Sherlock Holmes and his pipes

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jitterbugdude

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
4,266
Points
113
Location
Northeast Maryland
Since Michibaccy just posted about Sherlock Holmes AND I just this morning finished reading the last of the Sherlock Holmes stories (4 novels and 56 short stories in all) I thought I'd post a quick little info page on SH and his pipes.

Sherlock Holmes smoked 3 types of pipes: clays, an old briar and a long stem cherry wood pipe. He never smoked a Calabash, that was given to us by a modern day actor in the early 1900's so that he and his pipe could be better seen by the audience. Of the 3 types of pipes he smoked he usually smoked his clay, specifically his black clay.

He also freely smoked cigarettes and cigars but usually when he was in his room on Baker street in heavy thought he smoked a pipe.

He did not go running around with a gigantic magnifying glass saying "It's elementary my Dear Watson"!

A few months ago I decided I wanted to learn about SH and his pipe which at the time I thought was a Calabash. I decided to buy the 2 volume set (the entire collection). I bought a set of books printed in 1926. I wanted to make sure the PC police hadn't re-edited the books to take out all references to smoking etc. I must say that if you've never read Sherlock Holmes- you should!
 

istanbulin

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2012
Messages
1,290
Points
66
Location
Stockton, CA
... He never smoked a Calabash, that was given to us by a modern day actor in the early 1900's so that he and his pipe could be better seen by the audience. ...

This is probably where I saw the Calabash pipe he used - from a movie. I did read Sherlock Holmes but I must confess that I can't recall too much thing from the book, especially the pipes.
 

Michibacy

Northern tobacco grower
Joined
May 10, 2012
Messages
1,560
Points
63
Location
Michigan
Jitter, some of my favorite books. I never actually stop reading them, just put them down for awhile and pick it up in a few weeks. I love how back then, pipe using wasn't such a bad thing....
 

Planter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2014
Messages
255
Points
28
Another interesting read in this context: "The South African Pipe Calabash" --> https://archive.org/details/southafricanpipe41fair
The gourds are purposefully formed during growth.

(A book from 1909, btw., then "Calabash pipes made from imported South African gourds have been the fashion in England for some time".)
 

Knucklehead

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
12,777
Points
113
Location
NE Alabama
I never knew pipes were made from gourd. Hey, Planter, where are you from? Welcome to the forum.
 

Jitterbugdude

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
4,266
Points
113
Location
Northeast Maryland
"Real" Calabash pipes are made from a gourd that is lined with a Meerschaum insert....

Hey Knucks... something tells me an OCD attack is coming on and before I know it you are gonna have the world's market cornered in gourd seeds and meer inserts....:rolleyes:
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
26,136
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Since obtaining block meerschaum to spin for a calabash bowl is nearly impossible these days, you might consider spinning a suitable bowl from a fat block of ebouchon briar, and nesting it within the gourd using a thin ring of cork. My calabash pipes use a glued-on segment of plastic to accommodate the bit.

Bob
 

Jitterbugdude

Moderator
Founding Member
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
4,266
Points
113
Location
Northeast Maryland
There was a guy in Germany a few months ago selling quite a few "lots" of these inserts. I should have bought a lot while the gettin' was good!
If I end up growing some gourds this year I might just turn down some cherry for an insert~ although a real meer would be cooler.
 

naomi12

New Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
2
Points
0
Well i have to say though that in the new series called Sherlock they haven't mentioned anything about a pipe
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top