Telford's Pipe and Cigar store, Mill Valley, CA

As an icon of the pipe smoking intellectual, there is probably no character more famous than Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is, of course, the fictional character in a series of stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), who was a Scottish physician. The complete work comprises four novels, 56 short stories and a play, all written by Doyle between 1887 and 1914. According to Doyle, the character of Holmes was inspired by a colleague, Dr. Joseph Bell of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, who was noted for his astute observations of small details in making diagnoses. In this month’s pipe club newsletter, we examine what we know of Sherlock Holmes’ pipe smoking from the writings of Doyle and where some of the current perceptions have come from.

Sherlock Holmes was an eccentric character who devoted his life to developing a style of detective work based on deductive reasoning. He spent most of his professional carrier in the companionship of his sidekick, Dr. John Watson, who chronicles their adventures. The two shared an apartment at 221B Baker Street, London. Both enjoyed pipe smoking. Holmes also smoked cigars socially with friends, but puffed heavily on a pipe when cogitating on the details of a crime. In fact, when deeply involved in a case, he had a tendency to avoid eating and stayed up all night sitting on a pillow on the floor and smoking his pipe non-stop. We are told by Dr. Watson that Holmes smoked shag cut tobacco, but not what kind. He kept this tobacco in a Persian slipper which he tacked to the mantle above his fireplace. This is, of course, not what we modern smokers would consider a satisfactory humidor. Perhaps he smoked his tobacco fast enough that he did not need to store it for long. Also, there is the very odd fact that he would collect up the dottles and dregs from the bowels that he had smoked during his long-night vigils and re-smoke them again in the morning. This is probably evidence of his eccentric habits, more than his taste for the tobacco.

In between cases, Holmes would fall into a funk since his main enthusiasm for life was the mental challenge of having a mystery to solve. During these times, he occasionally used intravenous cocaine and morphine. Dr. Watson did not approve of this habit and counseled his friend against it. Both drugs were legal during the time that the stories were written.

Now, on to the big question: “What type of pipe did Sherlock Holmes really smoke?” Despite the numerous references to his pipe smoking throughout all of Doyle’s works, there are only two descriptions of the actual pipes. One, in which there is a mention of a clay pipe as part of his assortment of belongings in his apartment. The most important reference, however, and the only one to hint at his preference occurs in The Adventure of the Copper Beeches. There we are told that he enjoys smoking a long-stemmed, cherry wood pipe.

As Sherlock Holmes grew in popularity, Doyle wrote four novels and also compiled the short stories into collections. These he published as different books. He enlisted the artistic skills of a Mr. Sidney Paget to illustrate these books as well as some of the regular appearances of the stories in various magazines of the time. In these illustrations, Sherlock Holmes is often depicted with a pipe, and it is always a straight stemmed one as you can see from some of the examples given here. It is probably safe to assume that Paget consulted closely with Doyle on the details of Sherlock’s appearance.

In 1894, Doyle wrote a play entitled Sherlock Holmes. He selected actor William Gillette to play the role of the Great Detective. The play toured around the globe and had its American debut in San Francisco. Gillette changed the style of pipe from a straight stem to a curved stem. Since stage plays at the time were lighted by lamps along the floor of the front of the stage, it is possible that such a change was made so that the pipe did not cast a shadow on the actor’s face. Also, it is speculated that a curved pipe was less obstructing to the view of the audience seated in the front rows.

In 1939, Sherlock Holmes went to the movie screen, played famously by Basil Rathbone. Rathbone continued to use the curved pipe prop and added the now famous deer-hunter hat and cape. The calabash pipe was used later, primarily on movie posters. It is my theory that this was done because of the more striking profile of such a pipe which competes better with the distinct profile of the deer-hunter hat. Subsequently, the calabash pipe was used by many other actors who played Holmes in various other movies and TV shows. It has also been used on the cover of various Sherlock Holmes books. The calabash has now become synonymous with the detective and, in fact, is often sold under the name “Sherlock Holmes pipe”.

So in conclusion, I imagine that if Holmes could comment on the evidence before us, he would say, “My dear Dr. Watson, we can deduce that I never owned or even smoked a calabash and instead stuck with my trusty straight, cherry wood. It is elementary!”