Well, my late friend Bob Burr had a habit of stamping his issues of the Journal with the date they arrived in his mailbox.
"No big deal," you would tend to think, but here's the thing. Since Bob was keeping close track of when each issue arrived, he would also pick on the current editor when said issue arrived late. Unlike newsstand magazines, who put future cover dates so they can be on the stands longer, The Baker Street Journal was usually dated with the month it came out. Only sometimes, as you will see, it came out much later than the month on the cover.
After many years, and Bob's harping at two or three editors, the cover date on the BSJ became seasonal, rather than monthly. You'll note this change happened after a pretty good run of issues a month or two late, so Bob may have not been the only one. (And I'm sure that uproar was nothing compared to the single issue of the BSJ with a mailing label affixed to its cover! Collectors everywhere probably went nuclear on that dark day.)
And so, with no further ado, the boring part . . .
Did Bob happen to be a fan of Monk, too? :-)
ReplyDeletezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...wha? huh? Did you say something?
ReplyDeleteDo you not want your site viewings to rise? I'm surprised more people didn't comment on your latest entry. From what I've seen on the net in response to the Shreffler articles published by the Baker Street Babes you should have received a ton of "Word!" comments at least.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has occasionally volunteered for journals, I would gently like to say it might be helpful if those who complained about when journals appear would help the journals appear.
ReplyDeleteI would point out that both Bob Burr and myself both paid ample dues at putting out journals, and both held to schedules that we had set for those publications. The readers don't set the publication schedule, that's a promise from the publisher. Occasional problems will understandably occur, especially with a small, amateur operation, but an ongoing lateness means someone isn't holding up to their part of the subscription bargain.
DeleteYou speculate: "...Bob may have not been the only one."
ReplyDeleteBob was the only one, at least in my four years of editing the BSJ. It is also worth noting that the editor and publisher in those days had little control over the printing/mailing schedule, which was handled by the Sheridan Press; I always told Bob that the issue was printed and mailed within the month on the cover, but the vagaries of 12th class postage, or however they sent it, sometimes meant that copies arrived in the next calendar month. I found Bob's punctuality neurosis to be amusing, but I later kicked myself for not thinking of Steve Rothman's solution of using seasons instead of months. With all of the more substantive complaints that readers could make about everything from content to page numbering, Bob's concern with punctuality was refreshing...
I don't know how your notes from Bob started, but around here they always began with, "My father was a railroad man . . ."
DeleteWhat's interesting about this to me is the insight it provides on what a meticulous bunch we Sherlockians can be, and how arrival dates of Sherlockian journals can actually be a subject of at least semi-serious analysis.
ReplyDeleteWhat a peculiar set of people we are. I just love it.
And this quirky little post has gotten as many comments as almost any other. It's that sort of hobby.
Delete