The character of Sherlock Holmes, the master detective of all time was created by Arthur Conan Doyle, an English doctor whose failing medical practice left him with a lot of idle time. The detective with ironclad logic was supposedly based on one of his teachers. What Doyle was like as a doctor, we may never find out, but as a writer, he had an exceptional knack for catering to the taste of the public.

The master detective reached such a high level of popularity that when his creator, after having featured him in numerous novels and short stories, had become bored with the figure and had him liquidated the immeasurable public indignation forced him to resurrect him. The popularity of the character is evident in the number of plays, comic books and films he’s been featured in. Newer and newer adaptations are still being created to this day.

Few fictional heroes around the world can boast having their own museum. The Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, at the well-known 221B Baker Street address is one of them. Since Holmes is so characteristically English, it has become an unmissable place to go on the tourist checklist. While the museum recreates the atmosphere of the Victorian era with period articles and wax figures of notable people at the time, the museum gift shop is a prime example of 21st century marketing.