At what age did you pick up a pipe?
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I was 14 or 15 I think since I was allowed to smoke at home. Everyone on the male side of the family smoked pipes either as clays or briars and I smoked clays until my early 20s. I did smoke cigarettes occasionally but they were Woodbines, Players Medium Navy Cut or Piccadilly No.1 and they were all unfiltered along with RYO that I scored off my Uncle Charlie who had been 'twisting a dizzy' since WW1.
I was 20 and in the Army. That was about 6 years after I started cigarettes. Then I laid the pipe down for 48 years. In 1998 I quit cigarettes. I picked the pipe up again 2 months ago. Now I'm 68. It's funny. I'm enjoying the pipe more now than I did 48 years ago.
I was 28 and it was like meeting an old friend; or better yet, love at first sight. I wish I had started sooner.
I was 16 and living in Sweden. I went to school in Arvika, where Borkum Riff processed much of its tobacco. You could smell the aromas coming from the different casings they used... My favorite was Wednesdays, when they made their Cherry Cavendish. Although I was underage, I looked older and the gentleman at the tobacco store didn't ask any questions. That was 23 years ago!
I was 18 and in my Senior year of Prep School (yeah, wore a blazer, a school tie, Bass Weejuns, gold wire frame eyeglasses - the whole shebang). I had my Dad's old Comoy, a straight apple. Cleaned it up and bought a tin of Borkum Riff Bourbon Whiskey (with that great black and white ship graphic). It was the same tobacco the school headmaster smoked. He had a nice Decatur pipe rack and the large can of the tobacco on his desk...and even smoked in his office. I figured if Borkum Riff Whiskey was good enough for him I'd give it a shot.
After a few fits and starts I got the hang of it. Later in the year I got caught, after classes in the school's newspaper office. I was on the staff and the editor and I were working on the coming week's edition. The headmaster popped in unannounced. And there I was, like some Walter Cronkite wannabe - no blazer; sleeves rolled up; loosened tie; Dad's Comoy clenched in my teeth; hunting and pecking away on an old circa 1940-ish boat anchor of a Smith-Corona typewriter. The headmaster looked at me and I was waiting for him to tell me I was suspended for smoking on school grounds. Instead, he sat down in a nearby chair and simply asked me what was I smoking. I told him and to my surprise he pulled out his pipe, and asked if he could grab a bowl. I handed him my tin and we sat there for a good hour talking and smoking. Before he left he told me don't smoking during class hours; to slow down and enjoy the tobacco; where two good local pipe shops were located and keep this incident on the QT. Also, if I was going to smoke in the newspaper office crack a window to get rid of any evidence.
After a few fits and starts I got the hang of it. Later in the year I got caught, after classes in the school's newspaper office. I was on the staff and the editor and I were working on the coming week's edition. The headmaster popped in unannounced. And there I was, like some Walter Cronkite wannabe - no blazer; sleeves rolled up; loosened tie; Dad's Comoy clenched in my teeth; hunting and pecking away on an old circa 1940-ish boat anchor of a Smith-Corona typewriter. The headmaster looked at me and I was waiting for him to tell me I was suspended for smoking on school grounds. Instead, he sat down in a nearby chair and simply asked me what was I smoking. I told him and to my surprise he pulled out his pipe, and asked if he could grab a bowl. I handed him my tin and we sat there for a good hour talking and smoking. Before he left he told me don't smoking during class hours; to slow down and enjoy the tobacco; where two good local pipe shops were located and keep this incident on the QT. Also, if I was going to smoke in the newspaper office crack a window to get rid of any evidence.
It is this year and I am 27, my dad passed away and I found some of his old pipes. I took them as a memoir, then thought of Trying one of them, a pretty nice Falcon Extra straight, that he bought from UK in the late 70s. I bought some Captain Black Cherry to try it in, then Borkum Riff... And I fell in love with pipes..I bought two more, one falcon and a Peterson Dracula. And 6 more blends. 3 aromatics and 3 dunhills.. And I think It will be a lifetime activity
First time on a "pipe" was a makeshift thing I made when I was 16. Then I bought a basket pipe two years ago. That lasted two weeks, until I gave it up because my fiance(now wife) asked me to. I've been talking about getting another one for a while now, and finally got the ok, and bought another basket pipe last Thursday. I am hooked! The guys at the Coast Guard station gave me a few funny looks the first time I pulled it out after a days work, but they'll get used to it. Most everybody either chews or smokes, but I am the only pipe smoker I know. I envy those whose fathers or grandfathers smoked a pipe.
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