Smoking Instruments

[ray gower]

Not an error, but perhaps an oversight in the fabled attention to detail?

Pipes are very much styled by the cultures that smoke them. And speak of the natures of the individuals.

Yet all the characters that use pipes in the film are smoking long brier churchwardens. Fitting for a deep thinking wizard, or perhaps the aged Bilbo. But too delicate for the rough and tumble life of a Ranger.
Nor can I see youngsters like Merry and Pippin smoking them as they are far too active., shorter Apples or Billiards, made from cherry perhaps?
As for Gimli, being deep in arts of stone and earth- Surely a small clay or meerschaum?

Just the thought of a long time pipe smoker, puffing on bent billiard.

[Legolas]

You actually sat down and thought about that? Wow! You continually amaze me with your wisdom Ray!

I never thought about tit o be honest. I never knew there were types of pipe either. I thought it was just 'pipe'. don't ask me!
:flash:

[ray gower]

But of course. Goes with the pipe smoking culture!

Next question is perhaps which tobacco's are grown in the South Farthing.

Not Virginia- Doesn't go too well in a pipe as it burns too quickly. Burlap is very slow burning, but too strong. So perhaps Cavendish?

Or some mixture of all with whatever other herbs are available?

[Legolas]

wot?!
:flash:

[ray gower]

Short explanation.
There are some 80 distinct varieties of the humble tobacco plant. All have distinctive flavours and characteristics. The three that are most common are Virginia, Cavendish and Burley (or Burlap), all are used in some proportion in pipe tobacco.

Virginia's are the French Golden Deilicious- Most are short of taste (remember pipe smoke is tasted, not inhaled), but required to keep the leaf going. Virginia's main use is in cigarettes. But the sweeter varieties are used as a base for creating other tobacco's for pipes.
Cavendish has a much richer 'burnt toffee' flavour.
Burley on the otherhand, with its slightly musty after taste, gives a dark 'exotic' taste to what it has been added to.

BTW Ogdens of Liverpool. have reported a significant increase in sale of pipes and tobacco since Lord of the Rings hit the screen. Particularly in the sale of Churchwardens.

Teacher of Elves

[Dave]

Originally posted by ray gower
Teacher of Elves

According to my source in the Bree, the smoking of the herb Nicotiana, which was named Galenas in Elvish, was something that the Hobbits boasted to be the makers and masters of.

They did not know the Elvish name for it, or cared little for it if they did, and called it Pipe-weed, after it's most common use. They grew it especially for smoking it in the long-stemmed pipes, from the centre of Bree the habit spread out over Middle-Earth and was widely practised by Men and Dwarves, so possibly everyone else just copied the Bree-style pipes.

The Hobbits were connoiseurs of fine pipe-weeds, rather those of Bree and Suthfarthing highest; then Longbotton leaf, Old Toby, Southern Star and Southlinch.

[ray gower]

Touche

Still like to taste some though

[imported_Data]

LOL! I just learned more about pipes than I even knew existed! I dind't even know there were different kinds of tobacco, let alone pipes...