Brattlecast #195 - Railroad Timetables

All Aboard! It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for: vintage railroad timetables. Despite the potentially dry subject matter, it’s a surprisingly scenic ride. Dating back to the early 1900’s, many of these schedules are illustrated with smaller-scale (and more affordable) versions of gorgeous travel posters—advertisements for the destinations themselves, but also for the relatively new concept of train tourism. We’ll look at routes to Lake George, Pikes Peak, the Adirondacks, and many other destinations on this timely #brattlecast.

Brattlecast #189 - A Whitman Letter

During the American Civil War, Walt Whitman left his bohemian life in New York City to volunteer at Union hospitals in Washington DC, spending time with wounded soldiers and distributing small gifts of fruit, paper, and money. To fund these efforts, the poet solicited charitable donations from his network of friends via letter, one of which we have in the studio with us today. Over its four pages he thanks the recipient for their gift of $75 (a substantial amount of money in 1864) and details overwhelming conditions at the hospitals as they received trainload after trainload of sick and injured men. The suffering and mass death he witnessed in the war—punctuated by quiet moments of courage and affection—would have a transformative impact on Whitman and his later work; these were, in his own words, “real, terrible, beautiful days!”

Brattlecast #170 - Magazines & Early Cars

Today in the studio we’ve got some beautifully illustrated issues of Collier’s and Harper’s Magazine from the early 1900s. In magazines from this era we start to see the first automobile advertisements pop up, selling hand-crafted and extremely expensive Speedwells or Pope-Hartfords to affluent Gilded-Age readers. After the Model T made driving accessible to the middle class, the car and its infrastructure would reshape American life, but at this time there were few gas stations, no roadside assistance programs, and not so many paved roads. Hop in for a tour of vintage car-culture on this speedy new #brattlecast.

Brattlecast #166 - Early Road Trip Books

Today in the studio we have a copy of New England Highways and Byways From a Motorcar by Thos. D. Murphy. This beautifully illustrated volume guides tourists on a then-novel automobile journey through early 20th century New England, with visits to charming towns, historic churches, and the rugged Maine coast. We’ll also discuss even earlier tourism—promoted heavily by railroad companies—to the new national parks of the American West, as well as a 1916 cross-country travel memoir by an unexpected author. Pack some snacks, roll down the windows, and hit the road with us on this adventurous new #brattlecast.

Brattlecast #106 - Tales of Ken's Father

People often ask Ken how to start a bookshop, but the truth is, he’s never done it. The Brattle has existed since 1825, and was in pretty tough shape when it was purchased by Ken’s parents, George and Dorrit Gloss, in 1949. Ken essentially grew up in the shop; legend even has it that his first word was “book”. All of us, to a certain extent, struggle to get along with our parents; imagine how difficult that relationship can become when your parents are also your coworkers. That difficulty is compounded even further if the parent in question is George Gloss: a larger than life local character with a passion for books and bookselling, a briefcase full of unpaid utility bills, and a penchant for firing Ken on a nearly daily basis. It was a real personality clash, and Ken eventually left to study chemistry, vowing to put his career at the Brattle behind him forever. Learn what drew him back in and what lessons he ultimately learned from his father on this week’s episode.

As things open up again, we’d like to encourage our listeners to visit our shop at 9 West Street in Downtown Boston to see this and thousands of other fascinating items!