If I asked you to close your eyes and conjure up in your mind an image of a person smoking a pipe it’s almost a foregone conclusion that image you would have in your mind would be of a man smoking a pipe. And it’s almost as much a foregone conclusion that the man smoking the pipe would be someone who was perhaps the wrong side of 60 rather than someone much younger.

That’s the stereotype we have of pipe smokers these days. They’re men, they’re old and they’re probably out there smoking their pipes on a park bench or rocking chair on their front porch. It’s extremely unlikely that your mental image would be of a younger male and even less unlikely that your mental image would be of a female smoking a pipe.

On Friday, May 1 at The 2009 Chicagoland Int’l Pipe & Tobacciana Show, Tom Clasen gave a 1-hour presentation entitled, "Collecting William Demuth & Co. (WDC) Pipes & related Tobacciana".

The Program for Mr. Clasen’s talk read as follows; "Tom will speak of the life and times of William Demuth including a few personal glimpses into his life, and he will discuss the wide variety of pipes which have appeared with his distinctive trademark between roughly the 1860s and 1960s. He will discuss several other important people associated with the Demuth Company. Most importantly he hopes to display a selection of WDC pipes and advertising displays representing the various periods during the approximately 100 years of WDC. Tom will also discuss why it is fun to collect these and offer some insights on doing so."

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For your viewing convenience, we have split the presentation into 12 clips of 5 minutes each. We would like to thank the Chicago Pipe Collector’s Club for the exclusive rights of publishing their videos from the show.

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By: John St. Mark

Spanish wines have established a strong reputation for unique character and a remarkably favorable quality-to-price ratio.

(Click for a Larger View of Spanish Wine Regions)

There are various traditional styles (including sweet, fortified and sparkling wines) that deserve attention, but for now let’s talk about those dry, still wines being produced primarily in northern Spain that are attracting so much interest.

Spain has more acreage dedicated to vineyards than any other nation (although it falls third, behind Italy and France, in total production of finished wine due to lower yields.)
With so much to choose from, it might be useful to go over some of the ways wines are categorized in Spain; familiarity with some of the regions and grape varieties, and how the wines are classified, should help you make informed choices.