The Surprising Amount of Real Life Mail Sent to Sherlock Holmes

TL;DR

Despite not existing, Sherlock Holmes received fan mail at 221B Baker Street, leading the bank to hire a personal secretary to respond to the letters, and later resulting in a legal battle with the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Transcript

just before you started air do you want to mention a new channel thy host called mega-projects mega-projects is all about mankind's greatest achievements where I take a deep look at incredible buildings project structures and more whether it's the world's most impressive skyscrapers the International Space Station or Chernobyl sarcophagus it's all ... Read More

Key Insights

• ❓ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle intentionally selected the address 221B Baker Street to enhance the mystery surrounding Sherlock Holmes.
• 💌 The bank located at 221 Baker Street hired a secretary to respond to the fan mail addressed to Holmes, maintaining the fiction of Holmes' retirement.
• 📬 The Sherlock Holmes Museum later tried to claim exclusive rights to open Holmes' fan mail, leading to a legal battle with the bank.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle intentionally chose the address 221B Baker Street for Sherlock Holmes' residence, even though it didn't exist at the time of writing.

• In the 1930s, the street numbers in London were rejigged, and the address 221 Baker Street was allocated, leading to the bank located there receiving mail addressed to Sherlock Holmes.

• Instead of dismissing the mail, the bank hired a secretary to respond, claiming that Holmes had retired to the countryside, raising bees on a farm, in order to maintain consistency with Holmes' backstory.