Sherlock Holmes’s 112th Birthday celebration took place against the backdrop of a New York transit strike. But, Sherlockians are undaunted. The dinner enjoyed “a near-record attendance,” including visitors from California, Illinois, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Pola (Mrs. Rex) Stout was honored by Tom McDade as The Woman. Canonical and Irregular toasts were offered, and Scion reports from around the world were delivered. Three Irregulars were invested at the Dinner. Near the evening’s closing, the master of ceremonies, Rex Stout, received a “unique” award, The Order of the Blue Carbuncle. Tom Stix (Sr.) and Herbert Brean delivered learned papers, followed by toasts and disputations to round out the evening.
Dinner Details: January 7, 1966
Cavanagh’s Restaurant, 258 West 23rd Street, New York
Dinner Photo Information
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.Key to People in the 1966 BSI Dinner photo (PDF)
BSI Honours List
Investitures:John R. Hendrickson as The Musgrave Ritual
George K. Hourwich as Sutro, the Lawyer
Ames Johnston as The Missing Three-Quarter*
John McCabe as Those Chaldean Roots . . . of the Great Celtic Speech
L. A. Morrow as The Grice Patersons in the Island of Uffa*
Luther Norris as Monsieur Oscar Meunier, of Grenoble*
Chris Redmond as Billy*
Ralph Reppert as Horace Harker*
* received Investiture at another event during the year
What is an Investiture?
Two-Shilling Award:
William S. Hall
Thomas L. Stix (Sr.)*
* received award at another event during the year
What is a Two-Shilling Award?
The Woman:
Pola (Mrs. Rex) Stout
What is The Woman honour?
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)
None listed in the 1966 BSJ report.
What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”
Morley-Montgomery Award:
Henry T. Folsom, "My Biblical Knowledge is a Trifle Rusty….”
The Baker Street Journal v15 n3 (September 1965) pp. 174-182 (available in the eBSJ)
What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?
Reports on the Dinner
The Baker Street Journal v16 n1 (March 1966) p. 56. (available in the eBSJ)List of 1966 BSI Dinner Attendees (PDF)
Key to People in the 1966 BSI Dinner photo (PDF)
Recordings
None available online at this time.Related Material
1966 BSI Dinner Menu (digitized image at Harvard)Two pages. Cover, interior, and back. Sequence 23-24
Stout, Pola, Note to Julian Wolff accepting the honour of The Woman (PDF)
Previous dinner: the 1965 BSI Dinner
Next dinner: the 1967 BSI Dinner
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our BSI Dinner Summary list.
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our BSI Archive at Harvard page.
Page composed on 8/26/15 by Tamar Zeffren
Page updated 8/29/15 by Andrew Solberg.
This page last updated 11/30/19 by Randall Stock.
