The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley.[2] As of 2015, the nonprofit organization had about 300 members worldwide.[3]
The group has published The Baker Street Journal, an "irregular quarterly of Sherlockiana", since 1946.[2] Members of the society participate in "the game"[4] which postulates that Holmes and Doctor Watson were real and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was merely Watson's "literary agent".[5]
History
The BSI was an outgrowth of Christopher Morley's informal group, "the Three Hours for Lunch Club," which discussed art and literature.[6] The inaugural meeting of the BSI was held in 1934 at Christ Cella's restaurant in New York City.[7] Initial attendees included William Gillette, Vincent Starrett, Alexander Woollcott, and Gene Tunney.[6] Morley kept meetings quite irregular, but after leadership passed to Edgar W. Smith, meetings became more regular.[6][8]
In February 1934, Elmer Davis, a friend of Morley, wrote a constitution for the group explaining its purpose and stating that anyone who passed a certain test was eligible to join.[9] This test, a crossword puzzle by Morley's younger brother Frank, was published in the May 1934 issue of Saturday Review of Literature.[9]
Edgar W. Smith led the BSI from 1940 until 1960, initially using the title "Buttons" and later "Buttons-cum-Commissionaire".[10][11] Julian Wolff was the head of the BSI from late 1960 to 1986, and used the title "Commissionaire".[11] From 1986 until 1997, Thomas L. Stix Jr. was the leader of the organization, and used the title "Wiggins".[12][13] The title "Wiggins" has since been used for the leadership position.[13][14]
The organization long resisted admitting women, a policy which spawned a female-centered organization, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes,[8] whose founders had picketed an all-male BSI gathering.[15] The BSI invested its first woman in 1991:[6]Dame Jean Conan Doyle.[16] She was followed by Katherine McMahon, the first woman to solve the crossword puzzle.[16] McMahon was followed by Edith Meiser,[16] who wrote numerous Holmesian radio scripts for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Leadership of the BSI passed to Michael Whelan in 1997[13] and Michael Kean in 2020.[14]
Membership
Membership is by invitation only[8] based on criteria unknown to the public.[6] Members take on a name inspired by the canon[17] with the head of the organization known as "Wiggins".[6] As of 2020, the organization has had a total of 701 members, whose names, years of investiture, and pseudonym are listed in the reference volume Sherlock Holmes and the Cryptic Clues.[18]
Notable members
Among the members of the Baker Street Irregulars, past and present:
The group publishes a periodical, The Baker Street Journal. The original series of the BSJ was started in 1946, but it ceased in 1949.[6] In 1951, Edgar Smith began publishing it again as a quarterly; it has continued publication since that time.[6]
Scion societies
The BSI has spawned numerous "scion societies",[7] many of which are officially recognized by the BSI. The first was The Five Orange Pips of Westchester County, New York, in 1935.[6] Independent Sherlockian groups include the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, the U.K.’s Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and Canada's The Bootmakers of Toronto.
References
^"Entertainment and Fantasy": The 1940 Dinner". BSI Archival History. Retrieved 19 November 2020. See the section "A Picture of the Crowd".
^ a b c d eKaska, Kathleen (March 29, 2014). "A Society like None Other: The Baker Street Irregulars Celebrates 80 Years". Kings River Life. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az"The Official BSI Members List and BSI Honours" (PDF). The Baker Street Irregulars. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
^"Episode 125: Revenge of the Sherlockian Nerd".
^Blumenberg, Taylor (January 10, 2016). "Episode 71: Bert Coules". Baker Street Babes. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^ a bZeffren, Tamar (September 26, 2015). "The 1971 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^Claire, Nancy (September 15, 2013). "Sherlockian Girl Goes Wilde: An Interview with Lyndsay Faye". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
^Zeffren, Tamar (October 31, 2016). "The 2005 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^Zeffren, Tamar (March 12, 2016). "The 1985 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^"In Memoriam: Dr. David Musto". Yale Daily News. October 13, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
^Monty, Scott (January 8, 2017). "The 2017 BSI Weekend Ended in Friendship".
^ a bMehegan, David (November 28, 2005). "Guilt by association: For 65 years, a Boston club has made Sherlock Holmes mysteries a scholarly pastime". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^Zeffren, Tamar (March 12, 2016). "The 1986 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
^Shashower, Daniel (July 10, 2015). "Why Sherlock Holmes Endures". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
^"Frederic D. Steele, An Illustrator, 70". The New York Times. July 7, 1944. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
^Zeffren, Tamar (May 19, 2016). "The 1993 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.