Newest Addition - Lee Van Cleef Pipe

[metalheadycigarguy]

Picked this one up from Meerschaum Market. It features the typical calcinated rim, but none on the bowl. It's coated in yellow beeswax instead of white, so it's not the typical bright white like most meers. I'm not one for counting smokes, but I'll try to keep track to see how this progresses.


Here it is compared to my other ones that are similar.


Here is a pipe I designed based off of lots of examination of Lee Van Cleef's pipe from the movie.


The one I got today is pretty close, to what I designed.

Smoking now and it smokes great! Enjoying some C&D Star of the East.

 

[AJL67]

Doesn’t look like his pipe at all.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Funny... those would be his pipes from "The Grand Duel," and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." You left out his pipe from "Death Rides A Horse."

 

[mso489]

Lee Van Cleef was the master movie villain. He could exhibit venom eating a breakfast on screen, or smoking a pipe. Clint Eastwood eventually cast him in a more sympathetic role, but as a villain he elevated a film to a higher level.

I don't remember his Meer from the movies, but i don't think I saw anywhere near all the films he was in.

 

[keith929]

You mean to tell me you forgot this classic scene ?

 

[brian64]

You haven't seen an expression of shocked disbelief until you've snatched the cigar out of a hunchback's hand.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Such a classic scene.

What I found interesting is that Lee Van Cleef did not smoke a pipe in his movie's "Sabata" and "Return of Sabata." As the leading man in both films, he's smoking cheroot's and not his pipes. By the time of these films, he was already noted for the pipe smoking gun slinger, so I thought it was weird they had him smoking cheroots. If anyone could gun down a bad guy while smoking a pipe it would be Lee Van Cleef.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You haven't seen an expression of shocked disbelief until you've snatched the cigar out of a hunchback's hand.

Or after giving Mongo exploding candy.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Funny... those would be his pipes from "The Grand Duel," and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." You left out his pipe from "Death Rides A Horse."

I saw Death Rides a Horse in the theatre as a boy. I was somewhere between four and six years old (the film was made in 1967, but it might not have been released in the U.S. until two years later, which was probably when I saw it—my Godmother was still alive and sitting next to me; she died not too long after). I vividly remember the scene where John Phillip Law reminds one of the killers about Meceita Ranch about halfway into the film—I was laughing hysterically, doubled over in my seat after seeing the bullethole in the guy’s forehead—for whatever reason, that struck me as very funny at the time, maybe because I’d never seen anything like that.

 

[kcghost]

It is a nice-looking pipe!!

 

[captpat]

Nice pipe.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Picked this one up from Meerschaum Market. It features the typical calcinated rim, but none on the bowl. It's coated in yellow beeswax instead of white, so it's not the typical bright white like most meers. I'm not one for counting smokes, but I'll try to keep track to see how this progresses.
View attachment 217579View attachment 217580

Here it is compared to my other ones that are similar.
View attachment 217581

Here is a pipe I designed based off of lots of examination of Lee Van Cleef's pipe from the movie.
View attachment 217582View attachment 217583
View attachment 217585View attachment 217586
The one I got today is pretty close, to what I designed.

Smoking now and it smokes great! Enjoying some C&D Star of the East.

I love the detailed drawings (and that your calcined rim looks organic with a fade, unlike some that I’ve seen that appear painted on with a hard border at the bottom). Did you make screen captures from the various films and resize to “life-size”? The precise dimensions are impressive. With this recent acquisition being “pretty close,” is that close enough?

Having such detailed drawings and measurements, I would think you could commission a pipe to match that would be closer to the namesake pipe than all other iterations. Have you considered and/or investigated this possibility?

 

[Zamora]

Such a classic scene.

What I found interesting is that Lee Van Cleef did not smoke a pipe in his movie's "Sabata" and "Return of Sabata." As the leading man in both films, he's smoking cheroot's and not his pipes. By the time of these films, he was already noted for the pipe smoking gun slinger, so I thought it was weird they had him smoking cheroots. If anyone could gun down a bad guy while smoking a pipe it would be Lee Van Cleef.

I haven't seen those, really odd creative choice. That'd be like having Clint smoke a pipe considering cheroots were his thing. Even as a kid Lee Van Cleef's pipe smoking really stood out to me, he looked so badass with a pipe and was so far removed from the stereotypical pipe smokers I was used to.

 

[warren]

Even as a kid Lee Van Cleef's pipe smoking really stood out to me, he looked so badass with a pipe and was so far removed from the stereotypical pipe smokers I was used to.

That's what movies do. The can create stereotypes at their whim and knock 'em down at their whim. Pipe's are a shining example of their power over people (the wee pipe smokers in whatever that movie was, Sentenza's pipe, Lt. Bullitt's Mustang, etc.) especially those with low self-esteem, see an actor, identify with the character projected and emulate the character the actor portrays. You can smoke a similar pipe, roll your cigarette pack into your shirt sleeve, buy a green Mustang, adopt a particular swagger in your walk and so forth. That's the reason companies pay big money for product placement.

 

[Zamora]

That's what movies do. The can create stereotypes at their whim and knock 'em down at their whim. Pipe's are a shining example of their power over people (the wee pipe smokers in whatever that movie was, Sentenza's pipe, Lt. Bullitt's Mustang, etc.) especially those with low self-esteem, see an actor, identify with the character projected and emulate the character the actor portrays. You can smoke a similar pipe, roll your cigarette pack into your shirt sleeve, buy a green Mustang, adopt a particular swagger in your walk and so forth. That's the reason companies pay big money for product placement.

Absolutely. The stereotypes of academics, writers, and sailors being pipe smokers certainly has a lot of basis in reality, at least historically but they were far outnumbered by everymen who also enjoyed pipes. Van Cleef's characters smoking pipes definitely adds authenticity for the period and the fact he used his own pipes really elevated them to be more than a prop. Today Western characters are mostly associated with cigarettes even though they weren't nearly as common in the 1800s, apparently it was largely the Marlboro man that created the association. Most people probably assume the cheroots Clint smokes are cigarettes, I did for a long time.

 

[DesertDan]

Beautiful pipe, congrats!

 

[warren]

The stereotypes of academics, writers, and sailors being pipe smokers certainly has a lot of basis in reality, at least historically but they were far outnumbered by everymen who also enjoyed pipes.

And far outnumbered by their colleagues who spurned smoking entirely, just like society in general. Thank TV and Hollywood for that stereotype which never really took hold in real life. Reel life yes. Most of the people I saw with a pipe at university carried them as props, accessories or, an affectation trying to live up the the Hollywood image as projected. Rarely did I see one in actual use, delivering nicotine.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I love the detailed drawings (and that your calcined rim looks organic with a fade, unlike some that I’ve seen that appear painted on with a hard border at the bottom). Did you make screen captures from the various films and resize to “life-size”? The precise dimensions are impressive. With this recent acquisition being “pretty close,” is that close enough?

Having such detailed drawings and measurements, I would think you could commission a pipe to match that would be closer to the namesake pipe than all other iterations. Have you considered and/or investigated this possibility?

Lots of screen captures to examine the pipe, and make my best guess at the dimensions. I also used two of my other meerschaums as a guide as they both have similar features. In the picture with the the 3 meers; the top one has a bowl is pretty close to the correct dimensions; however, the bend was not correct. The bottom one had a bend that was close, so I used those two along with my best guess from what LVC's pipe was to draw out mine.

At some point I will probably contact a meerschaum carver and have them carve out a pipe to those dimensions, as that was the intention when I drew the pipe, but for now this one is close enough.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I haven't seen those, really odd creative choice. That'd be like having Clint smoke a pipe considering cheroots were his thing. Even as a kid Lee Van Cleef's pipe smoking really stood out to me, he looked so badass with a pipe and was so far removed from the stereotypical pipe smokers I was used to.

If you like classic spaghetti western's then "Sabata," "Return of Sabata," "Death Rides A Horse," and "The Grand Duel" are all good. I like "Sabata" and "Death Rides A Horse" best of those four. If you're a fan of LVC they're a good watch.

Now are they as good as "A Fist Full of Dollars," "For A Few Dollars More," and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," or "Once Upon A Time In the West," no, but they're still good westerns.

 

[Zamora]

If you like classic spaghetti western's then "Sabata," "Return of Sabata," "Death Rides A Horse," and "The Grand Duel" are all good. I like "Sabata" and "Death Rides A Horse" best of those four. If you're a fan of LVC they're a good watch.

Now are they as good as "A Fist Full of Dollars," "For A Few Dollars More," and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," or "Once Upon A Time In the West," no, but they're still good westerns.

Thanks for the recs