Nat Sherman - An Icon in Luxury Tobacco for 80 Years

Nat Sherman is one of the most well-known luxury tobacconists in the world. They have had a retail store and smoking lounge in New York City for 80 years now.

They are famous for their own brands of all-natural cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco. As soon as you walk through the front door you will see nearly 100 pipes displayed, as well as over 15 exclusive pipe tobacco blends.

Here is an account of our visit to the store, including a video interview with Michael Holba, Retail Sales Manager.

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An Interview with Joel Sherman of Nat Sherman

Nat Sherman is a world-renowned purveyor of fine luxury tobacco products. Their store in New York City is about to celebrate it’s 80th year.

You will find all types of luxury tobacco, from the famous 100% additive-free natural tobacco cigarettes like MCD’s and Naturals, to premium cigars, and of course, pipes and pipe tobacco. Nat Sherman is a family-owned and operated business currently headed by the namesake’s son, Joel Sherman. Mr. Sherman graciously took time out of his busy schedule to chat with us over the phone.

Being a man of great experience and knowledge in this business, I decided to start out by asking him for a brief background and history of the company and how he has seen things change over the years.

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25th Annual CORPS Exposition & Celebration 2009

If you are a pipe smoker or pipe collector and you missed the Richmond Pipe Show this year, we feel bad for you. The good news is that you can see what you missed here.

The show is put on by the Conclave of Richmond Pipe Smokers club or C.O.R.P.S. Bob Tate and I attended the show October 2 - 4, 2009 to work, reporting on it here for our audience. This is the best definition of work I ever experienced. It was such a great weekend being surrounded by hundreds of people that love collecting pipes, love smoking pipes and love talking about pipes and doing all three at the same time non-stop all weekend long. It makes you wish there was a pipe show every weekend.

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The 2009 IPCPR Show (formerly RTDA) - Part II

One used to have to wait to see the new pipes and tobaccos coming to market after they arrived in stores. Now, PipesMagazine.com gives you an early preview of what’s coming from our visit to the largest annual pipes trade show in the world. "One might wonder how pipes get from the worker’s bench and into the pipe shop. Each year the greatest concentration of pipe buying takes place at a number of tobacconists "trade shows" held at various locations throughout the world. In the United States, the largest of these gatherings is the Retail Tobacco Dealers of America trade show. Here, pipe shop owners gather to view the numerous tobacco products and pipes on display for the upcoming season. It is important to note that most of these pipe-selling conventions are for the tobacco trade only, as many products are unveiled for the first time.

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Corn Cob Pipes, The Making Of at Missouri Meerschaum

The Corn Cob Pipe is an American icon and known the world over. They have been around for over 100 years and are still popular today.

This is the story of the Corn Cob Pipe with the history of it’s origin, the founding of Missouri Meerschaum, it’s manufacturer, and a step by step photographic guide showing how they are manufactured.

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The 2009 IPCPR Show (formerly RTDA) - Part I

Official Name: IPCPR 77th Annual Convention and International Trade Show.

The "IPCPR Show" took place August 8 - 12, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The IPCPR is the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.

The show is described as … "the retail tobacconist’s most important event of the year  -  a four day extravaganza featuring the industry’s largest trade show - and only open to IPCPR members. Thousands of products from more than 300 suppliers filling 200,000 square feet of exhibit space. Informative seminars and meetings. Unparalleled networking opportunities between retailers and their suppliers." From: http://ipcpr.org/about.html

Basically the show is the main event of the year for manufacturers to introduce new products, such as pipes and tobacco to retail tobacconists across the country.

PipesMagazine.com provides our coverage of the show here.

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F.G.T. Enterprises, Inc - Gordon Smith

F.G.T. Enterprises is the wholesale company that owns Edward’s Pipe & Tobacco in Tampa FL. They are a wholesaler and distributor of tobacco products and accessories. In addition, F.G.T. manufactures a line of handmade pipes, and hand-blends a line of exclusive pipe tobaccos. The name stands for "Frank and Gordon’s Team".

I accidentally discovered F.G.T. when I paid an impromptu visit to Edwards for an interview I found out that "the boss" was at a different location, the wholesale and manufacturing division, so I would have to go there for the interview.

With no advance notice whatsoever, Gordon Smith, Vice President of FGT granted me an interview. He spent all the time we needed to talk and gave me quite an interesting tour of the pipe finishing equipment and warehouse.

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Sal’s Tobacco Pipe & Coffee Shop

Just because a place has a smoking lounge, it doesn’t mean the folks who use it simply hang around smoking and, um, lounging.

"I had a guy come in here and did his whole bills for a month-and-a-half," recalled Jan McClellan, the retired city policeman who owns Sal’s Tobacco, Pipe & Coffee Shop with his wife, Sally. "He smoked a cigar."

Another user, he said, was a laid-off Warner Gear employee who puffed a stogie while studying the textbooks for his new profession-to-be - nursing.

Laptop computer users can also access the Internet here.

Of course, some guys just come in to light up, grab a cup of coffee and talk.

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Peterson of Dublin

The Peterson pipe company in Ireland is known for producing both high quality pipes and excellent tobaccos. You may have heard of "The Peterson System"? The Peterson pipe is unique in that it is designed to contain an interior reservoir in the shank. This reservoir traps condensed tobacco moisture from the smoke, in turn giving the smoker a cooler and drier smoke. The Peterson System was invented and patented back in 1890. In 1898, Peterson invented the "Peterson Lip" mouthpiece, which directs the smoke up and away from the tongue. The Peterson Lip mouthpiece reduces the amount of saliva entering the stem and provides for a contoured fit in the mouth.

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Chicago Pipe Show 2009 Report

The 2009 Chicagoland Int’l Pipe & Tobacciana Show had over 350 exhibitors and nearly 4,000 attendees from 65 countries. I spoke with several of the exhibitors such as; Cornell & Diehl, XYZ Direct, Tobacco Pipe Exports, Viprati Pipes, Pipa Castello, Harkam Pipe, Mac Baren and others about their new pipes and tobaccos.

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