The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 133

Kevin Godbee
Thank you for joining us for The Pipes Magazine Radio Show—the only radio talk show for pipe smokers and collectors. We broadcast weekly, every Tuesday at 8 pm eastern USA time and are available on nearly all podcast sites and apps. Listen on your computer, tablet, phone and even in the car! Tonight’s show will be in a slightly different format than usual. Instead of an interview, Brian Levine and Tad Gage will have an extended conversation on how the pipe hobby and community has evolved over the last few decades—the old shows, the new shows, the old guys and the young guys. We will not have a “Pipe Parts” segment in the beginning, nor a rant segment at the end. We are also starting the annual auction to raise funds for Brian’s daughter’s Juvenile Diabetes Walk Team. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!

Tonight’s show is sponsored by Sutliff-Tobacco.com, CupOJoes.com, SmokingPipes.com, Missouri Meerschaum, 4noggins.com, Cornell & Diehl, and Savinelli Pipes and Tobaccos. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.

We hope you enjoy our 1-hour show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector. The following link will launch a pop-up player. Alternatively, you can download the show in iTunes and other podcast sites and apps after the initial broadcast is complete here.

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Tad Gage with one of his Charatan Pipes

Here are the items we are kicking off the JDRF Auction with for this week.

We have a tin of Murray’s-era, Dunhill Three Year Matured Virginia, and a tin of 1994 McClelland Christmas Cheer, both donated by Rob Cooper. They are on PipeStud’s website at the top of this page.

Going up on Saturday, we have an unsmoked Mastro de Paja horn shape donated by Michael Rainone aka Mirain in the forums. Michael also donated a custom handmade tamper that he made. The last item is one of Brian’s Walt Disney World pipes. It dates from 1971 – 1984. They will go up on Pipe Stud’s eBay page on Saturday, April 4th.

VIDEO: Samantha Levine – Life with Type 1 Diabetes




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6 Responses

  • HI Brian,
    You got TAD, excellent! #Pipes was one of the early IRC Chat rooms from around 1997 to about 2007 or so, back when we typed on a green screen. That has evolved as social media has evolved, instagram, facebook, internet pipe community, etc. AS you said, RC Hacker elevated the interest in pipes and had an impact. Another important factor was Bob Hamlin and the Pipe Collector Club of America (PCCA) with his bringing into the US the Italian Brand, Castello pipes and one of the founders of #Pipes. I tend to agree that there are too many ‘new’ pipe makers and expect there to be a shake out at some point in time. Displaying a collection is an effort and anyone that does display their collection should be complemented. I do like your idea of having a day at Chicago to display collections. It is nice to know that we old fellows are not the last pipe and tobacco generation. The pipes and tobacco hobby is alive!
    Music – My o My, nice piece.
    Nice show, liked the lack of a format.

  • Brian and Tad really enjoyed your show tonight look forward to seeing you both in Chicago.

  • Great show, as always, Brian! Loved the relaxed format for this one, which worked perfectly with Tad. Loved hearing you bounce it back and forth. You’re both a wealth of information and great guys besides. Very interesting to hear your takes on the past, present, and future of our little World of pipes.
    Och! Did I feel a punch to the shoulder? Yep, it was a punch all right, but not to the shoulder, just some great music from the Punch Brothers! Great choice!
    Don’t let it go to your head, but you’ve been hitting it out of the park, Brian! Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

  • Brian,
    It is Wed. evening and Bill Kotyk is here listening to your discussion with TAD. He wants one of your T-shirts “I am not a pipe carver nor do I want to be one”. BIll quit showing his collection due to the costs involved, the amount of time it ties him down, and he is not selling while displaying. Another thing Bill noticed is the new younger people do not want to negotiate or haggle prices. They look at a price and walk away, not uttering a word. Bill thinks you guys hit the nail right on the head on many points. That’s it from Bill until I can drag him over here to listen to another show or he gets a computer–NOT. See you in Chicago.

  • Brian, Thank you for another excellent episode. I have been thinking about your comment regarding the dearth of new collectors with large, focused collections. Speaking only from my own experience as a younger collector, I would suggest several factors work against newer pipe collectors building such collections. First, I know that I want to experience pipes of different shapes and finishes from an array of makers based in different parts of the world. As a result, my collection will never be very focused. I may be unique in this regard, but my guess is that other younger and/or newer collectors have similar preferences. Second, the market for estate pipes is increasingly “hot”, making the assembly of a large collection more costly. The third factor is related to the second. Namely, newer and probably younger collectors generally lack the wealth of collectors from previous generations. Consequently, we are chasing more expensive pipes with less money. Given these factors, I wonder if the days of large, focused collections really are behind us. In any case I think you do not have to fear that newer collectors are uninterested in history. The Pipes Magazine forums provide plenty of evidence that passion for pipe history remains quite strong.

  • Hi Brian, Steve D here and I’ve realized that I’m a pipe collector. It never really occurred to me that I might be a pipe collector until it hit me as I listened to your discussion with Tad Gage during episode 133. I’ve kept a few pipes around but until about a year ago there was no rhyme or reason to what I might purchase…whatever struck my fancy on a particularly day that my wallet would bear. About a year ago I was perusing ebay and noticed a pipe made in the late 1940s-early 1950s under the “Lord Davenport’ brand. Being a Davenport myself I had to have one. The first was nice little pot with a saddle bit. I intended to stop there until I saw a nice bent billiard…OK. I can stop anytime I want… Until I saw an even nicer billiard. OK, I have three and I’m good now. At least I was until last Monday when I saw another bent billiard in nearly pristine condition…it arrived in today’s mail. I think I’ve become a pipe collector.

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