The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

The 1991 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcGoAPm3zXQ68unPqTvp4HMdd9TlkMmM7GktTte6-BqLbUblsgGTHZCaMfw40Gr0vCsEnUQVKSJoFFDIiP4O_waD6OxpmHk_hpsa5KOL0zA88MZURxTtxYP4bOly1mVKOGgMb6oeByX4p/s1600/bsi-dinner-1991-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1991 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcGoAPm3zXQ68unPqTvp4HMdd9TlkMmM7GktTte6-BqLbUblsgGTHZCaMfw40Gr0vCsEnUQVKSJoFFDIiP4O_waD6OxpmHk_hpsa5KOL0zA88MZURxTtxYP4bOly1mVKOGgMb6oeByX4p/s640/bsi-dinner-1991-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1991 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The 137th anniversary of the Master’s birth included all of our traditional rites and ceremonies. Joan [Mrs. Benton] Wood was honored as The Woman. The busy program featured John Bennett Shaw’s paean to the late Commissionaire, Dr. Julian Wolff, read in Mr. Shaw’s absence by Richard Schull. Robert N. Brodie mused on “what ever happened to” a number of well-known Canonical characters. Don Yates proffered two reader’s digested versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles (one sixty seconds long, the other five words long), and Wayne Swift essayed a portion of his ongoing scholarship concerning Silver Blaze. Bill Rabe acquainted members with the shocking results of his investigations into the BSI’s unofficial anthem, “Aunt Clara” (proving that all these years we’ve been singing it to the wrong tune — a Scottish folk song called “Mush Mush”). Norman Davis plunged the “art” of the pun to a new nadir in his survey of Sherlockian horse-racing handicapping. Don Redmond was given The Good Old Index Award honoring his 21 years of indexing of the Baker Street Journal. David Musto gave a lucid account of the founding of the first Sherlockian society in the Soviet Union, The Red-Headed League of Moscow, a long-awaited event in which Mr. Musto lent a gently guiding hand. The report in the BSJ states, “The Baker Street Irregulars wish every good fortune to these new-found Soviet friends.” 
 
However, 1991 will forever be remembered in the annals of BSI history for the Sherlockian Cocktail Party on the following day.  At the Cocktail Party, Tom Stix formally opened the BSI to women in announcing seven additional BSI Investitures, six of whom were women.  His emotional announcement can be heard below.  Two of these Investitures went to Katherine McMahon (one of the original solvers of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/bsi-history.html">Sherlock Holmes Crossword Puzzle</a>) and Edwin V. King (who had earned the honor in the 1940s).  Next, he bestowed an Investiture on Dame Jean Conan Doyle (Arthur Conan Doyle’s daughter).  Stix then went on to invest Edith Meiser, Julia Carlson Rosenblatt, Evelyn Herzog, and Susan Rice.  He ended his moving presentation by emphasizing that these were genuine Investitures in the Baker Street Irregulars, entitling the women to invitations to the Annual Dinner.  His announcement was interrupted by several standing ovations. History had turned, and the BSI Dinner was now co-ed. 
 
Also at the Sherlockian cocktail party, the Commissionaire’s Award for outstanding contributions to Sherlockiana was conferred upon H. George Fletcher who, in his capacity of Director of Fordham University Press, had served for sixteen years as publisher of the Baker Street Journal and of a number of important Sherlockian books including the first volumes of the <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsihistoryseries.html">Baker Street Irregulars’ History Project</a>. (See the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1988-bsi-dinner.html">1988 BSI Dinner</a> for background on this award.) 
 
Dinner Details: January 11, 1991 
24 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1991-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1991 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Dame Jean Conan Doyle as A Certain Gracious Lady* 
Henry Enberg as John Garrideb 
Evelyn A. Herzog as The Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet* 
Roger Johnson as Pall Mall Gazette* 
Edwin V. King as Captain Arthur Morstan* 
Katherine McMahon as Lucy Ferrier* 
Edith Meiser as A Fascinating and Beautiful Woman* 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/12/glen-miranker-interview-oral-history.html">Glen Miranker</a> as The Origin of Tree Worship 
Joseph W. Moran as Sir Augustus Moran, C.B. 
William Nadel as Bartholomew Sholto 
Susan Rice as Beeswing* 
Julia Carlson Rosenblatt as Mrs. Turner* 
CharlesJ. Shields as 17 King Edward Street 
Stephen H. Tolins as John Straker 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Ely M. Liebow 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Joan [Mrs. Benton] Wood 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1991 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
No awards were given from 1981-1995. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner </h4>
The Baker Street Journal v41 n1 (March 1991) pp. 45, 49 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1991), p. 2. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1991-photo-key.pdf">List of 1991 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (PDF, part of Key to Dinner photo) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_yYJBSliaXiiq9p4NYniU1WwhYOh0IXGyMvObo9DhrcTl1SsvNEqXOkuQ0xt68WmFxi46_mfI8VrXprd_R8TC4NAnBUP9yo-sAItpL2J-C7ncu82wxJb99vRj5fL3342XXAaXzRWp5Yf/s1600/stixbsidinner1992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Thomas L. Stix, BSI" border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_yYJBSliaXiiq9p4NYniU1WwhYOh0IXGyMvObo9DhrcTl1SsvNEqXOkuQ0xt68WmFxi46_mfI8VrXprd_R8TC4NAnBUP9yo-sAItpL2J-C7ncu82wxJb99vRj5fL3342XXAaXzRWp5Yf/s200/stixbsidinner1992.JPG" title="Thomas L. Stix, BSI" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thomas Stix at a BSI Dinner</div>
 
Thomas L. Stix, Jr. (The Norwood Builder) became the head of the BSI (Wiggins) after the 1986 BSI Dinner.  He served in that capacity until 1997.  At the 1991 Sherlockian Cocktail Party on the day after the 1991 BSI Dinner, Stix invested six women into the BSI to great applause.  He said that, henceforth, female BSI would be invited to the Annual Dinner. You can hear his moving presentation in this 12-minute vignette from the 1991 Sherlockian Cocktail Party.  Stix (whose father was also a BSI member) was invested at the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/07/the-1961-bsi-dinner.html">1961 BSI Dinner</a>. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="45" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4317006/height/45/width/250/theme/standard/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/no-cache/true/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="250"></iframe>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Click to play this recording</div>
 
Recordings of both the 1991 BSI Dinner and Sherlockian Cocktail Reception are available at Harvard as part of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive</a>. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:16197463">1991 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 138-139. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=140">Ticket to the Annual Sherlockian Cocktail Party on January 12, 1991</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
One page. Sequence 140 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=141">Rosenblatt, Albert, Rhyming Retrospective of the 1991 BSI Festivities</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
Presented at the Saturday Sherlockian Cocktail Party. 
Two pages. Sequence 141-142. 
 
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock/episode-89-the-adventuresses#t=57:44">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, Episode 89: The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a> 
In this episode of their podcast, W. Scott Monty, BSI and Burt Wolder, BSI interview Evelyn Herzog, ASH, BSI and Susan Rice, ASH, BSI (both among the first women invested in the BSI in 1991) about the events leading up to the admittance of women in the BSI.  This link goes directly to the point in the podcast when they talk about the 1991 Sherlockian Cocktail Party and Tom Stix’s announcement. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1990-bsi-dinner.html">1990 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/05/the-1992-bsi-dinner.html">1992 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> 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 <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 4/30/2016 by Andrew Solberg. 
This page last updated 4/30/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 1991 BSI Dinner

The 137th anniversary of the Master’s birth included all of our traditional rites and ceremonies. Joan [Mrs. Benton] Wood was honored as ...

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The 1990 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QxUw16n8eX8HUW0VTY3FRWmLq0cTo8I1_MLnc04rLxq2XrrYAuR_IK6uTHXJgKhpWtpi7owVPkfhxtc8rWQglhiC-uo1rxAZTnXqLkCcr3dHRKLaA4mV_K5V5vRJcGCeAr0eIQTUxVI-/s1600/bsi-dinner-1990-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1990 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QxUw16n8eX8HUW0VTY3FRWmLq0cTo8I1_MLnc04rLxq2XrrYAuR_IK6uTHXJgKhpWtpi7owVPkfhxtc8rWQglhiC-uo1rxAZTnXqLkCcr3dHRKLaA4mV_K5V5vRJcGCeAr0eIQTUxVI-/s640/bsi-dinner-1990-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1990 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The 136th anniversary of the Master’s birth was resolutely “observed without scruple”— including Robert Katz delivering another of his toasts to “The Second Mrs. Watson.”  Eleanor Sullivan was honored as The Woman. The evening’s lively program opened with the Baker Street Journal’s publisher, George Fletcher, speaking on “Copyrights and Copywrongs” regarding the intellectual property status of the BSJ’s contents. There were also presentations by Al Rodin (on Joseph Bell, testicles, sex, and syphilis), Jon Lellenberg (on the BSI archival history project), David Musto (on his role in founding a Sherlockian society at the Great Wall Station in the Antarctic), Ed Vatza (on the Canonicity of "The Blanched Soldier"), and Al Rosenblatt (on Sherlock Holmes' amorous walks). Seven Irregulars received their Shillings. 
 
This Dinner had actually been intended to be even more momentous than it was.  Tom Stix had invited Lisa McGaw (who received the BSI Investiture of Mrs. Hudson in <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/02/the-1982-bsi-dinner.html#more">1982</a>) to attend the 1990 BSI Dinner, and she was planning on attending. She would have been the first woman to attend a BSI Annual Dinner.  Unfortunately, Lisa McGaw suddenly passed away in December 1989.   She was to have been a recipient of the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Two-Shilling Award</a>, and it was given to her posthumously.  Two other recipients received the Two-Shilling Award that year, Richard D. Lesh and W.T. Rabe.   The proceedings concluded on another moving note with Philip Brogdon’s rendition of P.M. Stone’s “Sherlock Holmes.” “[T]ears edged the eyes of all but those with the hardest of hearts.” 
 
At the Sherlockian Cocktail Party on the following day, Dorothy Beverly West and Katherine McMahon were awarded the Queen Victoria Medal (in absentia) (see the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/09/the-1969-bsi-dinner.html">1969 Dinner</a> for background on the Medal). The report on the weekend in the BSJ notes that they are “the last known surviving individuals submitting correct solutions to the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/bsi-history.html">crossword puzzle</a>…used by Christopher Morley in 1934 as the criterion for membership in the Baker Street Irregulars.”  In addition, the Commissionaire’s Award for outstanding contributions to Sherlockiana was conferred upon Henry Lauritzen, long the “sparking plug” of the Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark (see the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1988-bsi-dinner.html">1988 Dinner</a> for background on this award). 
 
Dinner Details: January 12, 1990 
24 Fifth Avenue, New York 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
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 1990 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
<h4>
 BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Charles A. Adams as The Winter Assizes at Norwich 
Allen Mackler as Sarasate 
Austin J. McLean as The London Library 
Frederick C. Page as The Arcadia Mixture 
Milton F. Perry as Nathan Garrideb 
Donald K. Pollock as The Anthropological Journal 
Tom Stetak as The Head of the Police at Cleveland 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Richard D. Lesh 
Lisa McGaw (posthumously) 
W.T. Rabe 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Eleanor Sullivan 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1990 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
No awards were given from 1981-1995. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v40 n1 (March 1990) pp. 44, 46 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news" style="font-style: italic;">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1990), p. 2. 
 
List of 1990 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:16197462">1990 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 124-125. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=130">Rosenblatt, Albert, Rhyming Retrospective of the Past Decade </a>(digitized image at Harvard) 
Presented at the Saturday Sherlockian Cocktail Party. 
Eight pages. Sequence 130-137. 
 
Katz, Robert S., “To The Second Mrs. Watson,” The Baker Street Journal v40 n2 (June 1990) pp. 108-110 (available in the eBSJ). 
Toasts given at the 1989 and 1990 BSI Dinners. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1989-bsi-dinner.html">1989 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1991-bsi-dinner.html">1991 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html"> BSI Dinner Summary</a> 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 <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 4/18/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 4/21/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 1990 BSI Dinner

The 136th anniversary of the Master’s birth was resolutely “observed without scruple”— including Robert Katz delivering another of his to...

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The 1989 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCHlLYKkHy2WCj1LzgZMPOOmrV6UV0VFyyPZvlM87dp-1ZLjLLPqRPZednhXTZyV2jrufutOcKkONmY7ZlcQvNA28qIj6F1JBgb2RBHjtgylmadqW7riELX6YiTjwcxXNpgEN_hWO3BFx/s1600/bsi-dinner-1989-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1989 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbCHlLYKkHy2WCj1LzgZMPOOmrV6UV0VFyyPZvlM87dp-1ZLjLLPqRPZednhXTZyV2jrufutOcKkONmY7ZlcQvNA28qIj6F1JBgb2RBHjtgylmadqW7riELX6YiTjwcxXNpgEN_hWO3BFx/s640/bsi-dinner-1989-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1989 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The Baker Street Irregulars enjoyed the distinct pleasure of celebrating the Master’s birthday on the “traditionally accepted” date of January 6. Karen A. Johnson was celebrated as The Woman. Seven Irregulars were invested. The proceedings included a greeting to the Irregulars by Dr. Tsukasa Kobayashi, founder of The Japan Sherlock Holmes Club with his wife Akane Higashiyama; the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club, founded in 1977 with only two members (Dr. and Mrs. Kobayashi), now boasts 1,200 members and “is the largest Sherlockian society in the world.” The evening also featured Joe Fink's fervent defense of Tonga, Philip Shreffler's illustrated series of "Lessons in Canonical Villainy", and Jon Lellenberg's report on the current (and possibly future) Canonical content of the Oxford English Dictionary. Also on the program was a “special presentation of The Murray Award for conspicuous heroism” to Robert Thomalen. 
 
The cocktail party on the following day, January 7, witnessed a truly illustrious gathering of sixteen of the then-24 living The Women of the BSI: Lisa McGaw (1964), Peggy [Mrs. James] Nelson (1967), Ceil [Mrs. William S.] Baring-Gould (1969), Dorothy [Mrs. Thomas L., Jr.] Stix (1971), Dorothy [Mrs. Herbert] Brean (1972), Ines [Mrs. William S.] Hall (1973), Julia [Mrs. Albert M. Rosenblatt (1979), Ad [Mrs. Will] Oursler (1981), Barbara [Mrs. John B.] Koelle (1982), Francine Morris [Mrs. Wayne B.] Swift (1983), Eleanor [Mrs. William P.] Schweickert (1984), Jane [Mrs. William I.] Jenkins (1985), Nancy Pond (1986), Edith Meiser (1987), Maureen Green (1988), and Karen L. Johnson [Mrs. Philip A. Shreffler] (1989). 
 
At this party, Edith Meiser received the Queen Victoria Medal (see the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/09/the-1969-bsi-dinner.html">1969 Dinner</a> for background), and Enola Stewart received the first Commissionaire’s Award (see the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1988-bsi-dinner.html">1988 Dinner</a> for background) “for meritorious contributions to Sherlockiana.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 6, 1989 
24 5th Avenue, New York 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
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 1989 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Richard M. Caplan as Dr. Jackson 
Andrew Joffe as Sir Charles Hallé 
Brad A. Keefauver as Winwood Reade 
Jack D. Key as Pritchard 
Tsukasa Kobayashi as Baritsu 
M. Kenneth McQuage as The Plumstead Marshes 
Alvin E. Rodin as Palmer 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
None listed 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Karen L. Johnson (Mrs. Philip A. Shreffler) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1989 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
No awards were given from 1981-1995. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v39 n1 (March 1989) pp. 43, 55 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1989), p. 1. 
 
List of 1989 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=124">1989 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 124-125. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=126">The Sign of the Four; Or, the Problem with the Sholtos</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
Four pages from Conan Doyle's pocket diaries, referring to The Sign of Four, by Richard Lancelyn Green, distributed at the 1989 BSI Dinner. 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 126-127 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:16197461"> </a>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:16197461">Ticket to the Annual Sherlockian Cocktail Party </a>on January 7, 1989 (digitized image at Harvard) 
One page. Sequence 123 
 
Katz, Robert S., “To The Second Mrs. Watson,” The Baker Street Journal v40 n2 (June 1990) pp. 108-110 (available in the eBSJ). 
Toast given at the 1989 and 1990 BSI Dinners. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1988-bsi-dinner.html">1988 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1990-bsi-dinner.html">1990 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary </a>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 <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 3/28/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 4/15/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 1989 BSI Dinner

The Baker Street Irregulars enjoyed the distinct pleasure of celebrating the Master’s birthday on the “traditionally accepted” date of Ja...

+ Read more »

The 1988 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfx9xBARnYCFErGed14cPAnwBqvSf2jPR49KhA5ce8HCi8D2kr2EFz5qeWVmpxjgevsN9d53Bg8lBTraOX0YtcQi2OX1426hMsldq8sUZXDDl4DxzOpJdu6-M5f6SfQx91dcxho7R4tuh3/s1600/bsi-dinner-1988-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1988 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfx9xBARnYCFErGed14cPAnwBqvSf2jPR49KhA5ce8HCi8D2kr2EFz5qeWVmpxjgevsN9d53Bg8lBTraOX0YtcQi2OX1426hMsldq8sUZXDDl4DxzOpJdu6-M5f6SfQx91dcxho7R4tuh3/s640/bsi-dinner-1988-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1988 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
New York January weather proved traditionally fearsome on the occasion of the Master’s 134th birthday, but inside 24 5th Avenue, “Sherlockian conviviality rewarded those who had braved both wind and snow to attend.” Maureen Green became the first Canadian to be fêted as “The Woman.” All traditional Sherlockian rites and rituals were observed. Several distinguished presentations enlightened attendees, including Isaac 
Asimov's tuneful toast ("The Battle Hymn of Mrs. Watson"), Ray Betzner's reading of the Musgrave ritual, Richard Schull’s tribute to BSI founder Christopher Morley by rendering Morley’s “In Memoriam Sherlock Holmes,” Peter Blau’s showcasing of an audio-recording of William Gillette performing an entire scene of his play Sherlock Holmes, W. T. Rabe's report on "The Missing Page, or Whatever Happened to Watson's Billet Doux?," David L. Hammer's suggestive discussion of Violet Hunter, and Robert S. Katz's identification of acute septicemic melioidosis as the disease from which Holmes wasn't dying in “The Dying Detective."  Eight Irregulars were invested. 
 
It was noted that the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes (ASH) this year was celebrating that group’s 20th anniversary at their dinner. 
 
The following day’s cocktail party featured the “now-classic Friends of Bogie’s theatrical review of Canonical tales.” This performance showcased Loren D. Estleman's "Dr. and Mrs. Watson at Home" from The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The occasion also witnessed the announcement of The Commissionaire’s Award, established in honor of Julian Wolff, esteemed Commissionaire Emeritus, and designated to be presented to Sherlockians (male or female, Irregulars or not) who “have labored far beyond the call of duty in keeping green the Master’s memory.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 8, 1988 
24 5th Avenue, New York 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
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 1988 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
<h4>
 BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Philip R. Brogdon as John Sanger 
James C. Cleary Jr. as Howard Garrideb 
William R. Cochran as Murray 
Carey Cummings as An Irish Secret Society John Gardner as Moriarty* 
Charles A. Meyer as Adolph Meyer 
Alan C. Olding as Cooee 
Mel Ruiz as Jack Douglas 
Burt Wolder as The Third Pillar from the Left 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Jon L. Lellenberg 
Robert E. Thomalen 
* received the Two-Shilling Award at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Maureen Green Van der Flaes 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1988 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
No awards were given from 1981-1995. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v38 n1 (March 1988) p. 47-48 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1988), p. 1. 
 
List of 1988 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
<h4>
 Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:16197460">1988 BSI Dinner Menu </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
Two pages. Cover and interior. Sequence 121-122. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1987-bsi-dinner.html">1987 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1989-bsi-dinner.html">1989 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> 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 <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
 
Page composed on 3/28/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 4/10/2016 by Andrew Solberg. 
 
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The 1988 BSI Dinner

New York January weather proved traditionally fearsome on the occasion of the Master’s 134th birthday, but inside 24 5th Avenue, “Sherloc...

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The 1987 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ9IoQHSCR0UNVqHbgVxeQSRgHRXJRGS0tcHOKbAU27kyeJfXoKZULp-5kf6hFn4AK5vxTgv9FSppI61aNmoMFS38aN8GYPyk-tF0FO5lp8qtF66B0GVZ-xOWQR1dSRgm_B_qcbiyVj16/s1600/bsi-dinner-1987-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1987 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQ9IoQHSCR0UNVqHbgVxeQSRgHRXJRGS0tcHOKbAU27kyeJfXoKZULp-5kf6hFn4AK5vxTgv9FSppI61aNmoMFS38aN8GYPyk-tF0FO5lp8qtF66B0GVZ-xOWQR1dSRgm_B_qcbiyVj16/s640/bsi-dinner-1987-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1987 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The 133rd “well-attended and thoroughly Sherlockian” birthday dinner also marked the 100th anniversary of “A Study in Scarlet,” which first appeared in the 1887 Beeton’s Christmas Annual. Edith Meiser, who brought to us the radio series that featured William Gillette, Basil Rathbone, and many others in the role of Sherlock Holmes, was deservedly honored as “The Woman.” This was the second time that Meiser was so honored. Long before the BSI formalized an annual “The Woman” honor in 1961, the BSI periodically invited a woman to the cocktail hour that preceded the BSI Dinner and honored her.  Edith Meiser was the first, in <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1942-bsi-dinner.html">1942</a>. While it is not clear if she was specifically toasted as The Woman in 1942, the BSI considers the honour to have begun in that year. This was the first Dinner presided over by Tom Stix, Jr.  He announced that there would now be two other officers, John Bennett Shaw as “Simpson” and <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Robert E. Thomalen</a> as “Cartwright.”  Albert M. Rosenblatt gave a poetic toast to Mrs. Hudson.  James C. Cleary presented a well-illustrated and finely crafted lecture on Sherlock Holmes and Sherlockians. Norman M. Davis fervently defended “The Chicago Four.” Steven Rothman offered a history of the new BSI necktie. William D. Jenkins discussed Sherlockian pastiches and parodies, and Chris Steinbrunner reminisced about recent and not-so-recent annual dinners. 
 
The cocktail party on the following day, January 10, honored Julian and Eleanor Wolff. The BSJ recounts that Eleanor received a Queen Victoria Medal, acknowledging her long service as the BSI’s “most devoted camp-follower.” Attendees were also treated to Isaac Asimov's new Sherlockian song that year, which was set to the tunes of "Yankee Doodle" and "Der Tannenbaum.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 9, 1987 
24 5th Avenue, New York 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
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 1987 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Ray Betzner as The Agony Column 
Robert C. Burr as The Rascally Lascar 
T. Michael Kaylor as Practical Handbook of Bee Culture 
George R. Skornickel Jr. as Heidegger 
Kiyoshi Tanaka as The Japanese Cabinet 
Edward J. Vatza as A Typical American Advertisement 
Richard S. Warner as High Tor 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Walter Klinefelter 
Fritz Sonnenschmidt* 
Ezra A. Wolff 
* received the Two-Shilling Award at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Edith Meiser 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Not listed in the 1987 BSJ report. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
No awards were given from 1981-1995. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
The Baker Street Journal v37 n1 (March 1987) p. 47 (available in the eBSJ). 
 
Blau, Peter, <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html#news">Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press</a>, (January 1987), p. 1. 
 
List of 1987 BSI Dinner Attendees (not available at this time) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:16162476?n=118">1987 BSI Dinner Menu </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
Three pages. Cover, interior, and back. Sequence 118-120. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:16197459">Ticket to the Saturday Cocktail Reception </a>(digitized images at Harvard) 
One page. Sequence 117. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/03/the-1986-bsi-dinner.html">1986 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/04/the-1988-bsi-dinner.html">1988 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> 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 <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 3/26/2016 by Tamar Zeffren 
This page last updated 4/3/2016 by Andrew Solberg.

The 1987 BSI Dinner

The 133rd “well-attended and thoroughly Sherlockian” birthday dinner also marked the 100th anniversary of “A Study in Scarlet,” which fir...

+ Read more »