. C. Hay.

After 117 runs, KLH3 was forced into temporary hibernation by the arrival of the Japanese. Sadly, Gispert did not live to see his extraordinary creation revive, being killed in the fighting on Singapore island on February 11th, 1942. (Many hashes around the world now hold a special "Tribute to G" run on or near this date - or at least offer a special toast to his memory!)

Postwar Rebirth

It took nearly 12 months after the war for the survivors of the HHH to reassemble. Bennett put in a claim for the lost hash mugs, a tin bath and two old bags from Government funds, and run No.1 was a trot around the racecourse in August 1946.

The Hash Spreads Out

Strangely, it took another 16 years for the second H3 chapter to be founded, in Singapore in 1962, by Ian Cumming who now lives and hashes in New York state, USA, and who, small world!!, is a friend of the 2001 Western Suburbs H3 GM. Thereon followed by Kuching in 1963, Brunei, Kota Kinabalu and Ipoh in 1964, Penang and Malacca in 1965. Perth, Australia was the first "overseas" Chapter, formed in 1967. Even in 1974, when KLH3 had run No.1500, the HHH was only 35 chapters worldwide. Now the Hash world has over 1200 active chapters, in some 160 countries, and this despite the total absence of any central organization.

We are unique !

This article was written in 1992 by Mike "Father" Lyons from research material prepared by John Duncan, and with occasional bits changed or edited by Barterbitch in 2001.

InterHash & Nash Hash

Since first held in KL 1974, InterHash has brought Hashers together from all around the globe every two years. The last InterHash was held in 2000 at Hobart in Tasmania, Australia.

The next will be held in Goa, India, in 2002.

Also every two years, but one year apart from InterHash is Nash Hash, held in most countries, and always held in Australia around Easter of odd-numbered years. Large numbers of Australian and International hashers gather to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting public and put a serious dent in the local beer supply. The next is planned for Easter 2001 in Darwin NT