# The walking sticks of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson



## littleknife

I found this very interesting website:

http://www.jadedcompass.com/ocular_helmsman/attire/canes.html

While there are no definite descriptions of the sticks of Holmes and Watson in the stories, the article gives a nice review of the sticks used in Victorian England.


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## Rad

littleknife said:


> I found this very interesting website:
> 
> http://www.jadedcompass.com/ocular_helmsman/attire/canes.html
> 
> While there are no definite descriptions of the sticks of Holmes and Watson in the stories, the article gives a nice review of the sticks used in Victorian England.


Holmes also carried an Alpinstock in "The Final Problem"


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## littleknife

At the time British walking stick makers had access to the best material from all around the world.

Here are some articles from the Victorian era New York Times describing the walking sticks of the era:

ttp://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70C15FE3B5A1B7493C7A91788D85F458784F9

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F00E1EF93D5F1A7493CBA91788D85F478784F9

Walking stick materials in that era:

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/mechanics/Workshop-Receipts-5/Walking-Sticks.html#.UghYWuC-ty4

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/mechanics/Workshop-Receipts-5/Walking-Sticks-Part-2.html#.UghYseC-ty4

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/mechanics/Workshop-Receipts-5/Walking-Sticks-Part-3.html#.UghYyeC-ty4

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/mechanics/Workshop-Receipts-5/Walking-Sticks-Part-4.html#.UghY4OC-ty4

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/mechanics/Workshop-Receipts-5/Walking-Sticks-Part-5.html#.UghY-OC-ty4

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/mechanics/Workshop-Receipts-5/Walking-Sticks-Part-6.html#.UghZEeC-ty4

At the ends there are some details regarding the actual process of walking stick making too.

Enjoy!


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## littleknife

Fixed one of the links:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F70C15FE3B5A1B7493C7A91788D85F458784F9


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## AAAndrew

All very interesting! (I love this kind of stuff) I used to work for a short time at the Making of America project at the Univ. of Michigan many years ago after leaving grad school. UofM and Cornell share the project and there's tons of interesting stuff to look through. I'll have to take a look and see if I find anything interesting. (They are collections of 19th-century books and magazines, all searchable and all with scans of the pages.) I'll let y'all know if I find anything interesting.


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## Pieter Strengers

Love the Idae of walking sticks from literature! Both fiction and non fiction. Do you Or anyone else know more of these ''facts''? Please let me know.


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## Rad

Pieter Strengers said:


> Love the Idae of walking sticks from literature! Both fiction and non fiction. Do you Or anyone else know more of these ''facts''? Please let me know.


Here's a few: http://www.classiccanes.co.uk/catalogue/Literary_Walking_Sticks.html


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## AAAndrew

Mark Twain in his "Innocents Abroad" talks about his alpenstock.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/119/119-h/119-h.htm#p246

"Most of the people, both male and female, are in walking costume, and carry alpenstocks. Evidently, it is not considered safe to go about in Switzerland, even in town, without an alpenstock. If the tourist forgets and comes down to breakfast without his alpenstock he goes back and gets it, and stands it up in the corner. When his touring in Switzerland is finished, he does not throw that broomstick away, but lugs it home with him, to the far corners of the earth, although this costs him more trouble and bother than a baby or a courier could. You see, the alpenstock is his trophy; his name is burned upon it; and if he has climbed a hill, or jumped a brook, or traversed a brickyard with it, he has the names of those places burned upon it, too."

Also the cover of an early edition shows him with umbrella and alpenstock.










And burning the names of the places you visit into the alpenstock


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## Rad

Thank you AAAndrew! Veryyyyy interestinggggg!


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## cobalt

The famous silver smith and glass maker is also famous for his walking stick toppers was the frenchman Rene Lalique although a famous glass /silver designe he designed mascots for cars like the rolls royce.1 mascot made in glass fetched $90,000 in america recently I think there is 1 also in the corning glass musuem in new york

His walking stick go for a princley sum so when in a flea market always look walking stick toppers with his name there always signed


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## capnwilliam

This is a very interesting topic, since I love the Sherlock Holmes stories. Anyone know where I can get a Penang lawyer?


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