cowdery wrote:"History Detectives" is a good example of a show that will contrive a story line and create a "puzzle" where there really isn't one so that they can have a big payoff at the end. If that's what you have to do to get people to watch a show about history, so be it.
That sounds like more of a put-down than I suspect you really mean, Chuck. I'm not a fan of History Detectives myself, but I think any presentation that will catch the fancy of someone who would otherwise be concerned with which bug-eating fashion model will be the next one voted off the island by his/her peers has just got to be a good thing. We all (well most of us anyway) come to forums such as this one, filled with misinformation and fantasies. Eventually we learn The Truth, or at least a different set of fantasies
. I readily admit to having been a prime example of someone who came into the wonderful world of American whiskey believing the tax-evading-distillers-escaping-to-Kentucky story (which I just MIGHT have read in one of your own early articles?). Shows such as History Detectives might be just the introduction some people need.
In fact, that would be an interesting topic all by itself... especially for newer members here. With all the products we use and enjoy, what's so special about bourbon? Most of us aren't on shaving cream forums, or members of "gasoline brand appreciation" discussion groups. What caused you to become fascinated by the history behind the liquor you drink? I'll start right off by saying (again) that it was internet reprints of Chuck's articles (along with Gary Regan, Lew Bryson, and John Hansell) that got me hooked, but I was already predisposed by my California wine country background.