Ancient Order of Froth Blowers

Running from 1924 to 1931, it was founded by Herbert Longdale Temple, an ex-soldier and curtain-merchant, initially to raise £100 (equal to £7,204 today) for the children's charities of the surgeon Sir Alfred Fripp.

The now-retired Fripp travelled around the country as guest speaker at over 200 of these Vats, and thousands clamoured to join: men ("Blowers"), women ("Fairy Belles"), their children and their dogs ("Faithful Bow-Wows") were all enrolled.

In 1927, Walter Greville of the Good Templars described it as "the latest recruited ally of the liquor trade", saying that "for ridiculous vulgarity and foolish methods it took the first prize".

[7] Nevertheless, the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Hailsham, described it as "a great charitable organisation", and when Fripp died in 1930 his Times obituary said of the Froth Blowers, "These, by their innocent mirth, assisted by a catchy tune, have contributed largely to charities, and have entertained and brightened the lives of innumerable children".

"A sociable and law-abiding fraternity of absorptive Britons who sedately consume and quietly enjoy with commendable regularity and frequention the truly British malted beverage as did their forbears and as Britons ever will, and be damned to all pussyfoot hornswogglers from overseas and including low brows, teetotalers and MPs and not excluding nosey parkers, mock religious busy bodies and suburban fool hens all of which are structurally solid bone from the chin up".

In Dorothy Sayers's story The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba, Lord Peter Wimsey describes his safe as "the ordinary strong-room, where I keep my cash and Froth Blower's cuff-links and all that."

In her novel Unnatural Death, Lord Peter assures a nurse that "I haven't come to sell you soap or gramophones, or to borrow money or enrol you in the Ancient Froth-blowers or anything charitable".

The mercenary group led by Mike Hoare in an attempted 1981 coup of the Seychelles disguised itself as a drinking party calling itself The Ancient Order of Froth Blowers.

The documentary also includes conversations with long time supporters of West Ham United, an English Premier League team who have deep links with the former society.