The Baker Street Irregulars Trust

The 1958 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_dSwsrsZugcpboOgqEu_DSS0ZGpUbyufLs_KRB4kxVDIovTzQxytkhPBaQcUUYkFNbAcQzm5uNjFU_2tzPXSrk4ADKM0OKnjJZPAM-LFHKe7AVYArfJOEPYfvYqp_3C7DbjH-ZnAcXb9/s1600/bsi-dinner-1958-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1958 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_dSwsrsZugcpboOgqEu_DSS0ZGpUbyufLs_KRB4kxVDIovTzQxytkhPBaQcUUYkFNbAcQzm5uNjFU_2tzPXSrk4ADKM0OKnjJZPAM-LFHKe7AVYArfJOEPYfvYqp_3C7DbjH-ZnAcXb9/s640/bsi-dinner-1958-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1958 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Sixty nine Irregulars and guests gathered to commemorate the Master’s 104th birthday. Buttons-cum-Commissionaire Edgar W. Smith also served as Gasogene-cum-Tantalus. Proceedings commenced with the public reading of the Society’s “Constitution and Buy-laws,” canonical toasts, an assortment of readings from the Master’s oeuvre, and standing upon the Terrace in memory of Irregular Dr. Roland Hammond. 
 
The evening featured a tribute to Christopher Morley, who had broken from the ranks in March 1957:  “that great spirit who was the Founder of the Irregulars, and who had been its inspiration for so long—its Gasogene-cum-Tantalus in perpetuity.” Many distinguished colleagues and friends, including Peter Greig, William Baring-Gould, and his nephew Rev. Anthony Morley among them, spoke meaningfully about Christopher Morley’s enduring wisdom, deep friendship, and lasting influence. His brother, Dr. Felix Morley, spoke both about Christopher and of the Irregulars “who were a part of Chris himself, as he was of them.” 
 
Five members received their Irregular Shilling.  Lew D. Feldman then announced the founding of a Morley-Montgomery Award: $100.00 to be awarded annually to the contributor of the most outstanding article “in the judgment of the Editor” to the Baker Street Journal. [Please see the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Terms</a> for background on this award.] 
 
A veritable Baedeker of Scion Society accounts from around the world were read to the assemblage. Long past the formally appointed hour of closing, at 12:20am the toast was offered to “To the Best and Wisest Man Whom We Have Ever Known.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 10, 1958 
Cavanagh’s Restaurant, New York, NY 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1958-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1958 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Arthur K. Akers as The Bishopgate Jewel Case 
Charles Fisher as The Matilda Briggs 
E. T. Guymon Jr. as The Veiled Lodger* 
Everett C. Hoffman as Merridew of Abominable Memory 
Samuel F. Howard as The Dutch Steamship Friesland 
Robert E. Matthews Jr. as The Coptic Patriarchs 
Lenore Glen Offord as The Old Russian Woman* 
Stuart Palmer as The Remarkable Worm* 
David A. Weiss as Crosby, the Banker* 
George E. Wells as The Paradol Chamber* 
* received Investiture at another event during the year 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Not awarded until 1962. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Not identified; possibly none. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Dr. Roland Hammond (“Silver Blaze”) 
Christopher Morley (“The Sign of the Four ”) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Not awarded until 1959. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=178">1958 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
 
The Baker Street Journal v8 n2 (April 1958) pp. 90-93.  (available in the eBSJ) 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=178">List of 1958 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1958-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1958 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370680">1958 BSI Dinner Menu</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
Cover and interior. Two copies (one signed). Sequence 63-64 and 65-66. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=67">Merritt, Russell, 1958 BSI Dinner Talk </a>(digitized image at Harvard) 
At his first BSI Dinner, a 16 year old Russell Merritt presented a short talk.  He donated the retyped text of that talk to the BSI Trust in 2007.  Three pages plus the 2007 cover memo to Michael Whelan donating his talk. Sequence 67-70. 
 
First Woman Invested 
As listed above, Lenore Glen Offord, a prolific mystery writer, was the first woman to be invested in the BSI (and the last until 1982). She never attended a BSI Dinner.  Read more about Ms. Offord and her Investiture at the <a href="https://ash-nyc.com/membership/ashes-to-ashes/#lgo" target="_blank">Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a> website. 
 
Induction of the Neophytes 
The traditions of the BSI Dinners in 1958 included the “Induction of the Neophytes” (people attending their first Dinner), with each individual sponsored in due form by an Investitured Irregular. At the 1958 Dinner, both <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/10/peter-blau-interview-oral-history.html">Peter Blau</a> and <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/04/russell-merritt-interview-oral-history.html">Russell Merritt</a> were so inducted. 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/the-1957-bsi-dinner.html">1957 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/07/the-1959-bsi-dinner.html">1959 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary</a> list. 
 
 
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 2/24/15 by Tamar Zeffren. 
Page updated 2/2/16 by Randall Stock. 
This page last updated 1/9/19 by Randall Stock.

The 1958 BSI Dinner

Sixty nine Irregulars and guests gathered to commemorate the Master’s 104th birthday. Buttons-cum-Commissionaire Edgar W. Smith also serv...

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Spring 2015 Newsletter

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<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2015-spring.pdf"><img alt="BSI Trust Spring 2015 Newsletter" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpr8Ugz58KlGk4j9uodBCVY8GC64ShqptIY-FCJdLmWNtYriJHjOM2kasDJFlT6tj46oCQNIAWdsHIqB3qsXiwHXEXAqArb4Vc7RW9khSP0snUQLKIttbzGeN_X8hrGW7ZSfFbHUXfWzKv/s1600/trust-newsletter-2015-spring.jpg" title="Click to view PDF of the Spring 2015 newsletter" /></a></div>
 
The Spring 2015 newsletter includes these articles: 
<ul>
<li>Introducing the New BSI Trust Website by Andy Solberg.</li>
<li>Gifts to the Treasury.</li>
<li>The BSI and Sherlock Holmes Fandom in America by George Mills.</li>
<li>“Good Old Index” goes to Good Old Harvard by Chris Redmond.</li>
<li>A Matching Follow-up by Robert S. Katz.</li>
<li>From the Chair by Andy Solberg.</li>
<li>Added to the Archives.</li>
</ul>
 
<h4>
View or Download the Newsletter</h4>
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/news/trust-newsletter-2015-spring.pdf">Spring 2015 BSI Trust newsletter</a> (PDF - 2 MB) 
 
 
<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> 
 
You can also see<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/News"> other BSI Trust news</a> on the Trust website. 
 
 
<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.

Spring 2015 Newsletter

The Spring 2015 newsletter includes these articles: Introducing the New BSI Trust Website by Andy Solberg. Gifts to the Treasury. The...

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The 1957 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxSVT33oZ-yewLSn22YVKWRzkIIWE_kPEki8I6zNigVmQ62aUCfPWpP3SG_YLsdWgFq7uiG42j1vOET_okKlx_fZ51EaXtq6AbjMQfdu9l4MogA8b90Ij1jYDBDo4ZlEr8tXKAKWi-51Ez/s1600/bsi-dinner-1957-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1957 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxSVT33oZ-yewLSn22YVKWRzkIIWE_kPEki8I6zNigVmQ62aUCfPWpP3SG_YLsdWgFq7uiG42j1vOET_okKlx_fZ51EaXtq6AbjMQfdu9l4MogA8b90Ij1jYDBDo4ZlEr8tXKAKWi-51Ez/s640/bsi-dinner-1957-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1957 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Buttons-cum-Commissionaire Edgar W. Smith, who also served as pro-tempore Gasogene-cum-Tantalus in Christopher Morley’s absence, called the celebrations of the Master’s 103rd anniversary to order. The evening opened with the reading of the Society’s “Constitution and Buy-laws” and included canonical toasts, an assortment of readings from the Master’s oeuvre, and standing upon the Terrace in memory of Irregular Fletcher Pratt. Smith, in his capacity as Buttons, read aloud several greetings and dispatches from around the Sherlockian world, including a message “from a former Senator from a Western State by the name of Richard Nixon.” 
 
Six members received their Irregular Shilling.  Russell McLauchlin delivered “a profound exegesis of The Sign of Four.” Challenges and Disputation in the Canon punctuated much of the evening’s proceedings. 
 
Scion Society reports were proffered: “[m]uch revelation and ground for disputation resulted from the responses forthcoming.” At 11:45, Howard Haycraft proposed the toast to “To the Best and Wisest Man Whom We Have Ever Known.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 11, 1957 
Cavanagh’s Restaurant, New York, NY 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1957-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1957 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Lew D. Feldman as The Hammerford Will Case 
Irving M. Fenton as The Singular Tragedy of the Atkinson Brothers 
Thomas M. McDade as The Dancing Men 
E. W. McDiarmid as The Bruce-Partington Plans 
Chris Steinbrunner as The Tankerville Club Scandal 
Ernest Bloomfield Zeisler as The Golden Pince-Nez 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Not awarded until 1962. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Sylvia Porter 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
Fletcher Pratt (“The Dancing Men”) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Not awarded until 1959. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=175">1957 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
 
The Baker Street Journal v7 n2 (April 1957) pp. 109-112.  (available in the eBSJ) 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=175">List of 1957 BSI Dinner Attendees </a>(digitized image at Harvard) 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1957-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1957 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
The Baker Street Journal v11 n2 (June 1961) pp. 82-83. Rex Stout reflects on Edgar Smith’s reading of the telegram sent by Richard Nixon. Though Stout said it occurred in 1956, the 1957 minutes and BSJ report cited above show that it occurred in 1957. 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:11370679">1957 Dinner Announcement Postcard</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
Front and back. Sequence 55-56. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=57">1957 Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Cover and back. Sequence 57-58. 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354173?n=59">1957 Dinner Handout by The House of El Dieff, Inc.</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Rare book dealer and BSI member Lew David Feldman owned the House of El Dieff, and named his company for his initials, L. D. F. Four Pages. Sequence 59-62. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1957-woods-runner.pdf">Article/partial key to 1957 BSI Dinner photo (PDF) in The Woods-Runner</a> 
This literary magazine, published by Lake Superior State College in Michigan, was started by BSI member W.T. (Bill) Rabe (who taught at the school) and some colleagues.  The article reproduced the dinner photo and identified some of the people in it. 
 
Previous dinner: <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/the-1956-bsi-dinner.html">the 1956 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/the-1958-bsi-dinner.html">1958 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html"> BSI Dinner Summary list.</a> 
 
 
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard </a>page. 
 
Page composed on 1/28/15 by Tamar Zeffren. 
Page updated 8/15/15 by Andrew Solberg. 
This page last updated 3/31/19 by Randall Stock.

The 1957 BSI Dinner

Buttons-cum-Commissionaire Edgar W. Smith, who also served as pro-tempore Gasogene-cum-Tantalus in Christopher Morley’s absence, called...

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Robert Thomalen Interview: Oral History Project

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoHTj76mFHAVdNOuyqgk0CfmLZQ9dQlWZRDC0fYN63F6B2wx31UB2oj5YkMVOdSNSoy_0z3y22JBTcfEbz3xrW15s4AjbuvdZbt5siUPFz7zr9GcILVo8VrALJ9QLkyeQ8JG-4bzZhbjmj/s1600/robert-thomalen-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robert Thomalen, BSI" border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoHTj76mFHAVdNOuyqgk0CfmLZQ9dQlWZRDC0fYN63F6B2wx31UB2oj5YkMVOdSNSoy_0z3y22JBTcfEbz3xrW15s4AjbuvdZbt5siUPFz7zr9GcILVo8VrALJ9QLkyeQ8JG-4bzZhbjmj/s200/robert-thomalen-v1.jpg" title="Robert Thomalen, BSI" width="200" /></a></div>
 
Robert E. Thomalen (The Three Garridebs, 1983) came to Sherlock Holmes through the Rathbone movies, obtained a copy of the Doubleday edition, and read the stories straight through. He attended his first scion meeting, The Three Garridebs of Westchester County, during a blizzard in February of 1978 and was delighted to find that weather is no obstacle for Sherlockians and that all of the members were in attendance.   In 1982, Bob and William P. Schweickert (Cox and Co., 1979, and author of the Sherlockian poem A Long Evening with Holmes) took the helm and together led The Three Garridebs for approximately twelve years. In the course of this partnership, Bill gave Bob the handwritten manuscript for A Long Evening with Holmes, which Bob recently donated to the BSI Trust. 
 
In 1983 Bob and Chris Steinbrunner (The Tankerville Club Scandal, 1957) resurrected The Priory Scholars of New York.   When Tom Stix, Jr. assumed the position of the BSI's "Wiggins," Bob was his advisor and sounding board, with the title of "Cartwright." Bob managed and emceed the BSI weekend Cocktail Reception for many years and is the founder of the annual weekend Sherlockian event known as Autumn in Baker Street, a weekend-long gathering, first held at Bear Mountain, NY in 1982 and which subsequently ran for twenty years.  Bob was surprised when 56 people attended the first one; each year, attendance increased. 
 
Bob was the proud husband of Theresa Thomalen (who received the "The Woman" honour in 1994). 
 
He received the Two-Shilling award in 1988.  His reminiscences are filled with behind-the-scenes candor and his characteristic good humor.  Bob passed away in December 2020. 
 
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="45" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/3572209/height/45/width/250/theme/standard/direction/no/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/" style="border: none;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="250"></iframe>
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Click to play this interview</div>
 
Interviewee: Robert E. Thomalen 
Interviewer: Francine Kitts 
Date: May 13, 2008 
Location: Algonquin Hotel, NYC 
Description: MP3, 40.0 MB, 64 kbps, 1 hour 27 minutes<div><a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/transcript/robert-thomalen-interview-2008.pdf">Transcript of Robert E. Thomalen Interview</a> (PDF) 
 
<h4>
Interview Topics</h4>
Discovery of Scions 
The Three Garridebs of Westchester County 
Bill Schweickert 
Theresa Thomalen 
Chris Steinbrenner 
Mrs. Hudson’s Cliffdwellers 
His First BSI Dinner 
Julian Wolff 
Tom Stix 
The Dr. Watson Fund 
The Silver Blaze Horse Race 
Charlie Goodman 
Hosting the BSI Cocktail Party 
Admitting Women into the BSI 
Isaac Asimov 
A Female Reporter tries to enter the BSI Dinner (pre-1991) 
Autumn in Baker Street 
Richard Wein 
Reading of A Long Evening with Holmes 
 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Terms</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
Manuscript excerpt from A Long Evening with Holmes by William P. Schweickert 
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKaY1BjVnvvxHrKewl8MKaPFiJU8Opj0ev7Qh64p6PDjsTx26pw_jXNl50g4TAbeyorapn8aHUjULdCXCdKA78qMg8MEsXqELVNkTQeeloTOkHQT9K7abTIQOUtlUQb_Y1-D0kyvyVMd8/s1600/ms-long-evening-holmes-schweickert-v1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo of Holmes poem manuscript excerpt" border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKaY1BjVnvvxHrKewl8MKaPFiJU8Opj0ev7Qh64p6PDjsTx26pw_jXNl50g4TAbeyorapn8aHUjULdCXCdKA78qMg8MEsXqELVNkTQeeloTOkHQT9K7abTIQOUtlUQb_Y1-D0kyvyVMd8/s640/ms-long-evening-holmes-schweickert-v1.jpg" title="Click to see a larger version of the manuscript photo" width="640" /></a></div>
Manuscript presented by the author to Robert Thomalen, and later donated by Robert Thomalen to the BSI Trust on October 12, 2014. 
 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2016/03/the-1983-bsi-dinner.html">The 1983 BSI Dinner</a> 
Robert Thomalen received his Investiture at this BSI Dinner. 
 
 
For an index to all OHP interviews, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/oral-history.html">Oral History Project Summary</a> list. 
 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Audio+Oral%20History">Interviews recently added online</a> (sorted by when recording was posted online) 
 
 Material in the BSI Archive 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" style="text-align: center;">BSI Archive</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 6/6/15 by Tamar Zeffren. Page updated 6/10/15 by Randall Stock.<div>This page last updated 6/16/21 by Randall Stock. 
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Robert Thomalen Interview: Oral History Project

Robert E. Thomalen (The Three Garridebs, 1983) came to Sherlock Holmes through the Rathbone movies, obtained a copy of the Doubleday edit...

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The 1956 BSI Dinner

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgEQ2uDUANirW4tiAdEkMM0ZDquIed0U0-Ci08OEu1WZgJRj6dgyuHcIJsmRFANUSxwimfClf-oYi1zD5WesadK-Xc1aLjZpc73rzkqrgOw13ruyQNV348JNrBzXZjMzfWD_xPuQ-lBLh/s1600/bsi-dinner-1956-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The 1956 BSI Dinner group photo" border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgEQ2uDUANirW4tiAdEkMM0ZDquIed0U0-Ci08OEu1WZgJRj6dgyuHcIJsmRFANUSxwimfClf-oYi1zD5WesadK-Xc1aLjZpc73rzkqrgOw13ruyQNV348JNrBzXZjMzfWD_xPuQ-lBLh/s640/bsi-dinner-1956-v1.jpg" title="Click this 1956 BSI Dinner photo to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Sixty five Irregulars and guests gathered for the Master’s 102nd birthday, under the supervision of Charles Honce, who stood in for Christopher Morley as pro-tempore Gasogene-cum-Tantalus. Canonical toasts, reports on Irregular activities, and disputations in the Canon followed. Robert Keith Leavitt presented what Buttons-cum-Commissionaire Edgar W. Smith termed the evening’s piece-de-resistance: an analysis of “The Second Most Dangerous Man in London.” This “elicited, in the course of its delivery, the discovery of two equally dangerous men in New York.” 
 
Eight members received their Irregular Shilling.  Scion Society accounts from Detroit to Denmark were submitted. Thayer Cumings of the Five Orange Pips of Westchester County presented the annual quiz.  Dr. Julian Wolff took first place, with A. Carson Simpson, Nathan L. Bengis, and James Iraldi so close behind that “the lucrative prizes had, perforce, to be physically divided.” 
 
At ten minutes to midnight, James Nelson proposed the toast to “The Founder.” Ten minutes later, at the close of this auspicious occasion, Robert G. Harris proclaimed the tribute to “To the Best and Wisest Man Whom We Have Ever Known.” 
 
Dinner Details: January 6, 1956 
Cavanagh’s Restaurant, New York, NY 
 
<h4>
Dinner Photo Information</h4>
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1956-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1956 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
BSI Honours List</h4>
Investitures: 
Doyle W. Beckemeyer as Young Stamford 
Paul S. Clarkson as The Red Leech 
William Swift Dalliba as Count Von und Zu Grafenstein 
Dean W. Dickensheet as Vamberry, the Wine Merchant 
Rollin V. Hadley Jr. as Ricoletti of the Club Foot 
John Holzapfel as The Papers of Ex-President Murillo 
George Kreuzberger as Archie Stamford, the Forger 
Will Oursler as The Abbey Grange 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is an Investiture?</a> 
 
 
Two-Shilling Award: 
Not awarded until 1962. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is a Two-Shilling Award?</a> 
 
The Woman: 
Not identified; possibly none. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is The Woman honour?</a> 
 
"Stand with me here upon the terrace..." 
(as named at this Dinner, not their year of passing) 
James Montgomery (“The Red Circle”) 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the origin of “standing on the terrace?”</a> 
 
Morley-Montgomery Award: 
Not awarded until 1959. 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">What is the Morley-Montgomery Award?</a> 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Dinner</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=172">1956 BSI Dinner Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
 
The Baker Street Journal v6 n2 (April 1956) pp. 106-108.  (available in the eBSJ) 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=172">List of 1956 BSI Dinner Attendees</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
 
<a href="http://files.bsitrust.org/pdf/dinner/bsi-dinner-1956-photo-key.pdf">Key to People in the 1956 BSI Dinner photo</a> (PDF) 
 
 
<h4>
Recordings</h4>
None available online at this time. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
<a href="http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/47295775?n=51&imagesize=1200&jp2Res=.5&rotation=90&printThumbnails=no">1956 Dinner Menu</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
Cover and interior. Sequence 51-54 
 
Previous dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/05/the-1955-bsi-dinner.html">1955 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
Next dinner: the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/the-1957-bsi-dinner.html">1957 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
For an index to all BSI Dinners and photos, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/dinner-summary.html">BSI Dinner Summary list.</a> 
 
 
The BSI Archive is located at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Archival material may be used by any qualified scholar, subject to the normal rules and regulations of the Library. For links to a detailed finding aid and related information, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/archive.html">BSI Archive at Harvard</a> page. 
 
Page composed on 1/28/15 by Tamar Zeffren 
Page updated 7/9/15 by Randall Stock. 
This page last updated 10/8/19 by Randall Stock. 
 
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The 1956 BSI Dinner

Sixty five Irregulars and guests gathered for the Master’s 102nd birthday, under the supervision of Charles Honce, who stood in for Chris...

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