A Second Look at the Sherlock Holmes Museum

It was a cloudy day in early June 1993, when my wife Hiroko and I got off the tube at the Baker Street station. I could not remember how many times I have been to the “Mecca” of Sherlockiana. It was the second time Hiroko visited Baker Street.

I planned to show her all of the Sherlockian points of interest at Baker Street, and one of our most important aims was to visit the “notorious” Sherlock Holmes Museum.

It was in the northern part of Baker Street, which was not called Baker Street in Holmes times, but “Upper Baker Street.” Most of the original Baker Street buildings were destroyed during World War II by von Borgs, and there remained little Victorian feeling. However, most of its northern part escaped such violence. These buildings resembled those of old photographs taken in late nineteenth century.

It was the second time for both of us to visit the museum. We planned to visit the Granada Studio Tour in Manchester, and then the Sherlock Holmes Pub near Charing Cross station to compare the recreations of the sitting room of the great detective.

The museum’s entrance was a small, ordinary entrance to a town house. Its ground floor was a restaurant. One might have missed it if there was not a “policeman” in costume. We were not the only visitors. There were two American gentlemen before us, and we waited for a while for “Mrs. Hudson.” She needed some minutes to open the door after the bell was rung by the “policeman.” She was too young to be “Mrs. Hudson,” we thought. The entrance was narrow, and there was no space for Holmes’ clients to wait. We paid £10 for two. There was a register book, and we found many American and Japanese names.

There was a stair in front of the entrance. I counted its steps, and there were really seventeen steps to the first floor. It was the main reason the owner insists that this house is the real 221B. I checked the floor, but could not find any evidence of change, so I might be able to say that these seventeen steps were original.

There were two rooms on the first floor. The larger one was the sitting room of Holmes and Watson, and the smaller one was the bedroom of Holmes.

First we entered the sitting room. Along the south side wall, there was a couch upon which Holmes lounged in a purple dressing-gown in “The Blue Carbuncle.” Over the sofa, we found a dinner table near the east side windows for Holmes and Watson. I was reminded of a scene from the Granada Sherlock Holmes series. Brett-Holmes and Burke-Hardwicke-Watson had breakfast and dinner at a table on this side. This room was a little small for their sitting room, because there was no place to sit down between the sofa and the dinner table!

At the center of the room, there was a small octagonal table and the basket chair mentioned in BLUE and IDEN. Such a table was often seen in British films and TV programs, but I could not understand its name and purpose. Many British Sherlockians said in their articles that the furniture of this room was not in Victorian style. However, most visitors, including me, could not distinguish the difference. I hope British Sherlockians will give some detailed advice on this.

Just on the left side of the entrance, there was a large decorative writing table belonging to Dr. Watson. There was also the good doctor’s hat and twin elephant dolls, a souvenir from India,. In front of the fire, we found a round table and two chairs for Holmes and Watson. They sat down there and argued their cases. On the table, there was a copy of The Times and Holmes’ pipe. Next to the fire, near the window, Holmes’ chemical experiment table was full of bottles of medicines. I wondered how Holmes experimented there with an oil lamp. It was dangerous and might lead to an explosion if the materials were handled carelessly.

On the other side, there was a small table for Holmes. I was surprised to see that it was too small for him. A book was open on the table, and I found a drawing of “Cyanea Capillata” there. Last time I saw it, it was open to another page. It might be a small improvement.

The fireplace was a simple one. I could not find a curved poker, however, Holmes’ unanswered correspondence was transfixed by a jack-knife into his wooden mantelpiece. There was also a photo of Irene (?), a Persian slipper without tobacco, pipes, a magnifying glass, a bull’s-eye lantern and a tobacco jug. Holmes’ violin was left between the mantelpiece and chemical experiment desk. This must be the worst place for a violin, one of the most delicate musical instruments.

There was a door to Holmes’ bedroom on the west side, between Watson’s desk and Holmes’ desk. This situation resembled that of the Granada’s series, too. But the sitting room in Granada’s series was an “L” shaped one, and its shorter arm was used for a chemical experiment area. This museum’s sitting room was square and much smaller.

Holmes’ bedroom was small. There was a window and two doors. His simple bed was near the south side wall, and the fireplace was in the corner. Two chests, a mirror and a jar for face washing were at the opposite side of his bed. Many photographs of criminals were hung on walls. However, there were no descriptions of this room in the Canon, so we were not reminded of any cases Watson had written about.

The large room on the second floor was an exhibition of small items related to the Canon. However, most of them were toys and dolls that you could purchase easily anywhere. The only one which drew my attention was a life size bust of Holmes, in his dressing gown and holding a pipe. There was no description of it. If any reader knows about it, I would like your help.

The small room on the second floor was a souvenir shop last time, but now there were some books and pictures related to the Canon. However, none of them drew my attention.

The third floor was closed last time, but this year we could go upstairs. The small room was closed, and the large room was a new souvenir shop. Most of items could be found at other shops, and most of them were a little expensive. I purchased a neck tie with silhouettes of Holmes.

We were surprised to find more stairs going up. There was a toilet! I have never seen the 221B toilet. I am not convinced that it was in a garret. There must have been difficulty to produce a toilet there. We also found some trunks there.

Most Sherlockian magazines said that this “notorious” museum was too “commercial.” We felt that its admission price, five pounds each was expensive for that exhibition. That of Madame Tassaud’s was 5.95 pounds, that of Museum of London was three pounds.

However, this place is convenient for foreign visitors. This time, we were lucky to have plenty of time to visit Manchester, to see another 221B Granada Studio Tour. Its Holmes museum was produced by the Northern Musgraves, and was full of interesting Sherlockian items, but Granada’s 221B was different from its television scenes, and admission was nearly ten pounds. (We needed train tickets, too.) Other exhibitions, for example, Coronation Street, were not familiar to us. If I were just a Sherlockian, I might have hesitated to visit Manchester just for the studio.

The Sherlock Holmes Pub of Charing Cross had another Holmes’ sitting room. This room was in a corner of its restaurant, and was separated by glass walls. We could not enter this room, and it was too small. Its original exhibition, forty years ago, might have been larger, but now it was just a lumber room. We could see it through a window of a passageway, but if we have supper at this restaurant, we would need more than ten pounds each.

If we blame this museum for being too “commercial,” we must blame the Granada Studio and Sherlock Holmes Pub, too. I know its owner’s naughty attitude when it was opened might have caused unpleasant experiences for British Sherlockians. However, we overseas visitors have limited time and money to visit England. We want to visit as many as Sherlockian places as we can. We are not satisfied with this museum, but we cannot omit it when we visit London from the Far East.

(The Shoso-in Bulletin vol.4, 1994)