“preoccupied with business matters” [COPP]

If you came across the name of a business in the Sherlock Holmes stories, do you think you could identify which story it came from? What about the type of business it was?

• Bush Up Your Shakespeare (YouTube)
• Previous episodes mentioned:
• • Episode 286 - Strange Businesses
  • Episode 419 - Partnerships
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“There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion” [NAVA]

The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article this month is "My Biblical Knowledge is a Trifle Rusty" by Henry T. Folsom, BSI ("The Golden Pince-Nez"), from The Baker Street Journal, Volume 15, No. 3.

Rev. Folsom took the opportunity as a practitioner of the faith to examine the religious beliefs (or lack thereof) of Sherlock Holmes. Was he an atheist? Was he a believer? And if so, what form did it take? It's just a Trifle.

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
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“I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha” [VALL]

We're starting a short series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes: stories that are not in the Canonical 60 but that have some relevant interest.

The first installment is "The Field Bazaar," written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1896 for his alma mater. It's a short item and it provides some insights into the habits of Holmes and Watson. And it's just a Trifle.

• The Field Bazaar
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“see through a disguise” [HOUN]

The third episode of every month is a look into a piece of Sherlockian scholarship, and this time it brings us to Vol. 64 No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal from 2014 with a piece by Maria Fleischhack, BSI ("Rache").

In this article, Maria looks at various Germans in the Sherlock Holmes stories and tracks the disguises or aliases they used, in conjunction with Conan Doyle's own attitude toward Germans and Germans' attitudes toward the English. It's just a Trifle.

• The Baker Street Journal
• Previous episode mentioned: Episode 108 - Germans and Sherlock Holmes
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“drawn on six different banks” [VALL]

Banks and bankers are important to Sherlock Holmes. From clients to necessary fiduciaries, they represent an essential part of the real and Canonical worlds.

Which banks are mentioned? What bankers do we meet? And what about one very specific bank to which we owe a debt of gratitude? It's just a Trifle.

• Jay Finley Christ — An Old Irregular
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“You know my methods. Apply them!” [HOUN]

In 1893, a curious entry appeared in the Tit-Bits magazine: an examination paper on the methods of Sherlock Holmes. A cash prize was offered to the winner (whom we know).

The author of the quiz, though? That's been unknown for nearly a century and a half. Until Michael Meer came along and made an identification that earned him the Morley-Montgomery Award for 2024. It's just a Trifle.

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• Previous episodes mentioned:
  • Episode 163: Victorian Vegetarians
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

“the Japanese system of wrestling” [EMPT]

When Sherlock Holmes defeated Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, he had a secret weapon: his knowledge of a certain style of Japanese wrestling.

Of course, we don't find this out until his return, and even then, Watson (or is it Holmes?) conveys the wrong name. It's just a Trifle.

• Bartitsu (Wikipedia)
• The Bartitsu Club
• The Bartitsu Society: Preserving and Extending the Martial Arts Legacy of Edward William Barton-Wright
• Bartitsu: The Gentlemanly Art of Self-Defence (YouTube)
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“the sweat was pouring down my face” [BLUE]

Turkish baths come up in just two of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Quick—without looking it up, can you name which? We know Watson enjoys both of them; Holmes joins him for one.

In this episode, we discuss the origins and history of the Turkish bath, and specifically focus on the Victorian Turkish bath. Sit back and relax. This is just a Trifle.

• Victorian Turkish baths (Wikipedia)
• In Hot Water with Watson (Margie Deck)
• Everything You Need to Know Before Your First Turkish Bath Experience (Matador Network)
• Soupy Sales sings "Pachalafaka" (YouTube)
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• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com