Dark Shadows Cane

Jonathan Frid playing Barnabas Collins with his wolf-head cane

With the release of the 2012 film Dark Shadows, it's difficult for us not to remember the long and storied history of the character Barnabas Collins, and of course, his trademark silver wolf-head cane. Barnabas is a son from a fairly wealthy family in a fictional town in Maine, or at least that is how it is stated in the original Dark Shadows series as it debuted in the late 1960's.

The cane makes an appearance again in the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton film version of the story, and again, it makes a dapper addition to the otherwise odd character of Barnabas Collins. In either case, it is obvious that this particular vampire mythos doesn't consider silver a bane to vampires, since this cane is, in fact, crafted of Alpaca silver. As we mentioned in our blog post concerning the movie The Wolfman and the use of a silver cane in the original horror film, walking canes have been a part of gothic literature since Mary Shelly and the other Romantic period British writers first invented the genre. In this case, the cane isn't used as a fighting tool against the “creature” or “monster,” but rather as a part of that character's wardrobe and accents their personality.

The Wolf-Head Cane is a popular cane for a number of collectors, including enthusiasts who follow the film and TV genres, and people who enjoy the use of a silver cane for formal dress. In any case, cane enthusiasts are certainly happy to see this silver wolf-head cane appear again as a part of popular culture.