A Three-Pipe Icon

Meet Toby Baskerville -- our new pet

Nothing says Sherlock Holmes faster than a deerstalker cap and a curved pipe and/or magnifying glass.

Never mind that (except for the magnifying glass) we owe these symbols more to William Gillette and Frederic Dorr Steele than to Dr. Watson and Dr. Conan Doyle. In popular culture, they are all that is necessary to suggest the Great Detective.

Thus, these accoutrements can transform a cat, bear, mouse, dog, praying mantis – you name it! – into Sherlock Holmes. Or into a detective in general. For Sherlock Holmes, though far from the first fictional detective, has become the icon for all the rest.

For all these reasons, we couldn’t resist acquiring the pet above on a recent trip to an antique mall called LT’s Uniquities in West Liberty. He doesn’t eat a thing, but we expect the tobacco bill to be huge!