Gods and Generals and Gettysburg

tobakenist · Nov 14, 2011

This weekend I watched 2 DVD'S, Gods and Generals and Gettysburg, as historical films I found them quite interesting, as most of us pipe smokers are quite good at pipe spotting within films, I was puzzled by seeing 1 officer smoking what looked like a standard system Peterson and 1 General smoking what looked like a 1970's Danish Freehand. I would have expected to see Clays and europian Meerschaums, Briar had only just started beeing used for pipe making at this time in history and I would have thought unlikely to be seen this early, but I am a an Englishman and would like to hear American view of this.

buster · Nov 14, 2011

I know U.S. Grant as well as Jefferson Davis smoked meerschaums. Most smoked clay bowl pipes with reed stems as they were more affordable and easy to cary than the tavern style clay pipes. I am not sure about briar use at that time?
http://www.pipeshoppe.com/ps_p0003.php
If you are interested in that period of American history the author Shelby Foote wrote an amazing series of books called "The Civil War a narrative." I'm working my way threw them now. Shelby Foot was also a pipe smoker.

macnutz · Nov 14, 2011

I would not be surprised to learn that there were hand carved hardwood pipes around.

philip · Nov 14, 2011

The one man smoking in this photo appears to have a 16" clay pipe.
Motley Crew: 1864
Thanks to Bob(baskerville59) for turning me on to the shorpy website.

ssjones · Nov 14, 2011

That dirtball director, Ronald Maxwell, still owes my county about half a million bucks. We were stupid enouhg to loan him the cash to make Gods & Generals (under the guise he'd be back to make another movie). It's been about 10 years and he hasn't paid for any of the money nor returned to shoot another filrm. To add insult to injury, he was in town last month for a "Film Festival" our tourism board hosted. It seems out country officers can't seem to get on the same page. You would think for the kind of cash he spends on a movie, he would at least get the pipes right. We have some real morons running Washington Country, Maryland...

tobakenist · Nov 14, 2011

SSJones, I am sorry to read your gripe with Ronald Maxwell, it did make me think, if he couln't get the pipes right how accurate was the rest of these two films.

cortezattic · Nov 14, 2011

A year ago, or so, a briar pipe, supposedly with Civil War provenance, was auctioned on eBay,

which is pretty good evidence supporting baskerville59's post.

But the filmmaker obviously let a continuity error slip into the film. As tobakenist says,

Danish freehands are 1970's era shapes.

ssjones · Nov 14, 2011

Some filming took place near my house and a few friends are re-enactors, so that was interesting to watch (I live a few miles from Antietam Battlefield). I've yet to see the film and doubtful I ever will. Maxwell was in the paper on a Friday as the star of our 1st film festival, than again on Saturday when someone remembered he owed a lot of money. He refused to be interviewed, and only stated the money will be paid back, rest assured. I'm not holding my breath...

judcole · Nov 15, 2011

if he couln't get the pipes right how accurate was the rest of these two films.

Always gotta remember that movies like this are historical fiction, not a documentary!!! The history may or not be any good.

tobakenist · Nov 15, 2011

I would have thought that a lot of the cast, not the main players, would be from reinactment groups and would be very accurate with their uniforms and weaponry, I didn't see many clay pipes being smoked which would have been the norm at the time, I have done a bit of research on the web today and can't find any photos or mention of briar being used at this time, meerschaum seems quite common with officer ranks, and clays and cobs with other ranks, I have read that quite a big percentage of union troops were fairly new to America so this may account for european type pipes beeing smoked by their troops. As Briar had only just started to be used in pipe making in the 1850's there would have been very few Briar pipes in America at this time.

juvat270 · Nov 15, 2011

Always gotta remember that movies like this are historical fiction, not a documentary!!! The history may or not be any good.

Like "Enemy at the Gates." Russians with British accents... :lol:
To be honest though, I can forgive and even overlook minor things such as the wrong pipes as long as the events or story is portrayed accurately.

judcole · Nov 15, 2011

To be honest though, I can forgive and even overlook minor things such as the wrong pipes as long as the events or story is portrayed accurately.

+1
"Braveheart" still makes me roll my eyes. Wallace and his bunch of 13th century lowlanders wearing the kilt and painting their faces blue. Please, spare me. :P

tobakenist · Nov 15, 2011

I'm only an English man showing an interest in American and pipe history, I know that films don't always get things right.

ssjones · Nov 15, 2011

I wasn't a pipe smoker during the filming, so I don't recall what/if the re-enactors were smoking. One of my buddy smokes but he uses a modern Boswell bullet pipe, mostly because it smokes so well, versus the accuracy of a period piece.

macnutz · Nov 15, 2011

Script writers and directors never allow mere facts to get in the way of a good story. It's why I never watch anything from either the History Channel or the Science Channel, 'tis all BS to entertain rather than inform the proverbial masses or is that them asses. :D

Gods and Generals and Gettysburg

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