Hi everyone, I'm afraid I've got a bit of a dilemma. I have two stemmed clay pipes in pristine, unsmoked condition from the 1950s, one a Peterson system and the other a kind of calabash shape. I think they're lovely pipes, but together they're worth at least £120 on eBay and will likely appreciate in value. Should I actually smoke them and enjoy them as they were intended? I usually take the perspective that things like that are "meant" to be used and enjoyed. Good whisky should be drunk, cigars should be smoked etc. The thing that's stopping me here is just the age of the pipes and the fact they were sold as "museum pieces". What do you folks think?
Should I Smoke My Antique Pipes?
- Thread starter molach95
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They lose about 30 percent of the value smoked. I have a 60's Peterson Meerschuam that was already smoked, and it smokes great. I wouldn't wan to sell it. Calabash pipes are not the most smoked in a rotation. Most people don't like cleaning them. I would sell that one for what you could get, and keep the Peterson. That Peterson may be African block meerschuam, so if I am correct it could turn a nice black after a lot of smokes. I would smoke that until you don't want it anymore, then sell it. It's a good pipe, and when will you run across another unsmoked?
My guess is that they wouldn't be remarkable smokers if they're truly clay. These don't look like meerschaum to me. If they were, then I'd smoke 'em. If clay, I'd either enjoy looking at them or sell them. I think they're pretty cool!
Now I see the pictures, as I did not before. That is a different kind of calabash than I was thinking. I'm with Craig, smoke those babies.
At the end of the day only you can make that decision. If you bought them to smoke then smoke them but if bought as an investment then best to hold back.
A couple of years ago I bought a cased seven day set of unsmoked pipes from the 1960's. Many folks urged me to fire them up but I have plenty of pipes to smoke so I stuck them at the bottom of the wardrobe and hopefully one day they might have increased in value.
A few weeks ago my ex paid me a visit and I showed her my latest purchase, a cased 1894 albatross stemmed reading pipe with silver fitments. She asked me why I hadn't smoked it yet and the only excuse I could think of was I didn't have any extra long pipecleaners to clean it with
So, the choice is yours but don't forget, once smoked it can't be unsmoked!
Regards,
Jay.
A couple of years ago I bought a cased seven day set of unsmoked pipes from the 1960's. Many folks urged me to fire them up but I have plenty of pipes to smoke so I stuck them at the bottom of the wardrobe and hopefully one day they might have increased in value.
A few weeks ago my ex paid me a visit and I showed her my latest purchase, a cased 1894 albatross stemmed reading pipe with silver fitments. She asked me why I hadn't smoked it yet and the only excuse I could think of was I didn't have any extra long pipecleaners to clean it with
So, the choice is yours but don't forget, once smoked it can't be unsmoked!
Regards,
Jay.
I'd smoke one of 'em for sure! And your photos are very decent. I'd add that 50 years is a bit shy of a "museum piece".
Your choice. Should I acquire a pipe of historical significance, I'd probably preserve it. Otherwise, I wouldn't buy a pipe I wasn't going to smoke.
I don't see those pipes as historically significant.
I don't see those pipes as historically significant.
I agree, totally your choice. If you didn't have many pipes I'd say smoke the Peterson anyway but if you have plenty of pipes then I'd take your time and decide if I were you. Not sure how the clay will smoke but I would be curious enough to try one just because of their bowl thickness. The only clay I have has thin bowl walls. Nice looking pipes though.
How much are they really worth? Is it an amount that is going to change your life style? Do you need the money to feed your family? If you sell them can you take that money and buy pipes that are much better suited to your smoking style? If you sold them, could you use that money to help build your cellar? Just some things to think about.
I think the only question that you should ask yourself, shy of needing money, is whether you want to smoke those pipes. Forget value and age, look at them, touch them, and decide if they are pipes that you would like to smoke. Clay is nice because you get a pure tobacco flavor. I use clay pipes for tasting pipes. They are great for trying a brand new to me tobacco to decide in which briar they will taste good. I'd lean towards smoking at least one of them.
Your choice. Ask yourself if smoking them is more important that selling them? Then ask yourself if smoking them is more important than preserving them.
As for lighting up an ancient briar virgin, be aware that such an ancient pipe may no longer be suitable for smoking. Aged briar can dry to the point where firing it up will cause it to crack. Applying a silicate coating to the chamber, then super slow smoking in it until a thin cake has built up, will help avoid cracking the pipe.
As for lighting up an ancient briar virgin, be aware that such an ancient pipe may no longer be suitable for smoking. Aged briar can dry to the point where firing it up will cause it to crack. Applying a silicate coating to the chamber, then super slow smoking in it until a thin cake has built up, will help avoid cracking the pipe.
I wouldn't smoke them -- clays always get too hot to hold, and their characteristic clarity of taste is not that big a deal (IMO, meers are much better). I would hold them for their decorative and trade value.
It's a long shot trying to advise someone else. Just reading the post, I'm inclined to say, sell the pipes, now or eventually, and buy pipes that you absolutely want to smoke immediately with the proceeds. Once you are teetering on smoking pipes, they may be more useful in trade. I'll be interested to know what you decide, if you make the decision soon enough to post on this thread.
Cortez would know better than me about the clay, but if that Pete is a system my guess would be it would smoke on the cooler side. I don't know if the clay properties would ovreride the cooling system though.
There was a Peterson unsmoked clay on ebay last week, exactly the same as yours. I think it went for about 38 GPB, so it would be a while for your one to gain real value I think. Or wait for another to come up and buy it and smoke one and keep one unsmoked?
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