To the OP, I avoid anything Tolken related. I'm just afraid that some of that greasy nerdiness will rub off on me. 
Purple Elephant Fluffbunny!
- Thread starter anthonyrosenthal74
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I was not a fan of the Squire using those names for their tobaccos for at least two reasons:
(1) Those tobaccos certainly do not represent the sorts of tobaccos that Tolkien had in mind when creating the Shire. This is evident
[1a] because that sort of tobacco was not historically smoked in the sort of pre-industrial, agrarian English regions that inspired the Shire.
[1b] because Tolkien himself did not smoke that sort of tobacco, and it seems obvious that a pipe smoking fiction author -- when writing pipe smoking characters -- has in mind what he himself knows as tobacco. Tolkien famously smoked Capstan Original Navy Cut (by all accounts and evidence much more than other tobaccos), so we can probably assume that he imagined his characters smoking the equivalent of VAs along those lines.
I understand if others don't give a flying leap whether the tobaccos were realistic to Tolkien's world, so long as they enjoyed them -- for me, though, the disregard for realism was off-putting.
(2) I sympathize with the temptation to associate your product with somebody else's imaginary product -- both out of sheer enjoyment of that person's world, and also as a marketing strategy -- but, in the end, it doesn't strike me as an actually good idea. I don't see how I have the right to capitalize off of somebody else's work, especially when my doing so may influence the opinions of others about that original work in a way that the creator may not have approved of.
(To be clear, I don't lean this way because the "Tolkien" Estate got their panties in a bunch over this. In fact, if there's anything that would incline me the other way on this, it's that I want to oppose that farce of an estate at every juncture.)
(1) Those tobaccos certainly do not represent the sorts of tobaccos that Tolkien had in mind when creating the Shire. This is evident
[1a] because that sort of tobacco was not historically smoked in the sort of pre-industrial, agrarian English regions that inspired the Shire.
[1b] because Tolkien himself did not smoke that sort of tobacco, and it seems obvious that a pipe smoking fiction author -- when writing pipe smoking characters -- has in mind what he himself knows as tobacco. Tolkien famously smoked Capstan Original Navy Cut (by all accounts and evidence much more than other tobaccos), so we can probably assume that he imagined his characters smoking the equivalent of VAs along those lines.
I understand if others don't give a flying leap whether the tobaccos were realistic to Tolkien's world, so long as they enjoyed them -- for me, though, the disregard for realism was off-putting.
(2) I sympathize with the temptation to associate your product with somebody else's imaginary product -- both out of sheer enjoyment of that person's world, and also as a marketing strategy -- but, in the end, it doesn't strike me as an actually good idea. I don't see how I have the right to capitalize off of somebody else's work, especially when my doing so may influence the opinions of others about that original work in a way that the creator may not have approved of.
(To be clear, I don't lean this way because the "Tolkien" Estate got their panties in a bunch over this. In fact, if there's anything that would incline me the other way on this, it's that I want to oppose that farce of an estate at every juncture.)
Thank you VERY much! I'll be taking that file to the FedEx store to get it printed out on a sticky backed label for Ball jar usage, since I lack a color printer at home. The spot for dating the jar is greatly appreciated as well!
I would like to see a line of tobaccos named after famous whores.
Calamity Jane - obviously a VaBur, no flavors added
Catherine Walters - Virginia Flake
Mata Hari - an Oriental forward English
Stormy Daniels - an aromatic, but despite what people say, it is not pee flavored
Ashley Madison - Not really a hooker, but a cheaper version... tastes like Stormy Daniels, without the pee.
Monica Lewinsky - obviously a cigar blend
Calamity Jane - obviously a VaBur, no flavors added
Catherine Walters - Virginia Flake
Mata Hari - an Oriental forward English
Stormy Daniels - an aromatic, but despite what people say, it is not pee flavored
Ashley Madison - Not really a hooker, but a cheaper version... tastes like Stormy Daniels, without the pee.
Monica Lewinsky - obviously a cigar blend
And obviously under the cosmicfolkwhore brand.
I just knew that bringing up something sexual in a thread full of Tolken fans would easily alientate them. You know... bring up something unfamiliar to them.
Greasy geekiness, thank you.To the OP, I avoid anything Tolken related. I'm just afraid that some of that greasy nerdiness will rub off on me.
Just about anyone can bring it up. The question is can they get it up.I just knew that bringing up something sexual in a thread full of Tolken fans would easily alientate them. You know... bring up something unfamiliar to them.
Famous whores? OH how I'd love to add to that list...but just not in the mood to end up in the Gulag.
Crass Commercialism has been around since advertising was first used. And frankly, I find the use of blend names tied to any literary work to be unimaginative. It would have been just as easy to name the blends after folklore, legends and myths.
I also agree that the characters in the book probably were not smoking aromatics. The Hobbits are depicted as living in a simple agrarian society which is why I've would have imagined them smoking corn cob pipes.
In an earlier post, I mentioned the fact that many of the names the Tolkien estate lay claim to are actually names in use before Tolkien was born i.e. Mirkwood, Green Dragon, Prancing Pony, etc. Tolkien didn't invent the names, he just used them in his book.
Purple Elephant Fluffbunny sounds like an excellent name for a cannabis strain
Actually, I might use it for starting up a blackmetal band.Purple Elephant Fluffbunny sounds like an excellent name for a cannabis strain
Never judged a book by the cover. But sometimes, good cover does have a good story. Normally, I'll read about the blend to see what's in it. If it sounds good, I'll give it a shot regardless of the name. But names are funny thing there was an ale called "cock ale". It actually had chicken in it. Thing like bird of feather series make me wonder if there's feather in the blend.