Special Orders

Source: Norman Transcript, Monday, May 18, 1925

According to the Norman Transcript’s coverage of the IOOF statewide convention in Norman Oklahoma in May 1925 three “Special Orders” were conferred:

• The Royal Purple Degree: The third degree of the Encampment; a “higher branch” of our organization based on the principles of Faith, Hope and Charity and open to all Third Degree members in good standing.
• The Muskovite Degree (founded in 1894), which has undergone several changes, but was revived in 2015 and is now conferred regularly.
• The “Ancient and Royal Order of Goosey Girls,” an order shrouded in mystery. There is no other public information about this degree, beyond our own events. Here’s what we know, based on reports:
  • They charged $1 for each candidate.
  • They had 207 candidates receive the degree.
    (According to the Norman Transcript, there were 13 candidates for the Muskovite degree (which was performed by Tulsa IOOF) and 2 men who received the Royal Purple degree (performed by Norman IOOF).
  • “Delegates who were already ‘on the inside’ [meaning it had been conferred prior to the convention] grinned and looked wise when the initiation was mentioned.” (Norman Transcript; May 18, 1925)
  • On Wednesday, May 20, 1925 the Transcript observed, “Candidates who took the ‘Goosey Girls’ degree Tuesday afternoon were still looking sheepish and those who witnessed the initiation suffered from sides sore from laughter. However the newly initiated brethren had the best of it, since they were entertained by the Rebekahs after the initiation, the members pointed out.

Tuesday, June 16, 1925, the Norman Transcript announced that the “made such a big hit” at the Odd Fellows Conclave that a second conferral of the Ancient and Royal Order of Goosey Girls would be performed in the Odd Fellows Hall [on Main Street] at 8pm on June 18th. This time, the event was open to the public for “a small charge.

The article held one more tidbit for the curious:

The women who stage the stunt, which is in the form of a play, are masked, and their identities are unknown…

No other mention of the The Ancient and Royal Order of Goosey Girls appears after this. Has the degree been lost to antiquity? Obviously any one who performed or received the degree have since crossed the silent river to join the loved ones gone before…