So nearly a week after my departure to my first, ever, pipe show I'm reflecting on the stuff that I saw for sale, and the stuff that I couldn't find.
In the latter camp, I was surprised by the lack of pipe & tobacco related hats, shirts, patches & decals/stickers. While companies like Missouri Meerschaum, Smokingpipes.com and Savinelli had some gear availalble, and P&T Magazine was selling shirts with their logo, that was it. I'd have thought some of the other large pipe factories, tobacco companies, and even the bigger clubs (UPCA, NASPC, TPC) might have put some gear together to sell to folks who want to represent their favourites. Especially in an era of restrictions on advertising, having a living breathing (and hopefully reasoning) human walking around with an advertising message can't hurt can it?
In thinking back to the thread here on pipesmagazine.com/forums gear it seemed like there were a fair few forum members who wanted to be able to buy and self-identify as a forum member. I have to think that there's a market for stuff like this at shows. If I think back to every concert I ever attended, there was always a concert t-shirt... it surprised me that I wasn't able to buy a CPCC 2014 shirt.
Am I crazy? Did I miss this stuff because I was blinded by the sheer volume of pipes? What kind of merchandise would you like to find at a pipe show that you haven't/can't?
-- Pat
In the latter camp, I was surprised by the lack of pipe & tobacco related hats, shirts, patches & decals/stickers. While companies like Missouri Meerschaum, Smokingpipes.com and Savinelli had some gear availalble, and P&T Magazine was selling shirts with their logo, that was it. I'd have thought some of the other large pipe factories, tobacco companies, and even the bigger clubs (UPCA, NASPC, TPC) might have put some gear together to sell to folks who want to represent their favourites. Especially in an era of restrictions on advertising, having a living breathing (and hopefully reasoning) human walking around with an advertising message can't hurt can it?
In thinking back to the thread here on pipesmagazine.com/forums gear it seemed like there were a fair few forum members who wanted to be able to buy and self-identify as a forum member. I have to think that there's a market for stuff like this at shows. If I think back to every concert I ever attended, there was always a concert t-shirt... it surprised me that I wasn't able to buy a CPCC 2014 shirt.
Am I crazy? Did I miss this stuff because I was blinded by the sheer volume of pipes? What kind of merchandise would you like to find at a pipe show that you haven't/can't?
-- Pat