Cosmo Club was located in the second and third floors of a 4-story building next to (on the eastside of) the Central Fire Station in the central district. To be precise, it was under the large Pepsi Cola Neon Light billboard. Back in the fifties and sixties, this building was at the waterfront with large windows allowing a full view of Victoria Harbour from the club. Cosmo Club was a social gathering place for the businessmen working in the central district. The entrance to the club was from Pottinger Street and you have to climb several flights of stairs to get to the clubhouse in the second and third floors. The address was No. 1 Pottinger Street. I use the word “Low Key” to describe this place because there was no big sign of Cosmo Club at the entrance and no big sign outside the building. The only thing you can tell was a plague next to the entrance.
The second floor consisted of a bar next to the entrance with bamboo decorations. Near the large semi-circular windows overlooking Victoria Harbour were sofas with newspaper and magazine stalls next to them so people could read newspapers or magazines in a comfortable setting. In the backside of the second floor was a black and white TV. Of course, this was my favourite place. Back in the fifties, there was no color TV broadcast and in HK the only TV service was from Rediffusion (a British Radio/TV Company) requiring a cable hookup with a monthly charge. The second floor clubhouse had low light setting too probably to give the members a relaxing atmosphere.
The third floor consisted of a large dining area and a large pool room next to the entrance. I was only allowed to be in the pool room just a couple of times. It was dark except for the light right above the pool table. There were some sliding scale on the wall for recording the score which I later found that it was for the snooker game. I still remember that people playing snooker were dead serious and the place was dead silent except occasional sound of the cue hitting the ball and the ball hitting another ball. The rest of the third floor was occupied by dining tables and the kitchen.
Unlike modern day clubhouse, there was no person to check your membership at the entrance. People just walked in and enjoyed the comfort. Cosmo Club was a members-only club and there was no cash transaction. When you order a drink or food, you put it on your tap and pay it off at the end of the month. By the early sixties, this old building was gradually torn down. The side next to the Central Fire Station was first demolished for the new Hang Seng Bank building and right after that, the Cosmo club side was gone. Cosmo Club was moved to another location and my father decided not to continue his membership.
Note: What I am recalling is by no means official and it is based on my childhood memory when my father was a member of the club. Since there is very little information about the Cosmo Club in the fifties in the internet, I just take the liberty of posting my childhood memory of this place and hope this might prompt others to do the same and share their knowledge and/or photos of this place. Such a social gathering place in the Central should deserve more recognition and its place in the social history of HK.
photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hoting2000/15971015601/in/photostream/