After I posted the Once Upon A Time blog post explaining where the dream that is Broadsides & Brews came from, a friend asked about the origin of the name, so, why are we called Broadsides & Brews?
As a creative person with an entrepreneurial spirit, I have conceptualized, contemplated, and laid the groundwork for many projects over the years. My memoir is written in bits and pieces across at least half a dozen notebooks. The children’s book I wrote has notes from publishers and is awaiting my attention for a new draft. My voiceover reel is ready for distribution, oh, and the podcast…how I would LOVE to do a podcast! But on what subject? Stories from my memoir? I did grow up in an Addams Family, Munsters, Mixed-ish type household, those stories are fun. Or maybe true crime? That’s a subject that fascinates the masses and, after all, I did graduate Magna Cum Laude from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. You see my parents wanted me to go to college to study something that would “get me a job” (aka not musical theatre) so I figured courtroom equals stage, jury equals audience…I’m in! So true crime it is, but I wanted to put a different spin on it since there are already so many great true crime podcasts out there (Crime Junkies is my fav). I thought about Hollywood true crime, true crime that has become legend, the history of true crime…ooh, I liked that one…when did our fascination begin? Billy the Kid? Jack the Ripper? So, I began to do some research, one of my favorite pastimes. Research means books, another favorite. I stumble upon a book entitled, The Invention Of Murder: How The Victorians Reveled In Death And Detection And Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders. Jackpot!
I love getting a new book (or new to me). I study the cover design, flip through the pages, read the quotes on the back of the jacket, you know, get acquainted. I sit in my favorite reading chair with my pencil, notebook and post it flags at the ready and dig in…. Chapter One, Imagining Murder…
”Thus, when on the night of 7 December 1811…For those who wanted a tangible souvenir, there were always broadsides, which were swiftly on sale on street corners. Broadsides had been around since the sixteenth century…For those who could not find a penny, pubs and coffee houses pinned up broadsides of popular crimes, to be read by customers as the drank.”
To be read by customers as they drank…
“Honey, I have the name for our bookshop bar!”
Broadsides:
1. a) A sizable sheet of paper printed on one side.
b) A sheet printed on one or both sides and folded.
2. Something, such as a ballad, printed on a broadside.
Broadsides have been around since the sixteenth century; they were sheets that were produced sequentially for true stories that caught the public’s imagination. With the rise in popularity of live theatre, the original Playbills were called Broadsides.
Brews:
1. To prepare beer, ale, coffee, tea, etc. by steeping, boiling, and fermentation or by infusion and fermentation.
2. To be in the process of forming.
Selectively curated offering of beer, coffee, tea, and variations of the standards that will surprise and enlighten the taste buds while inspiring new connections, conversations, and ideas.
