Sunday, April 15, 2007

A Pirate's True Objective: Why do we idealize them?

A pirate’s whole objective was to steal what was not theirs. They were killers who let their captives live only if there was a purpose for doing so that would benefit them, and who killed those who could not provide them with profit in the cruelest possible ways. Henry Morgan roasted a woman over a cooking stove for refusing to provide the whereabouts of her jewels and money.

Tales of marooning their enemies on sandbanks with a day’s water supply are not fable, but fact. The only thing that is fiction is the practice of ‘walking the plank’ that was invented by novelists. Such a fate was too easy for their victims, and planks do not feature among the pirate artifacts available for purchase. There is little doubt that many pirates were forced to be so, frequently through the harsh life and punishments of the navies of their respective countries, but their activities cannot be glorified since there was no glory in what they did.

However, the popular view rules, and most movies have portrayed pirates as dashing figures, and we love them and cheer them on. Captain Jack is our hero, and shame on the authorities for trying to catch and punish him. This is shown in tangible ways by the way we purchase pirate collectibles from online and offline stores for our pirate barbecues that we hope will impress the neighbors and all the carefully selected guests.

Among these collectibles is pirate apparel, carefully crafted to replicate as accurately as possible what pirates are known to have worn. Pirate hats and vests; the voluminous coats that could hide a wealth of weapons. Apart from the cutlasses, pirates favored flintlock pistols that frequently had the wide mouth look of blunderbusses. These came in single and double barreled varieties, both of which are available in accurately crafted replica forms. The genuine articles are museum pieces and beyond the pockets of most collectors.

The Historical Weapons Store allows everyday collectors to experience pirate collectibles with high quality and reasonably priced items. A replica pirate cutlass, collectible pirate costumes and much more can be found at Historical Weapons Store. Also learn more about the history of pirates within our Articles Directory.

No comments: