Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

Sherlock Holmes Podcasts
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You know the plots, but what about the minutiae? We delve into the Sherlock Holmes stories and answers questions that arise, clarify muddy details, and look into some of the period terminology in this weekly podcast.

  1. 2D AGO

    Entombment

    "the business in the crypt" [SHOS]    If you experience claustrophobia, this may not be the episode for you. Because it's all about being shut up in close spaces. And it's the monthly "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode.   Denise M. Rogers walks us through the gothic theme shared between Edgar Allan Poe and some of the Sherlock Holmes stories in her Baker Street Miscellanea article "Crypts, Secret Rooms and Subterranean Passageways: Entombment as a Motif in the Canon" from Spring 1990. It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.    Don't sleep on "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers.  Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links Baker Street Miscellanea (Abebooks) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    23 min

  2. MAY 13

    Watson's Embellishments

    "an exaggerated view of my scientific methods" [SUSS]    We consider Watson a reliable narrator. At least we hope he is. And yet there are a number of times when Sherlock Holmes accuses his Boswell of romanticizing the factual.   Is Holmes simply taking issue with how Watson writes with a more emotional and imaginative framework? Or is it possible that Watson was also exaggerating to make the stories more exciting? It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   Our Merch Store is open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.    Don't sleep on "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts     Links All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    30 min
  3. The Wicked Beginnings of a Baker Street Classic

    MAY 6

    The Wicked Beginnings of a Baker Street Classic

    "the hidden wickedness" [COPP]      Vincent Starrett eventually became the dean of American Sherlockians, widely recognized as the foremost expert and significant collector, in part due to his publication of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes in 1933. This month's Morley-Montgomery Award episode comes to us from Starrett expert Ray Betzner, BSI ("The Agony Column") from Vol. 57, No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal.   But before that book made its way to the public, a chapter appeared in a rather unusual place. For Starrett, who was accustomed to his Jimmy Lavender series appearing in, shall we say, less than family-friendly places, his Sherlock Holmes material appearing there must have been just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.      Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Abebooks) Studies in Starrett (blog) It Is Always 1895 (conference) The Morley-Montgomery Award episode series (Patreon | Substack) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    27 min

  4. APR 30

    The Dating of "The Five Orange Pips"

    "As to your dates, that is the biggest mystification of all." [CREE]      If you want to know five different options for dates of a Sherlock Holmes story, all you have to do it get four chronologists together. Such is the case with "The Five Orange Pips."   In the mid-1990s, Les Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") looked at evidence within the story and external to it to determine if Watson's claim of 1887 would hold up. Along the way, he tested the assumptions of many other Sherlockians before him. It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links Baker Street Rambles by Leslie S. Klinger (Gasogene Books) Other episodes mentioned: Episode 318 - Dr. Watson's Marriages All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    26 min

  5. APR 22

    Spats

    "spat out some atrocious word" [CREE]    One of the curiosities of Victorian and Edwardian life that doesn't get much attention, at least in Sherlockian conversation, is that of spats.   This curious piece of attire related to footwear gets a scant two mentions in all of the Sherlock Holmes stories (do you remember who is mentioned as wearing them?), but its history and evolution are even more fascinating. It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links Spats (footwear) (Wikipedia) What Are Spats? Footwear History and Fashion Trends (Scotland Kilt Collection) 6 Reasons Why Men Don't Wear Spats Anymore (Gentleman's Gazette) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    27 min

  6. APR 15

    The Three Real Garridebs

    "This little group forms the real family" [WIST]    Baker Street Miscellanea is the source of this month's Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist episode. Rev. Raymond Holly, in Number 50, Spring 1987, wondered who "The Real Three Garridebs" were. Or namely, one of them.   He brings us into French Napeleonic territory on this journey of discovery. How does Brigadier Gerard connect with the problems of Nathan Garrideb? It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links Baker Street Miscellanea (Abebooks) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    22 min

  7. APR 8

    Toast

    "he arranged a number of breadcrumbs" [PRIO]     Toast is a simple accompaniment of breakfast that we take for granted. We place bread in an appliance and minutes later, we have a perfect slice of toast.   It wasn't quite so simple in Victorian times. How was toast cooked in Mrs. Hudson's kitchen? And in which stories do we even find toast mentioned? It's just a Trifle.     If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links Alistair Cooke and Mark Twain on toast racks When did people start making toast? (Reddit) Toast (British Food: A History) Previous episodes on food (Substack | Patreon) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    30 min

  8. APR 1

    The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes

    "researches which have a medico-criminal aspect" [DYIN]     This month, the Morley-Montgomery Award brings us up to the year 2006, when Harold Billings pulled out some serious research originating in Edinburgh.   His article "The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes" in Vol. 56, No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal helps us understand the sources Holmes may have used for his non-traditional education in the medical field. It may be more than just a Trifle.    If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.   There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant "view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).   Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts   Links Harold Billings The Elements Song The Morley-Montgomery Award All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    26 min
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You know the plots, but what about the minutiae? We delve into the Sherlock Holmes stories and answers questions that arise, clarify muddy details, and look into some of the period terminology in this weekly podcast.

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