Sweetbriar Dreams

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Friday 3 April 2015

Sherlock Holmes - Shhh, He's Not Real

There are some things in life that are so quintessentially British, the bull dog, red pillar boxes, queues and ...Sherlock Holmes!  We are big fans of this detective in all his different guises and decades of films in my house, so I thought it would be good to take a planned trip to The Museum of London and visit their Sherlock Holmes Exhibition -The Man who Never Lived and Will Never Die before it finished.


With Miss Teen and Miss B with me and huge Sherlock fans, the exhibition was waiting for us and what a way to start a tour by finding the secret panel in amongst the book lined wall.


Of course our Sherlock wouldn't have etched himself on our minds and imagination in books without a certain Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his incredible mind for writing.  I am a self confessed collector of exercise books with a fear of soiling the books with my writing, so I was in absolute awe of Sir Arthur's neat hand and skill of writing his detective stories.  To see the exercise books for myself was the highlight of this exhibition.  


The exhibits showed all the stereotypical Holmes paraphernalia with boxes of potions that were good enough for Snape in Harry Potter (also not real!).  Quinine was on the table ready to be used along with a jar of poison.  A box of dangerous substances ready to cause trouble and to try and outdo the famous detective.


Smoking implements such as an array of pipes, matches and lighters along with some rather dandy carpet slippers were shown in this cabinet.


Then of course the suggestion of Holmes' ability to disguise himself.  I love the nose at the top of the picture!


We all have our favourite Sherlock don't we, mine being Basil Rathbone followed closely by Jeremy Brett.  However Miss Teen loves the modern version played by Benedict Cumberbatch, so this exhibit was lovingly gazed upon - the coat that he wore on Sherlock (and hopefully will be again soon!)


Of course the famous deerstalker cap had to be shown somewhere, after all, Sherlock is not Sherlock without this trademark piece of apparel.


This outfit has me thinking of my favourite Sherlock adventure - The Hound of the Baskervilles.  I can just imagine this outline walking through the mist of the moor.


Another trademark - the violin that was played while he thought through the clues.


This exhibit was great to see, especially as I tap out my post on the gentle keyboard of my laptop.  Can you remember using typewriters similar to these with the faint 'p' and 'q' every time you plunged your little finger down on them (I'm talking to touch typers here).  The soreness of your fingers when you missed the keys and got caught between two, and then if you typed too fast untangling the letter arms - how I miss those days!


However, I have never heard or seen one of these - The Home Blick with its keys on the cylinder.  I would have trouble typing on this as the keys are all wrong - I much prefer the QWERTY style!


Other items of times gone by such as the candlestick phone and the telegraph, yes I know technology is amazing but the tactile qualities of these antiques makes me so happy.


So there we have it, the Sherlock Holmes Exhibition which is about to finish and I'm so happy I got to see this and share it with you before it gets boxed up on the 12 April to make way for the next exhibition at the Museum.


The Museum of London is full of curiosities and we spent the whole day here this time around taking in all the centuries of this great city, but that would be a HUGE post, so I will put together some other bite sized pieces on future posts (or you can visit the Museum online too in my sidebar).

I hope you have all had a good week, mine has been incredibly busy but I am now looking forward to quite a few days off to catch up with myself and with you all.

Take care
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27 comments:

  1. Fascinating post! I too love all the devices of yesteryear :)

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  2. Whhahahahahtttt Whhahahahatttt ---do you mean Sherlock Holmes isn't real (smiles and giggles). We are all fans of Sherlock Holmes. What a fun place you went, thanks for the smiles. Blessings

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  3. The Home Blick was quite a contraption wasn't it!...I can't believe but I don't think I've ever been to the Museum of London so there is another one for my days out list! X

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  4. What a fabulous outing. I'm not into Sherlock Holmes at all but this looks like a fascinating display. I love all the old items and that handwriting is wonderful. Enjoy your weekend.

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  5. Thank you for the armchair visit to the exhibition Chel. I liked the smoothness of Jeremy Brett but love the eccentric, quirky handsome Dominic! Happy Easter.

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  6. Wow Chel, how exciting to see this wonderful exhibit with the girls! How fun and you all must of loved it and had fun. Thanks for sharing it with me and I loved looking at all the cool photos you took. Have a nice weekend and a Happy Easter.
    Julie xo

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  7. What a cool exhibit! I'd love to see that.

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  8. I am so jealous, Chel. I would love going there. I have one of those really old typewriters. It is so heavy that I can't lift it by myself. xo Laura

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  9. What great exhibition to see with the girls, sounds like you all had a fabulous time.

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  10. I learned to type on an old machine sort of like those!

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  11. What an interesting exhibit, and I love, love, love those typewriters. The British really know how to do things right ;). Stopping by from the 'over 40' gang. ;)

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  12. Wow - I would love to see this.

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  13. Happy Easter to you, Chel!
    :)

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  14. I loved all the things you show here concerning Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I was very impressed with the writer's neat handwriting! You have convinced me, I shall visit The Museum of London on my next visit! My favourite Holmes was Jeremy Brett, he seemed perfect for the role, both in attitude and acting skills. I have seen the more modern version with Benedict Cumberbatch and although it's very different it was rather good! Though I much prefer the other Mrs. Hudson played in the Jeremy Brett version!
    Wishing you a Happy and hopefully sunny Easter!

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  15. It sounds fascinating!! I really like your memories of typing on a proper typewriter, I have many of the same memories! Especially the aching little fingers! I hope that you have a good Easter, and more importantly a restful week afterwards!! xx

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  16. That looks like such an interesting exhibit. I love the little items that are so quintessentially Sherlock, like the hat and the pipe. My husband would love to see this exhibit. I hope you have a good weekend and a happy Easter!

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  17. I love Sherlock ....who doesn't I wonder, he's a fantastic creation. Benedict Cumberbatch does a wonderful job, though Basil Rathbone was the one I grew up with. I learned to type on a 'proper' typewriter too, although hard work it was very satisfying hearing the thwack of the keys! X

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  18. What a wonderful exhibition. Conan Doyle's handwriting is amazing! Happy Easter, Chel.

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  19. Looks like sure a fun exhibit! Glad you got to see it before it closed.

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  20. What a marvellous exhibition to see.
    I loved the 'Baskerville" outfit, really iconic.
    Hope you're all having a lovely Easter break.

    Diana

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  21. I loved seeing all these Sherlock Holmes items, such fun. And those costumes, adore!

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  22. I loved the post, but what exaclty to you mean by "not real" about Sherlock and Snape?

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  23. Could not convince Afton to this part of the museum when we were there a few weeks ago. She really has no idea who SH is - she's even too young to have seen the Benedict version recently. I have fond memories of studying "The Hound of Baskerville" back in grade 5 and my father was always wonderful at reciting lines from the books. Now that I have seen what I missed, I regret not dragging Afton in for even half an hour to see all the wonderful SH things. Thanks for sharing your pics, Chel!

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  24. Wow, super! Thanks for sharing. I like Sherlock Holmes very much, too :-). Happy Easter! Nata xxx

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  25. I adore Sherlock! Are you sure he isn't real? I heard he was growing bees somewhere in the country.
    Amalia
    xo

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  26. Hi,
    I just love this post. We love Sherlock in this house. I had my boys read your post too. They enjoyed it!! Thank You!
    Carla

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  27. I enjoyed this post as we have recently found the 'new' Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch on Netflix and thoroughly enjoyed it! Looking forward to the next season when it comes on now! I learned to typed on an old typewriter then on an electric one and smiled at your words about getting fingers and keys stuck. :) Wonderful post Chel!

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