Top Ten Holiday Gifts to Please the Piper
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Kevin Godbee - Nov 17, 2014
- 8 min read
E. Roberts
Like it or not, the holidays start earlier every year. Now that I’ve officially entered my Grumpy Old Man period, this serves as an opportunity for me to interject, "Bah, humbug!" immediately after Halloween, perhaps even on the same night. Don’t even get me started on the holiday music. On the bright side, it also means retailers offer substantial incentives to kickstart the seasonal spending spree, so in the interest of pragmatism, this holiday wish list is offered in a timely fashion.
Pipe enthusiasts are actually a cinch to shop for, being the type of hobbyist for whom reason is often a distant memory when confronted with, say, an unsmoked 1922 Dunhill with pristine first-run nomenclature to be had for a song–say, the mortgage, or the kids’ college fund. We’re passionate in our way with these silly stumps of burning wood or clay, and our loved ones hopefully love us for these quirks. Of course, the glaringly obvious gift is a pipe–we could always use just one more, and even the cheapest pipe becomes priceless to the recipient when gifted. We can also be very particular about our pipes, though, so suffice it to say you’ll have to do your own research into their likes and dislikes if you plan on gifting a pipe to that special someone. But pipes alone aren’t the only thing the piper in your life would appreciate; let’s look at a few more holiday options, and please add your suggestions to the comments section for more great gift ideas!
Variety’s the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor. –William Cowper
1 First, go for the obvious choice: tobacco. It’s a no-brainer, clearly. What piper wouldn’t love more tobacco? Helping a friend stock their cellar with several tins of their favorite blend, or perhaps seeking out that peculiar hard-to-find blend like Semois, Tambolaka, or Penzance, is a treat that every pipe lover will appreciate. Maybe you can expand their palate with a variety pack of blends–ask a local tobacconist for a selection from their stock, or try one of the packaged samplers of tins from blenders like Cornell & Diehl, Peterson, or Hearth & Home. Additionally, many blenders offer limited-time holiday mixtures–classics like McClelland’s Christmas Cheer and Peterson’s Holiday are always tops on my list. And if you’re a piper too, trying new blends together is a wonderful gift to share during the holiday festivities. Don’t forget some Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes–they make perfect stocking stuffers for sampling.
5 generations of Escudo for the 12 days of Christmas.
2 If you want to take the game up a notch, surprise them with a vintage tin of their favorite tobacco. Fans of blends that have been around for a good long while, and there are quite a few of those brands, would certainly cherish a tin of tobacco that might be as old and wise as they are. Good tobacco changes over time, and often in wonderful ways that simply cannot be replicated. Vintage prices can exceed current values by orders of magnitude, and thus it makes a perfect gift of extravagance for a loved one. This suggestion comes with a caveat, however–the vintage tin market can be intimidating for the uninitiated; it is suggested for folks with some experience in pipes or the antiques and auction markets, preferably both. Several sponsors and esteemed members of the PipesMagazine.com community are established consignors and retailers with vintage stock, and can take the guesswork out of the equation for neophytes–join the forum discussions and get to know them!
3 Now where to store those vintage tins? For a great utilitarian gift, think cellaring supplies. If you’re here reading this, it’s a safe bet that the piper in your life has already contracted the condition known as TAD, or Tobacco Acquisition Disorder. For modest collections, a nice cabinet or end table makes a perfect storage solution and can be found readily; for extensive collections, additional wings on the house may be in order (I’m looking at you, Peck). Other supplies like hermetically sealable jars, watertight plastic storage bins, desiccants, and Mylar bags all make surefire gifts as well. Toss in a few bundles of pipe cleaners to wrap it all up!
4 Speaking of vintage, a fun, funky or purely functional pipe stand or rack will make them smile. There’s a good chance that if the piper in your life has more than one pipe, she’s already running out of places to put them. She’ll certainly appreciate another stand or rack; aside from their obvious utility, they can be artful accessories in their own right. If you feel like splurging, luxury brands like Dunhill offer choices that retain a good resale value, or some auction site surfing can net you a bargain on a vintage piece. Options range from very basic wooden furniture aesthetics to clever and whimsical creations in a variety of materials like ceramic, metal and plastic. Whatever the choice, your piper will know you’re thinking of them.
5 A really nice tamper is something he’ll remember with every smoke. While the average piper is always equipped with a tamper, whether it be a Czech tool or a pipe nail, or anything convenient at hand (say, a forefinger, pen, or Chapstick tube), having a really nice tamper to show off at the local tobacconist or pipe club meeting is a modest treasure that will make him smile every time he uses it. As with many of the suggestions, you can spend as much or as little as you wish on a quality tamper, from a tenner up to hundreds for precious metals and brand names.
6 A leather gentleman’s valet. Regular readers will recognize the recurring prop that often appears in my articles here at PipesMagazine.com. It’s a classic accessory item for its intended use of collecting the stuffs from our pockets at the end of the day, but repurposed as a stylish tobacco preparation tray is where it really shines. I tend to take my time and enjoy the preparation of tobacco, whether it’s a plug that needs slicing, a flake that needs rubbing, or simply a slightly moist Cavendish that needs a little airtime to dry. When preparing to visit the Chicago pipe show, I felt that carrying my trusty paper plate around wasn’t an ideal tool for the job, and so looked to a folding leather change tray that would be easy to carry along with my 5-pipe pouch, provide a place to prepare my tobacco at leisure, and look a bit classy in the process. It also serves as a built-in pipe stand, and neatly keeps my other accessories at hand–tamper, cleaners, and matches all nestle comfortably and don’t wander off. For a modest expenditure in the $20-$30 range, it’s the perfect all-rounder gift.
Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him. -John Locke
7 Pipesters always enjoy a good book. With a little searching, you can find a number of tomes dedicated either directly or indirectly toward the gentle art of smoking. There are fantastic small-press offerings by the likes of pipe world luminaries Gary Schrier, Fred Hanna, or Rick Newcombe, names that should be quite familiar to any savvy piper. Selections I’d recommend from my own library include Smoke: A Global History of Smoking, by Sander Gilman and Xun Zhou, and Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization, by Iain Gately; both superbly informative reads and, in the case of Smoke, a wonderfully illustrated coffee table book. And let us not forget the English language’s most notable pipe smokers, Sherlock Holmes and Mark Twain.
The quintessential gift that keeps on giving.
8 For a year’s worth of reading material, consider a gift subscription to the North American Society of Pipe Collectors. In addition to publishing both a printed and digital monthly newsletter, The Pipe Collector, the NASPC supports and promotes the art of pipe smoking with pipe clubs and events throughout the nation and all year long. Besides supporting our noble pastime, members are afforded attractive discounts at many retailers, which they’ll further appreciate year-round.
9 This one’s from my own wish list: a thick, cozy wool sweater. Just as nothing imprints on the memory like a particular smell, nothing captures the essence of pipe tobacco like a wool sweater. Unlike cigarette tobacco, which leaves an unpleasant acrid odor, pipe tobaccos, particularly aromatics, leave behind an aroma that is nostalgic, warm, and comforting. There’s something to be said for the faint aroma clinging to clothing–for the non-smokers there’s even pipe tobacco scented colognes and perfumes, as if its attractiveness were ever in doubt.
A little Alfons Mucha number I’ve had my eye on.
10 Alternatively, one may rather wish to mitigate the effects of smoke–so why not try a Lampe Berger? A common topic of conversation amongst pipers is how to cohabitate with non-enjoyers, and a common symptom in couples with an uneven number of smokers is that one is relegated to a basement room, the garage or even farther afield to enjoy their tobacco. I’ve had amazing success using a Lampe Berger; it’s a small catalytic lamp that burns a fuel of fragrance and alcohol at a very low temperature. It also releases ozone as a by-product, and will clear a room of any odors in very short order. Once used to sterilize hospital rooms, they can be had as very basic models in the thirty-dollar range, up to hundreds of dollars for antique or luxury brand names.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.” Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Pundit’s way of summing it up. You just don’t go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. Naturally a Virginia-Perique, it is enhanced with a traditional core of black Cavendish. In the tin it holds much promise, with a lightly bready and very woody, if ever-so-slightly sour, aroma. After some time acclimating to air, the bouquet softens further and offers hints of the burley with some chocolaty notes wafting through the more dominant dry grassy aspect. The tin art is of a coin-style bas-relief bust, presumably of a founding Sutliff brother, à la The Old Boss On the reverse of the tin we find the blend’s description: Reflecting on Sutliffs 175 years of tobacco excellence, we came across a brand that embodies true value, SILVER QUARTER. This name pays homage to Sutliffs roots, the legacy of two brothers who popularized pipe smoking in the burgeoning mining society of San Francisco. We celebrate this heritage with a coin cut composed of the finest African Virginias, complemented by a core of Perique and Black Cavendish. The tin notes are, forgive the pun, on the nose for a good VaPer blend: mild tart sweetness peeking out from behind dried hay and slight chocolate undertones, with a lightly tannic finish of weathered oak. It is always a joy to prepare a coin cut, my preference being to put a few in my palm and vigorously warm my hands together to fully break them apart. These well-formed discs pack and light easily, and smoke with little prodding to the end of the bowl. For technical points it scores well—it smokes light, and it’s easy to tend the ember. While it gets sharp after a few quick bowls, pacing should be heeded to easily smoke down to the heel without inviting bite. Of the flavor, though, I am left a bit wanting. There are tart and high notes aplenty, but very little of the lemony citrus I would anticipate, as well as scant midtones; they tend more toward the red wine-vinegary and sour. The flavors are muted, also, lacking the sweetness and piquancy of other marques—the small measure of Perique tickles the nose now and again with peppery hints, and there is a smidge of a deeper sweetness to be found in the Cavendish from puff to puff, but overall it lacks some dynamism. The Virginias, to my palate, come off a bit on the dry side, and here they dominate the blend. The aftertaste and mouthfeel are neutral, again evincing more of the dry, woody, tartly tannic end of the spectrum. The blend has plenty of polish, but not enough depth or richness (*yet) to make it a standout. Here, comparisons are inevitable: Luxury Bullseye Flake has more sweetness, both from its Virginia as well as its Cavendish, and a better finish; Davidoff is similar but with a pronounced umami that is absent here; as for Escudo, I haven’t had any fresh tins lately so it would be unfair to compare. While it rates as a solid, fairly mild smoke, particularly to lovers of the genre, it does not surprise with any exceptional flavors. To be fair, all the boxes have been checked for the blend to benefit from some real aging, and it would be worth checking in on this after a couple of years sealed away. I’ve set half my tin aside to sample again in a month or two, in case I’m merely suffering from the lingering effects of parosmia, and will amend this review in that case. Maple Shadows II, on the other hand, made up for the weeks of sniffling and sneezing I’d endured. Offered in a full 8 ounce tin with delightfully spooky Halloween art, it’s (hopefully) enough to last through the season. Somehow I had missed this last year, so it’s a real pleasure to get some in my candy bucket this year. As the chilling winds of autumn draw eerie prattle from contorted, deciduous limbs, we find ourselves possessed by the spirit of the season. Bewitched by a dissonant charm, we’ve created Maple Shadows. In a season that is defined by the unlikely harmony of treats and frights, we’ve joined the enchanting sweetness of maple with the earthy spice of Dark Fired Kentucky for a smoking experience that captures the senses with an otherworldly fusion of flavor. This may be the best aromatic blend Sutliff’s ever made—and they make a ton of them. First off, it’s not overbearing in the least—quite the opposite, it is also one of the more restrained aromatics they’ve ever made, with a clear but very light topping that melds oh-so-well with their choice Kentucky added to the mix. Opening the tin, the sweet maple is up front and center, but so too is the must of fallen leaves, bready pie crusts, and a crackling fire in the hearth—a perfect invocation of Herbstdüfte in a can. Packing best in an open and capacious bowl, the flavoring is subtle, and recedes to the background while puffing. With a sweet coffee or tea to accompany, the aftertaste of the maple is reinvigorated on the palate […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 632. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the host of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the days before, during and after the Las Vegas International Pipe Show. We will hear about their travels to the show and the anxiety of Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida at the same time while running a show and not knowing if your house is going to be there when you get home. In the end, the show went great and our homes survived, although many others in Florida were not so lucky. We’ll have clips from the show, and shoutouts to other podcasts and vlogs that were broadcasting from the pipe show.
Vegas Baby The show started out strong on the 14th floor hospitality suites hosted by the Vegas Pipe Show and Smoking Pipes as well as room hopping to carvers, estate sellers, and vendors to pre-game for the festivities. If you’re interested in what that looks like I’ll refer you to last years pipe show round up. I circled with Brian Levine to get the totals in comparison to last year: This year’s show numbers: 108 Exhibitor tables, 445 attendees, 3,250 Raffle Tickets, 100ish dinners, 172 Rooms in the Hotel. Last year, by comparison, 107 exhibitor tables, 425 attendees, 2,200 raffle tickets, 104 dinners, and 175 rooms on Friday and Saturday nights. We were at capacity, basically, when it came to vendor tables and the dinner, so there is no physical room for growth at this point except for attendees. That said, we filled that smoking lounge to the brim. New Carvers Spotlight Garret Woo (Pipes by Woo) How long have you been carving? Garret: I’ve been carving since 2021, and I’m guessing your next question is probably how’d you get started carving? James: Yes. Garret: In 2021 I took a break from my full time job – that included machining and assembly work and I thought maybe it was time I made something that I would like and I started looking at youtube and Instagram and putting together my shop. I did struggle on the stems to start and there was a lot of failure at the beginning. James: How many pipes have you made so far? Garret: I number my pipes, so I just finished up 186. James: What is your favorite shape you’ve been making? Garret: I really dig Canadians and pipes with longer shanks and lovat Canadian blends. I like to play with different shapes of stems on the longer shanked pipes. The billiard would be my go-to shape but I want to learn more techniques on freehanded shapes. I like to put brass and copper adornments on my pipes with my machining background it helps. James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 631. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with pipe maker Dan Keller from Good Made Better. Dan is from South Dakota. Growing up working in the family hardware store where he was always finding solutions to fixing things, he ended up always wanting to make things. He now makes elegant handmade pens, pen holders, portable desks, blotters, blotting paper, book carry cases, and of course artisan pipes. At the top of the show we are continuing the virtual tour of Brian’s pipes with his “f#@k you pipes”.
OOh, I like the idea of the gentleman’s valet. Very cool, I think it’s getting added to my wish list.
How about the girl in the sweater??
Great suggestions! And the illustrations are a wonderful accompaniment to well written article. Ho! Ho! Ho!
@ Pylorns – the leather valet was certainly one of my better ideas, and I’ve given them as gifts to piper friends who’ve appreciated them equally as much. Easily my top pick from the entire list. Try it, you’ll love it!
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@ kcghost – I hear Kate Moss is single again, give her a call 😛
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@ Cortez – thanks as always! Happy Holidays bud.
Good suggestions.
Yeah the valet is a great idea.
I have developed an appreciation for pipes over the last few years and have recently thought of starting a collection of my own. This wonderful article certainly puts me in the mood for it 🙂