Thirty Years!

With this, the December 1952 issue, The Short Talk Bulletin completes its thirtieth year of continuous publication; three hundred sixty essays upon as many Masonic subjects, chosen from the whole field of Freemasonry; law, jurisprudence, symbolism, history, accomplishments, charity, curiosities, relief, inspiration, philosophy, ethics, biography.

In these pages any speaker can find a prepared address upon almost any Masonic subject.

It is difficult for the present writer to offer an evaluation of this publication. He is too near to the forest to regard the trees and finds it difficult to see the ocean because of the closeness of the waves. Of the three hundred sixty Short Talks he is responsible for three hundred nine. And he had to follow such great and inspiring writers as the late Jacob Hugo Tatsch, Realf Ottesen (now past grand master, Iowa), the late Howard Cruse, noted Masonic orator, student and author, past grand master of New Jersey, and the late Dr. Joseph Fort Newton, whose contributions to Masonic literature in poetry and inspiration set a standard none have since equaled.

The beginning of The Short Talk Bulletin is buried in old records; apparently they came into being as a result of the original twelve educational bulletins of The Masonic Service Association, which were criticized as being too long, too heavy, too complete, and finally too dull to make lasting impression upon lodge audiences. The late great William I. Eagleton, past grand master of Oklahoma, proposed a new form of bulletin - one which should treat of one Masonic subject monthly, which should be informative, short, inspirational, interesting, but written for the average Mason rather than for the student and historian.

This suggestion met with a favorable response from the third and fourth meetings of the Association, and, accordingly, the first of these monthly messages appeared January 1,1923. Its subject was Paul Revere; its author, Jacob Hugo Tatsch.

From that date to this, The Short Talk Bulletin has not missed an issue and has been late but a few times.

No Short Talk Bulletin pretends to be a complete exposition of its subject; how cover such a topic as “The Holy Bible” in twenty-five hundred words? They have been intended to present enough aspects of any Masonic symbol, practice, law, legend, teaching or truth to make the hearer or reader interested enough to desire more.

That The Short Talk Bulletin has made its own place in the hearts of brethren and in Masonic educational circles is not an assertion but a fact of which the proof is the large subscription list and the constant call for back issues. An average of fifty thousand Bulletins is sold yearly besides the large number distributed monthly to all lodges under the jurisdiction of grand lodge members of the Association.

Lodges have them read; memorized and spoken; abstracted. Speakers here find addresses on three hundred sixty different Masonic subjects ready for their use. Libraries use them to answer inquiries. Writers consult them for subject matter and substance. Educational committees employ them in the instruction of newly-initiated brethren. The Masonic press is continually printing and re-printing them for the edification and enlightment of readers. Even non-Masonic organizations find in many of these papers matter which can be used to advantage - such a Bulletin, for instance, as “The Black Cube” preaches a broad vision of the secret ballot applicable to any organization.

A few titles in the Index seem duplications: “G” and “The &”; “The Masonic Service Association” and “Masonic Service Association”; “Apron” and “Lambskin Apron,” for instance. When “G” went out of print “The &” took its place, with a different treatment of the same subject. The two Bulletins on The Masonic Service Association were years apart in publication; when the older one became no longer correctly informative, a new one was written. A new Bulletin on the Apron was provided when the earlier was out of print. (All “out-of- print” Bulletins have now been reprinted). But 99% of the Bulletins do not duplicate any previous offering.

The publication is sent free to every lodge in a grand lodge which is a member of the Association. Subscriptions for individuals are still but 60 cents yearly, the original price set thirty years ago. The publication should be observed from an educational, not a monetary standpoint, since cost of production exceeds the nominal price charged.

A surplus beyond the normal demand is printed every month. These extra Bulletins form the “bargain packages” of ninety Bulletins, all different, for $3.00, and twenty-five Bulletins, all different, for $1.00. Because of the low price and the fact that these “bargain packages” represent surplus stock, no selection is possible; brethren get what they find in the package, knowing in advance only that all will be different.

It is impossible accurately to evaluate the worth of these papers since for many years to come they will be available to Freemasons not yet made, to men not yet born. The more than three million which have been printed inevitably must have stimulated sincere Masonic thought and carried authentic Masonic knowledge to many.

Not perhaps strictly belonging to this brief account of this publication, but mentioned as a matter of record; in 1942 a Supplement to The Short Talk Bulletin was begun and continues to the present day, giving, during the war years, news of the Masonic Service Centers, and since then of the Masonic Hospital Visitor service maintained in army, navy, marine corps, and veterans hospitals by the Association.

A catalog of The Short Talk Bulletins is included here for the interest of readers. Both the index and classification enable speakers, students and interested readers the more readily to find the subject upon which they desire light.

Some Bulletins are easy to tag with a label; that which is history, that which tells of a curiosity, for instance, were simple enough to allocate to a class. But difficulties arose because of the fineness of the dividing line between some classifications. Inspiration, charity, ethics, religion, may and often have overlapped in the treatment given a subject which may as well be listed under one head as another.

Any classification system must have overlaps; A Bulletin on “Benjamin Franklin” (classified in “About Individuals”) might as properly be listed under “Historical.” “Masonic Offense” could as easily be in “Religion and Ethics” as in the classification “Body of the Craft.” What is here attempted in less extreme accuracy is sorting the several titles, than a division of three hundred sixty papers into such groups than the seeker after any special class of material will find related subjects easy to locate.

Doubtless no classification system can be entirely satisfactory, but it is hoped that arranging these Bulletins in twelve general categories may be helpful. All three hundred sixty are listed under: • About Individuals; • Body of the Craft; • By-Paths; • Civil and Patriotic; • Historical; • Inspiration and Charity; • In the lodge; • Literature; • Philosophy; • Religion and Ethics; • Symbols and Symbolism; • The War and After.

The Short Talk Bulletins have been issued without the names of their several authors, in the hope that an anonymous approach to the subjects would be more valuable than one in which a personality was involved. At one annual meeting of The Masonic Service Association a grand master made an earnest appeal that the present writers name be appended to each issue, which proposal was not acted upon by the request of that author.

But it would be falsely modest to pretend that he does not regard these more than three hundred efforts to provide Masonic lore and facts in easy assimilable form as a major effort in a long Masonic life. With full knowledge that here is but reporting and arrangement of the facts discovered by historians and students, it seems essential to close this thirtieth anniversary issue with a note of thankfulness that this publication for so many years has given so great and opportunity to The Masonic Service Association and its executive secretary, Carl H. Claudy.