Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

“it was a dramatic one” [GLOR] 

One of Sherlock Holmes's traits was that he was a master of disguise. And in the very first short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," we find him in not one but two disguises.

However, it's more than costuming that made him successful at subterfuge. Curtis Armstrong shares his insights on why Sherlock Holmes was able to fool so many people, including Watson.  And it's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• Bohemian Souls (BSI Press)
• Revenge of the Nerd by Curtis Armstrong
• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Curtis on IHOSE Episode 143: P.G. Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes
• 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  

 

“the Continental express” [FINA] 

When Sherlock Holmes was trying to outrun Professor Moriarty, the trail led from London to Switzerland. It was anything but a straight route. Our travel series traces their trip.

What did Holmes and Watson's journey onto the Continent entail? How long did it take? And what might we say about their choices? It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Episode 218 - Buffets
• 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  

“you have erred, perhaps” [COPP] 

We have John H. Watson, M.D. to thank for the Sherlock Holmes stories, and we typically take them at face value. That is, we trust that Watson was telling us the truth.

While Sherlock Holmes complimented Watson for his choice of cases, he also had criticisms of Watson's writing, taking issue with his storytelling process. Does this mean Watson's accuracy might also be called into question? It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• 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

“gone—stolen, vanished” [BRUC]    A few episodes ago, we investigated various items that clients brought to Sherlock Holmes and items that acted as vital physical clues. It was something of a show-and-tell.   This time, we're flipping the idea on its head and considering various stories where something—or someone—goes missing. What and who will be it? Tune in for this Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Episode 402 - Something to Show For It
• Episode 166 - Infectious Diseases
• Episode 271 - On the Scent with Sherlock Holmes, Part 3
• Bonus artwork for our supporters on Patreon and 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    

 

“with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit” [STUD]    There were a number of individuals who exhibited strength in the Sherlock Holmes stories, to varying degrees. But which of them would you classify as the strongest?   One of our listeners had an idea as to who it might be, so we surveyed the Canon and found a handful of others to make this a deeper discussion. Turns out it's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• Bonus artwork for our supporters on Patreon and 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    

“the loss of the old black boot” [HOUN]    Brown boot, black boot — these two items of Sir Henry Baskerville's went missing at the Northumberland Hotel shortly after he arrived in London. And they begin to put Sherlock Holmes on the scent of The Hound of the Baskervilles.   However, there's a wrinkle regarding the old black boot that persists throughout the story. George Fletcher, BSI ("The Cardboard Box") made a note of this curious detail for the very first time in The Papers on the Sundial, a 2020 publication from The Five Orange Pips. And it's quite the Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• The Best of the Pips (1955)
• The Best of the Pips Volume II (1999)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
• Join our community on Patreon or Substack to hear bonus material and be eligible for drawings. 

 

  Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0    

“not the name of a young woman, Watson” [SUSS]    Here's a strange one. We hear of the Matilda Briggs in one story. Do you know which story and what it was associated with?   This entry in our Travel Series takes us on a mysterious sea voyage that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write a short story and then borrow a real name from this true tale and plant it in Sherlock Holmes story. What as the connection? Well, that's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.     Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• Mary Celeste (Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia)
• Mary Celeste (Wikipedia)
• Gibraltar Marks the Return of Sherlock Holmes (1915) (The Fourth Garrideb)
• Previous episodes mentioned:
• Episode 55 - Unpublished Cases: Weird Animals
• Episode 151 - Asians and Sherlock Holmes 
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
• Join our community on Patreon or Substack to hear bonus material and be eligible for drawings. 

 

  Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0    

“Look at that!” [3STU]    Sherlock Holmes had clients of all kinds. Some that visited him with vague fears. Others that were concerned about missing documents.   But when he had cases and clients that included a little show-and-tell — where a physical object was displayed — well, that is just a Trifle.   And listen closely, because we ask for some input from you on this one!   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 225: Evidence Boxes
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
• Join our community on Patreon or Substack to hear bonus material and be eligible for drawings. 

 

  Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

“She responded beautifully” [SCAN]    Occasionally — very occasionally — there are flaws in Sherlock Holmes's reasoning. Or, if not flaws, then something that doesn't quite hold up when we put our own magnifying lens against it.   There is one such example in "A Scandal in Bohemia," as pointed out by a listener. One we had never considered before, but one that is just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
• Join our community on Patreon or Substack to hear bonus material and be eligible for drawings. 

 

  Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

“To a collector of fairy tales” [HOUN]    Of the many things we know about Sherlock Holmes — or think we know about him — his knowledge of chemistry and his violin-playing skills are probably most closely associated with him.   However, in 1952, Remsen Ten Eyck Schenck pulled the evidence together and compared it with what merely passed as opinion in a Baker Street Journal article. And what he found is more than just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

• Find the article discussed in this episode and others in the eBSJ
• Other episodes mentioned:
• Episode 377 - The Effect of Trades on the Body 
• Episode 67 - Inside 221B: Chemistry 
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
• Join our community on Patreon or Substack to hear bonus material and be eligible for drawings. 

 

  Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0