On Some Early Publications of The Boston Aquarium Society. Part One: The January, 1920 “The Daphnian”

The title of “The Daphnian” has long been attached to some publications of The Boston Aquarium Society [hereafter BAS]. Pictured above are copies of the covers of two such early publications. I apologize for the quality of the pictures. They are scans of not-so-great pictures which appeared in the October, 1981 issue of the club’s then monthly publication also bearing “The Daphnian” name.

In 1919, 1920 and 1921 there were published for each of the annual shows a small publication titled “The Daphnian.” The 1920 edition, for instance, consists of eight pages. What is predominantly known regarding this series of publications is based on the history of the BAS prepared by George and Frieda Meserve. The following is taken verbatim from Part 3 of their history:

“A special feature of this third annual exhibit at the Boston Poultry Show was the publication and sale of a pamphlet called The Daphnian containing an article on the hobby, information on the Society, and advertising space purchased by dealers and manufacturers of aquarium supplies. This little pamphlet paid for itself and became a feature of later shows. The January, 1921 Daphnian contained an article by Secretary Walter H. Chute entitled The Balanced Aquarium and its Inhabitants.”

Little beyond the above is currently known regarding the publications. Palmater (1981) noted that materials from the Meserves made “ … up the bulk of the magazine.” The pictures of the 1919 and 1921 issues (see above) were used but no information on them is evident. I am assuming that these pictures were from the Meserve collection. The current whereabouts of these two issues is unknown, so they are not available for any additional comments. I will note that Chute (1919) in his article on the 1919 BAS show noted the following: “No record was kept on the attendance, but 900 copies of a little pamphlet called “The Daphnian” were distributed.” And now, not one of these has surfaced. Such a find would provide additional important information on the activities and projects of the BAS. In fact, all three pamphlets are beyond rare. Gary Bagnall of The Museum of Aquarium and Pet History has noted to me that none of these reside in the organization’s library. That will soon be remedied with the 1920 edition which is covered herein.

Both Chute and the Meserves refer to these publications (1919 and 1921) as pamphlets, a designation which from the 1920 edition that follows, seems fitting. I will note that Sausaman (1994), on page 22, refers to the three as “Yearbooks”, but I think this is a bit of an overcall. I will also make a note here in that Sausaman gives the date of the 1921 edition as 1920. This is obviously a typo (as opposed to factual error) as I know that Jare did have access to the Meserve history of the club. The 1920 issue is 6 by 9 inches. I assume the other two comply with this.

So, without anything further I will present a scanned copy of the 1920 issue of The Daphnian which can now bring to light a bit of the important and long history of the BAS.

References and suggested reading

Chute, Walter N. [sic]. 1919. The Boston Show. Aquatic Life [magazine]. Volume 4, Number 6, February: 83-84.

Meserve, George and Frieda. No date, but apparently finished in 1964. History of the Boston Aquarium Society, Inc. Published monthly in 19 chapters in the Boston Aquarium News beginning in January 1973. (Available at https://bostonaquariumsociety.org)

Palmater, David. 1981. Editorial. The Daphnian, Volume 33, Number 8, October: Page 1 (of 18).

Sausaman, Jare A. 1994. Aquatic Societies and Periodicals of the New World (A Check List). Privately published; limited to 15 copies. 234 pages.