I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Try This Catalog Card Generator with Your Collection

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"adequate cataloguing" [3GAR]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiKwsf81_gcjyjj7VfutlTAUtxvvhIpju4BAPp67XEYXoj8Bqx6Gt-LiLpPumFIsORHGKVmUEqtB1Le-gg-x8CSPNhUdasDD1AtVJv_Kq1hCaEQNUEUiwIBSxU-mjdvcxZesRJxvDNTmn-/s1600/SML-Card-Catalog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiKwsf81_gcjyjj7VfutlTAUtxvvhIpju4BAPp67XEYXoj8Bqx6Gt-LiLpPumFIsORHGKVmUEqtB1Le-gg-x8CSPNhUdasDD1AtVJv_Kq1hCaEQNUEUiwIBSxU-mjdvcxZesRJxvDNTmn-/s1600/SML-Card-Catalog.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Remember when looking up a book in the library meant a stop at the reference librarian's desk or a trip to the massive banks of card catalogs, to browse through cards notated with the famed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Decimal_Classification" target="_blank">Dewey Decimal System</a>?<br />
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Those days may seem long gone, thanks to the Internet and so many digital tools available in libraries everywhere. But that doesn't mean we don't wistfully long for the manual and tactile efforts to index and find our favorite books.<br />
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Some years ago, we came across a site called the <a href="http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/" target="_blank">Catalog Card Generator</a>. We dutifully filed it away and recently found it buried in our "Drafts" folder - dated January of 2007, if you can believe it.<br />
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We found the tool on the site of John Blyberg, then the Assistant Director for Innovation and User Experience at the <a href="http://www.darienlibrary.org/">Darien Library</a> in Connecticut. [Aside: John was previously employed by the Ann Arbor District Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan - just a few miles from your editor's house.] John lists his site, blyberg.net, as "a library-geek blog."<br />
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Now <b><i>that</i></b> is our kind of site! Need we say any more?<br />
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The <a href="http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/" target="_blank">Catalog Card Generator</a> takes information that you feed it - from the call number to any text you wish you use to identify your collection of books, video or audio, as well as notes that can be "scribbled" on three distinct areas of the card - and outputs an image of a vintage catalog card, with a typewriter font on an aged index card with perforation.<br />
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Here are some variations on an entry from our library:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLkWKLZPHtDCtgKqY3j9EC-tAgG_jcII4NymAJ3Cc7eRCoIwvYmKkI6XnzANYwRvLQLvebfsYGLQ450KjqUz5a8ldhyphenhyphenADa2XZXziTZUlfkj-JjhmIdSntit7zzv8OjDE9QiOjWLXHAASm/s1600/Catalog+Card+-+The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLkWKLZPHtDCtgKqY3j9EC-tAgG_jcII4NymAJ3Cc7eRCoIwvYmKkI6XnzANYwRvLQLvebfsYGLQ450KjqUz5a8ldhyphenhyphenADa2XZXziTZUlfkj-JjhmIdSntit7zzv8OjDE9QiOjWLXHAASm/s1600/Catalog+Card+-+The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes+1.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0tjMik_sr1QddfLWoove41FqonFVCx1j1QkvCOJaNAYdUuOTZtCCz0u4XAczzt5Fo7pnSsTKr6JFSrvHvqXI8l6b19dr2eJx_s0eIP-OE528BXnHCnOxF5Riy_SZT7YeyH1BKuXtGAMV_/s1600/Catalog+Card+-+The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes+2+-+Copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0tjMik_sr1QddfLWoove41FqonFVCx1j1QkvCOJaNAYdUuOTZtCCz0u4XAczzt5Fo7pnSsTKr6JFSrvHvqXI8l6b19dr2eJx_s0eIP-OE528BXnHCnOxF5Riy_SZT7YeyH1BKuXtGAMV_/s1600/Catalog+Card+-+The+Adventures+of+Sherlock+Holmes+2+-+Copy.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Give it a try and let us know how it works for you.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Image credit: "<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SML-Card-Catalog.jpg#/media/File:SML-Card-Catalog.jpg" target="_blank">SML-Card-Catalog</a>" (Yale University's Sterling Memorial Library). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons</i></span><br />
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Try This Catalog Card Generator with Your Collection

"adequate cataloguing" [3GAR] Remember when looking up a book in the library meant a stop at the reference librarian's de...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

New Audio Web Series Tackles the Canon

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"Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell." [SCAN] </h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDCGJpAdYw7i8IN64hf4N-q5YFngZnIEX8qZK1o-I4uHu7NXyAD9w6ukwCQBM8VJlW-HYozZvKDNwawuD5gI3SO-sWrNurEsRW_OTP0tt4gaNCbNOVzkltvOHTLhwvW7uGUaTSfGg9kr3/s1600/I+Am+Lost+Without+My+Boswell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I Am Lost Without My Boswell" border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDCGJpAdYw7i8IN64hf4N-q5YFngZnIEX8qZK1o-I4uHu7NXyAD9w6ukwCQBM8VJlW-HYozZvKDNwawuD5gI3SO-sWrNurEsRW_OTP0tt4gaNCbNOVzkltvOHTLhwvW7uGUaTSfGg9kr3/s1600/I+Am+Lost+Without+My+Boswell.jpg" title="I Am Lost Without My Boswell logo" width="400" /></a></div>
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How many of us grew up listening to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose68" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes on the radio</a>? Basil Rathbone, Clive Merrison, Carleton Hobbs, the names would become
synonymous with the Great Detective. The theatre of the mind offers listeners a
completely unique entertainment experience. Unlike film or the written word,
details are presented before you with little room for interpretation, radio
plays offers listeners the chance to create many of their own details through
subtle audio cues.<br />
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The soft clattering of horse hoofs, the offhanded comment of
the beautiful scenery, or the cries of dismay over the Falls of Reichenbach,
all help us to fill in the gaps of the fictional world in whatever way we see
fit. Budgetary limitations, or unrealistic visuals need not apply. The Falls
can be enormous, a city street jam packed with people, or a vista pristine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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While radio was hit hard (especially in America) by television,
audio dramas have made a comeback in recent years thanks to the mass
distribution offered through the Internet. Technology and audio innovations
have opened the doors for people throughout the world to pursue their passions
and produce their own high quality audio dramas from the convenience of their
home computer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was into this world that David Harnois chose to combine
his background in theatre and audio work, with his fandom of Sherlock Holmes,
to take on one of the most difficult tasks in Sherlockdom: adapt the full
canon!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After having acted as Holmes in a local theatre production,
David was not eager to give up the role. Armed with his experiences on the
stage and help from friends and colleagues, David began work to adapt the canon
into a workable audio format. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://iamlostwithoutmyboswell.com/" target="_blank">I Am Lost Without My Boswell</a> first started in early 2014
with a goal of adapting every story in the canon, with a full cast of
characters comprised of actors and fans alike. After just over a year of work,
David’s passion project had produced a dramatization of "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/holmesboswell/a-scandal-in-bohemia" target="_blank">A Scandal in Bohemia</a>"
and "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/holmesboswell/the-red-headed-league" target="_blank">The Red Headed League</a>," and are well on their way to producing the third
installment, "A Case of Identity."<br />
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We sat down with David to ask him some
questions about the project, where he gets his inspiration, and how <i>you</i> can
audition for a role in the next story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere: <i>Can you recall what your first exposure to Sherlock
Holmes was?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>David Harnois:</b> I'm sure as a kid I saw <i>The Great Mouse Detective</i>, and I
know I saw the Wishbone episodes of “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “The Hound of
the Baskervilles.” Holmes was a character I sort of worked my way back around
to. I read some mystery novels when I was in middle school, my favorite comic
book character is Batman, it was really a matter of time. When the Robert Downey, Jr. film came out, I thought that maybe it was time to actually read
the stories. The BBC's <i>Sherlock</i> and the Granada Holmes were the final nails in
that coffin. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>Can you tell me a little bit about your professional
background? Do you have any training in audio editing?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DH:</b> I grew up doing theatre. I started when I was 11, and
continued on throughout my childhood. I graduated with my BA in Theatre in 2009
from the University of Northern Iowa. The audio work comes from a combination
of my theatrical background, being in a band, and my years as a karaoke DJ.
Between the band and the DJing, I gained a pretty good ear for balancing audio,
and working with audio equipment. I started doing sound design work in college,
did it for the theatre I worked at, and have a regular freelance gig I do once
a semester. My training in it was all pretty much on the job.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>What prompted you to do your own audio dramatization? </i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DH: </b>I was given the opportunity to play Holmes onstage in a
production of “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily” (produced by
Waterloo Community Playhouse and written by Katie Frogrette). So I cut off my
hair after 9 years, shaved after 4 1/2 and took my turn in Baker Street. After
the show was done, I started realizing that I liked playing Holmes so much I
didn't really want to stop. I thought the easiest way to keep doing it was
something like this. I put the idea out to my Facebook friends, and they
responded with a resounding, “YES! Do it!” Plus I got to keep my hair and my
goatee. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>How did you go about the scripting process?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DH: </b>The nice thing about the bulk of the stories being public
domain is that the text is all readily available online. I just copy and paste
the story text into a new document and start to reformat it like a script. I
indicate which text to not speak; you'll notice a large lack of 'he said', 'she
said'. I try to make it flow much more conversationally. I also make
indications about text to read, but that it also indicates a sound effect. My
personal copy of “A Case of Identity” is highlighted in 4 colors: 1 for general
highlighting of lines, 1 for words I need to watch from a pronunciation
standpoint, 1 for words not in English, and 1 for sound effects. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>Was this your first time producing your own audio
production? What was the most difficult part of the process?</i><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>DH: </b>This was indeed my first go at something like this. I was
fortunate to have a lot of support early on, so I was able to get a nice
microphone right off the bat, which was a big help. I suppose the most
difficult part was, and still is, finding a consistent place to record. During
SCAN I was recording at work after hours, which actually got me in trouble
(which is a whole other story). For REDH we were able to record in Jabez
Wilson's (John Jensen) house. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: </b>With "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Red-Headed League" under your belt, how's the production going
on "A Case of Identity"? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DH: </b>It's going well so far! We have a cast, and we've done a
read-through of the script. We'll be recording this coming Sunday at the
Waterloo Public Library. Hopefully we can knock the recording out in one
session. Then it's on to the editing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>What's the story you are looking forward to producing the
most?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DH: </b>Ooo, <i>that</i> is a good question. I'm actually looking forward
to “The Yellow Face,” because outside of demonstrating that Holmes isn't always
right, I think it ultimately displays a good message about tolerance,
understanding, and honesty that is never bad to be reminded of. From a
challenge standpoint, I'm excited and terrified for <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>. The
novels are going to take a lot more work, and a lot more time to produce. But
it will be worth it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>Has this process changed your perspective on any aspect
of the Canon? New appreciation for Mrs. Turner or anything like that? :) </i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>DH: </b>Not yet oddly enough, ask me after we get halfway through,
that answer might be different. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>IHOSE: <i>How can I audition?! </i></b><o:p></o:p></div>

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<b>DH:</b> Head over to <a href="http://iamlostwithoutmyboswell.com/" target="_blank">iamlostwithoutmyboswell.com</a> and
click on <a href="http://iamlostwithoutmyboswell.com/auditions/" target="_blank">Auditions</a>. We have a general audition piece that can submitted anytime
if you just want to be considered for any part. Otherwise, when we're ready to
start on the next story, there will be character specific pieces available.<o:p></o:p><br />
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[<b><i>Editor's note:</i></b> this is Peter Holmstrom's first contribution to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.]<br />
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New Audio Web Series Tackles the Canon

"Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell." [SCAN] How many of us grew up listening to Sherlock Holmes on the radi...

+ Read more »

by Unknown

Qualify for the Next Mental Exaltation Quiz

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"a qualified person" [BLAN]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKCdVTJ3Uz5Sx7qghyphenhyphenWjhQk8b8Hra-OJ_vIr2xr7t8NWsxqubPHmhYQPKVqJIx-JHEmjT2qK1BKcY_ZmFjeO_1RE_dDa6kKCtQsH9oLT_zpPhUOFZibYKIIigIin_0xIrR-88pypQn3Rt/s1600/IHOSE_caption+19+-+RESI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKCdVTJ3Uz5Sx7qghyphenhyphenWjhQk8b8Hra-OJ_vIr2xr7t8NWsxqubPHmhYQPKVqJIx-JHEmjT2qK1BKcY_ZmFjeO_1RE_dDa6kKCtQsH9oLT_zpPhUOFZibYKIIigIin_0xIrR-88pypQn3Rt/s1600/IHOSE_caption+19+-+RESI.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you had a chance to listen to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose75" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the latest audio episode of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a>, you will have heard our guest Sonia Fetherston, BSI ("The Solitary Cyclist") playing a quiz game on behalf of a listener. It's a quiz game we call "Mental Exaltation" and we'll be playing it on every episode. If you'd like to pick up the portion of the episode where we played, either <a href="http://pca.st/RaRT" target="_blank">click here</a> or look for the annotation on the embedded audio below.<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/196040493&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">If you've listened to NPR shows like </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Weekend Edition Sunday</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, you'll know that there are opportunities for listeners to participate in quizzes. In the former, a guest typically plays on behalf of a listener - the prize is Carl Kassell's voice on their answering machine. On the latter, the listener plays live on the air and the prize is a book or some NPR tchochke.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">As </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> (the podcast) has a connection with NPR - we've been called "a cross between NPR's </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Car Talk</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Fresh Air</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">" - we thought it would be entirely appropriate to model our own quiz program after the two above.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Here's how "</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Mental Exaltation</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">" works:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-align: left;">
<li>Each month, we'll post a qualifying question to determine a listener who'll play / be played for on the program. Winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries.</li>
<li>If you'd like to enter, you must <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub&publisher=445106&sitescope=45933" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">subscribe to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere by email</a>.</li>
<li>We'll either have a guest play on your behalf or we'll patch you into the show to have you play over the phone or Skype.</li>
<li>If your player or you succeeds in passing the test, you'll have your choice of prizes: a random item from our I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Grab-Bag of Goodies (that's the IHOSE GBG), or the voice of a member of the Baker Street Irregulars on your answering machine.</li>
</ul>
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<b>Qualify now</b></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Our next quiz recording will take place on Sunday, March 29. You have until </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Saturday, March 28 at 11:59 pm ET</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> to qualify. And here's how to enter:</span></div>
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by Scott Monty

Another Pointed Look at the Needle Reference

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"they are as sharp as needles, too" (STUD)</h4>
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Even Sherlock Holmes was wrong once in a while, and clearly I was following in his erring footsteps when I suggested, in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/03/sharp-observations-about-that-needle.html#.VQyVlfnF-mE">a March 18 posting</a> here on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, that the annoying expression "Quick, Watson, the needle!" dates from the 1930s. As soon as my speculations appeared, Sherlockian scholars were whispering Norbury in my ear, sending awkward reminders that the phrase is known to have existed much earlier than that.<br />
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Ian Schoenherr, Ray Wilcockson, and Mattias Boström were all very helpful in this regard, pointing to needle references in such sources as the Commercial Telegraphers' Journal (July 1911) and — long before the Lilly Library became an important repository of Sherlockian material — the Indiana University yearbook for 1912. 
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<a href="https://twitter.com/ianschoenherr">@ianschoenherr</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/IHearofSherlock">@IHearofSherlock</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/darkgreendesk">@darkgreendesk</a> This is from DeWaal: <a href="http://t.co/b2T2M3zJrG">pic.twitter.com/b2T2M3zJrG</a><br />
— Mattias Boström, BSI (@mattias221b) <a href="https://twitter.com/mattias221b/status/578207395001856000">March 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/darkgreendesk">@darkgreendesk</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mattias221b">@mattias221b</a> This comes from The Packard, July 8, 1911 <a href="http://t.co/lATasdO4XV">pic.twitter.com/lATasdO4XV</a><br />
— Ian Schoenherr (@ianschoenherr) <a href="https://twitter.com/ianschoenherr/status/578194089826463744">March 18, 2015</a></blockquote>
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I learned with interest that cartoonist Tad Dorgan (TAD), whose "Daffydills" was a popular comic feature in the early years of the 20th century, used "Quick, Watson, the needle" often, as well as variations of it such as "Quick, Watson, the gun!" Dorgan, incidentally, is thought to be the originator of other immortal phrases such as "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDd8shcLvHI" target="_blank">Yes, we have no bananas</a>" and "See what the boys in the back room will have."<br />
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More embarrassingly, I learned that Dorgan's use of the phrase was no secret, as Julie McKuras of the <a href="http://www.norwegianexplorers.org/" target="_blank">Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota</a> discussed it at length in <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/pdf/holmes/v15n1.pdf" target="_blank">the March 2011 issue of the newsletter</a> published by <a href="https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/holmes" target="_blank">the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections</a> at the University of Minnesota. The Minnesota collection includes Dorgan cartoons collected by the late John Bennett Shaw, as well as other early attestations. "The quotes are rampant in magazine articles dating from the period 1910 onward," McKuras writes. (Who knew? Plenty of people, apparently, but not me.)<br />
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But the phrase goes back even earlier — back, apparently, to the operetta "The Red Mill", first staged on Broadway in September 1906, with music by Victor Herbert and libretto by Henry Blossom. (It was loosely adapted for a 1927 film starring Marion Davies, whose brother-in-law George Regas played a minor role in the 1939 "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" in which the Watsonian needle is also mentioned.) <br />
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Wouldn't you know, McKuras is aware of "The Red Mill" too. She reports that it<br />
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starred comedians Fred Stone and David Montgomery as two American vaudevillians. Stone and Montgomery were famous for their performances as the Scarecrow and Tin Man in the 1903 stage production of <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>." </blockquote>
And she quotes an earlier critic:<br />
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Their roles in The Red Mill, as good-for-nothing con men and laze-abouts whose inner sense of entrepreneurship awakens when they are called upon to impersonate Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, set the tone for one of the most popular character types of Broadway theater through the 1940s." </blockquote>
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The Ohio Light Opera produced <a href="http://amzn.to/1Fg0hFD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an album of the "Red Mill" music in 2001</a> — apparently on two LP records, which might indeed prompt an urgent call for a needle. Amazon currently stocks it.<br />
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That great Sherlockian Vincent Starrett said in 1932 that he had written to Fred Stone to ask about the origins of the jab about the needle. His letter mentioning that inquiry, addressed to Gray Chandler Briggs, is reproduced in <i>"Dear Starrett —" "Dear Briggs —</i>", edited by John Nieminski and Jon L. Lellenberg for the Baker Street Irregulars History Series (1989). But if Starrett ever received a reply from Stone, it is not known, at least not to me.<br />
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All this evidence seems to demolish my suggestion that "Quick, Watson, the needle" owes something to a commercial slogan popular in the 1940s, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!" Indeed, it begins to seem more likely that it was the other way round — that Watson and the needle were already firmly lodged in the public mind, and helped to make Henry and the Flit so successful.<br />
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"Watson," said he, "if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper `Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you."</blockquote>
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- "The Yellow Face"<br />
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