Showing Sherlock Everywhere

It pays to advertise!

While we were in Philadelphia last weekend for a meeting of the Sons of the Copper Beeches, Ann and I had a great time walking through the historic part of the city (Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Museum of the American Revolution) with our friends Michael and Lois Bush.

Along the way, several people commented on my sweatshirt (above) and expressed their admiration for Sherlock Holmes and/or the eponymous pub.

I’ve owned the shirt since long before we visited London the first time in 1997. Our good friend of more than 40 years, Margaret Richter, bought it for me as a present during a trip. Since Margaret is not a woman normally to be found in pubs, this shirt has always been very special to me. I always think of her when I wear it. (Hi, Margaret!)

And in view of the reaction over the weekend, I think I’ll be wearing it more often.

By the way, the phrase that began this blog post has been attributed to a great Sherlockian. Dorothy L. Sayer purportedly coined the phrase during her years as an advertising copywriter. Kieran McMullen and I fictionalized that phase of her life in our mystery novel The PoisonedPenman.