William W. Woollcott

Who is William W. Woollcott?

William W. Woollcott was an ink-and-paste manufacturer who lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Known as "Willie" he was the brother of Alexander Woollcott, married to a daughter of Victor G. Bloede, a good friend of H. L. Mencken and a non-performing member of the Saturday Night Club. He was known for being a "wit and a bon vivant in his own right" but is best remembered for writing the anthem of the Saturday Night Club whose opening line Mencken included in his New Dictionary of Quotations: "I am a one hundred percent American! I am, God damn, I am!" The song took on a brief life of its own gaining "wide popularity among the unregenerate" during the 1920s.