A Mountain Laurel Pipe Opportunity

The only person I know working regularly in Mountain Laurel to carve pipes is Jerry Perry of Colfax, N.C., west of

Greensboro. Jerry does not sell online, although he runs a pipe repair web site. So if you are interested in seeing

his work in Mountain Laurel, briar, and other woods, you have two opportunities a year that I know of. One of them

is coming up next week when he will show his wares, as he does every year, at the North Carolina State Fair in the

Village of Yesteryear craft pavilion. The other opportunity is at the TAPS pipe show in April each year, also at the

Fairgrounds, at Blue Ridge Road and Hillsborough Street beside the railroad tracks. I bought my first pipe from him,

a large bowl pot/poker/sitter in 2002, a Mountain Laurel pipe. Since then I have bought a Mountain Laurel bent ball;

a briar smooth bent billiard; a rusticated straight billiard; and last April a Mountain Laurel straight smooth pot panel.

All of his pipes are handsomely crafted. He has a low key style, influenced by classic shapes as well as mountain

folk crafts. The Village of Yesterday is open daily during the Fair, October 16 through 26, from mid-morning until

9 p.m. at night. Except as a customer, I do not know Jerry, but I have found his work to be excellent, great smoking

pipes and notably durable.

maxpeters, boy that is one of his early ones! My oldest one, 2002, is slightly asymmetrical, but in a sort of

Japanese pottery, intentional sort of way.
Spencer, I have never had any luck getting Jerry to respond to emails. I guess you could try his regular phone

number from the repair website, if he lists one. He's pretty private and seems to like to do his sales at a few

events, and not so much otherwise. I emailed him when I went out to the Persimmon Festival near Colfax, to

see if he would be there with his pipes, or if I could stop by, and he did not respond. So clearly he prefers to

deal face-to-face, over the counter at the fair and pipe show. I've come to somewhat like his somewhat reclusive

ways. He's not pushing. He just does it his way, and I really like his pipes. I simply know of no one else who

regularly works in Mountain Laurel; it seems like a distinct specialty.

Nice catch, the Caroleer from WWII! The Mountain Laurel pipes I have aren't much on grain, per se, but they have

a rather soulful depth to their finish, more resonant than matte finish briars, and not glossy at all. It's subtle but

unique. At one point, there was some discussion about the toxicity of Mountain Laurel, but I think that was based

on trying to use parts of the plant other than the root. Custombuilt and current carvers didn't/don't have any problem.

It's the wood that is the most like briar of any that I know, and it's light weight and shows no signs of rapid charring in

the bowl or other problems. I like it as well as briar in the three examples that I have.

natenice1, I don't know what the status of Mountain Laurel is in NC and Va. I'm sure it is protected like nearly

everything on federal park lands, but I don't know about private land. I assume from comments by the carver

that its availability is limited. At the pipe show last spring, I was surprised to hear that the smaller "Group 4"

panel billiard I especially liked (and bought) was Mountain Laurel. I think much of the stock is aged.
Just a footnote, that one of the plants aggressively protected in North Carolina is the flycatcher. There is a fierce

poaching market both from public and private property that is affecting the survival of these interesting plants.

It is my impression that private landowners are pretty protective and don't want to sell them nor (of course) have

them stolen. There are only a few areas that have good stands of them.

For those who may be able to get to the North Carolina Fair (for the pipes or just for the fair itself) you may be interested to

know that if you are over 65, there is no admission. You just have to show your i.d. at the gate. I don't know how much longer

this will be true, but I think it is a classy touch.