Whangee
Encyclopedia
Phyllostachys
Phyllostachys is a genus of bamboo. The species are native to Asia with a large number of species found in Central China, but can now be found in many temperate and semi-tropical areas around the world as cultivated plants or escapes from cultivation...
, a genus of bamboos. They are a hardy evergreen plant from Japan, China and the Himalayas whose woody stems are sometimes used to make canes and umbrella
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain...
handles. The word derives from the Chinese (Mandarin) huáng lí. It can also refer to a cane made from whangee.
John Steed
John Steed
John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular British series The Avengers and The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee and Ralph Fiennes in the movie....
, the dapper secret agent from television's The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, was known for carrying an umbrella with a whangee handle. Charlie Chaplin's character, The Little Tramp, is famously known for his whangee cane.
The firm of Dunhill
Dunhill
Dunhill may refer to:* Alfred Dunhill, a luxury goods company owned by Richemont* Dunhill * Dunhill , a brand of cigarettes made by British American Tobacco* Dunhill Records, a record label* ABC Dunhill Records, a record label...
created custom smoking pipes and cigarette holders out of whangee, lacquering the surface of the plant stems and adding a black plastic or Bakelite mouthpiece. Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
, the well known British comedic actor, habitually used an 8" long custom black lacquered whangee cigarette holder. It became his trademark and is seen in most of his publicity photographs. His collection included a valuable holder that had a spiral of diamonds set in gold over the black lacquered whangee. It was stolen out of his dressing room, and was recovered in a damaged state.
Bertie Wooster
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
in The Inimitable Jeeves
The Inimitable Jeeves
The Inimitable Jeeves is a semi-novel collecting Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, on May 17, 1923, and in the United States by George H...
says, "Then bring me my whangee, my yellowest shoes and the old green Homburg. I'm going into the park to do pastoral dances." The author, P.G. Wodehouse, does not elaborate on the meaning of whangee, assuming that any of his audience would immediately know to what it referred.