The Baker Street Irregulars Trust: Memorabilia

The Queen Victoria Medal

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVLYZP2VQp9RnzDaLxA1GEtb-u5nENIVLc5fpA_IlPzYl8yw66rOPnlEJvPkKGSh7KmaNChRvso4lsgMzArG2TBytkW5kepeYVozSSAXoGqHi-4FcNAVsYX8HfCOPWfk4NoScMyzBF4BJ/s1600/victoria-medal-front-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The BSI Queen Victoria Medal (front)" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWVLYZP2VQp9RnzDaLxA1GEtb-u5nENIVLc5fpA_IlPzYl8yw66rOPnlEJvPkKGSh7KmaNChRvso4lsgMzArG2TBytkW5kepeYVozSSAXoGqHi-4FcNAVsYX8HfCOPWfk4NoScMyzBF4BJ/s400/victoria-medal-front-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo to see a larger version" width="246" /></a></div>
 
The Winter issue of the 1967 Baker Street Journal included an item on page 250 that said: 
 
“A giant stride toward the quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes occurred in October when Colin Prestige (“Captain Crocker” - or “Croker” as it is in the English editions), Hon. Secretary of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, paid an eventful visit to this country. In New York he was honoured at two small gatherings, a cocktail party and a luncheon, and he was presented with a newly-created Irregular award, the Victoria Medal, for his contributions to the quartering referred to at the beginning of this paragraph. The medal is silver and was produced by the Royal Mint in 1897 to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.” 
 
Thus, Julian Wolff gave to Colin Prestige the very first Queen Victoria Medal awarded by the BSI. Others would receive it through the years.  Two of them would receive it twice!  The Medal was not only awarded for promoting British-American relations, but was also given to both men and women who deserved it for devotion to duty.  The recipients have been: 
 
Colin G. Prestige, 1967 
Baron Gore-Booth, 1968 
Lord Donegall, 1969 
Lew D. Feldman, 1969 
Dorothy Stix, 1981 and 1986 
Eleanor Baker O'Connor, 1984 and 1994 
John Bennett Shaw, 1985 
Eleanor Wolff, 1987 
Albert M. and Julia C. Rosenblatt (jointly), 1987 
Edith Meiser, 1989 
Katherine McMahon, 1990 
Dorothy Beverly [West], 1990 
Fritz Sonnenschmidt, 1991 
Theresa Thomalen, 1992 
Philip A. Shreffler, 1993 
Dorothy R. Shaw, 1995 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Robert E. Thomalen</a>, 1996 
 
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzWNi84JxKwSzISr1_BpvolkbNlfncEjX5Gmz_zHZo2yUePs8ou1cjNonMoceUVBIeQbc6QpBMbjNvwIE_ZgyR5pUhTexB3t9w2k__H0UAKFMxjdUVjSokvcyZsyuHa5yEunAudeUZQne/s1600/victoria-medal-back-v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The BSI Queen Victoria Medal (back)" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1124" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzWNi84JxKwSzISr1_BpvolkbNlfncEjX5Gmz_zHZo2yUePs8ou1cjNonMoceUVBIeQbc6QpBMbjNvwIE_ZgyR5pUhTexB3t9w2k__H0UAKFMxjdUVjSokvcyZsyuHa5yEunAudeUZQne/s400/victoria-medal-back-v1.jpg" title="Click this photo to see a larger version" width="280" /></a></div>
 
The Medals were not usually awarded at the BSI Dinner, but, rather, at other events, including the Saturday Cocktail Reception during the BSI Weekend, Silver Blaze Race in New York, Sherlockian Dinners at the Culinary Institute of America, John Bennett Shaw’s workshop, and other venues. 
 
Dorothy Stix relates that the reason she received her second Medal was because Julian Wolff forgot that he had given her the first one.  Of course, both were well deserved. 
 
The BSI Trust is grateful to Dorothy Stix who donated her Queen Victoria Medals (including the one shown in the photos above) to the Trust in 2017. 
 
Thanks to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/10/peter-blau-interview-oral-history.html">Peter E. Blau</a>, the keeper of all records, who supplied his list of recipients to the Trust for this web page. 
 
Click on the above photos to see larger versions, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
 
<h4>
Reports on the Award</h4>
 
In true irregular fashion, not all of the announcements of the awarding of the Queen Victoria Medal were published in The Baker Street Journal at the time that they occurred.  Some were mentioned in later issues. Others were not mentioned at all. 
 
Awarded to Colin G. Prestige, The Baker Street Journal 17.4 (December 1967): 250 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Lord Gore-Booth, The Baker Street Journal 35.3 (September 1985): 157 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Lord Donegall and Lew D. Feldman, The Baker Street Journal 19.1 (March 1969): 50 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Dorothy Stix, The Baker Street Journal 31.4 (December 1981): 251 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Eleanor Baker O'Connor, The Baker Street Journal 36.2 (June 1986): 107 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to John Bennett Shaw, The Baker Street Journal 36.1 (March 1986): 42 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Dorothy Stix, The Baker Street Journal 36.4 (December 1986): 235 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Eleanor Wolff, The Baker Street Journal 37.1 (March 1987): 47 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Albert M. and Julia C. Rosenblatt (jointly), The Baker Street Journal 37.4 (December 1987): 242 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Edith Meiser, The Baker Street Journal 39.1 (March 1989): 55 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Katherine McMahon and Dorothy Beverly [West], The Baker Street Journal 40.1 (March 1990): 44 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Fritz Sonnenschmidt, The Baker Street Journal 41.3 (September 1991): 156 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Theresa Thomalen, The Baker Street Journal 42.1 (March 1992): 50 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to Philip A. Shreffler, The Baker Street Journal 43.1 (March 1993): 47 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
Awarded to <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">Robert E. Thomalen</a>, The Baker Street Journal 46.1 (March 1996): 14 (available in the eBSJ) 
 
 
<h4>
Related Material</h4>
 
<a href="http://fourthgarrideb.com/2017/06/queen-victorias-diamond-jubilee-medal/">Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Medal</a>, History of the Medal from The Fourth Garrideb - Numismatics of Sherlock Holmes. 
 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Terms</a> 
 
See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Memorabilia">BSI Memorabilia</a> on our website 
 
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 6/24/2017 by Andrew Solberg 
This page last updated 6/30/2017 by Andrew Solberg.

The Queen Victoria Medal

The Winter issue of the 1967 Baker Street Journal included an item on page 250 that said: “A giant stride toward the quartering of the...

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BSI, Inc. Stock Certificate

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TLSbNSgoa80mM5cnCMp7mUzSM9I_bA-ECG3s3BzX37CCGD7ifWmb4JRJ8I1u25OBByIh_0X9xpIqIY3xe6T7rSfJEYFlpwkbh3KI988aaWDGxdgEeKHARoRrzSXHByLqcNvnOyiJmKmM/s1600/memorabilia-bsi-inc-stock-certificate-hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="1948 BSI Incorporated stock certificate" border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TLSbNSgoa80mM5cnCMp7mUzSM9I_bA-ECG3s3BzX37CCGD7ifWmb4JRJ8I1u25OBByIh_0X9xpIqIY3xe6T7rSfJEYFlpwkbh3KI988aaWDGxdgEeKHARoRrzSXHByLqcNvnOyiJmKmM/s1600/memorabilia-bsi-inc-stock-certificate-hall.jpg" title="Click this 1948 BSI stock certificate to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
In November 1947, Edgar W. Smith, Christopher Morley, and Vincent Starrett joined together to formally incorporate The Baker Street Irregulars.  Smith described it as a "miniscule corporation...which has been created for the philanthropic purpose of defending before the law the public rights and equities of Sherlock Holmes."  While there was now both a BSI social body and a BSI, Inc., the nature and constituency of the social body was not affected. 
 
The stock certificate shown above, for one share in The Baker Street Irregulars, Inc., was issued to William S. Hall and dated January 22, 1948.  Christopher Morley signed the certificate as the President of the BSI Inc.  Miriam Alexander served as Secretary-Treasurer and also signed it.   She was Edgar W. Smith's secretary at GM Overseas Operations. 
 
The certificate number of "4" and the certificate date suggest that Hall received his share directly after the three founders.  Based on a 1948 Smith letter, Hall probably paid $200 for his share.  Other early shareholders included Frank V. Morley, Richard W. Clarke, Carl Anderson, Ben Abramson and Julian Wolff. 
 
The BSI Trust acquired Hall’s stock certificate in 2014. 
 
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
 
<h4>
Reports about the BSI, Inc.:</h4>
The Baker Street Journal Old Series v3 n2 (April 1948) pp. 135-136, 259.  (available in the eBSJ) 
 
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354171?n=119">1948 BSI Meeting Minutes</a> (digitized images at Harvard) 
2 pages, Sequence 119-120. 
 
The Baker Street Irregulars, Irregular Crises of the Late ‘Forties, ed. Jon L. Lellenberg, (New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999).  See especially pp. 104-156. 
 
 
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
<a href="http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:11354170?n=115">Letter, Smith to Morley, 2/9/48</a> (digitized image at Harvard) 
Mentions Hall's investment in the BSI, Inc. 
 
The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1948-bsi-dinner.html">1948 BSI Dinner</a> (endorsement of incorporation) 
 
See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Memorabilia">BSI Memorabilia</a> on our website 
 
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 8/19/14 by Randall Stock. 
This page last updated 4/29/15 by Randall Stock. 
 
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BSI, Inc. Stock Certificate

In November 1947, Edgar W. Smith, Christopher Morley, and Vincent Starrett joined together to formally incorporate The Baker Street Irreg...

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Two-Shilling Award: William S. Hall

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QaWfgEllBYe-_9tXxyMCSYz1bGb0tZysj7qrq0Fum2j1A3H3FlSb42VBaQcJ3i94BWUxJaCmvJmLgOL3mwwVMkOkSGZbo1ZBB_YgPJ2RUbQFkLVDklYmfiGPXEVeh1r83vCEyxh4LwRi/s1600/memorabilia-2-shilling-hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Two-Shilling Award: Baker Street Irregulars 1966" border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QaWfgEllBYe-_9tXxyMCSYz1bGb0tZysj7qrq0Fum2j1A3H3FlSb42VBaQcJ3i94BWUxJaCmvJmLgOL3mwwVMkOkSGZbo1ZBB_YgPJ2RUbQFkLVDklYmfiGPXEVeh1r83vCEyxh4LwRi/s1600/memorabilia-2-shilling-hall.jpg" title="Click this Two-Shilling Award for W.S. Hall to see a larger version" width="640" /></a></div>
 
Julian Wolff initiated the “Two-Shilling Award” in 1962, and bestowed this first “extraordinary Irregular award” on Rex Stout "for extraordinary devotion to the cause beyond the call of duty."  In 1966, Wolff gave the fifth Two-Shilling Award to William S. Hall, “one of our Founding Fathers.” 
 
William S. Hall was, indeed, there at the beginning.  A member of Christopher Morley’s Three Hours For Lunch Club and Grillparzer Club (Morley’s clubs that eventually morphed into the BSI), Hall frequently was mentioned in Morley’s Saturday Review of Literature articles.  Hall attended the "<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/02/the-1934-bsi-dinner.html">first meeting</a>" of the BSI, on January 6, 1934.  In his 1/27/1934 “Bowling Green” article, Morley wrote: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
W.S.H. [i.e., Bill Hall] secretary of the Baker Street Irregulars, has allowed us to look over the minutes of the first meeting of the club.”</blockquote>
In 1944, when Edgar Smith instituted Investiture in the BSI, Hall was part of the first class of Investitures, as The Blue Carbuncle. 
 
The Two-Shilling Award is a tradition that has lasted through the years, and it is still periodically bestowed on worthy BSI. For a list of Two-Shilling Award recipients, see our <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/links.html">Links</a> page. 
 
The BSI Trust acquired Hall’s Two-Shilling Award in 2014. 
 
Click on the above photo to see a larger version of it, and maximize your browser window to see the most detail. 
 
<h4>
Related Materials</h4>
The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/02/the-1934-bsi-dinner.html">1934 BSI Dinner</a> 
 
The <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1944-bsi-dinner.html">1944 BSI Dinner</a> (Hall's investiture) 
 
<a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/01/glossary.html">Explanation of BSI Honours & Terms</a> 
 
See all the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/search/label/Memorabilia">BSI Memorabilia</a> on our website 
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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. 
 
Page composed on 9/6/14 by Andy Solberg. 
This page last updated 9/7/14 by Andy Solberg.

Two-Shilling Award: William S. Hall

Julian Wolff initiated the “Two-Shilling Award” in 1962, and bestowed this first “extraordinary Irregular award” on Rex Stout "for...

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