The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

The 1950 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzE0t-Xrjv5JcO-t_z6T-XPjhRrEkMNGl8NpmoAo0rnIQWunB2QeRkUPzq0v4mFdxBESfnOCaWdf-3yAeY3kH3tDyMtwsk_Bb6hxc-EM5kJ5wfTlKMoe_rAtOw_8_QfeR0AC9Bt01nOJ2C/s1600/bsi-dinner-1950-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1950 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzE0t-Xrjv5JcO-t_z6T-XPjhRrEkMNGl8NpmoAo0rnIQWunB2QeRkUPzq0v4mFdxBESfnOCaWdf-3yAeY3kH3tDyMtwsk_Bb6hxc-EM5kJ5wfTlKMoe_rAtOw_8_QfeR0AC9Bt01nOJ2C/s1600/bsi-dinner-1950-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1950 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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The 96th anniversary of the Master’s birth opened with the “traditional preliminary” of oysters, cocktails, and sherry.  The proceedings were promptly called to order at 7:00pm.  Canonical toasts were proposed by Robert Keith Leavitt, James Montgomery, and Frank A. Waters.  The senior chaplain, Rev. Leslie Marshall, delivered the Sherlock prayer; and the Junior Chaplain, Rev. Harold Clemens, delivered the antiphony of the Musgrave Ritual. At the conclusion of the Irregular anthem, Charles Honce proposed a silent toast to Harvey Officer, who had first offered this at the 1942 meeting.<br />
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Toasts, messages of regret from those absent, papers, and disputations were concluded with James Montgomery’s “brilliant and always-clamored-for” rendition of Irene Adler’s recording and his own arrangement of the Irregular Song. Eight members received their Investitures. Christopher Morley, as Gasogene-cum-Tantalus, announced that the Irregulars’ official colors are purple, gray, and mouse, “as symbolic of the deterioration of the Master’s dressing-gown,” and that the BSI had secured the American distribution rights for <i>The London Mystery Magazine</i>. The evening closed out with Edgar W. Smith, Buttons-cum-Commissionaire, presenting on his India trip with the title “You Have Not Been in Afghanistan, I Perceive.”<br />
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Dinner Details: January 6, 1950<br />
Racquet and Tennis Club, New York, NY<br />
<br />
<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.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1950-photo-key.pdf">Revised Key to People in the 1950 BSI Dinner Photo</a> (PDF)<br />
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<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Clifton R. Andrew as Shoscombe Old Place<br />
Nathan L. Bengis as The Lion's Mane<br />
Frederic Dannay as The Dying Detective<br />
Owen P. Frisbie as The Musgrave Ritual<br />
Charles Goodman as The Stockbroker's Clerk<br />
Howard Haycraft as The Devil's Foot<br />
Fulton Oursler as The Abbey Grange<br />
Jerry Neal Williamson as The Illustrious Client<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Not identified; possibly none.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=129">1950 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Note: the minutes repeat some past investitures from 1944 and 1945.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=129">List of 1950 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1950-photo-key.pdf">Revised Key to People in the 1950 BSI Dinner Photo</a> (PDF)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=34">Original Key to People in the 1950 BSI Dinner Photo</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Crises of the Late ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370672">1950 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Cover and interior.  Sequence 32-33.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1949-bsi-dinner.html">1949 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/04/the-1951-bsi-dinner.html">1951 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 12/30/14 by Tamar Zeffren.<br />
Page updated 3/21/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 10/9/19 by Randall Stock.<br />
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The 1950 BSI Dinner

The 96th anniversary of the Master’s birth opened with the “traditional preliminary” of oysters, cocktails, and sherry. The proceedings ...

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Starrett letter to Smith 1937 re: his absence

Edgar W. Smith, having read Vincent Starrett's book <i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i>, wrote to Starrett on October 15, 1936 offering some insightful comments on the work and asking for advice on a book Smith was working on.  That book appeared as <i>Appointment in Baker Street</i> in 1939.  Starrett did not reply to Smith for nearly a year and in this 1937 letter he explains why.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSrUlxkKGy-s5Yky55MIZC2Wl_y73AmCeuozawvRd_iQvfiEpCXlO5GG6FwO-tmjgnRfmvLpWeQpujU_3lBDmJ7v6zprc8kYD2ujgWbdnx_e3E8GdK04vqbPjr5Q5hjHo8Ox17eNsYnTA/s1600/letter-starrett-smith-1937-08-16.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Letter, Vincent Starrett to Edgar W. Smith, August 16, 1937" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSrUlxkKGy-s5Yky55MIZC2Wl_y73AmCeuozawvRd_iQvfiEpCXlO5GG6FwO-tmjgnRfmvLpWeQpujU_3lBDmJ7v6zprc8kYD2ujgWbdnx_e3E8GdK04vqbPjr5Q5hjHo8Ox17eNsYnTA/s1600/letter-starrett-smith-1937-08-16.jpg" title="Click this 1937 letter from Vincent Starrett to see a larger version" width="365" /></a></div>
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Letter, Vincent Starrett to Edgar W. Smith, August 16, 1937</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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<br />
Glen S. Miranker donated this letter to the BSI Trust in 2005.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
"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> (4 MB PDF) includes a transcription of this letter and related information.<br />
<br />
See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Correspondence">BSI Correspondence</a> on our website.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
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.<br />
<br />
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 /></div>
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Starrett letter to Smith 1937 re: his absence

Edgar W. Smith, having read Vincent Starrett's book The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes , wrote to Starrett on October 15, 1936 offering...

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The 1949 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4_squLgveymuQeHgO2IRu4yWnWZEucLYKsKP06v_PpkUp_zS6rJtQkk-knFP_y4dJfWGQEIW0UWKOlCgLnkHrVkukzw7-oLt_lpO3Xlwwhz_gQp1O-4EDZPjrbvwBhRyUZfAMPuK2Cbu/s1600/bsi-dinner-1949-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1949 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4_squLgveymuQeHgO2IRu4yWnWZEucLYKsKP06v_PpkUp_zS6rJtQkk-knFP_y4dJfWGQEIW0UWKOlCgLnkHrVkukzw7-oLt_lpO3Xlwwhz_gQp1O-4EDZPjrbvwBhRyUZfAMPuK2Cbu/s1600/bsi-dinner-1949-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1949 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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The 95th anniversary of the Master’s birth was greeted with a resumption of Baker Street Irregular rituals at its annual dinner. Among the letters of regret from absent attendees read aloud that evening were dispatches from the 33rd U.S. President, Harry S. Truman, and British Ambassador Sir Oliver Franks, whose missive wished “it were in my power to send you a big quantity of London fog and some hansom cabs…ready to dash away with the members on the next exciting adventure.”<br />
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Richard W. Clarke, a member of this year’s class of new Investitures, announced that the Five Orange Pips Award for the best piece in the 1947 <i>Baker Street</i> Journal was being bestowed upon Miss Helene Yuhasova (“<i>The </i>Woman” in 1946) for her contribution, “The Solitary Cyclist Rides Again.” The evening’s festivities were replete with songs, toasts, a performance of “The Blue Carbuncle” by radio artists John Stanley and Peter Greig, readings (including Christopher Morley’s recent <i>Journal </i>contribution, “Tail-Light on Horace”), and the spirited auctioning, by Robert Keith Leavitt, of the BSI’s No. 221B edition of <i>The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle</i>. Nathan Bengis was the fortunate winner.<br />
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John Dickson Carr closed out the proceedings by speaking “intimately and feelingly and well” about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the subject of the biography in which Carr was assiduously immersed.<br />
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Dinner Details: January 7, 1949<br />
Racquet and Tennis Club, 370 Park Avenue, New York, NY<br />
<br />
<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.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=31">Key to People in the 1949 BSI Dinner Photo</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
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<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Ben Abramson as The Beryl Coronet<br />
Anthony Boucher as The Valley of Fear*<br />
Jay Finley Christ as The Final Problem<br />
Richard W. Clarke as The Copper Beeches<br />
Elmer Davis as A Case of Identity<br />
Robert Keith Leavitt as The Cardboard Box<br />
Leslie Marshall as A Scandal in Bohemia<br />
Russell McLauchlin as The Naval Treaty<br />
James Montgomery as The Red Circle<br />
Fletcher Pratt as The Dancing Men<br />
Allen Robertson as The Reigate Squires<br />
Rex Stout as The Boscombe Valley Mystery<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Not identified; possibly none.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=123">1949 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Note: the minutes repeat some past investitures from 1944 and 1945.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=123">List of 1949 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Crises of the Late ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
The Trust does not have a 1949 Dinner Menu.  If you have a copy, or even a scan of one, please <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">contact us</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370671">1949 BSI Dinner Announcement</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1948-bsi-dinner.html">1948 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1950-bsi-dinner.html">1950 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
Page composed on 11/30/14 by Tamar Zeffren.<br />
This page last updated 3/21/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>

The 1949 BSI Dinner

The 95th anniversary of the Master’s birth was greeted with a resumption of Baker Street Irregular rituals at its annual dinner. Among th...

+ Read more »

The 1948 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR2XRuADowcjQMMLbI8eUBm7T2MyXuOh0UESO5rJo8WFIkGNJSPKatORvKmZHLl_awYWBbyiHTCzu2uA3eLzyH_jCk8Qncwp35EQlf5RWAjTlS8OI8oZxM5Z03NA11LhLYzP6IU3-aObf/s1600/bsi-dinner-1948-menu-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Interior page of the 1948 BSI Dinner menu" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR2XRuADowcjQMMLbI8eUBm7T2MyXuOh0UESO5rJo8WFIkGNJSPKatORvKmZHLl_awYWBbyiHTCzu2uA3eLzyH_jCk8Qncwp35EQlf5RWAjTlS8OI8oZxM5Z03NA11LhLYzP6IU3-aObf/s1600/bsi-dinner-1948-menu-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo of the 1948 BSI Dinner menu to see a larger version" width="227" /></a></div>
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The 94th anniversary of the Master’s birth was marked by the convocation of a Select Committee in Camera of Irregulars, which, as Edgar W. Smith’s report in the April 1948 <i>Baker Street Journal</i> relates, “took counsel on matters of high import relating to the organization’s future.” Thus, many of the customary features of the Irregulars’ meetings were afforded only “passing notice.”<br />
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Four Canonical toasts, including Rex Stout’s tribute to “<i>The</i> Woman,” were proffered. James W. Montgomery sang the songs of Birdie Edwards and Irene Adler’s rendering. For the first time since the Irregulars’ inception, Christopher Morley, Gasogene-cum-Tantalus, was not present. In his absence, Robert K. Leavitt and Mr. Stout oversaw the proceedings. Near the evening’s close, Mr. Leavitt presented his rendition of “The Preposterously Paired Performances of the Preacher’s Portrait.” <br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 9, 1948<br />
Racquet and Tennis Club, New York, NY<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 9, 1948 BSI Dinner.<div><br /></div><div>The <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370670">1948 BSI Dinner menu</a> photo above is from the digitized BSI Trust collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University. Click on it to see a larger version. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
None recorded.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The</i> Woman:</b><br />
Not identified; possibly none.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=119">1948 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=119">List of 1948 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Crises of the Late ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370670">1948 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 10-12.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1947-bsi-dinner.html">1947 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1949-bsi-dinner.html">1949 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 11/23/14 by Tamar Zeffren.<br />
This page last updated 3/21/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>

The 1948 BSI Dinner

The 94th anniversary of the Master’s birth was marked by the convocation of a Select Committee in Camera of Irregulars, which, as Edgar W...

+ Read more »

The 1947 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz61O2wKjKyW75m9oyEifBVhrIUKhhDM5OqEXqSzATMtP7Y9sIZUodB_sahl_FRZmWeup7mlzZUNzfMo3ENbzlOHYh5GoqHAeV4YIPrML1YanT7OQpuofFLOYHPYoZfvaz41KFmm5mWrsQ/s1600/bsi-dinner-1947-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1947 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz61O2wKjKyW75m9oyEifBVhrIUKhhDM5OqEXqSzATMtP7Y9sIZUodB_sahl_FRZmWeup7mlzZUNzfMo3ENbzlOHYh5GoqHAeV4YIPrML1YanT7OQpuofFLOYHPYoZfvaz41KFmm5mWrsQ/s1600/bsi-dinner-1947-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo of the 1947 BSI Dinner to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
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Seventy members and guests, including delegations from Boston, Providence, Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Westchester, attended the 1947 Dinner. Adrian and Denis P.S. Conan Doyle were unable to attend the Dinner, and they sent cablegrams. The latter’s read, “Dear me, Mr. Morley, dear me!” Several attendees delivered scholarly remarks, including Prof. Theo. B. Hunt, Rolfe Boswell, Elmer Davis, and Rex Stout, who expounded upon “The Love-Life of Mr. Moriarty,” in which the evening’s host, the Murray Hill Hotel, as well as 100 maidens, were prominently featured.<br />
<br />
Richard W. Clarke, for the Five Orange Pips of Westchester County, presented the Quiz-of-the-Year. It ended in a tie, with Rolfe Boswell and R. G. Harris as victors. C. B. H. Vaill came in second place. Fred Dannay presented those present with copies of the February issue of<i> Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine</i>. At the evening’s conclusion, a fifth, uncanonical toast was proposed: “To the Murray Hill Hotel!”<br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 3, 1947<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, New York, NY<br />
<br />
<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.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=25">Key to People in the 1947 BSI Dinner photo</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
None recorded.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Mrs. Morris L. Kaplan (Carolyn A. Davis, daughter of Elmer Davis)<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=108">1947 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=108">List of 1947 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Proceedings of the Mid ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1995)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370669">1947 BSI Dinner Menu Cover</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 20-22.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=23">Five Orange Pips Quiz</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Quiz given at dinner.  2 pages.  Sequence 23-24.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1946-bsi-dinner.html">1946 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1948-bsi-dinner.html">1948 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 11/11/14 by Tamar Zeffren.<br />
This page last updated 3/21/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />

The 1947 BSI Dinner

Seventy members and guests, including delegations from Boston, Providence, Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Westchester, attended th...

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The 1946 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFVuwllaDnxXn6wUet4rPYMB4vpl3IaBKZiccvF9hoe1dY6PeAyR6kXDx-0lvJeVjPP0_SH3MOO61dtU8jaC4IgZFRVWo0py1o9UXRVDEPs6WL8N5Nov_VILr7pjp4rgZoynaFDWdH9vzy/s1600/bsi-dinner-1946-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1946 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFVuwllaDnxXn6wUet4rPYMB4vpl3IaBKZiccvF9hoe1dY6PeAyR6kXDx-0lvJeVjPP0_SH3MOO61dtU8jaC4IgZFRVWo0py1o9UXRVDEPs6WL8N5Nov_VILr7pjp4rgZoynaFDWdH9vzy/s1600/bsi-dinner-1946-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1946 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In 1946, the BSI Dinner witnessed the notable acceptance of membership in the Society, <i>honoris causa</i>, by President Harry S. Truman. “I commend your good sense in seeking escape from this troubled world into the happier and calmer world of Baker Street,” Edgar W. Smith’s minutes quotes from the 33rd President's note. “I had read all of the Holmes novels before...I was twelve years old.”<br />
<br />
Sixty personages attended the Dinner, including Anthony Boucher, James Keddie, Jr., and Christopher Morley, Sr. <i>and</i> Jr. Mr. C.R. Andrew of the Scandalous Bohemians of Akron, Ohio presented the Dinner attendees with a quiz which required them to identify 15 canonical characters with their associated story. Mr. Benjamin Clark of the Five Orange Pips of Westchester County took first place in the contest, winning a rare edition of S.C. Roberts' pamphlet <i>Doctor Watson</i>. Professor Herbert W. Starr of Lafayette College in Easton, PA took second place, becoming the owner of a framed portrait of Sherlock Holmes drawn by the late, famed illustrator Fredric Dorr Steele. The quiz is subsequently reproduced in the April 1946 <i>Baker Street Journal</i>. Six scholarly addresses were presented, including “John and James” by Giles Playfair, which plumbed new facets of the issue of the two Watsons.<br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 11, 1946<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, New York, NY<br />
<br />
<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.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=19">Key to People in the 1946 BSI Dinner Photo</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
None recorded.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The</i> Woman:</b><br />
Helene Yuhasova<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=99">1946 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=99">List of 1946 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Proceedings of the Mid ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1995)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370668">1946 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 16-18.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1945-bsi-dinner.html">1945 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1947-bsi-dinner.html">1947 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 11/4/14 by Tamar Zeffren.<br />
This page last updated 3/21/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />

The 1946 BSI Dinner

In 1946, the BSI Dinner witnessed the notable acceptance of membership in the Society, honoris causa , by President Harry S. Truman. “I c...

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The 1945 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFPsFzh0dcD3-meVaKDgJR-YjR-Q_yOGmWRXrA0mXqP6Jbbra8b1REcNqFUZwStAdKBGoh_DXQN3saA83-M-BzKpMJJfBmXgumN-KrmAlRv98ScWfbbZHdS8_4v59T5bO5nzaJvmA8j4d/s1600/bsi-dinner-1945-minutes-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="First page of the 1945 BSI Dinner minutes" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFPsFzh0dcD3-meVaKDgJR-YjR-Q_yOGmWRXrA0mXqP6Jbbra8b1REcNqFUZwStAdKBGoh_DXQN3saA83-M-BzKpMJJfBmXgumN-KrmAlRv98ScWfbbZHdS8_4v59T5bO5nzaJvmA8j4d/s1600/bsi-dinner-1945-minutes-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo of the 1945 BSI Dinner minutes to see a larger version of it" width="238" /></a></div>
<br />
In 1945, the BSI began to grow in size.  Forty nine people attended the Dinner, including bookman Ben Abramson, <i>New York Sun</i> editorial writer Rolfe Boswell, novelist Charles Fulton Oursler, and horror and fantasy author Manly Wade Wellman.  Theodore Spencer (with Philip Rhinelander at the piano) sang songs from his cantata “The Arrest of Wilson, the Notorious Canary Trainer.”  Manly Wade Wellman spoke on “The Great Man’s Great Son.” Rolfe Boswell read a paper on “A Connecticut Yankee in Defense of Sir Arthur.”  Edgar W. Smith spoke on “The Adventure of the Veiled Author.”  Richard Clarke presented “A Message to the B.S.I. from the Five Orange Pips.”<br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 5, 1945<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, NY, NY<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 5, 1945 BSI Dinner.<div><br /></div><div>The photo above is the first page of Edgar Smith’s BSI Dinner Minutes that he distributed for every dinner between 1940 and 1960.  The <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=84">1945 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> image is from the digitized BSI Trust collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University. Click on it to see a larger version.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
H. W. Bell as The Valley of Fear*<br />
Roland Hammond as Silver Blaze<br />
James Keddie Jr. as The Crooked Man*<br />
Belden Wigglesworth as The Man with the Twisted Lip*<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The</i> Woman:</b><br />
Not identified; possibly none.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=84">1945 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=84">List of 1945 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Proceedings of the Mid ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1995)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
The Trust does not have a 1945 Dinner Menu.  If you have a copy, or even a scan of one, please <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">contact us</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=95">Hall, W. S., “Famous Last Lines of Sherlock Holmes”</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Quiz given at dinner.  4 pages.  Sequence 95-98.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1944-bsi-dinner.html">1944 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1946-bsi-dinner.html">1946 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
Page composed on 10/15/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 3/21/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>

The 1945 BSI Dinner

In 1945, the BSI began to grow in size. Forty nine people attended the Dinner, including bookman Ben Abramson, New York Sun editorial w...

+ Read more »

The 1944 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3K0sPtcXGyuc-Wo1W3iOWFon8AR-4pxAjnyx_dTyf_eXRReJwc6YTZZkkiPKPnIstws100AI8sm5dDKwxOtBeiwNOa63MAiI0b0X-ddMQZiMxrDd85JKpg-R9VG6CdmJYRQ7EUalHffqN/s1600/bsi-dinner-1944-profile-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Front cover of Profile by Gaslight by Edgar W. Smith" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3K0sPtcXGyuc-Wo1W3iOWFon8AR-4pxAjnyx_dTyf_eXRReJwc6YTZZkkiPKPnIstws100AI8sm5dDKwxOtBeiwNOa63MAiI0b0X-ddMQZiMxrDd85JKpg-R9VG6CdmJYRQ7EUalHffqN/s1600/bsi-dinner-1944-profile-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo of Profile by Gaslight to see a larger version" width="218" /></a></div>
<br />
The BSI gathered again in 1944, and investitures were awarded for the first time.  Thirty-eight people attended, including James Bliss Austin (a vice president of U.S. Steel), tenor James Montgomery, and bookman John Carter.  Leslie Marshall read a Fragment from “The Man who was Wanted,” a short story attributed incorrectly to Arthur Conan Doyle. Harvey Officer played his “Baker Street Suite for Violin and Piano.”   David Randall read a paper on “The Adventure of the Notorious Forger.”  James Keddie, Jr. Spoke about Billie, the boy who minded the door at Holmes’ residence.  Edgar Smith distributed copies of his <i>Baker Street Inventory</i>, a bibliography of Sherlockian writings.  Selected portions of the upcoming book <i>Profile by Gaslight</i> were read.  James Bliss Austin spoke on the nature of the J. H. Watsons. <br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 7, 1944<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, NY, NY<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 7, 1944 BSI Dinner.<br />
<br />
The photo on this page of the cover of Edgar W. Smith's <i>Profile by Gaslight</i> is courtesy of Andrew Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
James Bliss Austin as The Engineer's Thumb*<br />
Laurence P. Dodge as The Six Napoleons*<br />
William S. Hall as The Blue Carbuncle*<br />
Charles Honce as The Empty House*<br />
Wilbur K. McKee as The Solitary Cyclist*<br />
Christopher Morley as The Sign of the Four*<br />
Felix Morley as The Second Stain*<br />
Frank V. Morley as The Three Garridebs*<br />
Edgar W. Smith as The Hound of the Baskervilles*<br />
Vincent Starrett as A Study in Scarlet*<br />
P. M. Stone as The Speckled Band*<br />
Rufus Tucker as The Greek Interpreter*<br />
Earle F. Walbridge as The Sussex Vampire*<br />
Julian Wolff as The Red-Headed League*<br />
* received Investiture at another event during the year<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The</i> Woman:</b><br />
Lee Wright<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year, as far as we know.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=73">1944 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=73">List of 1944 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Records of the Early ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1991)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
The Trust does not have a 1944 Dinner Menu.  If you have a copy, or even a scan of one, please <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">contact us</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354172?n=33">Smith, Edgar. Memo to the BSI 10/7/43</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Gives date for 1944 Dinner and other news.<br />
2 pages.  2 copies.  Sequence 33-36.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354172?n=37">1944 Dinner Announcement Memorandum</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
1 page.  2 copies. Sequence 37-38.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=77">Sherlock Holmes Prize Competition from 1944 BSI Dinner</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
1 page, with reference on preceding image.  Sequence 77.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354172?n=39">Smith, Edgar, Memo to the BSI 2/14/44</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Results of the Sherlock Holmes Prize Competition. <br />
3 pages.  Sequence 39-41.<br />
<br />
Stock, Randall, "Irregular Participation: Rating the Canon 1944-1959," <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> v49 n4 (December 1999), pp. 21-24.  Analyzes the 1944 Prize Competition.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=BlAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77#v=onepage&q&f=false">"Sherlock Holmes" in <i>Life</i> magazine, May 1, 1944, pp. 77-82</a>. (at Google Books)<br />
Describes how Holmes became the "most widely known character in all fiction" and mentions a recent BSI dinner, with many photos, including the one noted below.  Thanks to Juelie Sires for bringing these links to the Trust's attention.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BSI-Pratt-Morley-Stout-1944.jpg">1944 photo of Fletcher Pratt, Christopher Morley, and Rex Stout</a> (at Wikimedia Commons)<br />
Photo probably from either the January 1944 BSI Dinner or the March 1944 "Trilogy" book launch dinner.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/prince.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Front cover of Prince of the Realm" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWqdDSSUPs06ziQcpD4yQVb_DbHczrTaTAxrL2IOMATpoua_3mn2U4fW8Y0bO65ehqnIbWzz9Ry15PvEfDB4rCNSot-EgXvjTivMO_mECyQCMuBWYwgF_a-z5MbAwOwseES2vsH65Zv8V/s1600/prince-realm-bliss-austin.jpg" title="Click to visit the BSJ website page about this book" width="133" /></a></div>
<a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2014/12/30/prince-of-the-realm/">Prince of the Realm: The Most Irregular James Bliss Austin</a><br />
by Sonia Fetherston, BSI<br />
<br />
The BSI Biography Series<br />
Austin was invested at the 1944 BSI Dinner.<br />
<br http:="" style="clear: both;" />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1943-bsi-dinner.html">1943 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1945-bsi-dinner.html">1945 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 10/15/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 5/31/15 by Randall Stock.<br />
<br />
<br />

The 1944 BSI Dinner

The BSI gathered again in 1944, and investitures were awarded for the first time. Thirty-eight people attended, including James Bliss ...

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The 1943 BSI Dinner

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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fp2-VRdgyK_0MS3uRSkGVwLs0BtMV3ZnUjr68AQVMRyWgoh8-FbLWdjdHXwJk7AYHS6f-rYd-PCz-HDWqkbzULJAIdw65tJ-EhpcR6zvi9v8GF1vzTCgLqQ9W5gxt6WGWkPHT9MPLn0V/s1600/bsi-dnner-1943-menu-v2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Front cover of the 1943 BSI Dinner menu" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fp2-VRdgyK_0MS3uRSkGVwLs0BtMV3ZnUjr68AQVMRyWgoh8-FbLWdjdHXwJk7AYHS6f-rYd-PCz-HDWqkbzULJAIdw65tJ-EhpcR6zvi9v8GF1vzTCgLqQ9W5gxt6WGWkPHT9MPLn0V/s1600/bsi-dnner-1943-menu-v2.jpg" title="Click this photo of the 1943 BSI Dinner menu to see a larger version of it" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
Against the backdrop of World War II, the BSI met again in 1943.  Forty one people attended, including the detective Irving August, mystery writer John Dickson Carr, and Reverend Leslie Marshall (newly designated Chaplain of the BSI).  William S. Hall spoke on Sherlock Holmes’ coat-of-arms. Rufus Tucker read a paper on “Genealogical Notes on Holmes.”  John Dickson Carr spoke on the inner secrets of the Detection Club of London.  Harvey Officer premiered his “Baker Street Suite.”  Robert Keith Leavitt spoke on Dr. Watson’s Second Wound.  Fletcher Pratt spoke on the hidden cryptogram in the Dancing Men code.  Leslie Marshall reminisced about his boyhood memories of Baker Street.  Charles S. Goodman read a paper on “The Dental Holmes.”  Edgar W. Smith presented a paper on “A Scandal in Identity.”  Frederick Dorr Steele was honored for his contribution to the Sherlockian world through his illustrations of the <i>Collier’s Weekly</i> magazine publication of the Holmes stories (and his illustration for the BSI Dinner Menu).<br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 8, 1943<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, NY, NY<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 8, 1943 BSI Dinner.<div><br /></div><div>The <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370667">1943 BSI Dinner menu photo</a> on this page is from the digitized BSI Trust collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University. Click on it to see a larger version. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1944.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The</i> Woman:</b><br />
Rose Louise Hovick, also known as Gypsy Rose Lee.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The</i> Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
James Keddie, Sr.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=58">1943 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=58">List of 1943 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Records of the Early ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1991)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370667">1943 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 13-15.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=67">Program Notes and Introduction to The Baker Street Suite</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Sequence 67-72.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1942-bsi-dinner.html">1942 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1944-bsi-dinner.html">1944 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
Page composed on 10/15/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 3/20/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>

The 1943 BSI Dinner

Against the backdrop of World War II, the BSI met again in 1943. Forty one people attended, including the detective Irving August, mys...

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The 1942 BSI Dinner

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<img alt="The Murray Hill Hotel in New York City" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6KhXsETRBL5m-bolY_89W5d4d7RSw3kW18vekuI9OxDX0wjy24Z2VBbzQBr3H6REUo08TgwM_4LttZIaCqbKlpX6icR58CogRuniyIkJgcu2vyDV-3tOb-07_Uw_2luwOIU5a7TQO7fU/s1600/murray-hill-hotel-1942-dinner-v1.jpg" title="The Murray Hill Hotel in New York City" /></div>
<br />
Edgar W. Smith made sure that the BSI Dinner became an annual event.  Forty one people attended, including Frederick Dannay (one half of the “Ellery Queen” mystery writing team), Richard Gordon (who acted as Holmes on the radio), and the novelist Henry Morton Robinson.  Toasts were drunk to The Woman, Mrs. Hudson, Mycroft, and Doctor Watson’s Second Wife. The BSI’s Constitution was read.  Harvey Officer led the group in an anthem entitled “The Road to Baker Street.” Julian Wolff spoke on Dr. Watson’s wounds.  Peter Greig delivered a paper on “Holmes, the Epicure.” Richard Gordon, who played Holmes on the radio, spoke on his identification with Holmes.  Henry Morton Robinson read a paper under the pen-name Joel Sayre.  Earle Walbridge spoke on the Baker Street Bibliography. Belden Wiglesworth read a “Ballad of Baker Street.” Robert Keith Levitt spoke on “Holmes the Ballistician.”  Frederick Dorr Steele discussed the days that are gone. <br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 9, 1942<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, NY, NY<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 9, 1942 BSI Dinner.<br />
<br />
The photo of the Murray Hill Hotel on this page is part of the collection of the <a href="https://dspace.cuny.edu/handle/11049/6874">City University of New York. Graduate School and University Center</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1944.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Edith Meiser<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
None this year.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=28">1942 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=28">List of 1942 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Records of the Early ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1991)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
The Trust does not have a 1942 Dinner Menu.  If you have a copy, or even a scan of one, please <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">contact us</a>.<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1941-bsi-dinner.html">1941 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1943-bsi-dinner.html">1943 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 10/15/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 8/15/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<br />
<br />

The 1942 BSI Dinner

Edgar W. Smith made sure that the BSI Dinner became an annual event. Forty one people attended, including Frederick Dannay (one half of ...

+ Read more »

The 1941 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy16dLG6uKHlwutunC-n29gV3Fk1gGB2_caWAceZws8ZCae8nz0-Q3Xs9z0Vb8HZk447I7GCZc5iHGg2Tpw4EplWV2NfoggHW5o71JpOoFjxqu2QapOfzJ2fn8WhNzlqPblrWLILtENyNm/s1600/edgar-w-smith-1941-dinner-v2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="BSI Secretary Edgar W. Smith" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy16dLG6uKHlwutunC-n29gV3Fk1gGB2_caWAceZws8ZCae8nz0-Q3Xs9z0Vb8HZk447I7GCZc5iHGg2Tpw4EplWV2NfoggHW5o71JpOoFjxqu2QapOfzJ2fn8WhNzlqPblrWLILtENyNm/s1600/edgar-w-smith-1941-dinner-v2.jpg" title="BSI Secretary Edgar W. Smith" /></a></div>
<br />
Having taken over the position of Secretary to the BSI, Edgar W. Smith made sure that the BSI Dinner became an annual event.  Twenty six people attended, including author Basil Davenport, Boston Sherlockians James Keddie, Sr. and James Keddie Jr., the mystery writer Rex Stout, and Dr. Julian Wolff (who would ultimately become the head of the BSI in 1961). Toasts were drunk to The Woman, Mrs. Hudson, and Doctor Watson’s Second Wife. The BSI’s Constitution was read.  Robert Keith Leavitt subjected the attendees to a quiz entitled, “A Brief Examination upon the Sacred Writings for the Refreshment of Irregular Memories and the Testing of Those Now Regular Which Aspire to be Otherwise.”  Julian Wolff spoke on the atavistic tendencies toward Black offspring in mixed marriages.  Rex Stout, the guest of honor and principal speaker, advanced that Watson was a woman.  Harvey Officer spoke on Holmes’ religious bent. Frederick Dorr Steele discussed the graphic representations of characters in the Canon. P. M. Stone read a paper entitled “King’s Bench Walk and Baker Street.” <br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 31, 1941<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, NY, NY<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 31, 1941 BSI Dinner.<br />
<br />
The photo of Edgar W. Smith on this page is courtesy of <a href="http://www.redcircledc.org/index.php?id=48">The Red Circle of Washington, D.C.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
<b>Investitures:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1944.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1962. <br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a><br />
<br />
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b><br />
Not identified; possibly none.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a><br />
<br />
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b><br />
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)<br />
Archie Macdonell, the moving spirit of the Sherlock Holmes Society of England<br />
Miss Helen Simpson<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a><br />
<br />
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b><br />
Not awarded until 1959.<br />
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=21">1941 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=21">List of 1941 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Records of the Early ‘Forties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1991)<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
The Trust does not have a 1941 Dinner Menu.  If you have a copy, or even a scan of one, please <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/contact.html">contact us</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=7">Leavitt, Robert Keith, “A Brief Examination upon the Sacred Writings...”</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Quiz given at dinner.  6 pages, plus another copy filled out.  Sequence 7-19.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1941mar01-00003/">"Watson Was a Woman" by Rex Stout</a> in <i>The Saturday Review of Literature</i>, 23, No. 19 (March 1, 1941), 3-4, 16. (at unz.com)<br />
Rex Stout presented his infamous theory about Watson at the 1941 BSI Dinner. His paper appears online, starting with the main link above and concluding with <a href="https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1941mar01-00015/">page 16 online</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1940-bsi-dinner.html">1940 BSI Dinner</a><br />
<br />
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1942-bsi-dinner.html">1942 BSI Dinner </a><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Page composed on 10/15/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
Page updated 2/7/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 2/2/20 by Randall Stock.<br />
<br />
<br />

The 1941 BSI Dinner

Having taken over the position of Secretary to the BSI, Edgar W. Smith made sure that the BSI Dinner became an annual event. Twenty ...

+ Read more »

The 1940 BSI Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUVCmrmInqa7S5FRBr-ecBxnTWugJmnu6KgCIEqoiM_iNgI0aP8xzJB5Ia5HXvef7HrJzI6YeDOuN4SBCjFdt5W2kyjQaT-uNELLHAwjDnTvV_5OG2i3e6yPHBiwqeV2vLqNRPAJR5E82/s1600/bsi-dnner-1940-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1940 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUVCmrmInqa7S5FRBr-ecBxnTWugJmnu6KgCIEqoiM_iNgI0aP8xzJB5Ia5HXvef7HrJzI6YeDOuN4SBCjFdt5W2kyjQaT-uNELLHAwjDnTvV_5OG2i3e6yPHBiwqeV2vLqNRPAJR5E82/s1600/bsi-dnner-1940-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1940 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version of it" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
After a four year hiatus, the BSI met, again, in 1940.  During the hiatus, Edgar W. Smith (a General Motors vice-president) had volunteered to help organize the dinner.  He soon was dubbed the Secretary of the BSI, with the title of “Buttons.”  The 1940 dinner was called to celebrate the publication of Vincent Starrett’s <i>221B</i>, a copy of which was put at each person’s place setting.  Thirty five people attended, including Denis P. S. Conan Doyle (son of Arthur Conan Doyle), mystery writer Howard Haycraft, all three Morley brothers, and Edgar W. Smith. Toasts were drunk to The Woman, Mrs. Hudson, and Doctor Watson’s Second Wife. The BSI’s Constitution was read, a ritual that has survived through the years.  Felix Morley presented a paper on “The Significance of the Second Stain.”  Denis P.S. Conan Doyle spoke on “My Father’s Friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.”<br />
<br />
Dinner Details: January 30, 1940<br />
Murray Hill Hotel, 112 Park Avenue at East 40th Street, NY, NY<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="clear: both;">
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.<br />
<br />
Key to People in the 1940 BSI Dinner photo (not available at this time)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="clear: both;">
BSI Honours List</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Investitures:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Not awarded until 1944.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Two-Shilling Award:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Not awarded until 1962.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b><i>The </i>Woman:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Not identified; possibly none.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is <i>The </i>Woman honour?</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>"Stand with me here upon the terrace..."</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
None this year.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of "standing on the terrace?"</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<b>Morley-Montgomery Award:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Not awarded until 1959.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="clear: both;">
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=2">1940 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=2">List of 1940 BSI Dinner Attendees</a>  (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
<br />
The Baker Street Irregulars, <i>Irregular Memories of the ‘Thirties</i>, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1990)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="clear: both;">
Recordings</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
None available online at this time.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="clear: both;">
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370666">1940 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized image at Harvard)<br />
Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 10-12.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=41">Morley, Felix, “The Significance of the Second Stain”</a> (digitized images at Harvard)<br />
Paper given at dinner.  16 pages.  Sequence 41-56.<br />
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Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1936-bsi-dinner.html">1936 BSI Dinner</a> (No dinner was held in 1937, 1938, or 1939.)<br />
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Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1941-bsi-dinner.html">1941 BSI Dinner</a><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 10/7/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 2/7/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
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The 1940 BSI Dinner

After a four year hiatus, the BSI met, again, in 1940. During the hiatus, Edgar W. Smith (a General Motors vice-president) had volunte...

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The 1936 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6PitAg7WByNpOaCBDVG5sWSHR31cUYh86lP2Yrj8O-feTnXnTVO4ZgRSCMT0dMO9gwxWUMCSdau0KxxzlrN9rli4Tz_b-8rVHs12zz1j5gAA8JiqmoF9aWTUOHz45z8Ue5_ou-iFDdIZ/s1600/bsi-dnner-1936-menu-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1936 BSI Dinner menu cover" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6PitAg7WByNpOaCBDVG5sWSHR31cUYh86lP2Yrj8O-feTnXnTVO4ZgRSCMT0dMO9gwxWUMCSdau0KxxzlrN9rli4Tz_b-8rVHs12zz1j5gAA8JiqmoF9aWTUOHz45z8Ue5_ou-iFDdIZ/s1600/bsi-dnner-1936-menu-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo of the 1936 BSI Dinner menu to see a larger version of it" width="232" /></a></div>
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The 1936 BSI Dinner is considered the second BSI Annual Dinner. We know that it occurred, and we know most of the people who attended, because we have a dinner program signed by many of the attendees. However, not very many additional details about the event are known or verified. Approximately thirty people attended, including author Henry James Forman, poet Stephen Vincent Benét, and columnist and author of <i>Archy and Mehitabel</i> Don Marquis.<br />
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Dinner Details: January 6, 1936<br />
Christ Cella’s Restaurant, 144 East 45th Street, NY, NY<br />
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Dinner Photo Information</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">As far as we know, no group photo was taken of the January 6, 1936 BSI Dinner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The above <a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370665">1936 BSI Dinner menu photo</a> is from the digitized BSI Trust collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University. Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></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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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1936-attendees.pdf">List of 1936 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:11370665">1936 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard)</div>
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Cover, interior, and back.  Sequence 7-9.</div>
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Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/02/the-1934-bsi-dinner.html">1934 BSI Dinner</a> (No dinner was held in 1935.)</div>
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Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1940-bsi-dinner.html">1940 BSI Dinner</a> (No dinner was held in 1937, 1938, or 1939.)<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 10/6/14 by Andy Solberg.<br />
This page last updated 2/7/15 by Andy Solberg.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<br />

The 1936 BSI Dinner

The 1936 BSI Dinner is considered the second BSI Annual Dinner. We know that it occurred, and we know most of the people who attended, ...

+ Read more »