The 2026 Baker Street Almanac (BSA) has arrived in the mail!! Among other things, it is an almanac of the prior year's Sherlockian activity, among other things. Madeline Quinones has created a wonderful unboxing video of the 2026 BSA you can watch here.
A set of photos of Peter Blau examining the set of bound volumes of his Scuttlebutt newsletter that I have written about here on my blog. Each year the BSA includes a reprint of the complete year's run of Scuttlebutt, so Ross Davies asked to include some photos of this unique item.
Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City, MD
Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City meets on the third Monday of every month at Union Jack's British Pub in Columbia, MD. At each meeting a story is set for discussion, using the Baring Gould chronology - the canon taking sixty meetings to cover. The meeting agenda is fairly uniform: introductions ; a toast to 'The Woman' and other toasts ; Tom Fahres provides a new haiku inspired by the story ; announcements & news ; examination of the Evidence Box created by WTB co-founder Paul Churchill BSI; a discussion of the story; a Sherlockian presentation by a member or guest; and finally a quiz. A full meeting - accomplished at pace over 2 hours and all while ordering and eating our meals!
The first meeting of the year is the annual Killer Quiz meeting, a 60-question themed quiz that covers every story in the Canon, set in 2025 by 'Torquemadae' Karen Wilson BSI. At stake is the prestigious 'Mycroft Award'. The 'Strangers' Room Award' goes to the highest scorer among the self-designated Sherlockian "newbies" taking the quiz (this category can only be competed in once). Dana Richards BSI won the 'Mycroft Award' (not for the first time!), while the 'Stranger's Room' honoree was Liane Luini.
At our March meeting, outgoing Gasogene Terry McCammon BSI handed over duties to Matthew Hall (the author of this report) for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. Other WTB responsibilities are taken on by Olivia Milunzi (Tantalus) who sets the monthly quizzes, and Liane Luini who is our webmaster.
2025 was an exciting year of growth for WTB, with some meetings reaching thirty attendees. As new Gasogene I set the goal of building our speakers - both by attracting visiting speakers, and also encouraging new members to take the plunge and create their first presentation. Guests included Travis Shick (PA), and Art Taylor (VA). As Gasogene I received many expressions of regret from those who were able to be part of WTB meetings during the dark COVID years when all meetings were virtual, and the decision was made to establish an annual virtual meeting in July to allow Sherlockians from anywhere to join us - our inaugural virtual guest speaker was Burt Wolder BSI. In an effort to encourage new members, the Gasogene writes a summary of each meeting that is available at 221bcooee.blogspot.com.
There were also efforts update our website (www.watsonstinbox.org) thanks to our new webmaster Liane. This included adding new content to the web pages. We created digital copies of all issues of Irene's Cabinet (IC, last published in 2019 and rare as hen's teeth now) and made them available free to download, and announced we'd be re-launching IC in 2026 with Jacquelynn Bost Morris BSI as Editor-in-Chief. Steve BSI and Rusty Mason had created sixty PDF documents showing each item in each of Paul Churchill's evidence boxes, thanks to collaboration with Denny Dobry BSI and Debbie Clark BSI - these are also now available for download to allow people from anywhere in the world to peruse the amazing evidence boxes.
For the first time, we have Watson's Tin Box tote bags that are available for purchase along with our pins, both bearing the WTB logo. At the end of 2025 it was announced that Debbie Clark would be downsizing, and the Evidence Boxes will now have a new host (Matthew Hall) to care for them. WTB looks forward to 2026 - with an exciting group of speakers lined up, the Irene's Cabinet journal returning, and other projects planned.
The Bowery Ruffians
January 2025 saw the first meeting of a new scion - the Bowery Ruffians - during the Baker Street Irregulars window in New York.
The Bowery features in the only direct mention of a New York location in the Canon, in the Red Circle: "Gennaro was able to do a service to an Italian gentleman--he saved him from some ruffians in the place called the Bowery, and so made a powerful friend."
The Bowery Ruffians can meet at any time when two or more Sherlockians gather in the Bowery area of Manhattan (preferably with a drink). The only formal activities of a Bowery Ruffians meeting are that toasts can be made to those nefarious criminals and ne'er-do-wells in the canon, may of whom are greatly misunderstood.
The attraction of this concept is that it is tied to a place. A thousand years from now, the scion can still meet so long as the Bowery as not been wiped off the map. As a compromise, the Ruffians can spontaneously meet at any other location with Bowery in the name such as a street, bar, anything. For example, the Ruffians could spontaneously meet in Oak Bowery, Alabama, along Bowery Creek in the Catskill Mountains, or the Bowery Kitchen & Bar in Katoomba, Australia.
A logo and pin was designed by Kyle Brimacombe. The design motif includes a rabbit and hat. The hat emblematic of the 'Bowery Boys' gang, and the rabbit represents their main opponents the 'Dead Rabbits'. The only way to receive the pin is to attend a meeting of the Bowery Ruffians (i.e. have a drink in the Bowery and toast a criminal), then email Matthew Hall (theearlofmaynouth@gmail.com) to request a pin. It will be mailed to you gratis.
And so, the Ruffians met for the first time on Thursday Jan 16th 2025, very informal, at The Wren bar (344 Bowery). Many drifted over from a long lunch at the historic McSorley's Old Ale House. Each person who arrived was handed an agenda and a pin. There was a great turnout of first-time Ruffians, with over 30 Sherlockians in attendance. Even the bar staff were presented with pins.
After welcoming the Ruffians and outlining the rules of the gang, we got down to the real business.
Mickey Fromkin BSI ASH delivered the very first toast ever, and appropriately it was to the Red Circle character Giuseppe Gorgiano.
Mickey wrote this toast specifically for the meeting, and delivered it by heart:
Giuseppe Gorgiano,
He fills us with dread.
His beard it was black
And his circle was red.
He threatened the Luccas,
Gennaro and wife,
Pursued them to London
And paid with his life.
It was resolved that this toast by Mickey will be recited by someone at every meeting of the Bowery Ruffians! Toasts were also offered by Madeline Quiñones (of Michigan) to Moriarty, Rudy Altergott BSI (of Illinois) to Old Patrick, Max Magee (of Wisconsin) to Moriarty, and dueling toasts for two characters in the Hound of the Baskervilles from Karen Ellery (of Minnesota) and Carl Stix (of Nevada), in that order.
Karen:
The choice of a villain's a tough one,
Hence this pause to review the right stuff...
One Has, from his first showing,
Set my dogged heart glowing:
To The Hound!
He's UNIQUELY a RUFF-ian!
Carl responded from the opposite end of the bar:
Those who believe the hound is a villain are barking up the wrong tree.
Stapleton is the villain of the story, as only a Ruffian would use a dog
-- a creature of love and devotion -- in such nefarious ways.
Here is to Rodger Baskerville!
And with that we ended. Later in 2025, Michael Pisapia sent in a photo of an impromptu meeting of the Ruffians at the Wren with his children Amelia and Harry (both aged seven) - all three were duly sent pins, and Amelia and Harry are the youngest Ruffians ('Irregulars' if you will). I look forward to hearing of more impromptu meetings. The Bowery Ruffians were also acknowledged as an official 'scion' by the BSI Secretary Peter Blau in 2025, setting it up for success and meetings in 2026.
No comments:
Post a Comment