"The year ’87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my headings under this one twelve months I find an account…of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a furniture warehouse"
— The Five Orange Pips
The Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit was founded in 1946 by Russell McLauchlin, BSI. Similar to today, the 1940’s saw a big revival of interest in Sherlock Holmes. The Baker Street Irregulars were active in New York and BSI scions were forming in cities all around the country - and McLauchlin wanted to start a society in Detroit as well. So he did, and in early 1946 the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit was born – and they are still going strong today.
The AMS is very fortunate to have in its possession a rich archive of documents dating back to the 1940s – letters, scholarly papers, magazine and newspaper articles, dinner programs, photographs, and much more, and this book highlights many of the most important items found in that archive. It is also a look back to bygone era – a Golden Age in Detroit history - when fellow Sherlockians used typewriters, sent telegrams, handwrote letters, and met in long forgotten clubs in order to discuss the most important issues of the day – Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson.
About the Editor
Christopher Music is the Commissionaire and Archivist of the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit. He is also a member of The Hounds of the Baskerville (sic) of Chicago, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, the Ribston-Pippins, and many others. He received his investiture in the Baker Street Irregulars in 2014 as "Wagner Night at Covent Garden". He lives in Clarkston, Michigan with his wife and two daughters.