I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Episode 184: Tying One On with Sherlock Holmes

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“a certain quiet primness of dress” [MUSG] </h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Doyle" from Beau Ties Ltd.</td></tr>
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For the last 26 years, Beau Ties Ltd. has been a Vermont-based U.S. manufacturer of bow ties. And sometimes we see glimpses of Sherlock Holmes coming through.<br />
<br />
Because we're bow tie fanciers and astute observers of things, we decided to chat with an executive from Beau Ties Ltd. to understand their thinking. So we sat down with Cy Tall, President of Beau Ties Ltd.<br />
<br />
From her choice of college major to her consulting career, Cy's decisions eventually led her to this fascinating industry. She tells us about how the team gets its inspiration for tie names, how clubs can work with Beau Ties to get their own custom ties, how the conversion service (convert your neck tie to a bow tie) came about, how the company has accommodated more than just men with its products, and more.<br />
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We also have a special Beau Ties Ltd. discount for IHOSE listeners: just use the code <b>HOLMES15</b> at checkout from January 15-30, 2020 and you'll enjoy 15 percent off your order.<br />
<br />
Also, tune in for the latest <b>Canonical Couplet</b>. We have another opportunity for you to win a prize in this episode.<br />
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<b>Sponsors</b></h2>
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<a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a> is our lead sponsor. They've been with us for nearly the entire run. Please visit their site and let them know you found them via I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.<br />
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<b>Links</b></h2>
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<li>This episode: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose184" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose184</a></li>
<li><a href="http://beautiesltd.com/">Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont</a></li>
<li><a href="https://catalog.beautiesltd.com/january-2020/page/1">The January 2020 Beau Ties Catalog</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.beautiesltd.com/products/afoot-bow-tie">Afoot</a> bow tie</li>
<li><a href="https://www.beautiesltd.com/products/baskerville-bow-tie?_pos=12&_sid=eb2962e9c&_ss=r">Baskerville</a> bow tie</li>
<li>Discount code: <b>HOLMES15</b></li>
<li><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/05/beau-ties.html">Beau Ties related to Sherlock Holmes</a> (I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere)</li>
<li><a href="http://bsiweekend.com/">The BSI Weekend</a></li>
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Episode 184: Tying One On with Sherlock Holmes

“a certain quiet primness of dress” [MUSG] "Doyle" from Beau Ties Ltd. For the last 26 years, Beau Ties Ltd. has been...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Remembering Bob Thomalen, BSI

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"gregarious in his habits and communicative in his nature, with a quick wit and a ready smile"[VALL] </h4>
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Over the past couple of years, we've eased back on the number of Sherlockian obituaries (or "terraces") that we post here on the site. We were concerned that it would become something of a mausoleum rather than a site that reports on goings-on in the world of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts and popular culture.<br />
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But there are certain individuals among our little hobby who loom large and have an impact on many of us and on the ways we come together. One such man was Robert Thomalen, BSI ("The Three Garridebs"), who served as "Cartwright" (something of a right-hand man) to Tom Stix's "Wiggins". Bob passed away in New York on December 5, 2019.<br />
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Because of Bob's personality, reputation and influence on the Sherlockian world, we knew that this wasn't something that we could write on our own. There are so many stories, both public and private, that convey the meaning and enthusiasm that Bob brought to our world, that we solicited some.<br />
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As you'll see, these stories run the gamut, from respected Sherlockian to friendly uncle to an incorrigible funster.<br />
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<b>"I am now about to summarise" [ENGR]</b></h4>
We'll start with a summary from <b>Peter Blau, BSI ("Black Peter")</b>:<br />
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So many memories of Bob . . . including his often-told Hunchback of Notre Dame joke... here's a draft of a few facts for my newsletter obit:<br />
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Robert E. Thomalen (“The Three Garridebs”) died on Dec. 5.  Beginning in 1986 he presided over many “Autumn in Baker Street” (and one “Springtime in Baker Street”) conferences, which he boasted combined “scholarship with friendship, emotion with reason, and explication with participation”), and in 1987 was appointed “Cartwright” of the Baker Street Irregulars, receiving the BSI’s Queen Victoria Medal when he retired in 1996.  He received his BSI Investiture in 1983, and the Two-Shilling Award in 1988.</blockquote>
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More on that Hunchback joke later.<br />
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<b>"if you can lay your hand on a Garrideb" [3GAR]</b></h4>
<b>Sue Vizoskie, BSI ("Mrs. Saunders")</b>, a longtime member of the Three Garridebs, writes Bob's official Sherlockian obituary from his home Sherlockian society:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Bob was a very early member of the <a href="http://3garridebs.homestead.com/">Three Garridebs of Westchester County</a>. <a href="http://3garridebs.homestead.com/history.html">According to his scion history</a>, Bob first attended a Three Garridebs meeting in February 1978. He and Peter Deschamps, another new member at the same meeting, were the seventh and eighth members of our scion. (Theresa Thomalen, Bob’s wife, was the first female member of the Three Garridebs and was soon joined by Eleanor Schweickert and Adele Cleary.)<br />
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Bob founded Prescott’s Press in May 1978, writing most of the articles in the inaugural issue and beyond. He continued to edit Prescott’s Press through December 1982. (After a hiatus, Warren Randall assumed editorship in December 1988.) In 1979, Bob became an officer in the Three Garridebs and served until September 1993. During this period, Bob was the master of ceremonies at the meetings, supported by the other officers. In 1986, he was given the Three Garridebs’ Two Shilling award. This was followed in 1997 with the scion’s Queen Victoria letter and in 1998, the HA HA award for the most humorous paper of the year. <br />
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Bob attended his first BSI Annual Dinner in 1980 and was invested in 1983 into the BSI as "The Three Garridebs."  In 1988. Thomas Stix, Jr., honored Bob with the Two-Shilling Award, the BSI’s highest award, and in 1996, Bob received the BSI’s Queen Victoria Medal.<br />
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Bob, ably assisted by his wife, Theresa, was the creator and impresario of Autumn in Baker Street, an annual weekend conference running from 1982 to 2000 with a reprise as Springtime in Baker Street in April 2006 and a final Autumn in Baker Street in September 2007.  If you were an attendee at any of these weekends, you are recalling how much fun you had.   <br />
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We will greatly miss Bob--his sense of humor, his gregariousness, his kindness, and his friendship. For many Sherlockians, Bob was one of the first Sherlockians they met. His smile was welcoming as was his greeting, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He enjoyed the Sherlockian world and playing the game, and he wanted you to enjoy it, too. <br />
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He was a mentor to many Sherlockians. He encouraged participation and ideas and new activities. He encouraged many to present poems and papers at meetings as well as at Autumn in Baker Street. As he listened to an idea, his eyes would twinkle, he’d smile, and then he’d say, “That sounds great. You do it.” And you would. <br />
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If you knew Bob, you have your own special memories. On a personal note, Bob (and Bill Schweickert) encouraged us to expand a small picnic and tea for four into the scion activity which grew into our Annual Victorian Picnic and Tea, running for twenty years. He encouraged our idea for the Gasfitters Ball as a Saturday evening entertainment at an Autumn in Baker Street, and that activity was repeated twice more.<br />
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And so, dear friends, it is impossible for a Garrideb to know how much of our fun and laughter and enjoyment of our Sherlockian friendships and gatherings we owe to Bob. Those who knew Bob were very lucky, and those in the scion who didn’t know him have benefited from the example set by Bob and the other early officers. </blockquote>
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<b>"my uncle began to speak loudly" [BERY]</b></h4>
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Another personal note connected to Autumn in Baker Street comes from <b>Al Gregory, BSI ("The Grimpen Postmaster")</b>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A large sink hole opens in the heart. How is this even possible? I, like many Sherlockians, remember Bob mostly from Autumn in Baker Street. He'd be standing on the podium behind the lectern and greet us with that great big smile of his. It was just like having a favorite uncle of yours welcoming you to a family reunion. It was a very warming feeling to see and hear him in that role.<br />
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Bob was a very warm fellow who genuinely loved people, and it showed. I only saw him get angry once in the 30-some years that I knew him. How many of us could make such a boast about ourselves?<br />
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Then there were the parties that he and Theresa hosted for us at their house. More warmth and jovial camaraderie.<br />
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Goodbye Bob! Knowing you was a treat and an honor.</blockquote>
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<h4>
<b>"I looked at the clock" [CROO]</b></h4>
The Baker Street Irregulars has been compiling an oral history from as many members as possible, and in 2008, <b>Francine Kitts, BSI ("Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope")</b> interviewed Bob. It can be found on the <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/06/robert-thomalen-interview-oral-history.html">BSI Trust website</a>.<br />
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Francine also has her own very special memories to share here:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Bob was my Sherlockian mentor and special friend. He had the best sense of humor, which he never lost, even in these later years. He still made me laugh when we spoke on the phone. He loved to tell the story of the time he came to speak at my Holmes class in 2003. He always teased me about the fact that I had everything planned in advance and kept meticulous notes on the upcoming class. I, of course, thought that he had a lecture planned, so when, on the drive to the school, he asked me what I'd like him to discuss, I was horrified. He told that story for years. If you knew Bob, you know that he had the whole class eating out of the palm of his hand.<br />
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About a year ago, Richard and I went to visit Bob, and he had a special gift for me. He knew that the one item in all his collection that I loved was the clock of the Beeton's Christmas Annual cover, which he had commissioned. It happened to have also been Terry's favorite clock, so Bob saved it even though he sold his entire collection. That day he had that clock wrapped up and waiting for me, and it will always be one of my most prized possessions.  <br />
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For many years every time we were together we made sure we took a picture for "our album." I have a treasure trove of memories and will miss that wonderful man.</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beeton's Christmas Annual clock</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Francine Kitts (center) with Theresa and Bob Thomalen</td></tr>
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<h4>
<b>"little cries suggestive of encouragement" [STUD]</b></h4>
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<b>Robert Katz, BSI ("Dr. Ainstree")</b> has fond memories of Bob from their early days at the BSI dinner, and his enthusiasm for administering meetings differently:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I remember standing in the ballroom of the Regency Hotel in January, 1983, joking with Bob Thomalen and Bob Coghill. I remarked that Julian Wolff [then head of the BSI] must be fond of the name "Robert", as the three of us had just received our Irregular Shillings that evening.<br />
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I can't recall when I first met Bob Thomalen but he was the kind of guy who made a strong and positive first impression. I liked him immensely and immediately, as did everyone in the Sherlockian world.<br />
<br />
His Autumn in Baker Street events, for many years held at Bear Mountain, NY, had already become legendary by the time I was able to attend my first, in 1987. I was relocating to New Jersey and Bob went out of his way to make it possible for me to be there and to be one of the speakers. His wit and charm were matched only by his attention to detail in the administration of these fabulous events.<br />
<br />
Once we'd settled in Morristown, my wife and I attended a meeting of The Three Garridebs, that night meeting in Eastchester, NY. Bob moderated a brief discussion of one of the stories. A few years later, I started The Epilogues of Sherlock Holmes, in NJ, and held a lengthier discussion of a story, based on the way Bob handled his meeting.  I remember speaking with Bob shortly afterwards and he encouraged me to take the then bold step of using a discussion of the stories as the entire content of a scion meeting. I don't think I would have undertaken this on my own had Bob not told me it was the right thing to do. The group was a success and Bob and Terry frequently attended and were great participants in our conversations.<br />
<br />
I also recall many small dinners and other gatherings just chatting with Bob. He was always smart, funny, warm, encouraging, welcoming, and just fun to be around. He had a terrific knowledge of all things Sherlockian, although he always downplayed that because of his innate modesty. <br />
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There are many Sherlockians who are well-liked. There are many Sherlockians who are well-respected. Bob was both of them. But he was also truly beloved by everyone who knew him. His passing leaves a great emotional void. Few like him.</blockquote>
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<h4>
<b>"some really extraordinary stories" [STOC]</b></h4>
<b>Sonia Fetherston, BSI ("The Solitary Cyclist")</b> has written an upcoming book about Julian Wolff, and in her research, she interviewed Bob Thomalen. Here's what she wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Bob was one of the wonderful contributors to my book, <i><b>Commissionaire: Julian Wolff and His Baker Street Irregulars</b></i> (coming Summer 2020). I was privileged to interview Bob almost two years ago for that project. A great man, with wonderful stories to share. As we were saying goodbye I thanked him, but he insisted the thanks were all his; he said he loved reminiscing about the old days and he was genuinely concerned that he’d bored me. Nothing further from the truth! He was extremely interesting and, above all, very kind. </blockquote>
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<h4>
<b>"quietly and discreetly" [3STU]</b></h4>
In his role as "Cartwright," Bob helped with some of the administrative functions of the society. Part of that was the investitures — which he took seriously and guarded the information very diligently.<br />
<br />
<b>Julia Rosenblatt, BSI ("Mrs. Turner")</b>, who was one of the first women to receive an investiture in the BSI in 1991 (you can hear Julia in <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose103">Episode 103: Al and Julia Rosenblatt</a> and about that monumental moment of the 1991 Honours List in <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose89">Episode 89: The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes</a>) remembers this particularly poignant moment:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As you may know, his wife did the calligraphy for the BSI investiture certificates. So Bob was one of the very few to know of Tom Stix’s intention in 1991 to admit women as full members of the BSI.<br />
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When I walked into the cocktail party, Bob greeted me with “Congratulations.” I had no idea why. I graciously accepted the congratulations and never gave it another thought.  Bob was very worried that he had given it away. But since I had no inkling that it was afoot, he did not reveal anything.</blockquote>
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<h4>
<b>"These modern gramophones are a remarkable invention.” [MAZA]</b></h4>
Autumn in Baker Street is how we first got to know Bob, and it's what we talked the most about with Bob when he was on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episodes <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose11">11</a> and <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose12">12</a>. We've gone back and grabbed his interview and put it together in <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ihearofsherlock/remembering-bob-thomalen">a new special episode</a>:<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/742945066&color=%2372d2fc&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
In this episode, Bob also talks about his association with former "Wiggins" of the BSI, Tom Stix ("The Norwood Builder") and John Bennett Shaw, BSI ("The Hans Sloane of My Age"), as well as his own origins as a Sherlockian.<br />
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<h4>
<b>"capable of heroic self-sacrifice..." [NOBL]</b></h4>
In that interview, Bob mentions in passing some of his other hobbies, such as magic. <b>Tom Francis, BSI ("The Imperial Opera at Warsaw")</b> reminds us of that hobby in one of the things he remembers about Bob:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Do you know about the time when he was doing mystery weekends and the magician set himself on fire? Bob grabbed the guy and put out the flames. Bob ended up severely burned. It affected him physically and emotionally. <br />
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He received an award for his bravery. At some function (BSI?) where he was being recognized someone yelled out, "Maybe next time you'll get the posthumous version." I used quotation marks but I am sure that is not the correct quote.<br />
<br />
We have two fireplaces and when we had company people always enjoyed the fire so one time when Bob was here we lit the fire. He had to leave the room, the open flames made him cry. <br />
<br />
He was crazy about clocks and had a ton of Holmes timepieces.<br />
<br />
The bulk of my Holmes friends go all the way back to his Autumn in Baker Street meetings.<br />
<br />
He was one funny bastard.</blockquote>
<br />
Here's a photo of one of the friends Tom made at Autumn in Baker Street, thanks to Bob:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvZhIe3Mc1U/XhzYP5O0iaI/AAAAAAABK0w/tXTv-Xomj0ISwPFWmGGKj6pqdQOxOjoQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Mickey%2BFromkin%2BBob%2BThomalen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lvZhIe3Mc1U/XhzYP5O0iaI/AAAAAAABK0w/tXTv-Xomj0ISwPFWmGGKj6pqdQOxOjoQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Mickey%2BFromkin%2BBob%2BThomalen.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mickey Fromkin and Bob Thomalen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4>
<b>"a drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt" [SCAN]</b></h4>
<b>Ray Betzner, BSI ("The Agony Column")</b> brings us some very vivid imagery  to complement the photo above:<br />
<blockquote>
This goes back to one of my first BSI weekends, maybe 1986 or so. <br />
<br />
For some reason, John Bennett Shaw took a shine to me and at the cocktail party before the BSI dinner asked if I had any plans for breakfast on Saturday, the next day. I did not.<br />
<br />
He suggested I meet him in the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel at 8 a.m. with Bob Thomalen and that the three of us would have “an adventure.” Sounded like fun.<br />
<br />
Bob, as was his custom, wore a full dress outfit to the dinner: tuxedo, but with a top hat, white gloves and a cane. This was in the days when tuxedos were still in the minority at the dinner. He looked like he should have been out dancing with Fred and Ginger at the Rainbow Room. He was courtly and friendly and, as the evening wore on, was also welcome voice of cheer at the dinner.<br />
<br />
After the dinner, I found myself huddled into a cab with Ely Liebow and Bob Mangler and we went to the Iroquois Hotel (next to the Algonquin), then a bit tatty, but much cheaper than it is today. They led me to someone’s suite and a loud party was in progress, with Bob roaring through the crowd wearing most of his tux, but with the hat stuffed under his jacket and doing a Quasimodo impression for reasons that eluded me then and do so today. When I left at 2:30 or so in the morning, Bob was still going strong. <br />
<br />
I got a few hours sleep and managed to get myself showered, shaved and dressed and to the Algonquin lobby at 8. <br />
<br />
“Where’s Thomalen?” barked Shaw as I went through the doors. <br />
<br />
I shrugged. <br />
<br />
“Let’s go, I have a cab. We can’t keep her waiting,” said Shaw with a sigh. <br />
<br />
We went out into the frigid morning on West 44th Street, piled in the cab and waited for a few minutes. Finally John gave the cabbie an address and we started out. I looked back and just as the cab pulled from the curb, Thomalen came racing out of the Algonquin lobby without a coat and still in the remnants of the tux from last night. He started down the street at good pace and caught up with us at the red light on 5th Avenue. Puffing and a bit chagrined, he plopped himself in. <br />
<br />
Shaw grumbled. <br />
<br />
“I could use a drink,” Bob said under his breath. <br />
<br />
“It’s 8 a.m.!” I said. <br />
<br />
“And your point would be?” Bob replied. <br />
<br />
Bob laughed. I laughed. Shaw laughed. The cabbie laughed. <br />
<br />
On the way uptown, Bob pulled out a bow tie, cufflinks and assembled himself into a slightly less disreputable version of the man who had raced through the Iroquois suite a few hours before.<br />
<br />
It was only then that I thought to ask Shaw where we were headed. <br />
<br />
“Didn’t I tell you? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Meiser">Edith Meiser</a> has invited us to brunch.”<br />
<br />
When we arrived, she was welcoming to all of us, but especially to Bob, who bowed low, kissed the back of her hand and treated her like a certain gracious lady, which she was.<br />
<br />
Edith served the strongest Bloody Marys I’ve had before or since. <br />
<br />
I will never match Bob’s adventurous spirit, but I will always admire how he could be a bon vivant one moment and winking rascal the next. It seems to me he embodied the best of the BSI.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
"the shoulders rounded and the body hunched" [HOUN]</h2>
And now that we're caught up on our Bob Thomalen stories, here's that Quasimodo joke that Peter and Ray referred to. Bob was fond of telling this joke, and he managed to make it a physical one as well as verbal.<br />
<br />
You have to imagine him going through the gestures, speaking in the accent, and throwing down the lines. Tom Francis has already agreed to retell this joke during the BSI Weekend, and we're sure many people will enjoy sharing it as well.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A bishop advertises a job to ring the bell in his tower. The only job applicant is a hunchback with no arms. Bishop: "How can you do the job? You can't pull the rope!" Hunchback: "I have a plan — but we have to go to the top of the tower, where the bell is." So they climb all those stairs to the top of the tower. Once they reach the belfy, the bishop says, "Okay, show me your plan."<br />
<br />
The hunchback runs and jumps at the bell, smashing his face into it. Sure enough, he rings the bell. Despite his misgivings, the bishop decides to hire the hunchback to ring the bell.<br />
<br />
Every day the hunchback comes in and rings the bell, hitting it as hard as he can with his head. Then one day, the hunchback decides to try to ring the bell even louder.<br />
<br />
So he goes to the farthest corner of the tower, runs as fast as he can toward the bell, and jumps up and hits it with his head. The bell rings loud and clear, but unfortunately, the hunchback hit the bell so hard he's a little groggy. He staggers around a bit, and falls out a window to the street below.<br />
<br />
A crowd gathers around the hunchback's mangled body lying in the street; the bishop goes out to investigate the commotion.<br />
<br />
A policeman arrives and again asks: "Who is this guy?"<br />
<br />
The bishop replies: "I don't know his name, but his face rings a bell."</blockquote>
<br />
That usually had everyone doubled over in laughter. Reveling in his audience's joy, Bob could never resist adding a coda:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The bishop is now in need of another bell ringer, so he puts another ad in the paper. The next day, a man (who has arms) arrives, claiming to be the hunchback's brother.<br />
<br />
"Hi, I've come to take over my brother's job." The bishop offers his condolences for the loss of his brother, and then escorts him to the tower.<br />
<br />
"Your brother used to ring the bell with his face," said the bishop. "Will you do that, too, or will you use your arms?"<br />
<br />
The hunchback's brother replies "If my brother can ring it with his face, so can I!"<br />
<br />
So saying, he runs full bore at the bell, glances off it with his face, falls out the window and to his death in the street below.<br />
<br />
The bishop, horrified, rushes down to see what he can do for the poor man. A crowd jas already gathered around the unfortunate soul. Soon a policeman arrives and asks the bishop "Do you know who this man is?"<br />
<br />
The bishop replies, "No, but he's a dead ringer for his brother."</blockquote>
<br />
Sherlockian or not, interactions with Bob invariably meant you went away with a smile on your face.<br />
<br />
While we may never know another like him, those who knew him count our blessings and share those blessings by sharing our stories about him.<br />
<br />
If you have anything to add about Bob, please consider leaving a comment below.<br />
<br />
And as Bob closed so many meetings, we end this remembrance with <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/11/when-i-spend-long-evening-with-holmes.html#.XhzgYMhKjb0">Bill Schweikert's classic poem</a> that Bob recited in the close of that episode above:<br />
<br />
<h3 style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 21px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;">
A Long Evening With Holmes</h3>
<h4 style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Merriweather; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;">
by Bill Schweikert</h4>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
When the world rushes in with worries and cares,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
And my problems and headaches are coming in pairs,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
I just climb in my mind up those seventeen stairs,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
And spend a long evening with Holmes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
The good doctor greets me and motions me in,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
Holmes grasps my hand and lays down his violin,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
Then we sit by the fire and sip a tall gin</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
When I spend a long evening with Holmes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
And while we're discussing his cases galore,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
If I'm lucky there comes a loud knock at the door,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
In stumbles a client, head spattered with gore</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
When I spend a long evening with Holmes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
Watson binds up the client's poor face</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
While Holmes soon extracts all the facts of the case,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
Then off in a hansom to Brixton we race</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
When I spend a long evening with Holmes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
The adventure is solved, Holmes makes it all right.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
Then, back to the lodgings by dawn's early light,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
And a breakfast by Hudson to wind up the night</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
When I spend a long evening with Holmes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
So this modern rat-race can't keep me in a cage.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
I have a passport to a far better age,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
As close as the bookshelf, as near as a page,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
I can spend a long evening with Holmes.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
--</div>
<div>
<br /></div>

Remembering Bob Thomalen, BSI

"gregarious in his habits and communicative in his nature, with a quick wit and a ready smile"[VALL] Over the past couple of...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes in LEGO: The Strange Case of the Interlocking Blocks

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<b>"he would bring his little boy home a box of bricks" [TWIS]</b></h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DhoZdh5ViI/Xhn6AnvkDYI/AAAAAAABKyc/HqJ-64FQb4AjIcBEFN6k0uR6XRx885u4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Lego%2BSherlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="736" height="584" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8DhoZdh5ViI/Xhn6AnvkDYI/AAAAAAABKyc/HqJ-64FQb4AjIcBEFN6k0uR6XRx885u4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Lego%2BSherlock.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I suppose my association with LEGO blocks goes back just a bit farther than my interest in Sherlock Holmes. LEGOs were an essential part of my childhood, an opportunity to build all kinds of creations, in a variety of colors.<br />
<br />
Now that I am a father, the hard plastic blocks, with their sharp corners, have become a potential hazard in my children's bedroom, if I have the misfortune to enter the room in bare feet. (I'm sure a few readers have experienced this unique pain.)<br />
<br />
Whereas the LEGO sets of my childhood were fairly generic in their themes (castle, rescue vehicles, spaceship), LEGO began to release <a href="https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Licensed_themes">licensed sets</a> in 1999, when they released their first "Star Wars" themed set.<br />
<br />
Since then, LEGOs have been a sort of barometer of pop culture sensations: <a href="https://amzn.to/3a2tFC0">Harry Potter</a>, <a href="https://amzn.to/2tTldUN">Indiana Jones</a>, and a plethora of superheroes have been well represented over the past couple of decades. LEGO movies and TV series have continued to interact with popular entertainment. But one famous figure from literature, film and television has never been officially represented: the great detective, Sherlock Holmes!<br />
<br />
Holmes hasn't been <i>completely </i>absent from the LEGO universe. Back in 2011, one of the characters released as part of "Minifigures Series 5" was simply named "<a href="https://amzn.to/2RayMXU">Detective</a>." (<i>Link goes to Amazon</i>.) The Detective minifigure's features will be instantly familiar to Sherlockians, or indeed, to most people who have seen the iconic Sherlock Holmes look: deerstalker cap, Inverness cape, and magnifying glass.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://amzn.to/2RayMXU"><img alt=" Lego Series 5 Detective Mini Figure" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sbTc21GrIyg/Xhn7Dqc-aQI/AAAAAAABKyk/ZcfePAXyF80cWbSPXb6SCxLlpcVISsnfACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Lego%2BSeries%2B5%2BDetective%2BMini%2BFigure.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Detective character also appears (as a minor character) in a 2013 video game entitled <i><a href="https://amzn.to/2NgHgMc">LEGO City Undercover</a></i>, under the name "Doorlock Homes." Clearly, LEGO has flirted with the idea of Sherlock Holmes being part of the LEGO Universe. Still, official Sherlock Holmes LEGO sets are conspicuous by their absence in the "pantheon."<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/09/lego-recreation-of-sherlock-sitting-room.html#.Xg3thkdKiM9">As reported earlier</a> on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, LEGO fans still tend to push for the Great Detective's official inclusion in the world of LEGO-dom. A search for "Sherlock Holmes" at the <a href="https://ideas.lego.com/">LEGO Ideas website</a> will yield a host of different concepts for Holmes-themed sets, whether it be a traditional representation of the flat at 221B, or the characters of the BBC's highly successful <i>Sherlock</i>. As fellow contributor Margaret M. McMahon reported <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/08/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes-re.html#.Xg4VDUdKiM9">back in 2015</a>, author James Macaluso has published <a href="https://amzn.to/2TbCcwp">several of the canonical Holmes stories in LEGO format</a>, all of which are available on <a href="https://amzn.to/2TbCcwp">Amazon</a>. (Macaluso has also published two different "Sherlock Holmes Alphabets," also done in LEGO.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BZNwaZm7DI/Xhn79xQsPnI/AAAAAAABKys/PVppEPxlNBYswvmAMqO7jTDOSrbwgM2kACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Lego%2BSherlock%2Bcast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1440" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8BZNwaZm7DI/Xhn79xQsPnI/AAAAAAABKys/PVppEPxlNBYswvmAMqO7jTDOSrbwgM2kACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Lego%2BSherlock%2Bcast.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Over at the <a href="https://lego-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page">LEGO Fanonpedia</a> website (a LEGO fan site), at least one LEGO enthusiast has shared ideas that range from a <a href="https://lego-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/LEGO_Sherlock_Holmes:_the_video_game">LEGO-themed video game</a> based on the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes films to a <a href="https://lego-fanon.fandom.com/wiki/SH:_Sherlock_Holmes_Advent_Calender">LEGO Sherlock Holmes Advent Calendar</a>!<br />
<br />
And <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSGaIrMqrsc">on YouTube</a>, a creative animator has reproduced the final scene from the cliffhanger <i>Sherlock </i>episode at the end of series 2, "The Reichenbach Fall," combining the audio from the episode with LEGO representations of the characters:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TSGaIrMqrsc" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
Perhaps one of the issues that gets in the way of an official Sherlock Holmes LEGO set is the sheer number of different representations of the great detective over the course of film and TV history. Which version of Holmes would be the most successful LEGO form? The Guy Ritchie version, the <i>Sherlock </i>version, the <i>Elementary </i>version, or the classic version with the deerstalker, who has already shown up, albeit anonymously?<br />
<br />
One thing seems certain: fans of the Sherlock Holmes mythos and LEGO blocks will continue to express their creativity and their love for the great detective in a variety of ways.<br />
<br />
Maybe one day, the good folks at LEGO will bring one of these ideas to life as an official set (or sets), thereby enabling a new generation to discover Holmes for themselves.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<i>Some links may be Amazon affiliate links. We earn a small commission when you buy.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />

Sherlock Holmes in LEGO: The Strange Case of the Interlocking Blocks

"he would bring his little boy home a box of bricks" [TWIS] I suppose my association with LEGO blocks goes back just a bit f...

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by Cory Howell

Baker Street Elementary – The Benefit of Hindsight

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
“opticians are not very numerous” [GOLD]  </h4>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-VumJdilF0/WJa_9TrpA3I/AAAAAAAAuO8/52U-hZ7WY4Qz2Oqo84lF8KQnF0zynZ5YQCPcB/s1600/Baker%2BStreet%2BElementary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-VumJdilF0/WJa_9TrpA3I/AAAAAAAAuO8/52U-hZ7WY4Qz2Oqo84lF8KQnF0zynZ5YQCPcB/s640/Baker%2BStreet%2BElementary.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The year 2020 is upon us, and you've probably seen your fair share of 20/20 references, as humans are all too predictable to resist a tired cliche.<br />
<br />
Since that brings to mind the "vision thing" (to quote George H.W. Bush), we're going to take a look back (thank you, hindsight) at a rather vexing error in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories.<br />
<br />
Arthur Conan Doyle began his medical career as an oculist, or a physician specializing in treating diseases of the eye. The term oculist dates to 1598, but today we're more accustomed to the term ophthalmologist, optometrist, or optician — not to be confused with an optimist. (Although to be clear, opticians are more concerned with providing corrective lenses than treating disease.)<br />
<br />
Conan Doyle gave up his medical career to pursue writing — gradually at first, while he was waiting for patients, but then completely, as his writing career took off. And while early influences of Dr. Joseph Bell, his medical school professor, gave us the basis of Sherlock Holmes's methods, there was only one instance of Conan Doyle's medical specialty creeping into the Sherlock Holmes stories.<br />
<br />
It wasn't until 1904 when he wrote "The Adventure of the Golden Pince Nez" that we read about an eye-related disorder and its connection to crime. In the story, the victim was found stabbed to death, holding a pair of golden pince nez in his hand. By carefully observing the eyewear, Holmes was able to make the following deductions about the perpetrator:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"[A] woman of good address, attired like a lady. She has a remarkably thick nose, with eyes which are set close upon either side of it. She has a puckered forehead, a peering expression, and probably rounded shoulders. There are indications that she has had recourse to an optician at least twice during the last few months. As her glasses are of remarkable strength and as opticians are not very numerous, there should be no difficulty in tracing her.”</blockquote>
Sherlock Holmes explained how he was able to determine her physical appearance:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"You will perceive, Watson, that the glasses are <i>convex</i> and of unusual strength. A lady whose vision has been so extremely contracted all her life is sure to have the physical characteristics of such vision, which are seen in the forehead, the eyelids, and the shoulders.” [Emphasis ours. - Ed.]</blockquote>
The term "convex" is something that attracted immediate attention at the time of publication. The <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i> had a notice in its December 3, 1904 issue, and the <i>New York Medical Journal and Philadelphia Medical Journal: A Weekly Review of Medicine</i> on November 12, 1904 both took issue with the lenses being identified as convex rather than concave, as would have been appropriate for a near-sighted patient. Shortly thereafter, a letter to The Bookman's Letter Box in the January 1905 edition of <i>The Bookman: A Magazine of Literature and Life</i> also pointed out the error. (Ref. "A Vexing Error: Ophthalmology in 'The Golden Pince Nez'" by Richard J. Sveum, MD in <i><a href="https://bakerstreetirregulars.com/2012/12/31/wrong-passage/">The Wrong Passage</a></i>, BSI Press, 2012).<br />
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While this error appears in the manuscript and in the <i>Collier's</i> edition, the editors corrected it to "concave" in the <i>Strand Magazine</i>. Later, when <i>The Return of Sherlock Holmes</i> was published in England by George Newnes, Ltd. and in the United States by McClure & Philips (both 1905), and <i>The Complete Sherlock Holmes</i> by Doubleday (1932), the correction was there as well.<br />
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It turns out hindsight really <i>is</i> 20/20.<br />
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And the boys at Baker Street Elementary learn a way to use hindsight to their advantage this week...<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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Baker Street Elementary – The Benefit of Hindsight

“opticians are not very numerous” [GOLD] The year 2020 is upon us, and you've probably seen your fair share of 20/20 reference...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes's Dressing Gown(s)

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"lounging about his sitting room in his dressing-gown" [ENGR]</h4>
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While the most famous pieces of Sherlock Holmes's wardrobe may typically be his deerstalker cap and Inverness cape — ironically two items never mentioned in the Canon — he's still recognized (although less well known) in his dressing gown. William Gillette (above) famously played Sherlock Holmes on stage some 1,300 times from 1899 to 1930 in a heavy quilted and silken number.<br />
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But what do we know about the dressing gowns mentioned in conjunction with Holmes in the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? And how can you dress just as nattily as Holmes in the comfort of your own abode?<br />
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<h3>
The Original Stories</h3>
The first time (in the order the stories were published) we glimpse Sherlock Holmes in a dressing gown is in "The Man With the Twisted Lip," in which Watson describes the scene at the St. Clairs' home:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"He took off his coat and waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered about the room collecting pillows from his bed, and cushions from the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front of him."</blockquote>
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We next read of Watson discovering Holmes "lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing-gown" in "The Blue Carbuncle," as Holmes examined Henry Baker's discarded hat. The pair were later interrupted by Peterson the commissionaire, with his amazing discovery of the precious gem in the crop of the goose he brought home to his wife.<br />
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Other times when Holmes appeared in his dressing gown were days when he was sitting idly at Baker Street, such as in "The Engineer's Thumb" ("lounging about his sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of <i>The Times</i>"), "The Beryl Coronet" ("My friend rose lazily from his armchair, and stood with his hands in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder."), and "The Bruce-Partington Plans" ("He was a different man to the limp and lounging figure in the mouse-coloured dressing-gown who had prowled so restlessly only a few hours before round the fog-girt room.").<br />
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There are instances when Holmes is roused to action and, still clad in his dressing gown, wakes Watson. In "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax," "he rushed into my room. He was in his dressing-gown, but his pale, hollow-eyed face told me that his night had been a sleepless one." And in "The Resident Patient," Holmes has done everything but change into his coat: "At half-past seven next morning, in the first dim glimmer of daylight, I found him standing by my bedside in his dressing-gown." We see Holmes the quick-change artist in <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>: "'Your hat and boots, Watson, quick! Not a moment to lose!' He rushed into his room in his dressing-gown, and was back again in a few seconds in a frock-coat."<br />
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Let's not forget the dressing gown as disguise for Holmes's mannequin in the window in two stories. First, Holmes's return in "The Empty House" led Col. Sebastian Moran to mistake the bust for his real target as "It stood on a small pedestal table with an old dressing-gown of Holmes's so draped round it that the illusion from the street was absolutely perfect." Later in the story, Holmes wore it himself: "He had thrown off the seedy frock-coat, and now he was the Holmes of old in the mouse-coloured dressing-gown which he took from his effigy."<br />
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And later in "The Mazarin Stone," in an effort to fool Count Negretto Sylvius (and evidently Dr. Watson as well),<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There was a facsimile of his old friend, dressing-gown and all, the face turned three-quarters towards the window and downwards, as though reading an invisible book, while the body was sunk deep in an armchair."</blockquote>
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Yes, the dressing gown was almost akin the effect of a superhero changing from street clothes to appointed costume as our hero readied himself for any occasion.<br />
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<h3>
The Color Theory</h3>
If you read the excerpts above, you'll note that there are three colors mentioned (and in most cases no color noted whatsoever). What are we to make of this? Some Sherlockians have assumed that Holmes owned more than one dressing gown (see "Sherlock Holmes's Dressing Gown(s)," S.F. Blake, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i>, Vol. 10, No. 2, April 1960, pp. 86-89 - <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/ebooks/ebsj.html" target="_blank">available via the eBSJ</a>).<br />
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But we prefer the ingenious and tidy solution developed by Christopher Morley, the founder of the Baker Street Irregulars. In his essay "Was Sherlock Holmes an American?" which first appeared in 1936, he mentioned the controversy<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"such as, was Holmes's dressing gown blue, purple or mouse colored?" [Fn. "Elementary. This particular gown was blue when new. (<i>The Twisted Lip</i>) It had gone purple by the time of the <i>Blue Carbuncle</i>. During the long absence 1891-94, when Mrs. Hudson faithfully aired and sunned it in the backyard, it faded to mouse (<i>The Empty House</i>).</blockquote>
It was this deduction that led Morley to plan for the official colors of the Baker Street Irregulars. From <i><a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B001K2EE2W" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-link-id="969fe6edc5c975228060210db819ffb7" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="The Standard Doyle Company" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Standard-Doyle-Company-Christopher/dp/B001K2EE2W/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=969fe6edc5c975228060210db819ffb7&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3143120" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Standard Doyle Company</a><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3143120" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=969fe6edc5c975228060210db819ffb7&_cb=1450763412314" style="border: none !important; height: 0px !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; width: 0px !important;" width="0" /></i> by Steven Rothman, BSI, 2s. ("<i>The Valley of Fear</i>"), Morley wrote to Helen Hare on December 15, 1949:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
"I want to sell the BSI boys the idea of adopting <i>colors</i> for the club: to be shewn in either a rosette for the lapel, or even in a necktie. The colors, of course, to be<br />
<i>Purple, Blue and Mouse</i><br />
these being the three shades through which Sherlock's dressing gown passed in its fadings. A fine rich purple; a pleasing "electric blue" (like the dress Violet Hunter had to wear in Copper Beeches!); and then a furry, soft, comfortable mouselike gray. . . . "</blockquote>
Then came the official <a href="http://www.bsitrust.org/2015/03/the-1950-bsi-dinner.html" target="_blank">announcement at the 1950 BSI Dinner</a>. And the ties (and rosettes!) are still in use today, available to investitured Baker Street Irregulars.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fArmkXdVYfw/UkD7PWxMDVI/AAAAAAAAJMw/ZiPQdwhI0BU/s1600/Mike%2BBerdan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fArmkXdVYfw/UkD7PWxMDVI/AAAAAAAAJMw/ZiPQdwhI0BU/s640/Mike%2BBerdan.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike Berdan, BSI ("Henri Murger") sports the official BSI tie. Hear Mike on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose03" target="_blank">IHOSE #3</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Listen to us discuss dressing gowns and the color theory on <a href="http://ihose.co/trifles10" target="_blank">Trifles</a>:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/311308311&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<h3>
Get Your Own Dressing Gown</h3>
If you like the idea of lounging about in a dressing gown like Holmes, there's good news: <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/" target="_blank">Derek Rose</a>, purveyor of fine nightwear, once recommended <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/news/sherlock-holmes-dressing-gowns/" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes' Dressing Gowns</a> (link now dead). Some of these styles were worn by Benedict Cumberbatch in <i>Sherlock</i>. Others are reminiscent of Sherlocks past.<br />
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[Fair warning: these are not for the faint of budget. But they are extraordinarily beautiful and we outline them below. Click each image to enlarge.]<br />
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You could start with the <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/mens-tasseled-belt-dressing-gown-lincoln-11-pure-herringbone-wool-navy.html">Lincoln II</a>, a grey wool herringbone with navy trim.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZq5PR-qHDo/Xhn0fxSIUKI/AAAAAAABKxo/M9473pKsYhMtdj756uBqkiBAdHDKC5xHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BLincoln%2BII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CZq5PR-qHDo/Xhn0fxSIUKI/AAAAAAABKxo/M9473pKsYhMtdj756uBqkiBAdHDKC5xHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BLincoln%2BII.jpg" width="239" /></a> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-90NwC9P44Mc/Xhn0gNYyY1I/AAAAAAABKxs/9_O0XcHyw6oODiyNb8vdUOzlQeBLYxucACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BLincoln%2BII%2Bcloseup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-90NwC9P44Mc/Xhn0gNYyY1I/AAAAAAABKxs/9_O0XcHyw6oODiyNb8vdUOzlQeBLYxucACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BLincoln%2BII%2Bcloseup.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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The <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/us/mens-tasseled-belt-dressing-gown-westminster-2-pure-wool-navy.html" target="_blank">Westminster</a> is a navy blue number, in pure wool with a piped finish.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5GwDmMJt6k4/Vnjph9JN2vI/AAAAAAAAkW0/ybAOPYRiO40/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWestminster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5GwDmMJt6k4/Vnjph9JN2vI/AAAAAAAAkW0/ybAOPYRiO40/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWestminster.jpg" width="240" /></a> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZbCYhhQYaE/VnjpkRtI-jI/AAAAAAAAkW8/LDS-68J_860/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWestminster%2Bcloseup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ZbCYhhQYaE/VnjpkRtI-jI/AAAAAAAAkW8/LDS-68J_860/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWestminster%2Bcloseup.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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If looking like Benedict Cumberbatch is more your style, then you need the <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/nightwear/mens-nightwear/mens-dressing-gowns/mens-piped-dressing-gown-woburn-8-pure-silk-satin-stripe-navy.html" target="_blank">Woburn</a> in striped blue silk for £308.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pC4gvO25ACQ/VnjqZtd-WSI/AAAAAAAAkXc/4ciVPVYTkC8/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWoburn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pC4gvO25ACQ/VnjqZtd-WSI/AAAAAAAAkXc/4ciVPVYTkC8/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWoburn.jpg" width="240" /></a>  <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hGaWX8PpaBc/VnjqbPGcYUI/AAAAAAAAkXk/4hEexX3GVKE/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWoburn%2Bcloseup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hGaWX8PpaBc/VnjqbPGcYUI/AAAAAAAAkXk/4hEexX3GVKE/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BWoburn%2Bcloseup.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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Or maybe you'd like to channel your inner William Gillette with the <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/mens-tasseled-belt-dressing-gown-verona-47-pure-silk-jacquard-navy.html">Verona 47</a>, an embroidered pure silk jacquard robe.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v1pjEU3aRgM/Xhn1RxB-qxI/AAAAAAABKx8/MJROU9Vj4o0slk6hIbbbtgW-6kVxqABUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BVerona%2B47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v1pjEU3aRgM/Xhn1RxB-qxI/AAAAAAABKx8/MJROU9Vj4o0slk6hIbbbtgW-6kVxqABUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BVerona%2B47.jpg" width="239" /></a> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3odm2di_X6g/Xhn1R55pS_I/AAAAAAABKx4/gj9oB_6l7Cgw--IlKpQcjIxUB18uyhW2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BVerona%2B47%2Bcloseup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3odm2di_X6g/Xhn1R55pS_I/AAAAAAABKx4/gj9oB_6l7Cgw--IlKpQcjIxUB18uyhW2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dressing%2Bgown%2B-%2BVerona%2B47%2Bcloseup.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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And for those who really want to go upscale, there's the <a href="https://www.derek-rose.com/us/mens-tasseled-belt-dressing-gown-blandford-merino-cashmere-check-charcoal.html">Blandford</a>, a merino cashmere check in charcoal.<br />
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However, if you're prone to the reality of most budget-minded Sherlockians, there was once a way to get all three of Holmes's dressing gown colors for less than the cost of any of the Derek Rose gowns above. Admittedly, it's more of a robe than a dressing gown. If a few years ago, if you ventured to your local Costco Wholesale, you could have found plush robes in — get this — <a href="http://www.costco.com/Carole-Hochman-Ladies%E2%80%99-Plush-Full-Zip-Robe-Purple.product.100219543.html" target="_blank">purple</a>, <a href="http://www.costco.com/Carole-Hochman-Ladies%e2%80%99-Plush-Robe-Blue.product.100159578.html" target="_blank">blue</a> and <a href="http://www.costco.com/Carole-Hochman-Ladies%E2%80%99-Plush-Full-Zip-Robe-Gray.product.100219537.html" target="_blank">gray</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Costco's BSI robes</td></tr>
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<br />

Sherlock Holmes's Dressing Gown(s)

"lounging about his sitting room in his dressing-gown" [ENGR] While the most famous pieces of Sherlock Holmes's wardrobe ...

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by Scott Monty

Happy 166th Birthday, Sherlock Holmes!

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<b>"on my...birthday" [GLOR]</b></h4>
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<br />
Today is January 6th — and that marks the date on which we traditionally celebrate Sherlock Holmes's birthday.<br />
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We say "traditionally," because there is no definitive statement of his actual date of birth in the Canon, but beginning with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Morley">Christopher Morley</a>, the date of January 6th has become the de facto accepted date for Holmes' birthday. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons.<br />
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Of all of the quotes in the Canon, William Shakespeare was the most oft-quoted author. There is but one Shakespearean play that Holmes quotes twice: <i><a href="https://amzn.to/37GCVtA">Twelfth Night</a><img border="0" src="https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.assoc-amazon.com%2Fe%2Fir%3Ft%3Dthebakerstree-20%26l%3Das2%26o%3D1%26a%3D0743482778&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" /></i>. In <i>The Sign of the Four</i>, Holmes concludes, "All is well that ends well." This is from from Act IV, Scene 4. And in "The Empty House," Holmes states "'Journeys end in lovers meetings,' as the old play says," from Act II, Scene 3.<br />
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The reason the date was chosen is that in Christianity, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6">January 6th</a> is the Feast of the Epiphany, or officially the twelfth day of Christmas. I suppose if we were being truly technical about it, the twelfth night of Christmas would fall on January 5th...<br />
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In addition, William S. Baring-Gould in his <a href="https://amzn.to/2QrZ4G3"><i>The Annotated Sherlock Holmes</i></a>, posited that because Holmes was a little cranky on the morning of January 7th - the date on which <i>The Valley of Fear</i> began - he had a hangover, induced by birthday celebrations the evening prior.<br />
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And why 166? Scholars have fixed the year of Sherlock Holmes's birth to 1854 by virtue of a line in "His Last Bow" when he was described as "a tall gaunt man of sixty."<br />
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If you happen to be in New York City next weekend, you can participate in some of the <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/">BSI Weekend</a> activity, when Sherlockians from around the world gather to hold various events where they connect and pay homage to the great detective. <br />
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So, by all means, share the news that today is Sherlock Holmes's birthday. But whatever you do, don't try to throw him a surprise party. It's an exercise in futility.<br />
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We hope you'll take a moment and wish Sherlock Holmes a happy birthday in your own way. If you'd like to join in here, please feel free to leave a birthday comment below.<br />
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<i> Image credit: <a href="https://pieceofcakebakery.net/gallery/birthday-gallery/">Piece of Cake Bakery</a></i><br />
--</div>

Happy 166th Birthday, Sherlock Holmes!

"on my...birthday" [GLOR] Today is January 6th — and that marks the date on which we traditionally celebrate Sherlock Holmes&...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

January 1, 2020: Three Sherlock Holmes Stories Enter the Public Domain

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<b>"</b>This is really most grati—most interesting.<b>" [NORW]</b></h4>
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<br />
The New Year not only brings us into the 'Twenties, but brings welcome news from the world of Sherlock Holmes as well.<br />
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Three stories from <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case-Book_of_Sherlock_Holmes#Contents">The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes</a></i> officially enter the public domain as of January 1, 2020: "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire," "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs," and "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client." Each was first published in 1924, and under the 95-year copyright term, the copyright expired at the end of 2019.<br />
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That means there are just six stories left under copyright protection: "The Adventure of the Three Gables," "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier," "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," and "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman," which will enter the public domain in 2022; and "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" and "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place," which will enter the public domain in 2023.<br />
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While the copyrights on the original stories is undisputed, longtime followers of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere may recall the highly pitched legal battle over copyright of the characters from 2013 and 2014.<br />
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<b>A Brief History of #FreeSherlock</b></h2>
It began in early 2013 when Leslie S. Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") s<a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/02/imagine-that-you-can-bully-me-chas_14.html#.Xg0SLEdKjb3">ued the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. for use of characters</a> from the Sherlock Holmes canon. The CDE argued that the characters were not fully formed until all of the stories were completed.<br />
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This bizarre legal theory would have created a special copyright term for characters, who could remain copyrighted long after the stories in which they appear enter the public domain, as long as their owners keep tweaking them in subsequent books. Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/12/plaintiff-victorious-in-free-sherlock.html#.Xg0Ij0dKjb2">the court rejected this argument</a>, finding that<br />
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“It is a bedrock principle of copyright that once work enters the public domain it cannot be appropriated as private (intellectual) property, and even the most creative of legal theories cannot trump this tenet.”</blockquote>
In <a href="http://ihose.co/freesherlock">a special episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>, we talked with intellectual property law professor Betsy Rosenblatt, BSI ("Lucy Ferrier") and Les about the implications for literary and entertainment characters:<br />
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Then in June 2014, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, with an opinion written by Judge Richard Posner, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/07/the-us-supreme-court-denies-conan-doyle.html#.Xg0SdEdKjb0">rejected the appeal by the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.</a>, rebuking it as a "quixotic" attempt to seek "perpetual, or nearly perpetual copyright protection" of the Sherlock Holmes character.<br />
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The CDE filed an emergency stay with the Supreme Court of the United States in July and SCOTUS promptly denied it. Then in August, <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.Xg0ar0dKjb1">the 7th Circuit ordered the Conan Doyle Estate to give up its "extortion"</a> and develop a new business model.<br />
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The saga reached its conclusion in November 2014 when <a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/11/supreme-court-wont-hear-freesherlock.html#.Xg0TPkdKjb1">SCOTUS officially rejected the dispute</a>.<br />
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And here we are.<br />
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The stories continue to roll into public domain, and the characters remain so.<br />
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Happy New Year.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />

January 1, 2020: Three Sherlock Holmes Stories Enter the Public Domain

" This is really most grati—most interesting. " [NORW] The New Year not only brings us into the 'Twenties, but brings wel...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 183: The Beacon Society

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“Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future!” [NAVA] </h4>
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The Beacon Society needs your help. In particular, it needs you to spread the word to teachers, librarians, students and more.<br />
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Established in 2003, the Beacon Society introduces young people to the Sherlock Holmes stories and recognizes people who are doing their part to do the same. Through grants, awards, essay contests and more, the group has many resources and opportunities for all who wish to get involved.<br />
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In this episode, we're joined by Headlight Denny Dobry, BSI ("A Single Large Airy Sitting Room") and Communications Chair Steve Mason, who tell us about the priorities of the group and what you can expect ahead.<br />
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Also, tune in for the latest <b>Canonical Couplet</b>. We have another opportunity for you to win a prize in this episode.<br />
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Information on sponsors, links, and notes available below.<br />
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Please do consider becoming a <a href="https://ihose.co/ihosepatron" target="_blank">Patron of the Arts</a>. Your support helps us to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and this year, transcription services.</div>
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<b>Sponsors</b></h2>
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<a href="https://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a> is our lead sponsor. They've been with us for nearly the entire run. Please visit their site and let them know you found them via I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.<br />
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<a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock183.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 25.2 MB, 54:59</h3>
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<b>Links</b></h2>
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<li>This episode: <a href="https://ihose.co/ihose183" target="_blank">ihose.co/ihose183</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.beaconsociety.com/">The Beacon Society</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.beaconsociety.com/the-jan-stauber-grant.html">The Jan Stauber Grant</a> (Grant deadline is <b>May 1</b>)</li>
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<li><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/02/apply-for-grant-to-help-teach-sherlock.html#.XgrH_kdKjb0">About Jan</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.beaconsociety.com/joel-senter-essay-contest.html">The Joel Senter Essay Contest</a> (Essay deadline is <b>February 1</b>)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2018/07/remembering-joel-senter.html">IHOSE remembers Joel Senter</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.beaconsociety.com/fortescue-scholarship-exams.html">Fortescue Scholarship Exams</a></li>
<li>Other episodes mentioned:</li>
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<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose134">Episode 134: The Junior Sherlockian Society</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose153">Episode 153: The Rooms at 221B Baker Street</a></li>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="https://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a> as well as through our accounts on <a href="https://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</div>
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We've slipped a bit: we're just shy of <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">our goal of $100 per episode level on Patreon</a>. Please consider contributing a dollar or two a month to help us bring transcripts to the hearing-impaired.<br />
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Episode 183: The Beacon Society

“Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future!” [NAVA] The Beacon Society needs your help. In particular, it needs you to sp...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty