The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

The 1934 BSI Dinner

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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H7hZDPxaozo/VNmghUw-dDI/AAAAAAAAAF8/AOtgJ8FTt1I/s1600/christopher-morley-1937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="BSI founder Christopher Morley in 1937" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H7hZDPxaozo/VNmghUw-dDI/AAAAAAAAAF8/AOtgJ8FTt1I/s1600/christopher-morley-1937.jpg" height="320" title="Click this photo of Christopher Morley to see a larger version of it" width="201" /></a></div>
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The December 1934 BSI Dinner is called the “First BSI Annual Dinner.”  However, it was preceded by two earlier BSI events that year.</div>
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Founded on January 6, 1934, the BSI held its “first meeting” (cocktail reception) at the Duane Hotel to celebrate Sherlock Holmes’ birthday.  It was attended by 15-20 men and women, mostly members of Christopher Morley’s earlier clubs.  There was also a “First Formal Meeting” of the BSI on June 5, 1934, held at Christ Cella’s Restaurant. This one was “stag,” and only eight men attended.  At this, Morley read his manuscript of “Was Sherlock Holmes an American?”  </div>
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Despite these earlier events, the December 7, 1934 BSI Dinner has always been considered (even by the founding fathers) to be the First Annual Dinner. Eighteen to twenty people attended, including archaeologist Harold W. Bell, actor William Gillette (who authored the play “Sherlock Holmes” and played the lead role for many years), writer Vincent Starrett, illustrator Frederick Dorr Steele (who drew the original Sherlock Holmes stories in <i>Collier’s Magazine</i>, boxer Gene Tunney, and critic and commentator Alexander Woollcott. No BSI Dinner photo was taken, as far as we know.</div>
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Dinner Details: December 7, 1934</div>
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Christ Cella’s Restaurant, 144 East 45th Street, New York, NY</div>
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Dinner Photo Information</h4>
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As far as we know, no photo was taken of the December 7, 1934 BSI Dinner.</div>
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The photo for this page, of Christopher Morley, is courtesy of Steven Rothman.</div>
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BSI Honours List</h4>
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<b>Investitures:</b></div>
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Not awarded until 1944.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a></div>
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<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b></div>
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Not awarded until 1962.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a></div>
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<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b></div>
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Not identified; possibly none.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a></div>
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<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b></div>
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(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)</div>
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None this year.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of "standing on the terrace?"</a></div>
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<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b></div>
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Not awarded until 1959.</div>
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<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a></div>
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Reports on the Dinner</h4>
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The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Memories of the ‘Thirties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1990)</div>
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See also our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/bsi-history.html">Brief History of the BSI</a> for more about the beginnings of the BSI.</div>
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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dnner-1934-attendees.pdf">List of 1934 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (PDF)</div>
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Recordings</h4>
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None available online at this time.</div>
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Related Materials</h4>
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173">1934 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard)</div>
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Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 1-3, plus a second copy.</div>
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Next Dinner: the 1936 BSI Dinner (no dinner was held in 1935).<br />
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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Page composed on 10/03/14 by Andy Solberg.</div>
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This page last updated 12/8/14 by Randall Stock.</div>
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The 1934 BSI Dinner

The December 1934 BSI Dinner is called the “First BSI Annual Dinner.” However, it was pr...

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Morley letter to Smith at Christmas 1949

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By 1949 the BSI are in full swing and a deep personal friendship has grown between Christopher Morley and Edgar W. Smith. Morley sends the greeting below to Smith at Christmas 1949, complete with a bit of Sherlockian doggerel (Smith is often referred to in letters from Morley as Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eCpuZZ9UTbc/VNFdC3Uxe8I/AAAAAAAAAFs/ZfTRbbDI8dY/s1600/letter-morley-smith-1949-12-24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Letter, Morley to Smith, December 24, 1949" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eCpuZZ9UTbc/VNFdC3Uxe8I/AAAAAAAAAFs/ZfTRbbDI8dY/s1600/letter-morley-smith-1949-12-24.jpg" height="640" title="Click this 1949 letter from Christopher Morley to see a larger version" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
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Letter, Christopher Morley to Edgar W. Smith, December 24,
1949</div>
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Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail.</div>
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Glen S. Miranker donated this letter to the BSI Trust in 2005.<br />
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Images of letters by Christopher Morley are made available for personal research use only; for other usage, please contact the Estate of Christopher Morley. </div>
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Related Materials</h4>
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354169?n=101">Letter, Morley to Smith, 12/24/49</a> (digitized image at Harvard)</div>
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354169">Morley, Christopher, 1890-1957. Letters to Edgar Wadsworth Smith, 1939-1955.</a></div>
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Container 148.  2 folders.</div>
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<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354170">Smith, Edgar Wadsworth, 1894-1960. Letters to Christopher Morley, 1938-1955. </a></div>
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Container 211.  2 folders</div>
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"A Gift to the Archives" by Glen S. Miranker, <i>For the Sake of the Trust</i>, Vol 1. No.1 (Fall 2005), pp. 1-7.<br />
The <a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2005-fall.pdf">Fall 2005 Newsletter</a> (5 MB PDF) includes details about the Morley-Smith correspondence.<br />
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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.</div>
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Page composed in 2004 by Glen S. Miranker.<br />
This page last updated 1/15/15 by Randall Stock.<br />
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<br />

Morley letter to Smith at Christmas 1949

By 1949 the BSI are in full swing and a deep personal friendship has grown between Christopher Mo...

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Fall 2014 Newsletter

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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2014-fall.pdf"><img alt="BSI Trust Fall 2014 Newsletter" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j3L10fmQ4ec/VNFYSjc1wCI/AAAAAAAAAFc/kU3B4ovdxNw/s1600/trust-newsletter-2014-fall.jpg" title="Click to view PDF of Fall 2014 newsletter" /></a></div>
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The Fall 2014 newsletter includes these articles:<br />
<ul>
<li>Evolutionary, My Dear Sherlockian: The BSI Trust Online by Randall Stock.</li>
<li>Memories are Made of This: The BSI Trust Oral History Project by Marsha Pollak.</li>
<li>A Matchless Journey by Robert Katz.</li>
<li>From the Chair by Andrew Solberg.</li>
<li>Added to the Archives.</li>
<li>The Cardinal Points by Marshall S. Berdan.</li>
</ul>
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View or Download the Newsletter:</h4>
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2014-fall.pdf">Fall 2014 BSI Trust newsletter</a> (PDF - 2 MB)<br />
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Prior Newsletters</h4>
You can view or download <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Newsletter">all prior issues of the BSI Trust Newsletter</a>.<br />
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You can also see <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/News">other BSI Trust news</a> on the Trust website.<br />
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Contact the Editor of the Newsletter</h4>
See the Contact Us page to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">send email to the editor</a> of the newsletter.<br />
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Fall 2014 Newsletter

The Fall 2014 newsletter includes these articles: Evolutionary, My Dear Sherlockian: The BSI Tr...

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Spring 2014 Newsletter

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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2014-spring.pdf"><img alt="BSI Trust Spring 2014 Newsletter" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aK8Rxsc8DJk/VNEgAc9O1PI/AAAAAAAAAFI/iTO57A1dsis/s1600/trust-newsletter-2014-spring.jpg" title="Click to view PDF of Spring 2014 newsletter" /></a></div>
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The Spring 2014 newsletter includes these articles:<br />
<ul>
<li>BSI Archive Digitization Initiative Displays First Results by Peter X. Accardo.</li>
<li>Personal Responsibility by Donald Izban.</li>
<li>Gifts to the Treasury.</li>
<li>From the Chair by Andrew Solberg.</li>
<li>Added to the Archives.</li>
<li>BSI Trust News.</li>
<li>The Cardinal Points by Marshall S. Berdan.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
View or Download the Newsletter:</h4>
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2014-spring.pdf">Spring 2014 BSI Trust newsletter</a> (PDF - 2 MB)<br />
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<h4>
Prior Newsletters</h4>
You can view or download <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Newsletter">all prior issues of the BSI Trust Newsletter</a>.<br />
<br />
You can also see <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/News">other BSI Trust news</a> on the Trust website.<br />
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Contact the Editor of the Newsletter</h4>
See the Contact Us page to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">send email to the editor</a> of the newsletter.<br />
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Spring 2014 Newsletter

The Spring 2014 newsletter includes these articles: BSI Archive Digitization Initiative Display...

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Fall 2013 Newsletter

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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2013-fall.pdf"><img alt="BSI Trust Fall 2013 Newsletter" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rp5-_tMMGg0/VNEZiWMVUtI/AAAAAAAAAE4/iP1rzbjUsQY/s1600/trust-newsletter-2013-fall.jpg" title="Click to view PDF of Fall 2013 newsletter" /></a></div>
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The Fall 2013 newsletter includes these articles:<br />
<ul>
<li>BSI Plays Musical Chairs: Francis Sits Down, Solberg Stands Up by Marshall S. Berdan.</li>
<li>From the (Retiring) Chair by Thomas J. Francis.</li>
<li>On the Retirement of Tom Francis as Chair by Michael F. Whelan.</li>
<li>From the (Incoming) Chair by Andrew Solberg.</li>
<li>Advice from Fifty Years Ago by Peter X. Accardo.</li>
<li>Added to the Archives.</li>
<li>BSI Trust News.</li>
<li>The Cardinal Points by Marshall S. Berdan.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
View or Download the Newsletter:</h4>
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2013-fall.pdf">Fall 2013 BSI Trust newsletter</a> (PDF - 1 MB)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Prior Newsletters</h4>
You can view or download <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Newsletter">all prior issues of the BSI Trust Newsletter</a>.<br />
<br />
You can also see <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/News">other BSI Trust news</a> on the Trust website.<br />
<br />
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<h4>
Contact the Editor of the Newsletter</h4>
See the Contact Us page to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">send email to the editor</a> of the newsletter.<br />
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Fall 2013 Newsletter

The Fall 2013 newsletter includes these articles: BSI Plays Musical Chairs: Francis Sits Down, ...

+ Read more »

Spring 2013 Newsletter

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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2013-spring.pdf"><img alt="BSI Trust Spring 2013 Newsletter" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CKk6vnMdmSc/VNEVw-HlrJI/AAAAAAAAAEs/tVckGxLqnQw/s1600/trust-newsletter-2013-spring.jpg" title="Click to view PDF of Spring 2013 newsletter" /></a></div>
<br />
The Spring 2013 newsletter includes these articles:<br />
<ul>
<li>Now We Are Ten by Marshall S. Berdan.</li>
<li>From Junk Drawer to Research Resource by Don Curtis.</li>
<li>From the Chair - The Trust at Ten by Thomas J. Francis.</li>
<li>Gifts to the Treasury.</li>
<li>Added to the Archives.</li>
<li>BSI Trust News: The BSI Trust Newsletter Goes Electronic.</li>
<li>The Cardinal Points by Marshall S. Berdan.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
View or Download the Newsletter:</h4>
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2013-spring.pdf">Spring 2013 BSI Trust newsletter</a> (PDF - 1 MB)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Prior Newsletters</h4>
You can view or download <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Newsletter">all prior issues of the BSI Trust Newsletter</a>.<br />
<br />
You can also see <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/News">other BSI Trust news</a> on the Trust website.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Contact the Editor of the Newsletter</h4>
See the Contact Us page to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">send email to the editor</a> of the newsletter.<br />
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<br />
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