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These people met several times a year for dinner and Sherlockian activites; Hanne Rieck Sørensen participated in the beginning as a guest and became a member in 1962. On the 1st of January 1958 two newcomers joined The Cimbrian Friends of Baker Street in Aalborg, as Bente and Anders Fage-Pedersen became members. At the dinner parties there were often small surprises. The word Rache could be written on the wall, a set of handcuffs could be lying on the table, there could be an old violin, a bottle of 7% cocaine and a syringe, special table cards, a coal scuttle including cigars or a seperate table with chemical equipment. Among the society's early activites were Hugo Warburg's attendance in the Annual Dinner of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 1959, where the 100th anniversary of Conan Doyle's birth was celebrated. Late in 1959 Henry Lauritzen published his book Holmes og Heste (Holmes and horses), and at Christmas a large Christmas card was sent out by Fage-Pedersen. 
In April 1960 Hugo Warburg surprised his fellow members of the CFBS by sending them a telegram with the following words: HAVING SUPPER AT ITALIANO PLEASE COME AT EIGHT OCLOCK AND JOIN US THERE BRING WITH YOU A JEMMY A DARK LANTERN A CHISEL AND A REVOLVER =HW+ The surprise was taken even further when Fage-Pedersen came to the restaurant, as he had brought with him all of the above mentioned items which he laid out on the table! As a continuation of the activities which had taken place in 1959, it was decided to found The Cimbrian Friends of Baker Street as a Scion Society of Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark - The Danish Baker Street Irregulars in 1960, and this was accepted by A.D. Henriksen, who was general secretary of Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark at the time. Henry Lauritzen made the society logo with a viking standing next to Sherlock Holmes, who smokes his pipe with a straight tip. Articles were made for the society, but today only a few of these remain:  §2. The society's aim is to be an active part of the international Sherlock Holmes research. The members commit themselves to holding speeches, issuing research results, publishing treatises, and by means of conversation influencing the public opinion - by land, by water, and by air - alltogether with the aim of bringing a greater and broader understanding of the Canon to the public. §4. All meetings are held in the Great Hall of Aalborg Congress & Cultural Centre, unless exemption is given. §5. Exemption is always given. In 1999 Bjarne Nielsen, BSI and President of The Danish BSI, issued a publication about The Cimbrian Friends of Baker Street in his serie of Danish BSI history. The publication is fairly priced at 50,- DKr. (plus p&p). It is richly illustrated including photos of all the famous CFBS Christmas cards of the 'sixties. In 2002 The Cimbrian Friends of Baker Street began the celebration of day number 221 each year. The careful observer will notice that the date of August 9 is the 221st day of the year, the exception being leap-years. However, the Cimbrian by-laws state that in a leap-year the celebration will take place on day number 221-B, which is still August 9. This custom began in 2002 and the Cimbrians have been celebrating on August 9 ever since. The meeting takes shape as an Annual Meeting, where the Chief - Aage Rieck Sørensen - looks back on the previous year. A celebration feast is served in honour of that memorable 221st day - B or not B - and toasts are drunk in proper spirits. Every celebration ends only when Vincent Starrett's poem "221-B" has been recited by the Carrier of the Banner - Bjarne Rother Jensen. In 2003 the Annual Meeting was preceded by the opening of an exhibition at Aalborg Hovedbibliotek titled "Mesterdetektiven Sherlock Holmes fra Baker Street" on August 8. This was a joint project between Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark and the Cimbrian Friends. The exhibition had been displayed at Vejle Bibliotek during the previous month to great success, and several newspapers covered the event. A booklet was also published to accompany the displayed items with articles by Bjarne Nielsen, President of Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark, BSI, and Jens Byskov Jensen. On display were English, American, and Danish first editions of the Canon, a large collection of Writings-about-the-Writings, ephemera, and charts with an introduction to Sherlock Holmes and a history of the Sherlock Holmes movements in Denmark. The exhibition also included Sherlock Holmes' own Deerstalker, his pocketwatch with the gold-sovereign from Irene Adler, his snuff box from the King of Bohemia, several of his pipes and magnifying lenses, and finally the speckled band and the red leech preserved in spirits. Also in 2002 The Cimbrian Friends of Baker Street began hosting a meeting every autumn for members of Sherlock Holmes Klubben i Danmark. These meetings were scheduled as one day events, where members would meet at the residence of the Carrier of the Banner - Bjarne Rother Jensen. Here members would enjoy lunch in each other's company followed by a programme on a specific subject. Speaches would be given by either of the Cimbrians or occasionally by guest speakers. In 2003 the guest speaker on "Ships in Victorian England" was Ejgil Jensen. On some occasions the programme would also involve city walks to places of importance to the scholarly research of Sherlock Holmes in Aalborg. The meeting would also incorporate dinner followed by coffee and spirits. For the 2003 meeting, where the overall theme was "Victorian Ships in the Canon", dinner was served onboard the restaurant ship "Princess Juliana". The Cimbrian Chief - Aage Rieck Sørensen - would host everyone to more coffee and more spirits at his residence, where final matters of research would be discussed. Meetings usually end with Hanne Rieck Sørensen reciting Vincent Starrett's poem "221-B", and each year a booklet accompanying the meeting is published.
If You wish to contact The Cimbrian Friends of Baker Street, You are welcome to do so by writing to 221b@byskovjensen.com Please do not use them without our permission. |
