[1] A number of fans of Sherlock Holmes participate in groups where they discuss theories and minutiae about the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Some play the "Grand Game" by contending that Holmes and Dr. John Watson actually did exist and that the stories about them are largely factual accounts of their doings in Victorian and Edwardian Britain.
[5] As is tradition with many Sherlockian societies,[3] The Bootmakers of Toronto take their name from a reference in one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.
[4] In the story, a boot belonging to Sir Henry Baskerville is retrieved from a bog and inside the boot is a label inscribed "Meyers, Toronto".
[3][6] The group often has guest speakers at meetings[7] which are regularly held at the Toronto Reference Library and produces a quarterly journal entitled Canadian Holmes.