Game Afoot

I’m sure we’ve all seen the famous calabash pipe, favoured by Sherlock Holmes. You know, the curly calabash with it’s distinctive shape? It’s just as much a part of Sherlock Holmes as his deerstalker hat and magnifying glass.

The original calabash pipes are made from the calabash gourd. The African variety is regarded as the best to use, as the European (usually Greek) calabash gourds rarely have the right shape favoured by the pipe makers.

The main part of the calabash pipe is the top, bent stem of the African calabash gourd. The actual bowl, in which the tobacco is smoked, is an insert, often of meerschaum or porcelain. Which is inserted into the hollowed out gourd stem, with the aid of a cork gasket.

A ferrule, of wood, or plastic, or other suitable material, is inserted into the narrow part of the gourd stem. This is to take the bent vulcanite pipe stem which is the part which goes into the mouth of the smoker. If that stem were to be inserted directly into the gourd there would be a good chance of cracking or breaking it.

Some calabash pipes are decorated with silver bands, even a silver cover around the top of the bowl. So we can see that these pipes are pretty labour-intensive. Making them expensive these days.

Calabash pipes smoke cooler and drier than many other types of pipe, because it’s construction means that the smoke passes from the bottom of the actual smoking bowl into the empty space of the gourd beneath, which takes away a lot of the heat and strength of the smoke.

Now, where Sherlock Holmes comes in. The construction of the calabash pipe gives it a low centre of gravity. This allows the smoker to easily hold the pipe in the mouth alone. Actors would take advantage of this property, as it allowed them to depict their character smoking a pipe while leaving the hands free for other “business”. Think of Basil Rathbone and William Gillette, who both played Sherlock Holmes.

In fact Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never actually wrote of Sherlock Holmes smoking a calabash pipe, and Sidney Paget in his illustrations usually had Holmes smoking a long-stemmed (churchwarden) pipe.

We know that Sherlock Holmes himself preferred very strong, harsh tobacco, and would probably never have given the calabash the time of day, due to it’s mellowing effect upon the smoking mixture.



By: Chris Haycock

About the Author:

It has been said that the American detective story began sometime in the later nineteenth century. Many critics give credit to an author named Anna Katherine Green for starting this American version of what was already an interest in Europe. Shortly after the budding of what we call the beginning of American detective stories, the realization was that even the first American detective story was influenced in some way by Europe. Whether it was influenced by one of the earlier novels such as Collins, or even by one of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales, it is uncertain, but it was almost surely derived from Europe. The plots and themes all point to the European influence and rules.

It was later largely realized that the most significant difference between the American version and the English version is the language. The American crime story is much more harsh and blunt. The language that an American crime story entails is various and is much like the blend in our current society whereas the language in a classic English derived crime story is more upper class English and not as corrupt with obscenities or just plain old regular American dialogue. American crime stories blend perfectly the everyday speech that is commonly heard in this vast melting pot of different cultures and heritages

These pulp fiction stories were truly the first real stories that can be called American in almost every sense. The corruption of the social life in America and the prohibition that was ongoing in larger cities spurred a sort of revolution. This disgruntlement had to show its face somewhere and pulp fiction stories became the method of choice for many writers. The Black Mask was one such pulp magazine publication that actually lasted for quite some time before finally being killed off sometime in the nineteen fifties.

Pulp magazine stories gave way to the hard – boiled detective stories around the nineteen twenties. This type of story focused on the tough guy detective. They were stories of gangsters and the like. They were definitely no comparison to Sherlock Holmes, who despite his cleverness, was not perceived as being much of a tough guy.

Book publications of American detective fiction appeared in the late twenties and the early thirties made this action more popular among writers and publishers alike. Even though these stories that were made into books had most likely already appeared in pulp magazine publications somewhere along the line, the writer had to be one of the best available. It was not common to allow someone who was not one of the best in the field to be published, therefore, only the top pulp writers were offered such a special achievement. Others were simply not good enough, by publishing quality standards, to spend the time and money on.

Books opened the door to television and the detective program was born. This type of show offered a short story that was acted out on live television. Most of these were badly acted and had poor characters but they were able to evolve over the years into something much more desirable to watch. With some of the current crop being actually quite good.



By: Chris Haycock

About the Author:

The use of a main character is neccessary in any story, so that one may have a point of view for basis. This point of view allows the reader to be more knowledgeable about what is going on in the character’s head. It gives insight to thoughts and feelings of the character and lets the reader know when the character is feeling pain or is just plain exhausted. It would be unnecessary to have more than two main characters to be used as reference and it is really more difficult for the reader to be able to distinguish between the thoughts of more than one person, let alone more than two.

Readers must be able to locate a happy medium when reading and writers have to be able to provide that happy medium. In classic detective writing, it is important to create a main character, the detective. The detective can be formal or informal but it is important to establish his attitudes and morals. The character is almost as important as the story that it helps to tell. If a character was produced that had no background, the reader would not understand completely why the character did what he did. Common phrases of the character are also helpful to have on hand because that is a trademark of the character. Think of Sherlock Holmes, what is one phrase that is best remembered of Doyle’s oh so popular detective? “Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary.” People commonly use that phrase even now, in this day and age, in a kind of silent homage to the character. Despite the fact that Doyle never actually had Holmes utter that phrase.

This detective can be crazy or just a little off in the head. It doesn’t matter as long as the character is well brought out and foreshadowed. Such characters must be able to be imagined by the reader so that they may hold the reader’s attention during even the slowest period in the book or short story. There is no supernatural power that can be used by the character because that is completely against the rules in the classic detective story. These stories are modest, simple tales of crimes that have been committed by someone unknown. The crime must be solved and the detective must be the hero at the end of the story. The detective cannot, however, commit the crime that is being investigated. No matter how interesting it may seem to put that into the story, again, it is against the rules of the classic detective fiction story. The character must be winning, genuine, and have minor quirks that normal or slightly abnormal individuals have. Make the character as real as it can be.

If the writer chooses to make a second main character, this character should be able to flow evenly with the other main character. Such is the use of Watson in Doyle’s tales of Sherlock Holmes. Although Watson may not be a main character exactly, he is definitely a main supporting character whose thoughts and feelings are aware to the reader.If one can effectively create a winning character and a winning storyline, the rest will be history.

By: Chris Haycock

About the Author:

Classic detective stories are now just that, classics. They opened the door for writers with vivid imaginations and well grouped wordings to fantasize a world of crime and crime solving. The early writers composed their stories in such similar detail that one could easily compare one story from one author with that of another in the same genre. Many stories exist, but only a few are deemed notable by critics.

The authors of many of what are now considered classic detective fiction genre wrote by a certain set of rules. These underwater metal detector were occasionally broken and bent but the storyline never strayed far from the original rules that were set in place.

Many call these types of stories “Who Done Its” but they can be classified under the name of classic detective fiction’. The story follows a general set of rules. These rules were originally published by Ronald Knox to give the writer a clear set of boundaries when writing detective fiction. Written in the heyday of classic detective fiction, the rules are as follows:

From Fr. Ronald Knox’s famous The Ten Commandments List for Detective Novelists

· The criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story, but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to follow.

· All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.

· Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.

· No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.

· No Chinaman must figure in the story.

· No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.

· The detective must not himself commit the crime.

· The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader.

· The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader.

· Twin brothers and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been duly prepared for them.

If these rules were followed completely, it would be difficult to constantly generate new plots and stories. One must offer variety to the reader; variety of the plot and storyline as well as of the characters and instances. If Sherlock Holmes were a writer, how would he have solved this catastrophe? “Elementary, my dear Watson”. That is how. He would develop an elaborate tale and, no matter the circumstances, he would weave the tale effortlessly around the reader just like his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Doyle cleared the way for other writers to become more spontaneous in their writing while still being somewhat focused on the rules. His elaborate bending of those rules gained him the popularity among readers that he so deserved. Would Sherlock Holmes have been as interesting if he had never stumbled upon a crime? Of course not.

Among good reads, the classic detective fiction novel should come in somewhere near the top, mixed with various other genres. Such collections as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is still a good seller and can be found at nearly any bookstore due to the still common popularity. Such readers may occasionally have to special order some items though; due to the length of time those novels have been in existence. If there were more good fictional detective novels gracing the shelves of the bookstores today, there would not still be the demand for those fantastic pieces that were created so many years ago.

The reader requires constant entertainment and most of these classic detective fiction novels can provide that to them easily. Although some of the terms and phrases are now somewhat outdated, it is still a most interesting read for the well versed reader to pick up and follow. The books that aren’t exactly highlighted or featured any longer always pique the interest of the most self respected reader. To find such books, one must simply do the research and ask if need be since there are many that are still in print.

In these stories, the reader embarks upon an interesting journey through time to a world where things are still much simpler than the life of today. There are still crimes however, since that is what the book focuses on in depth. A theft may have occurred and subsequently caused a murder. The hero is, of course, the detective. This character is proficient in the means of detecting crime. His attitudes and morals can be described by the author in several different ways, but the general view of the detective is intelligence. If the detective is not perceived as intelligent, how should he be able to solve the crimes that the police cannot? The author makes it interesting of course, using clever phrases and great character descriptions to involve the reader as much as possible in the storyline. The reader often thinking or trying to figure out who the culprit is that committed this crime.

This is why a lot of these novels are referred to more commonly as the “Who Done It” type of book. The author creates an issue, a crime, and the reader is ultimately trying to figure out who committed the crime all throughout the book. If it is written in any great detail whatsoever, the reader will be roped into the book in no time flat; desperately reading on to try to figure out which character committed the crime and exactly how it was pulled off by that character. Doyle was definitely one of the leading writers of the fiction detective novel with his amazingly unusual novels portraying crimes that some would not have thought about being committed. But Doyle could not have accomplished the worldwide recognition of such stories without his leading character, Sherlock Holmes, gracing the pages and solving the crimes at just the right point in the story. This is one of the reasons that his character is so loved, and has to rate today as the classic detective in the classic detective novel.