This Isn’t Your Grandfather’s Pipe
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Kevin Godbee - Dec 2, 2011
- 5 min read
By Kevin Godbee
Who smokes a pipe anymore these days? (I mean a wooden pipe with tobacco in it, not a glass or metal pipe with crack or weed.) If you walked up to a stranger on the street and asked them to imagine, and describe a person smoking a pipe, the vast majority of people would probably describe an old man sitting on a bench, or a grandfather-type figure.
Well, this is one of those times where the general public’s perception is not entirely accurate as to the reality of the moment.
Going back to the earlier part of the millennium, pipe smoking was still in a decline since the 1970s. According to Norman Sharp, head of the Pipe Tobacco Council, in a 2005 article in the Washington Post – "The decline has been persistent and unrelenting," In 1970, Americans bought 52 million pounds of pipe tobacco. In 2004, they bought less than 5 million pounds. "That’s a decline of 91 percent," he says. However, fast-forward just a few years to 2009, to an article in The Wall Street Journal, and we find note of a turnaround in pipe smoking. What’s even more interesting is the observation that college-age, young adults are once again partaking of the briar pipe, which hasn’t been a trend since the 1950s.
Pipe smoking’s first spurt in popularity came in the early 1920s. Subsequent peaks in pipe smoking took place in the 1950s and in the 1970s. The previously referenced Washington Post article also provides a view of what the actual size of the small niche-market of pipe smokers was back in 2003 – "In a 2003 survey, the Department of Health and Human Services calculated that there are 1.6 million pipe smokers in America."
While it’s difficult to come by clear accurate numbers of pipe tobacco sales today because of known reporting inaccuracies by different segments of the tobacco industry, there certainly appears to be continued and growing evidence of the increased popularity in pipe smoking amongst college students and adults in their 20s. It can be found right here in the virtual pages of PipesMagazine.com.
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Here are a few photos from The Gateway Area Pipe Show and Swap in St. Charles, MO, on February 19, 2011.
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As stated in the full article here, "There were several 20-somethings in the crowd of buyers, and some, while old enough to smoke in Missouri (18 is the minimum smoking age there), would be too young to legally consume alcohol. It’s pleasing to see this trend of the younger generation’s interest in pipe smoking continuing so the hobby may live on after the old torchbearers have departed."
More evidence that there is new interest in pipe smoking can be found in the member profiles on PipesMagazine.com as well. An optional field on a person’s profile is to list the date they first smoked a pipe. Look at some of the dates in the screen captures below.
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The four profiles above show three people that just started enjoying a pipe this year, along with another person that started in 2009. He is still smoking his pipe as evidenced by his just recent sign-up to this site within the last month. Following are two more profile screen shots, one showing that the more mature generation of pipe smokers is also represented here with a man that smoked his first pipe in 1957, and one more expressing how new he is to the world of pipes.
As the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of PipesMagazine.com, I travel to many pipe shows and various retail tobacconists all over the country. My travels have continued to provide evidence that the past-time of pipe smoking is continuing to grow, and that many, if not most of the new entrants are in their 20s and 30s. This comes from personal observation of the attendants of pipe shows, from talking to retailers about their customers, and from several posts in the Pipe Forums.
Speaking of our Pipe Smokers Forums, I will leave you with some photos of our younger members, and you will see that the notion that pipe smoking is only for "old men" needs updating. While were at it, let’s break another stereotype … while they are a quite small minority of pipe smokers, women, and younger woman at that, are enjoying pipe smoking today as well.
These are all members of PipesMagazine.com. (A few are pictured twice.)
In a related article, you can hear directly from a 20-something pipe smoker: Collegiate Smokers and a New Era of Pipe Men
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Kevin Godbee is the Publisher & Editor in Chief of PipesMagazine.com. Kevin started smoking pipes and cigars in 1998 and started an online cigar magazine & community site in 2005. (The site was acquired in 2008 and no longer exists.) He launched PipesMagazine.com in 2009, and in less than three years the site has become the largest trafficked pipe smoking related site, and the #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information. In October of 2011, he launched Cigar Chronicles. In the beginning of his career, Kevin worked in the hobby and specialty toy business for 16 years in sales, marketing, advertising and product development for three different manufacturers, and with his own company. Over the last 10 years working in the online business, he has become an expert in Internet Marketing and SEO. Kevin is a Certified Master Tobacconist (CMT) through Tobacconist University, a member of Cigar Rights of America, is on the Executive Committee of The United Pipe Clubs of America, and is a "Media Member" of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. In his spare time he plays guitar, cooks, and enjoys all the wonderful places to go and things to do in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg, Florida where he lives in his penthouse bachelor pad. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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His grandfather came to the US with a $50 gold coin in his shoe, opened up a cigar shop, and his most famous customer was Babe Ruth. He holds the record for the longest slow smoke in the world at over 24 hours, and he is the only man who stopped Chuck Norris from round-house kicking the Nording Pipe Statue. The most interesting man in the world, Jonathan Goldsmith, stopped by the Chicago Pipe Show this year to get kissed on the cheek by Neal Osborn. Wait, what? OK, I kid. Jonathan came to honor his friend and fishing buddy Steve Norse of Vermont Freehand at the annual Doctors and Masters of Pipes award dinner. Steve was one of the two recipients of the Masters of Pipes award and asked Johnathan to show up and add some color to his acceptance speech. Slightly overshadowed but no less important! Jay Furman was also honored as this year’s hobbyist Master of Pipes, joining me and a pipe-star-studded list of great contributors to the hobby and profession of pipes. Jay is a character in his own right. While I don’t know him as well as I would like, I’ve learned that he’s a kind-hearted collector who started the Artisan Pipe Makers Club, a place where new artisans learn, grow, and are challenged. There are around 60 artisans who participate, collaborate, and learn. Jay and Mike Bishop also started the Long Island Pipe Club, which has around 50 members and meets twice a month on different sides of the island. What is not featured here are pictures of the Doctors of Pipes. Both recipients were unable to attend: Marco Parascenzo – Doctor of Pipes, Trade/Industry Regis MacCafferty – Doctor of Pipes, Hobby Please join us in congratulating these newly inducted Doctors and Masters of Pipes. It is a great honor, and each of these men embodies what our hobby and industry strive to do: grow, educate, and cultivate its future. I encourage everyone to attend the dinner next year as it’s always illuminating. And now, on with the show. Sort of. You may be wondering what the most interesting pipe smoker in the world smokes…. I didn’t miss the opportunity to chat with this incredibly nice man, whom Brian Levine and I also remembered from one of our favorite TV shows, the A-Team. He was also in many other shows from the 80s, such as Magnum PI, Murder She Wrote, Dallas, and MacGyver, just to name a few. Jonathan: I actually enjoy simple and readily available tobacco like Captain Black or some black cavendish from my local cigar and pipe shop in Vermont. What about your first pipe? Jonathan: I picked up my first pipe; I think it was a billiard when I was in London many years ago at a place called James Fox. How often do you smoke? Jonathan: Almost every day. I enjoy a pipe in the morning and a cigar in the afternoon. I want to thank Jonathan Goldsmith for taking a few minutes to sit down with me and being gracious enough to snap pictures with many of us at the show; it was a ton of fun and made this year’s show even more memorable! This year, the Chicago Pipe Show kicked it up a notch with a new location, new signage, new pre-registration and payment system, new show executive staff, and lots of new surprises. Now, Tim Garrity, President of the Chicagoland Pipe Club, tells me that over 400 attendees were at the show, but they are still tabulating the numbers too, so this is subject to getting updated and expanded. We do have our dates for next year at this same location – the first weekend of May at the Hyatt Regency, Chicago O’Hare. Of course, like any good Chicago show, there was plenty of room hopping and the announcement board. The signage this year was super helpful in knowing where to go when to go, and what tables our favorite vendors were at. While the show was jam-packed, the spacing of the tables allowed everyone to move around freely and didn’t feel over-crowded as the tables and isles were spaced out to allow room for vendors and collectors to stretch out. The smoking tent was hopping all the time, but luckily, air flow and some great air purifiers by Lake Air kept it fresh. As usual, there was a great sample table with tons of things to try in the tent, and on your way to the tent, there was a conveniently placed cash bar. This year the tent was 25% bigger than last year, although you wouldn’t notice because there were more people at the show! Kaywoodie is under new Management. At the show, I chatted with Nathan “Greywoodie” Davis about how he came to take over the 173-year-old company. Tell me how this happened. Nathan: This month is my 5th anniversary of Greywoodie opening. I was friends with Bill and had a huge collection of Kaywoodies – I approached him about having them available outside of brick and mortar. He had no online presence and didn’t sell direct. He said if I wanted them to be more available, the best thing I could do was quit my job and sell them myself. He was mostly kidding because I had a really good job in the legal profession, but I wasn’t happy so one day I did give him a call and said “hey whats your minimum order,” and he said “You didn’t just quit your job because I was joking?” I did and I started out that way as an online retailer. So, in working with him, we did exclusives, and I learned about pipe making from him, both production and hand-made. We brought back some historical lines as well, and soon enough, I was helping to make the pipes I was buying from him. It was great for him to get my labor […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 605. Our featured interview tonight is with Pete Prevost. Pete is a pipe maker and the President of the BriarWorks pipe factory in Columbia Tennessee. BriarWorks is a a pipe maker co-op with several other pipe makers, including Todd Johnson, who co-founded it with Pete. Brian and Pete will be talking about what’s new at BriarWorks, and how they are getting ready to attend the Chicago pipe show. (This was recorded before the show that took place last weekend.) At the top of the show, Brian will give his report of his travels and what happened at the Chicago show.
When I first started with the pipe as a quirky and precocious teen, the only tutelage I had at my disposal were scenes from old movies in which a well dressed chap would stick his pipe into a pouch, scoop tobacco into the bowl and press it down unceremoniously with his thumb. Then, with great flourish, he’d strike a match and light the thing with all manner of cinematic excess, puffing up vast clouds of smoke falling just short of completely obscuring his visage. While it may look good on film, it’s a terrible approach to actually enjoying the thing. Somehow, though, this “technique” seems to have survived in the contemporary vernacular, at least to some extent, even with bit-loads of information handily at our fingertips that should dissuade us from the practice. But, at the time, this misguided approach was all I had; it’s no wonder my early days of puffing were fraught with difficult lighting, harsh, bitter smokes and tongue bite, all culminating in a fireproof mass of ye old soggy dottle in the bottom of the bowl. Ultimately, the resulting frustration made me give up the pipe, at least for a while. While the idea of it was still very appealing, the practice of it was not. It wasn’t until a few years later when, still full of curiosity and romantic notions of pipe smoking, I wandered into a real tobacconist’s shop, and learned my “method” was a long way from the techniques that would bring me to any sort of pipe smoking bliss. So, after my poor start, and under the guidance of someone who actually seemed to know how to do it right, I was given the opportunity to approach the process anew, this time with much greater success. It was only because I was both perseverent, and fortunate to have a local shop staffed with knowledgeable people, that I’ve been able to enjoy the experience ever since. At least mostly… How many fledgeling pipe smokers have simply given up on an enjoyable pastime because of similar early mis-starts? Fortunately, today, it’s not hard to find helpful guidance at the press of a key or ten. But, at the same time, not all roads lead to Valhalla, and sometimes the advice offered might well be labeled with, “Here be dragons.” The other day, I came across a short video on-line in which a well-meaning tobacconist suggested packing a bowl of an “English” mixture “nice and tight.” Perhaps somewhat ironically, I was smoking, or trying to smoke a bowl that I’d filled on auto-pilot, packed too tightly, and not only was having the devil of a time trying to keep it lit, I really wasn’t enjoying the acrid smoke the tobacco issued during the brief periods in which it was actually burning. “No, no, NO!” I found myself muttering at my pipe, and at the figure on the screen, my protests joined by the guttural growling noises that sometimes accompany my discontent. Defiantly, I grabbed a pipe nail, shoveled out the dense, asbestos-like clog from the bowl, swabbed out the shank with a pipe cleaner, more out of habit than need since I hadn’t actually smoked enough of the mass to foul the shank, and started over, this time paying proper attention to what I was doing. (For as long as I’ve been doing this, I still screw it all up sometimes.) Much better. This got me thinking about a couple things that are so important to the maximal enjoyment of our pipes, yet not often enough discussed, namely how different tobaccos respond to variations in filling density, and moisture content; two separate but related parameters. Once I’d been shown the proper way to fill the bowl, or at least a proper way, everything had changed for me. I also began drying my tobacco down as a matter of course. Suddenly, there was greater cooperation between leaf and flame, the smoke was rich and flavorful, and it burned mostly to the bottom of the bowl with few relights. Given that, at the time, I smoked latakia mixtures almost exclusively, there didn’t seem to be a reason to explore beyond my “new” approach. It wasn’t until my attention turned in the direction of Virginia blends that I had to look a bit deeper. The same technique that worked so well for me with latakia mixtures resulted in bland, and often harsh smokes with Virginias. I attributed this to the tobaccos, convincing myself that I just didn’t like the stuff. At one of our pipe club meetings, I was talking with a friend who smoked Three Nuns exclusively. When he offered me a bowl. I thanked him, and told him that I just didn’t seem to get along well with Virginias, that they weren’t for me. “Maybe it’s the way you pack them. Here, let me fill your pipe for you.” I watched as he rubbed out a few coins to fine ribbons, moister than I was then accustomed to, and filled the bowl carefully in stages, pressing it tighter than I would have. Prepared for a nightmare, I was instead treated to a pipe dream. The tobacco smoldered slowly and almost continuously, delivering a rich, cool, sweet and delicious smoke. After that, I spent some time exploring the impact of these two variables, moisture content and packing density, on different mixtures and blends, always with similar results. Latakia mixtures, and to a lesser extent, those with a high percentage of oriental leaf, taste and smoke better when they’re on the dry side and the bowl is filled loosely, while Virginia blends tend to work best with a little more moisture and a denser fill. Burleys seem to work best somewhere in between, except for cube-cuts, which don’t like to be packed with much pressure at all. (Gravity fill, tap the bowl to settle the cubes. Repeat until full.) For such a simple act, pipe smoking is filled with undefined complexities! The point behind all this? Often […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 604. Our featured interview tonight is with Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the podcast, Country Squire Radio, which ended their 10-year run last year. We’ll have JD with the “From the Country Squire” segment talking about all the new things happening at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, we’ll continue our audio tour of Brian’s pipe collection.
Before we begin, I should tell you: this tobacco review is being written by an A.I. Not the fancy new GPTs or their ilk; no, this is last century’s meat-and-bone, all-organic model. To be fair, a large part of what we call knowledge is merely the accumulated perceptions and impressions gathered from a life wandered through, synthesized into a spongy mass of what-it-is-that-we-think-that-we-know. The algorithm for this prompt is simple enough: pump thousands of bowls of smoldering plant matter into a gaping maw, cross-reference the chemical sensations with all other matter previously ingested or inhaled, sieve it all through the diffuse and fractal twin lens of memory and emotion, and churn out a panoply of adjectives that attempts to convey the sensations to someone who hasn’t experienced it yet. Odds are that a diligently trained monkey could succeed half the time; if this reviewer nears fifty-one percent then that would qualify as an unrivaled success. There must have been some similar musings perambulating through the mind of Per Jensen when he began his mad scientist routine at Sutliff with the Pipe Force project, which brings us to the current mixture under the microscope—Sutliff’s Pipe Force: Episode I. Here again are the unusual ingredients that engendered the series, with the stoved Rustica being the defining voice in this composition. From the tin: The Latakia-forward English mixture offers plenty of smoky flavor from the fire-cured leaf, which is artfully harmonized with floral, earthy Stoved Rustica. A mixture of high-grade Virginias imparts a natural sweetness. Katerini, the sole Oriental component, offers herb and spice notes bringing complexity and nuance to the flavor profile. It’s certainly Latakia-forward, with the stoved Rustica doubling up on the rhythm section like a second bassist. A first whiff from the tin releases the aromas of shoe leather and hide glue in a base of clay soil with a campfire wafted over it like last night’s beach party. Once it’s been accustomed to oxygen again, subtle hints of sweetness poke through from the Virginias: lemon rind, light milk chocolate, the dregs of a peaty Scotch, and muddled cherry. Old regulars like fresh-sawn oak and tilled earth are there, of course, with distinct notes of truffle, creosote, damp peat, and pine bark mulch. As an aside, I’ve been re-potting my camellias and the similarity of aroma to the ericaceous soil mix is notable; the Katerini really brings the unique depth of its vegetal complexion when supported by the Rustica and afforded more voice in the mix. The smoky Cyprian Latakia, in turn, is backed by equal earthiness from the Rustica, which overall exhibits a profile similar to dark-fired Kentucky; it leans more toward the woody and vegetal end of that spectrum, echoing and amplifying those traits of the other constituents. The tobacco is presented pressed and cut into a couple of thick, hearty flakes in the tin, lightly moist and easily crumbled to prepare—I prefer mine with a bit of drying time. The out-of-this-world tin art for this episode in the series is Major O’Meara smoking a cavalier. In the absence of confirmation, I’m going to hazard a guess he’s of the Ithklur species. The first taste from the light is sweet, with hints of that milk chocolate dancing around the edges. The Virginia leads the smoke through the top of the bowl, and orchestrates it well. Thoroughly smoky with lemony, grassy highlights from the Virginia spectrum, it soon segues into the mid-bowl profile: heartier, smokier, with the flavor leaning to the mildly acrid and tangy tinge that is the campfire-esque signature of English blends. Caution advised, it can turn overly bitter if pushed—this is where one’s sipping technique is required to maintain the fullness of flavor through to the heel. I did tend toward a lot of relights, though it may have as much to do with technique as with the blend. Pacing is also important as the nicotine starts to manifest; though the Rustica’s contribution has been tempered well by the stoving, it can certainly upend an empty stomach. At the end of every bowl, the mouthfeel somehow gets better. The balance of sugars in the tobaccos would seem to be spot-on in this regard. I started out my tasting in cobs, then cut short an unpleasant bowl in a meer, and finally landed on my best instrument with the lovely Dunhill 4427 pictured, a quaint group 4 shell briar with a gentle curve and Cumberland stem supporting a perfectly executed acorn bowl. It surprised me here, as I’ve learned through the years that I generally have the best experience with English blends in large, wide bowls. With this blend it seems that to get the best out of the Katerini’s somewhat diaphanous influence the smaller bowl fared much better. Room note is very English, so the company you keep will either love it or hate it, and it doesn’t linger too much. I find it paired best with a strong coffee; Sumatran beans complement the flavors well, as do Ethiopian if a lighter brew is preferred. Overall impressions of the blend are that it’s a curiously interesting take on the English genre, almost a reductive reconstruction of the theme using the unique components. This blend, if nothing else, expanded my vocabulary of sense perceptions with the uniquely treated leaf. While the average human can distinguish approximately one trillion (1,000,000,000,000!) different aromas, multiplied by seven basic tastes, and wholly dependent on variables from body chemistry to atmospheric conditions, our overworked and underpaid simian brains can’t effectively catalog them all. Our pet adding machines are exceedingly good at this, however, and someday soon they’ll be the ultimate and unequivocal authority on what something tastes, smells, looks, or even feels like. Until that time, friends, revel in the moments that can be stolen to savor over a bowl of Pipe Force: Episode I.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 603. Our featured interview tonight is with Rick Newcombe. Rick is a well-known author of several pipe books, and he is currently working on his third book. He is a prominent collector of Danish pipes, and vintage tobaccos. He has traveled the world visiting pipe makers, and learning their different techniques. He is also the founder and chairman of Creators Syndicate, which currently represents more than 200 writers and artists. At the top of the show we’ll have a Pipe Smoking 101 segment discussing best pipe shapes and sizes that are best suited to certain types of tobacco.
Hopeful in that the newer members in the Brotherhood of the Briar, especially the younger crowd, are allowed to continue to take their pleasures as they see fit.
Fun article Kevin!
Way cool, I hope more and more pipe smokers can learn and enjoy pipes and tobaccos due to Pipes Magazine.
well I started as a student, right now I’m not so old,
but most important: I will be always young inside 😉
It’s nice to see new blood. I would be curios to hear how much pipe tobacco sales have gone up over the last couple of years – say in pounds?
It’s very pleasing to see so many new younger pipe smokers, and it gives me hope that this fine hobby will survive.
It’s good to see new life in the old practice, and seeing people willing to step out of the box to experience tobacco as it should be enjoyed.
@clanobucklin
Unfortunately the reported numbers of pounds of pipe tobacco sold are unreliable and hugely over-inflated the last few years because of the RYO tax situation.
Great points in this article. When people try pipe smoking (and are giving a helping hand) they like it. People (especially younger people) are always looking to try new things, and when they get over stigmas of pipe smoking (and get past the anti-tobacco rhetoric) they’ll find are true pastime. The industry relies on word of mouth right now, but there’s a market out there that real advertising and promotion of smoking could reach if someone spent the effort/money.
The National Survey of Drug Abuse has reliable figures on the age distribution of pipe smoking, which I reported on one of the fora. I don’t remember the percents, but under 35 had the highest percentage, followed by those over 50.
Pipe smoking is an important tradition (even Santa smokes a pipe!) and it’s good to see the younger generation carrying it forth.
Hah and there I am. Happy to be a part of the culture and take part in such a proud tradition. Great article sir.
Another nice article from you.
In a related article, you can hear directly from a 20-something pipe smoker:
https://pipesmagazine.com/matchstickman/pipe-smoking/collegiate-smokers-and-a-new-era-of-pipe-men/
Nice article. Hard to believe that it has been just over a year since I have begun this new “hobby” and I don’t think I will ever give it up.
Check out the update box above. We have a 38% increase over the last 7 years.
Had anyone had the sense to introduce me to briar when I was young, I wouldn’t have torn my lungs up for 15 years smoking cigarettes. Though I’m closer to 40-something than 20-something, being in the company of younger people who enjoy the pipe makes me feel positive about where the world is heading. Pipe smokers are part of a unique subculture, but one that is free and open to any willing to take the time and learn to participate.
Very nice kevin i hope the pipe smoking get as big as cig, were at one time!!
I would not do without all my pipes and all the different tobacco varieties, we can buy here in Denmark. I am in Esbjerg Pipe Guild, and we meet once a month to once a good smoke and tobacco tasting. It’s wonderful to have such a good and satisfying hobby.
Great to see some of the young folks and young ladies (my wife has just taken up the hobby too!) getting into the joy of pipes! Don’t be shy about puffing that pipe outside where folks can see you. Let’s start a trend!
It was good to read this and I have a few thoughts on the subject.
I am not gonna go in to the female pipe smokers because I dont know anything of that trend.
But this is what I see and my oppinion of why. I am a former bouncer of 16 yrs Ive worked in all “Gentelmans clubs” all across the U.S from high scale places to biker dives. At one time in the upper class places all one would see is business men and pretty boys with their shaved chest and legs in clothes I wouldnt be cought in living on a trust fund or spoiled mamas boys with crotch rocketts and the biker dives were just that men in their mid 30 and up rowdy as hell on some sort of American made scooter. Over the years I have noticed a trend of younger men or should I say boys on American bikes in the rowdy bars. Now whats this have to do with pipe smoking you may be asking right now. Well here it is. It appears to me all these trends going on with the younger men are all leaning to old times where men were just that men. Maybe a little Machismo tossed in. The youth of today are longing for a time where it was ok to be a man it was ok to open a door for a woman it was ok to stand up for what you believed in. And yes ive seen these mamas boys hide behind a woman to keep from getting hit now I see the younder ones standing up for a woman as it should be. This just my oppinion
Amen Jaysin!
started collecting before i started smoking(strange i know)love that more of us may be coming out of the woodwork. i just worry that by the time im older, they wold have made tobacco illegal!
I am 60 now and had quit smoking for 25 years. After I retrieved a Meerschaum from my folk’s house I decided to collect. After collecting enough from eBay to begin to annoy my wife I decided that I would have to start smoking again in order to justify my hobby. I am facinated by the patterns in the briar and it’s fun to keep looking for styles I don’t have yet. A few months ago I came to win the bid on an Oom Paul (C.B. Perkins) that had a sand blasted finish. When I got it I could see that the surface on either side of the bowl was worn smooth and shiny. All I could imagine was that the previous owner had held that pipe for hours and hours, day in and day out to wear off that sand blasted finish. I felt awed and sort of humble knowing that I was holding someone’s favorite pipe (or only pipe). This is one of the things I get from collecting pipes that you just don’t realize with other hobbies. Pipe ownership can be such a personal thing. Anyway, I’m happily trying to do my part ot increase the sales volume of pipe tobacco in the U.S. – Happy puffing!