I want to share an email I sent to Dan and JM at Boswell’s.   They do great work! 

Hi Dan and JM,

I want to THANK YOU for the wonderful pipe stem repair you did on my Ascorti pipe!   I expected to get a blank replacement stem missing the briar ring detail and the Ascorti logo.  Intead you were able to replace the tenon and save the rest of the stem making it as good as new!!!   My wife even noticed it right away and complimented your work!    She knew how mad I was at myself for breaking the stem in the first place.

This is the second repair you have done for me.   You do great work and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate you attention to detail and dedication to customer satifaction!

I am saving a stash of cash for one of your pipes.  It will have to wait until after the holidays but I will have a Boswell pipe in my collection!  I am also looking forward to trying some more of your tobacco blends.  

I only wish you were closer to visit your shop in person.   I would be there often.  The brick and mortor shops in Iowa are non-existent.  

I wanted you to know how much I appreciated your service.  Keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

Wayne Baker

Iowa

You learn something new everyday.   Today I learned that Ottumwa Iowa used to be a huge cigar manufacturing town.

n the 1880s Ottumwa had over 40 cigar manufacturers employing 500 people. Some of the leading cigar manufacturers located in Ottumwa in those days were George Potter, John Pallister, Graver Cigar Factory, McKee and Marks, and La Flor De Mayo brand cigars. Julius Fecht was another famous Ottumwa cigar manufacturer. He owned a tobacco plantation in Cuba where he would load the tobacco onto ships headed for Florida. From Florida the valuable cargo would be hauled to Ottumwa by wagon train escorted by armed guards.

This is from the Ottumwa historical society.

Now we can’t even smoke in any public places in Iowa.