Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles

Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles
Lapel pin worn by members of the Order
Awarded by any Member
TypeInformal and formal groups
EstablishedDuring WWII
MottoAre you a Turtle?


The Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles ("International Association of Turtles", "Turtle Club" or similar title) started as an informal "drinking club" between American World War II pilots, for humor and camaraderie.[1][2][3] Any member who was asked "Are you a Turtle?" needed to reply, loudly, "You bet your sweet ass I am", or buy the questioner a drink.[1][3] The Turtle Club also has a number of membership cards with instructions on recruiting new members, which requires asking three to four riddles for which it is difficult to think up answers other than the obvious vulgar ones.[1] The answer to "What goes in hard and comes out soft" is "gum".[1] It was historically exclusively a men's group.[3] It is an amorphous group and is organized formally in some places and loosely in others, and is popular in bars.[4]

  1. ^ a b c d "The Turtle Club" from Alan Dundes, Carl R. Pagter, When You're Up to Your Ass in Alligators: More Urban Folklore from the Paperwork Empire (Wayne State University Press, 1987), ISBN 978-0-8143-1867-6, pp.61-62.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference McGowan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c "Card, Membership, "Interstellar Association of Turtles"". National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian. Retrieved 2024-07-06.
  4. ^ Bauman, Richard (1970). "The Turtles: An American Riddling Institution". Western Folklore. 29 (1): 21–25. doi:10.2307/1498681. ISSN 0043-373X.