Pipe smoking, a lost art.

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Dan

I’m not wrong. I’m left handwriting
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Probably out of style these days. I haven't smoked a pipe in years, until tonight. I was out in my garage and broke open the Sherlock Holmes pipe cabinet my uncle gave to my father and my father gave to me shortly before he passed away 10 years ago.

Inside is a collection of Dad's pipes, my uncle's, and mine. Some beautiful hand crafted pieces of beauty in that cabinet. Many of them are works of art and some are standard drug store pipes; my personal collection are nicely crafted briar pipes I bought or were given as presents. There is a Meerschaum Calabash in there as well, not sure if it was Dad's or my uncle's.

I felt a little nostalgic and found some old pipe tobacco in a pipe holder I built years ago and packed my Dad's favorite old pipe. I thought the tobacco would be to dry but loaded the pipe, packed it down ever so gently after the initial burn and sat down to enjoy a good smoke.

Don't think I'll be smoking much again but it was sort of nice going back in time.
 
That's a neat find! I used to enjoy some good pipe tobacco. I gave up all tobacco ~5 years ago, but do still enjoy the aroma of good pipe tobacco. Amazing what memories can be triggered by a taste or smell, eh?
 
I have a churchwarden, and smoke it often. Awesome thread!

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True story. In college, I bought my pipe tobacco from the shop that's visible in the movie "Forrest Gump" when Tom Hanks is running by...

I miss the good ol' McGaugh's newsstand.
 
That's pretty cool. Bet ol Forrest didn't stop to get some good tobacco. If he did that would be righteous!
 
I used to go northern pike fishing early in the mornings and take the pipe and some cherry/vanilla tobacco along. Those were fun mornings. All alone in nature; great aroma/flavor; and pretty darn good fishing.
 
I used to go northern pike fishing early in the mornings and take the pipe and some cherry/vanilla tobacco along. Those were fun mornings. All alone in nature; great aroma/flavor; and pretty darn good fishing.


I here you brother.
 
Pipe smoking is certainly something I deem to call "One of the finer things in life." Unfortunately, I quit smoking tobacco almost 4 years ago. I was a heavy cigarette smoker and occassionaly lit up a pipe to relax around a campfire while backpacking with friends.

I often still think about smoking a pipe, but I'm a little nervous if I packed one up it wouldn't be the last...
 
I hear you there. It is easy to fall back into the habit. Trying to kill mine but keep slipping back here and there. The last pipe i enjoyed was with my wife up in Fresno at a hookah bar. it was actually a lot of fun that evening.
Dan I agree it is a lost art. The whole idea of tobacco is taboo now in America, but I do love the smell of a good pipe or cigar. :)
 
Fired up an old briar pipe tonight. Reminds me of better days. My wife bought me a few of my pipes, one is a thick bowled 1/4 bent briar. I have sat with it more than once on a few evenings close to Hawaii shores.. Cool trade winds blowing in, a moonlit sky that rivals all others. Just me with a beer and a very nice pipe, aromatic tobacco. Got to admit, almost as good as a great cigar.

Miss those days.
 
Cheers Dan. I recently bought some CAO pipe tobacco and dusted off an old Grabow pipe I had. I'm a cigar and sometimes a pipe is a nice change in scenery. I don't know that I'll ever by a frequent pipe smoker but I can really appreciate an evening on the patio with it.
 
I'm the same way. Cigars mostly, although got to admit haven't smoked many of those recently either. But man, a good smoking pipe is not something that happens overnight.

I was reading a story by John Wayne, he was a young man. Said Francis Ford used to give him a pipe to smoke and break in. Cause they do take some breaking in. My dad and uncle's briars had a nice burned in layer of carbon(?). What ever it is they are the coolest smokes in the collection. Seasoned well.
 
Yeah I was always told to "clean" but not scrape a new pipe because you want that cake layer to build up and act as insulation. No one in my family smoked cigars or pipes but they still always made my feel "at home" for some reason.
 
Not sure how old you are but when I was young many men smoked pipes. It's gone out of style now. Seemed like man smoked a pipe. The luxurious odor of pipe smoke filled the air. I guess nobody knew or cared about second hand smoke back then. Hell, my dad was a physician and all his physician friends smoked pipes.

All I remember was man it smelled good. Aromatics mainly, cherry, vanilla, vanilla-cherry. I think part of the smell was the briar smoldering. Really funny difference between smoking and smelling somebody elses pipe tobacco. In my experience, except from smoking my dad's seasoned pipes. Most pipes smell better than they taste. Most, not all.
 
I'm sort of the same way. My wife and I love Big Band music. For a long time that's all we listened to. Probably would still now but we weren't smart enough to back all our music. Computers and hard drives die over time. I know differently now.
 
That's a scary thought. I back up all my photos online and an external hard rive. Sadly, music which varies from punk to bluegrass is all just on the hard drive and iPhone.
 
Peice of now, obvious hind sight. Back up anything you value important on one of those online sites. I used an external hardrive. Thought because I use it rarely it would last forever. Then one day I turned it on and heard nothing but a sick clicking sound. Took it to work and asked a friend if he could recover the data (He is very adept with computers) His off hand comment.. "sure, if I had access to CIA forensic equipment."

Man!
 
I'm sort of the same way. My wife and I love Big Band music. For a long time that's all we listened to. Probably would still now but we weren't smart enough to back all our music. Computers and hard drives die over time. I know differently now.


I hear ya on appreciating the old stuff Dan. I’m still keepin my beer in the icebox and percolating my coffee.

I’m a *huge* fan of Big Band music too. Went so far as to put on a Big Band Concert a couple years ago with a 17 piece band from the Detroit area.

One of my absolutely favorite recorded Big Band pieces is from the movie "Sun Valley Serenade" ... this is “Kalamazoo” by the Glenn Miller band.

btw: check out none other than The Great One - a very young Jackie Gleason, killin it on the upright base.

Definitely worth Fullscreen and turning up the volume ...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fFv_PoZ2iP0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I grew up around pipes and tobacco and still enjoy my pipes. Nothing better than sitting outside with a good pipe, good tobacco and good sipping single malt scotch.
 
And while I&#8217;m on this little swing fest ... here&#8217;s another piece from Sun Valley Serenade ... Chattanooga Choo Choo

Seriously swingin hard. Turn this up and fullscreen too. It don't get no cooler than this ...

btw that guy at the beginning and elsewhere is a very young Milton Berle (I know, I know ... I say that like everyone knows who the hell I&#8217;m talking about ... just humor me ;-)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V2aj0zhXlLA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I'm thinking Dan does not have a 20 oz Mt Dew bottle with pen body and 3/4" socket pipe in his collection.

Yep you're correct there Zuljin. A career with mandatory testing has a tendency to discourages that kind of smoking. ;)

I hear ya on appreciating the old stuff Dan. I&#8217;m still keepin my beer in the icebox and percolating my coffee.

I&#8217;m a *huge* fan of Big Band music too. Went so far as to put on a Big Band Concert a couple years ago with a 17 piece band from the Detroit area.

One of my absolutely favorite recorded Big Band pieces is from the movie "Sun Valley Serenade" ... this is &#8220;Kalamazoo&#8221; by the Glenn Miller band.

btw: check out none other than The Great One - a very young Jackie Gleason, killin it on the upright base.

Definitely worth Fullscreen and turning up the volume ...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fFv_PoZ2iP0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Great post Jacob. My wife and my favorite is probably from the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Moonlight Serenade. I suppose it&#8217;s time to start rebuilding my collection of that music.

On a different subject. I miss the Block Buster and other large video rental places. They always had a decent collection of old movies. Now with RedBox and BlockBuster kiosks the selection is very limited.
 
... I miss the Block Buster and other large video rental places. They always had a decent collection of old movies. Now with RedBox and BlockBuster kiosks the selection is very limited.

I hear ya on that Dan. We had some great movie rental places around. Old movies ... documentaries and non-fiction too, which I've always liked. Not even the libraries carry much of that stuff now.

About 4 years ago I went into an independent movie rental place after not having rented a movie in a while.
I asked the girl at the counter whether they had a certain movie (An American Werewolf in London, if I remember) and she said yes and that she would go get it for me. I thanked her.

When she came back to the counter she had a DVD ... I said "Oh ... no, no ... I need a tape". The five or so people standing around looked at me curiously with I think a mixture of pity and horror for a moment ... finally when she figured I was actually serious, she giggled and said "oh no, we haven't had tapes in a long time".
I thanked her, and my better-half and I beat a hasty retreat. But before we could make it to the door a little red-haired boy of about 7 years old or so very helpfully offered that I could also play dvd's on my Playstation. I thanked him too; and feeling very old and with my pride barely intact, left the store with swmbo trying to keep from laughing so hard that her eyes were watering.
Had a pretty good laugh in the car.

(btw: I had a VCR/DVD deck but it had recently died and we still wanted to watch the movie on the television set)
 
I try to limit tobacco smoking to once or twice a year. I finally won the battle with tobacco and the nicorette lozenges after that, and dont want to backslide.

But I gotta say, when I have had a rough day, first thing I fantasize about is heading to Egyptian Cafe and sitting down with a nice Turkish Coffee and a hookah full of honey shisha. THATS pipesmoking at its finest :). Wonder if those guys would recognize me anymore...
 
When I lived in England, I used to smoke my pipe using "flake" tobacco at the pub on Sunday. There was an older retired guy called "Tinker" who I always gave my tin to as I only smoked one when I left for lunch.. When I left England, he gave me his grandfather's handmade cherry wood pipe. I have to go to the smoke shop, get some "flake" and have a pipe!
 
When we go camping we'll do either cigars or pipes as a group. We generally go from Friday through Sunday, and Saturday night is when we'll break out the nice cigars (at least $10 each) or the pipes.

As an ex-smoker I was hesitant but I've found that as long as I limit myself to only smoking these things and ONLY when we go camping, I don't have any issues. The cravings for a cigarette never seem any worse afterward, either. I just have the time and the place where I can smoke a cigar or a pipe, and I can't do it elsewhere.
 
Great thread Dan!
I started pipe smoking years ago, wanted to emulate the old timers! I use corn cob, but I want to get some estate briar and meerschaum, and of course a calabash, I also want a cigarette holder a'la FDR...I like all blends, and recently tried Sherlock Holmes favorite, I forget the name but it's smoky flavor...yum!
I save it mostly for cool nights, with a dark beer...or scotch!
 
I have a modest collection of pipes. Some briar, some cobb, a few basket briars, and a churchwarden. Of a dozen pipes, two are my favorite. An Italian Spitfire and my churchwarden. The churchwarden is an awesome pipe to sit with. The stem is so long on mine that the bowl reaches down to your lap. But, it gurgles and is a PITA to keep clean.

I love to smoke a pipe. Usually a bowl of blue note. I love to savour the vanilla, caramel, and coconut notes of the blend. Right now I can think of nothing better than a bowl of Blue Note and a fine, neat, rum.

It just takes so damned long to smoke a bowl. :D
 
Nothing beats a nice pipe full of flake, balkan, or perique! I have a few Petersons and a Svenborg- I used to go to pipe shows with my boss and shamelessly reaped the rewards :)

Better still- I'm moving to a new place with a front porch. Load a pipe, crack a homebrew, and enjoy some porch-sitting. Oh yeah.

Also, it will be nice to no longer live with roommates. Smokers, and I want to quit smoking cigs (again). Pipes and cigars never gave me addiction problems when I didn't smoke cigarettes. Pure enjoyment, not compulsive behavior. And I won't have to store my brewing gear in the 7-10 days between brew days. It can all sit out in my house...err...workshop with attached bedroom. (Sometimes it pays to be single)
 
Not a pipe smoker, but I found this in a box of my grandfathers old stuff. It's made out of some type of plastic-clay and apparently someone in the 60's took the time to knit a particularly hideous looking covering for the base of the pipe. The bowl in it is about 2' inches deep.

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