On Some Early Publications of the Boston Aquarium Society. Part Three: 1933. The Home Aquarium [AKA THE BALANCED AQUARIUM.]

In this part of the series coverage is given to another publication that was managed and put together by the talented club member Eugenia S. Shorrock. A number of interesting questions surround this little-known publication. First among these is the title. The front cover states “The Home Aquarium.” But in turning to page three the article therein is headed with “The Balanced Aquarium.” And, from page three onward the header states the latter. By page priority the first of these has been used in a couple of sources and by this method it is the title of use. With the explanation of this I can live with it.

The second question regards the date of publication which is nowhere evident in the publication. The Meserves, in their history of the Boston society, offer no help with this in that they don’t mention it at all. Obviously, an oversight. Jare Sausaman in his 1994 Checklist does list the title but provides no date of publication. But, some limited advertising does provide an answer. In the April 1933 issue of Aquatic Live magazine (on page 541) there is a boxed advertisement for the piece using “The Home Aquarium” name. The advertisement notes it to be published by the Boston Aquarium Society, and it is stated to be for sale for “10 cents plus 2 cent postage.” A second notice is seen in The Home Aquarium Bulletin magazine for May 1933. The name of the publication is not used [?] but in that a second Boston publication by the same author…C.H. Peters… is from a later date it is no doubt a reference to the publication under discussion herein. Interestingly the price is listed as the same, but the needed postage is stated to be “…3 cent…”. The second piece written by Peters will be the subject of Part Four of this series.

Lastly is when did this publication get first used. The Boston club’s annual show for the year 1933 took place on February fourth through the 11th (Anonymous 1933). It potentially could have been available for sale by then. Additionally the society, according to the Meserves, provided a smaller show for the New England Spring Flower show which took place in May (13th through the 18th). It would have been available by then. For now, that appears to be the available information on this topic.

Lastly, a few words are needed on the author of the publication, Charles H. Peters. He, who went by the name C.H. Peters, was among a group of aquarists who had a great, and positive, impact on the aquarium hobby in the 1930’s. He was the Editor of The Home Aquarium magazine and the author of the 1934 book “Live and Love in the Aquarium.” The book was heavily illustrated in color and black and white illustrations by Henry Uhlig, an accomplished fish artist, who did the four illustrations that are present in the publication discussed here.

As noted, Part Four of this series will discuss another Boston society publication written by Peters and put together by Eugenia S. Shorrock. In this piece, I will be covering more of this author’s importance to the aquarium hobby.

References and Suggested Reading

Anonymous. 1933. Boston Show. The Home Aquarium Bulletin. January: Page 19.

Brown, J. 1984. The Home Aquarium Bulletin. Collectors of Aquarium Literature: Number 6, August: Article is on page one and continued on page three.

Finley, L. 2025. On Some Early Publications of the Boston Aquarium Society. Part One: The January 1920 “The Daphnian.” Museum of Aquarium and Pet History (Web: https://moaph.org) August: 10 pages.

Finley, L. 2026. On Some Early Publications of the Boston Aquarium Society. Part Two: The 1931/1932 Show Publication “The Balanced Aquarium and Its Inhabitants.” Museum of Aquarium and Pet History (Web: https://moaph.org) August: 14 pages.

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).

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