Vintage Three Nuns Anyone?
- Thread starter kcvet67
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I think it's because this tin was the Empire Blend version, which afaik didn't have perique, but used African leaf *, similar to the new Danish incarnation.
Back in the day, it sold for a slightly cheaper price.
:
:*Most likely Rhodesian or British Central Africa ( Malawi), or perhaps even Canadian leaf?
I was just chatting with a fellow from this forum whilst visiting London last week. We both seemed to agree that all this money thrown at old blends from yesteryear is crazy. The stuff just wasn't that great in those days but then that's all that was available. You purchased your tobacco on the day you got paid along with paying your dry cleaning bill, rent, BT bill and British Gas bill and put petrol in your motorcycle. Anything left over was for beer, food and money put away for your holiday along with the Sixty bob a month you gave the man from the Pru for your life insurance who knocked on your door on the second Saturday of every month. Nylon was considered the wonder material of the age, everything else in London was dingy, smoke stained and even in the early 1980s there was a prevalence of bomb sites and lord knows what else around. Pubs closed at 2.30 and there was three channels of television and people would rush home to eat their beans on toast followed by home made cakes that had the consistency of a small Dorset pebble. Foreign holidays were unknown and people took their vacations at the British coast because choice just didn't exist. So in the final analysis who wants to spend a fortune on a brand of tobacco that ancient so you can relive the joys of an earlier miserable time!
I think it's a just a matter of cash and curiosity. Had we all had the chance to taste it I doubt anyone would pay those prices, but nostalgia plus curiosity and having the cash means you want it more than anyone else. As the saying goes, curiosity caused the cat financial problems.
Never a truerer statement has been uttered,
you should know because you were actually there,
and know what's what and how was the how,
when that where was there!
How you described that WarHorse advert while motorbiking into Edinburgh still echoes thru my mazing brains.
The intense renown of certain vintage British baccy and the prices they can fetch is a very concrete definition of the word
- romantic
My dabblings with the old stuff has been very hit 'n miss, more miss than hit,
but when it hits,
it hits !
The financial gamble is immense and I only imbibe if I can get 'er cheaply!
As for how I get my Bell's,
Special Double Cream Stout please!
...this superjuice gets my bells really really rung! :mrgreen:
After 3 or 4 of those just about any baccy tastes like nectar from the sublime gods of nicotinian divinity!
:
:
Since I sell a lot of the older, rare and no longer produced pipe tobacco tins I am often blessed to find out why so many collectors find these old tins so, well, collectible. Most tell me that they are buying tins such as is the subject of this thread, to add to their collections and they have no intention of opening and smoking the contents of the tins. To them, they are buying a "piece of art" that fits their hobby in similar fashion to someone who collects coins. A coin collector may buy and trade rare and no longer made coins, but have no intention of going to the local grocery store to make a purchase with them. The coin collector's joy in having a year 1937 Silver Dollar in his collection is similar to a pipe and tobacco hobbyist having a 1937 tin of Bell's Three Nuns Empire blend in his. Neither plans to use their item, but both are excited to have those items in their collection.
Some say buying a $400 Rad Davis pipe is crazy. Some say buying a $20 Dr. Grabow is crazy. In respect for our fellow pipe and tobacco hobbyists, I personally think we should be happy for anyone in our hobby who finds excitement in nabbing a $40 tin of old Half & Half or a $400 tin of Three Nuns.
And for the record; I love selling those expensive old tins rather than buying them! :wink:
Best,
Pipestud
Some say buying a $400 Rad Davis pipe is crazy. Some say buying a $20 Dr. Grabow is crazy. In respect for our fellow pipe and tobacco hobbyists, I personally think we should be happy for anyone in our hobby who finds excitement in nabbing a $40 tin of old Half & Half or a $400 tin of Three Nuns.
And for the record; I love selling those expensive old tins rather than buying them! :wink:
Best,
Pipestud
Pipestud,
a most excellent description,
the best one I've heard.
Thanks for ringing thine bell!
I totally agree with the "piece of art" perspective.
So many elements are at play and all combine to form an exquisite object in mine eyes.
I did a boo-boo a while back, thinking I was scooping up an old knife-lid Bulwark just minutes after it had been posted,
hooray!
I had beat everyone to the punch!
8)
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/find-of-the-day-or-ooops-im-an-idiot
Oh no!
In my excitement I failed to even look at all the pix, and the bottom of the tin had massive pinholes!
:crying:
But,
as an object it stands tall in my collection,
it has a presence.
A certain aura beyond words or description.
I did get to open it up,
which for me is a tremendous delight in and of itself,
the simple act of opening an old cutter-top is near orgasmic!
The leaf had not weathered well, all essence lost,
but it has given me happiness nonetheless.
I'm a romantic old goat!
a most excellent description,
the best one I've heard.
Thanks for ringing thine bell!
I totally agree with the "piece of art" perspective.
So many elements are at play and all combine to form an exquisite object in mine eyes.
I did a boo-boo a while back, thinking I was scooping up an old knife-lid Bulwark just minutes after it had been posted,
hooray!
I had beat everyone to the punch!
8)
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/find-of-the-day-or-ooops-im-an-idiot
Oh no!
In my excitement I failed to even look at all the pix, and the bottom of the tin had massive pinholes!
:crying:
But,
as an object it stands tall in my collection,
it has a presence.
A certain aura beyond words or description.
I did get to open it up,
which for me is a tremendous delight in and of itself,
the simple act of opening an old cutter-top is near orgasmic!
The leaf had not weathered well, all essence lost,
but it has given me happiness nonetheless.
I'm a romantic old goat!
Howdy rsuninv,
Down here in Texas we prefer Texas Longhorn inspired Cow Patty Art. I have long been a collector of those large and beautifully created and inspired samples. But, unlike the tobacco I collect, I only purchase cow patties that are extremely dry.
Pipestud
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