Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. Cecil Forrester" [SIGN]    We know what you're thinking: The Sign of Four wasn't an unpublished case. You, as a Trifles listener, are very astute. We should have expected nothing less.   However, within The Sign of Four, we do have a glimpse of a number of unpublished cases: including one with Mrs. Cecil Forrester, with whom Mary Morstan lives in Camberwell. Could this be a connection to a later case mentioned in "The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips"? Or perhaps it's a reference to "the most winning woman" Holmes ever knew, who is also mentioned in The Sign of Four?   These trifles await your consideration.     Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.       Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles85   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington,

"neat morocco case" [SIGN]  We all know that Sherlock Holmes used drugs. "A seven-per-cent solution" of cocaine is what he recommended to Watson in The Sign of Four. But in the prelude to that, we're told that Holmes took "his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case." This case must have graced the interior of 221B Baker Street. But just what is it? And what do we really know of Holmes's drug mania? Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.   Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles84 Morocco leather   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

"I trust you have no objection to tobacco smoke" [SIGN]    Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous smoker in the world. But in popular culture, he's always pictured with a pipe. The Canon tells us that he also smoked cigars and cigarettes.   What was the frequency with which he smoked each? Did he tend to favor one form of smoking over another? And was there something that cause him to choose a pipe versus a cigarette versus a cigar? Step into the smoking room with us as we investigate.   Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or   PayPal.     Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles83 The eBSJ   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"the irregulars are useful sometimes" [RETI]    Homeless children. A gossip columnist. A dog. What do all of these have in common? They're part of the underground network of helpers that Sherlock Holmes cobbled together.    With these individuals and more, Holmes was able to fan out across the great metropolis and gather information that helped him solve his cases. And they're the subject of this week's Trifles episode.     Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or  PayPal.    Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles82 The Bakerloo line The Baker Street Irregulars Episode 58 - Sherlock Holmes's Index Episode 62 - Reference Sources   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"before my biographer had come to glorify me." [MUSG]     We've previously covered the tantalizing cases that Sherlock Holmes pulled out of his tin box. This time, we spend time thinking about some of his other clients before he met Dr. Watson.   There's one we know by name, but the speculation begins fairly early on, as we try to use Holmes's methods to determine who some of his other clients might have been in those first years of his consultancy.   Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.       Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles81 Tit-Bits (Wikipedia) Sherlock Holmes at Oxford by Nick Utechin (2nd edition 1981) "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" by Agatha Christie   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"a wax-coloured model of my old friend" [EMPT]    One of the handiest items found at 221B Baker Street has to be the wax bust of Sherlock Holmes. More than once it played a role as a decoy for Sherlock Holmes.    But when did Holmes commission it and how did it get to Baker Street? And was it even the same bust between the two tales? These questions and more await in the latest edition of Trifles.      Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.   Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles80 The House of Wax The Tingler New Sherlock Holmes Wax Figure   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"the streaming umbrella" [FIVE]  London is supposed to be a decidedly rainy place. The place where one might expect to find an umbrella or two carried about.   But only a handful of stories of Sherlock Holmes included the mention of umbrellas, galoshes, waterproofs or other rain gear. We investigate the trifling matter of the few umbrellas in the Canon.   Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.     Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles79 Episode 60 - Unpublished Cases: James Phillimore Fox Umbrellas (London)   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"the smartest of the Scotland Yarders" [STUD]  When you think of a Scotland Yard inspector in the Sherlock Holmes stories, odds are your thoughts immediately go to Inspector Lestrade. He makes the most appearances in stories and certainly gets the most name recognition, in part thanks to Dennis Hoey's portrayal of the bumbling but capable policeman.   But what about good old Inspector Gregson, who appeared alongside Lestrade in the very first Sherlock Holmes story? He manages to make a number of appearances, but doesn't rise to the same level of household awareness. We look at his trifling (and non-trifling) appearances in the Sherlock Holmes stories.     Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.     Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles78   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United Sta

"pulling a large tin box behind him" [MUSG]  We're accustomed to referring to Watson's famous tin box, held in the vaults of Cox & Co. Inside were contents that we were not meant to see: heretofore unseen tales of Sherlock Holmes. But Holmes himself was in possession of his own tin box, and boy did it contain a few surprises. We take an inventory and surmise what some of the contents meant. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.  And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.   Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles77   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"a shocking habit,—destructive" [SIGN]    It's June, which is the month of the Queen's birthday. What a perfect time to look at the "patriotic V.R." that Sherlock Holmes adorned the wall of 221B Baker Street with.   But Sherlock Holmes didn't stop there. He had some other habits that were rather destructive when it came to his rooms. What were they and why did Holmes do that? We discuss these in the latest episode of Trifles.   Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.     Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles76   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

"I pocket my fee" [STUD]    How much money did Sherlock Holmes make from his clients? And when did he begin making money?    We went back to an early piece of Sherlockian scholarship by Robert Keith Leavitt, first published in Vincent Starrett's 221B: Studies in Sherlock Holmes for inspiration. We run through Leavitt's assessment, commenting on certain cases and even finding a few points where we disagree with his analysis.      Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.     Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles75 "Nummi in Arca, or The Fiscal Holmes" by Robert Keith Leavitt, as originally appeared in 221B: Studies in Sherlock Holmes   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"Bring me the books" [BLUE]   Sherlock Holmes was a consultant—or more properly, a consulting detective—but he was a consultant, nonetheless. And consultants need clients, who in turn pay the bills.    But have you ever stopped to think about how Holmes went about collecting his fees? We don't know anything about his fees, other than a handful of high profile cases with rewards, and that (he says) he didn't vary them save for when he remitted them altogether.      Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon  or PayPal.   Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles74 I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 140: Sherlock Holmes and the Elusive Ear       Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

 "I could easily dispose of the mythical" [SILV]    There are assumptions and myths mentioned throughout the Sherlock Holmes stories. Whether they're believed by clients, Scotland Yard inspectors, or others, they throw our attention elsewhere.    And the Sherlockian world has had its own fair share of myths to deal with over the years as well. Join us as we try to identify and bust a few myths.    Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    Links / Notes This episode: ihose.co/trifles73 A Scintillation of Scions I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 52: Sherlockian Mythbusters   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

"the dreadful affair of the Abernetty family" [SIXN]    Among the published cases, there are a handful that can be identified by a simple reference. If we said "a tale for which the world is not yet prepared," you'd say the Giant Rat of Sumatra.  Similarly, if we mention "the depth to which the butter had sunk on a hot day," you'd think of the Abernetty family, as mentioned in the opening of "The Six Napoleons." But what was going on there? And what have scholars said about it over the years?    Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.   Links This episode: ihose.co/trifles72 "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street by William S. Baring-Gould Parsely (Wikipedia)   Credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

"put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!" [SOLI]    Sherlock Holmes is possibly the most famous smoker in literature. But more than his ubiquitous pipe, his manner of supporting his habit within his rooms at 221B Baker Street was a bit odd, shall we say.   From his placement of cigars and tobacco, to what he did with his pipe remnants, the trimmings around his flat were quite unique, if trifling.      Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.  And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon  or PayPal.      Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles71 Our other show: I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere My Lady Nicotine by J.M. Barrie Dunhill tobacco     Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0        

" insight into the character of parents" [COPP]    We're coming up on Mother's Day in the United States, and that made us think about parents. We've covered mothers in the Canon discussed alternative parents in previous episodes.    But now let's take a look at the most corrosive parental relationships in the Sherlock Holmes stories. After reading Jenn Eaker's article on "A Case of Identity" in the Autumn 2017 issue of The Baker Street Journal, we thought a look at the top 5 worst parents would be in order. In this episode, we go from bad to worst.    Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal.   Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles70 Maker Faire Raspberry Pi Antique whaling harpoon (eBay) Episode 19 - Mothers in the Canon Episode 24 - Heads of Household The Baker Street Journal       Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orc

"Does it not strike you as a strange occupation" [RETI]  In the 60 tales that comprise the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, we come across a variety of jobs. Certainly there are the garden variety: cab drivers, butlers, governesses. But what about the more rare?    Sherlock Holmes billed himself as the world's only unofficial consulting detective, but he interacted with people whose jobs were out of the ordinary - at least by today's standards. So we decided to spend some time talking about what some of these occupations were.     Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.  And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon  or PayPal.      Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles69 Yeggman Commissionaire Stevedore Stoker     Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

"see what V has to say" [SUSS]     Among the cases that Watson tantalizingly dangles before us, "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" offers the Matilda Briggs and the giant rat of Sumatra (one of the tales we mentioned in Episode 55 concerning Weird Animals), one of the most famous of the untold adventures.    But it also offers up a handful of others in quick succession, coming from the 'V' volume of Sherlock Holmes's index, rather than from the tin box mentioned in "Thor Bridge," and they are worthy of discussion. Along the way, we question why some of these cases find their way into this volume.    Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.     And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon  or PayPal.     Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles68 "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"     Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Ma

"abstruse chemical analysis" [SIGN]    Along with the deerstalker, Inverness cloak, magnifying glass and curved pipe, Sherlock Holmes is most often associated with chemistry – chemical compounds as well as chemistry equipment.   In this installment of our Inside 221B series, we take a look at Sherlock Holmes's experience with chemistry and other laboratory setups we encounter in the stories.   Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.    And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or  PayPal.      Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles67 Sherlock Holmes Knew Chemistry The Chemistry of Sherlock Holmes       Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0    

"I was overwhelmed by the honour" [BERY]     Sherlock Holmes was a well-known public figure. But he was also a known and sought-after expert specifically by other well-known public figures and entities.    Which notable public figures sought and received Holmes's services and then bestowed upon him some gift other than cash?  Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help.     And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or  PayPal.     Links / Notes   This episode: ihose.co/trifles66 The Legion of Honor       Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0