Ever just watch a clip from a movie, show, or anything and wonder. “What are they smoking?”
I know I do. As do a few other friends of mine.
This comes from a friend of mine. While watching the animated classic “Pinocchio,” they wondered something. They asked in a group text. “What’s in Geppetto’s pipe you think? Night cap?”
Which made me start to think. I knew night cap wouldn’t have been a blend then. But I pondered and thought some more. Grabbed a snack. And began research. As one does.
And down the rabbit hole of monopolies, global trade, economics, and the smoking habits of the Italian people I went. So, let’s start.
Here is what we know from the scene:
- Geppetto smokes his pipe when going to bed.
- He lights his pipe with a candle with little to no trouble.
- Geppetto has a generous income. I base this information upon seeing his clocks and noting his pocket watch visible early on in the movie. He lives in a nice home. His career as a carpenter seemingly treats him well.
- Geppetto lives in the Tuscan region of Italy in the 1880s. (The original story was written in 1883.)
Now, other than time and place, we will base any and all observations solely upon Disney’s animated movie classic. It is not mentioned that Geppetto smokes in the original novel.
We will follow the same logic of laws and the history of this world and timeline. We will ignore the fancies the film depicts. A flying fairy enters an elderly man’s home. She turns a puppet into a wooden boy whose nose grows when he lies.
We will assume that the animated world has the same tobaccos, laws, regulations, trade, cultures, etc.
Yeah, we’re going to keep all that in mind. Why? Because I was bored and want to make a wild educated speculation on a cartoon character and what he’s smoking.
Let’s take a look at his pipe of choice. It is a German styled pipe with a long stem. It is typically carved from briar. The pipe was possibly carved by the man himself or is an import from Germany or Switzerland. Why is this important? Because it shows a couple things. One, he likes a cooler smoke. The longer stem, and secondary chamber of these kinds of pipes are designed for a cooler, sweeter smoke.
His pipe rack, next to his bed, also indicates he is a bedtime smoker. He is a serious enough pipe smoker to have four pipes on the rack and an empty spot. One for every day of the work week. (As an aside: I fully appreciate the high level of attention to these details. Especially during the days of early animation!)
This information also tells us that Geppetto was making enough to own several pipes. Realistically he can afford any of the tobacco of the time.
So, how are we going to go about figuring out which tobaccos would be his tobaccos of choice?
Bull Durham? They were around, as was Samuel Gawith, Sutliff, Astley’s, etc.
Well, we can narrow that down further.
In 1861 there was the unification of Italy. With that, the “Monopolio di Stato” (state monopoly) was founded. Which meant that the state was the only producer of tobacco at that time.
In 1869 a private financial syndicate was founded. The “Società Anonima Regìa Cointeressata dei Tabacchi.” Or in English: The Anonymous Company for the Co-Interested Tobacco Company.” (Now, that’s a mouthful!)
They remained a thing until 1883, which is the perfect time frame for us to consider.
What does all that tell us? The Italian government had control on tobacco regulation and kept a majority of tobacco sales within Italy. Travelers heading into Italy in 1883 faced strict customs. Customs would confiscate foreign tobaccos and turn you in. Additionally, all foreign tobacco sold was regulated and cost around $9.50 in today’s (United States) dollars. Their taste was a poorer quality, compared to being “vegetable scraps and paper.” Yuck. I can’t see Geppetto doing/going through all of that.
At the same time, a wet-pressed cigar called a Cavour was 3/4 of a penny, and a Toscano was 0.1 (.32 today) and that was Italian grown and rolled…. yeah. There existed a very large monopoly, so it was a no brainer to buy locally.
All of that limits us to Italian brands of pipe tobacco.
We’re also going to assume that Geppetto wasn’t buying black market tobacco. (If it was black market smoke, we would have to include every pipe tobacco from England, France, and Germany. Switzerland would also be included since most of the tobacco smuggling at that time originated there.)
Further, the most popular enjoyment of tobacco was in cigar form. (Soon a boom in cigarettes would follow in the 1890s.)
Living in the Tuscan region offered unique agricultural advantages. Not far from home, there would have been heaps of Kentuckian tobacco available. This tobacco was grown for use in cigars and other tobacco products. This was due to the agricultural blessings of the Tuscan soil.
Why is this important? A few factors:
- It was cheap.
- It was widely accessible
- It was primarily found in “burley” blends.
Some people like heavy hitting tobaccos before bed. This increases the likelihood that Geppetto favored a nice Kentucky burley-based blend in his lovely pipe.
Well, I found only one pipe tobacco that met this criterion. It is a burley-based blend known as Italia. Italia was an aromatic made by Manifatture Sigaro Toscano. It had hints of oriental tobacco and a fruity aroma. This made it a nice, relaxing blend to enjoy before bed.
So, it would be easy to assume, our charming puppet maker was smoking that.
That is, unless he went through other means of securing his pipe tobacco, as briefly mentioned above. In that case, we would add back in the Switzerland smokes. This decision is based upon the type of pipe he is using in the scene.
Tobacco was smuggled across the border, primarily from Switzerland. It was much cheaper to secure tobacco from them. It was easy to get it across the border. The products made were Ticino and they were distributed from there. They were sold at a higher profit. Considering the shape of our woodcarver’s pipe, if not handmade, it would be a German or Swiss pipe. So, it might have contained a blend available in the Swiss market. This assumption makes pinpointing his smoke more difficult and we can assume he’d be enjoying, well, anything.
I, myself like to think it’s Either Italia (or Bull Durham if he went with black-market tobacco).
Geppetto, it seems to me, would enjoy simpler, lighter pipe tobaccos.
Since the movie is a Disney movie, though, let’s rule out the black-market possibilities for the sake of argument. °o°
Sources:
Quack Pack Tabac 