The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 115
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- The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 115
- Kevin Godbee
- Nov 25, 2014
- 1 min read
Kevin Godbee
Thank you for joining us for The Pipes Magazine Radio Show—the only radio talk show for pipe smokers and collectors. We broadcast weekly, every Tuesday at 8 pm eastern USA time and are available on nearly all podcast sites and apps. Listen on your computer, tablet, phone and even in the car! Our Featured Interview tonight is with Pipe Maker Jonathan Lavezzo. Jonathan has taken his experiences as a pipe smoker, woodworker, and cabinet maker to be able to offer some of the most reasonably priced handmade pipes one can buy. In “Pipe Parts”, Brian will talk about how to date a Dunhill pipe … and not in a romantic way. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Sutliff-Tobacco.com, CupOJoes.com, SmokingPipes.com, Missouri Meerschaum, 4noggins.com, MeerschaumStore.com, Cornell & Diehl, and Savinelli Pipes and Tobaccos. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.
We hope you enjoy our 1-hour show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector. The following link will launch a pop-up player. Alternatively, you can download the show in iTunes and other podcast sites and apps after the initial broadcast is complete here.
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Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 638. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Fae “The Sassy Pipe Lady” Simmons. Fae is the owner of Tobacco Treasures, which sells new, vintage, & estate pipes, and smoking accessories on Etsy. She has been in business since 2017, and has been surrounded by pipes and tobacco most of her life. Her father and his brother smoked pipes, and so does Fae. Her husband is also a retired tobacconist that worked all over the industry from coast to coast for several different companies in the industry. She has a great story of how her business got started with a great inventory of unsmoked vintage pipes. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Ok, so it’s that time of year, as we all know. Family feasts, houses, yards, and big trees festooned with lights and dangling ornaments, just high enough to keep the cats from reaching a paw into the greenery. It’s also the time of year when your pipe-smoking-significant other makes vast hints about a new pipe. That’s to be expected since he or she was a good boy or girl during the year. Yes, ladies smoke pipes, too. Oh, you want an example? Okay, try Actress Greta Garbo, Millicent Fenwick, Mary Frith, and my late grandmother (who died when she was 93) dipped snuff and smoked a cob occasionally. So now that we have settled that the gentler side of life will puff a pipe too, let’s move on to the upcoming biggest holiday of all. Of course, that huge event is brought to us by the hefty fellow in a red suit, puffing his pipe all the way in a sled filled with presents, being led by a reindeer with a red nose. Or some such. That’s Santa Claus, of course. Becoming a bit more serious, Christmas is such a wonderful time for families and friends. It’s also quite special for pipe puffers. For many of us, this brings up a nostalgic look back to our pipe-smoking or cigar-smoking friends who have died during the current year. A great journalist pal whom I often joined in a local brick-and-mortar pipe and cigar shop. I puffed my pipe, and occasional cigar, as he enjoyed a cigar. He died in October and will be missed. On the happier side of things, Christmas is also a time when mind workers of the world renew their collections with fresh additions. Pundit included. A French passion has overtaken Pundit, from reading more Albert Camus, a heavy cigarette smoker, as were many French intellectuals of a certain time. Instead of cigarettes many of us prefer the more relaxed enjoyment of pipes for that “calm and objective judgment” in the comings and goings of the world. This brings me to French pipes. While visiting France once in the long ago, I happened by a “Tabac” shop in Paris, Tabac Des Vosges. I purchased a beauty of a Chacom bent. I also later bought a Ropp made from ancient briar. To learn more about the dawn of briar pipes and beginnings, take a peek at a well-done piece by Davin Hylton in Pipe Line on April 12, 2023, on Saint-Claude, France, the birthplace of briar. Also in the long back when, on a cold Christmas afternoon, Pundit wandered into an Atlanta bricks and mortar pipe shop to look around. There, resting in an enclosed glass counter was an exquisite Comoy. An older gent, smoking a beautiful bent, asked me if I wanted to look at that pipe. It had a $100 price tag. A college student working for a grocery store chain to help with college tuition at the time, Pundit didn’t have one hundred cents, let alone a C note! I declined and found a $5 basket pipe. A Christmas tradition had just begun. Since that early time, Pundit has made it a holiday ritual to either reward himself, or a special friend, with pipe or tobacco. A Claudio Cavicchi would be nice. Just sayin.’ And now for a couple of December-born Pipe Smokers of the Past: Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on Dec. 30, 1865, and died on Jan. 18, 1936. I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble—Rudyard Kipling. Martin Van Buren, born Dec. 5, 1782, and died July 24, 1862, U.S. President, 1837-1841 As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it—Martin Van Buren. And one more note to recall a deceased World War II veteran who loved William Somerset Maugham, the author. Maugham, a pipe smoker, was born in Paris, France, on Jan. 25, 1874, and died on Dec. 16, 1965. One cool afternoon as the veteran and I talked while sitting in his backyard patio, he looked off into the distance as if studying something. Nothing in particular. Just looking. He turned to me and said if I wanted to learn about life, “read Somerset Maugham.” I did. It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know’ –W. Somerset Maugham And now a Parting Shot: Any day with an old friend with pipes and tobacco is a good day.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 637. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Nate King. Most people know of Nate as an excellent pipe artisan. He also has an honorary Master of Pipes degree from the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club, and is a member of the prestigious Confrérie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude. To be inducted into the Confrérie, this past May Nate travelled to Saint-Claude, France with master tobacco blender G.L. Pease, who was also inducted. It was quite a time in France, and at the ceremony. We’ll hear all about those adventures on the show. At the top of the show we’ll continue the virtual tour of Brian’s pipe collection with six of his Satou Dublin-shape pipes.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
There’s a pipe in my collection that I cannot bring myself to smoke, though I’ve had it for more years than I care to recall. It’s old, or shall I say, well experienced; that experience, that oldness came to it long before it was in my possession. The pipe is an old Comoy’s Grand Slam from the 1940s. The shape (#93), a slightly canted, stack billiard (sometimes referred to as a Belgian) is right up my alley, and it’s a beautiful example of it. It came to me with some wear and tear; nothing unusual for an old pipe, but more the signs of one that has been well loved, smoked a lot, treated as a favorite tool, cherished, in a sense, by frequent use. It’s the pipe equivalent of a vintage car that’s been driven a lot, enjoyed fully and maintained adequately, rather than one kept in a spotless garage, dusted and detailed weekly, brought out only for leisurely Sunday drives, or to be ogled behind the ropes at the next Concours d’Elegance. When it arrived, those uncounted years ago, it wanted a little restoration. Nothing dramatic needed to be done to it, but the stem was oxidized, the finish a little dingy. The cake was even and fairly thin, and the airway was relatively clean, both signs that its previous owner cared for it, but the bowl’s surface was a little drab and dull. It took little effort to reveal its beauty, to show the lovely contrasted stain and interesting grain beneath the old wax. I often think I should do before and after photos of pipes that I work on, but those thoughts always come after the work’s been done. This one would have been a great illustration of how years of handling that can sometimes make a pipe more beautiful, can other times make it just look grungy. Once I’d cleaned up the externals, it was time to address the inside bits. I approach this a little bassackwards, I realize. It would be more sensible to take care of the inside before addressing the outside, but it’s how I roll. If an old pipe isn’t pretty to look at, it’s unlikely that I’ll care much about it, and cleaning is usually the hardest part, or at least the most boring part of any restoration for me. Alcohol and pipe cleaners. Lots of pipe cleaners. That’s why I leave it for last. Sometimes, I’ll even give a pipe a test smoke before a deep cleaning, just for a point of reference. I gave it a sniff to get an idea of what I was up against, and it stopped me cold. There in that bowl was an aroma that I had not smelled in decades. My head was instantly filled with memories of being in the back room of a fabled Berkeley tobacconist’s shop where I stumbled upon a few jars of long discontinued blends. One of them, a blend called Forty and Eight, had the most engaging and unusual scent of any tobacco I’d stuck my schnoz into. It was sweet, but not in a candy store way. There were none of the usual vanilla, cherry, berry or anise notes of typical aromatics, nothing that could be compared to aftershave or deodorant soap, but something almost musky, a little earthy, something exotic. The shop’s owner couldn’t tell me what was in it, how, or where it had been produced. The old blend had been retired before he’d bought the place. The printed catalogue gave no clues, either, other than being overprinted with the word “DISCONTINUED” in bold, rubber-stamp type. (And, I don’t recall it as being “highly aromatic” as the description indicates.) There was still quite a bit in the jar. Being, at that point, an intrepid explorer of all kinds of tobaccos, whether I thought I’d like them or not, I had to give it a try. It was burly based, but also comprised a good measure of virginia leaf, and maybe some other varieties; I didn’t have enough experience at the time to really pick it apart. But, that aroma was unlike anything I’d experienced before or since. It was something now completely lost to time. Until it wasn’t. Memories are powerful things, and there is no sense more tightly bound to memory than our sense of smell. One whiff was all it took to carry me back in time, conjuring a vivid recollection of something long submerged in the inky depths of a subconscious mind. Look, I know as well as anyone that pipes are meant to be smoked, and that many feel it almost sacrilegious to have a pipe and not set it to its intended task. In this case, I simply can’t. I won’t. Ever. Rationally, I am fairly certain this pipe would probably be a great smoke. It was too well loved by its previous caretaker to be anything less than that. My choice not to smoke it is an emotional one, not something rational. Of the thousands of pipes that have passed through my hands over the years, this is the only one to create such a singular and vivid, almost Proustian recollection of temps perdu, of lost time. It revivified a long dormant memory that is mine, and mine alone, and that’s enough. I keep it in a drawer with other old English pipes. In some ways, it’s nothing special, just a nice old pipe. I don’t lavish it with any particular care that arguably befits the hidden treasure that it holds. It’s not in a special box, or displayed preciously in a glass cabinet. Every once in a while, I take it out, point my nose bowlwards, and every time, those memories return just as powerfully as they did the first time. I have no idea how long it’s been since its last owner smoked it, but in the years I’ve had it, there seems to have been very little degradation of the aroma, and that’s […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Hi Brian,
Kids! Boy friends, Girl friends- Get the shotgun ready!
Dating Dunhill pipes, dating any pipe is important to appreciate the history of the pipe. Now, to find a 1949 birth-year Dunhill.
I have heard of Jonathan Levezzo and moonshine pipes from facebook, but have not seen his work, except through photographs. I like his approach of making a nice pipe at a decent price. The pipes on his website look very nice. The bulldog shape has always been one of the harder pipes to make. Your interview brings back memories of my Dad who made beer and wine. I remember one jug of Tomato wine he made that tasted like Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry. I like Johnathan’s attitude and he will be a pipe maker to keep an eye on.
White Christmas, heck, according to the weather map, you may have a white Thanksgiving. Bing is always good for a music selection.
OMG, a RAVE – Brian, I am thankful we have people (you and Kevin) in our hobby that enjoys hosting the pipe podcast and bring us a plethora of great information. Happy Thanksgiving.
Great show, keep up the good work!
I haven’t been here much lately, but still haven’t missed a show!
I too will be investigating a birth year Dunhill in the near future. Hopefully I will be able to bring it on the cruise! Pipedia.org and Pipephil.eu are two of my favorite websites. I am always using those for reference.
I really enjoyed the interview with Jonathan. I think that it is cool that he is making a super affordable handmade pipe. This guys gets what it is all about. I am nonplussed about using molded stems. Hell, even GBD had pipes with molded stems. Pre-transition pipes to boot!
I loved the music choice. Always been a Bing fan. The only other pipe that has a shaped named after a person (at least that I know of) is the Oom Paul otherwise known as the Hungarian.
I am thankful for this podcast. It may seem cheesy or corny, but I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it. I look forward to it every week. Thanks, gents. I hope your Thanksgiving was great!
I haven’t been here much lately, but I haven’t missed a show!
I am glad you mentioned Pipepedia.org and Pipephil.eu. I always use those sites for reference. There is so much information there. I too will be looking for a birth year Dunhill. Hopefully I will be able to bring it on the cruise.
I enjoyed Jonathan’s interview. I think it is awesome that he is making handmade pipes for under $100. This is a guy that really gets it. I wish him all the luck in the world in what he is doing. As for the molded stems, even GBD made pre-transition pipes with molded stems.
I loved the Bing selection “Count You Blessings”. I have always been a Bing fan. The Oom Paul is the only other pipe that I know of that was named for a person.
I am thankful for the whole pipe smoking community! I am especially thankful for this podcast. It is one of the highlights of my week. Not only do you do a great job, you are doing a great service. Thank you.
I hope your Thanksgiving was a great one!
Brian, great show yet again. That was a concise summary of Dunhill date codes. I have a birth year Dunnie but am lucky that I’m an England 26 (some homework for those of you who don’t know the date codes 😉 and they’re not that expensive as the patent years! I’ve seen Mr. Lavezzo’s pipe and it’s good to see people have an affordable artisan option outside of factory pipes. You may or may not remember “The Dagners” on youtube from your Joe Case interview but I believe they are a catalyst of the poker shape. They have quite a following of the younger pipe community members. The son, Jayson Dagner, is a big fan of pokers and pretty much launched Joe Case’s career and popularized the Jake Hackert poker. The Dagner Slayer is one of Joe’s popular shapes. And…it’s a poker 😉 Also, for new carvers, I would say it’s comparatively easier to carve (considering the work it takes to get a billiard or bulldog done right). Loved listening to Bing serenade us this week. They don’t make music like they used to. Have a Happy Turkey day. Your friend in Japan, Andrew. P.S. You need to try GQ BurPer Kake!
Great show Brian. “He hates these cans” is a reference to the only good Steve Martin movie, “The Jerk”.
Really good discussion of Dunhill Dating. I wish there was a chance in hell of me remembering it.
Very pleasant interview. I had never heard of Jonathan Levezzo. I did go to his site to look at his pipes and was disappointed to see he had none for sale and wasn’t likely to anytime soon. Obviously business is good. Don’t see how he can really support himself with pipes selling from $75 – $150. You would have to make and sell 2 pipes a day just to get by.
The Lovat might be considered a shape named after a person.
You can never go wrong with Der Bingle as a musical guest. Kudos for passing on the tired “White Christmas” and going with the wonderful “Count Your Blessings”.
You can never go wrong taking a little time and counting your blessings.
Oh, and the Ramses is another named after a person pipe.
I have been listening to the show for about a year now. Look forward to it every week. One of the best interviews of a down to earth pipe maker in my estimation. Thanks. Looking forward to adding one of his pipes to my collection.
Good to hear of another up and coming pipe maker. Who says the U.S. never makes anything anymore.
Bing Crosby is my favorite crooner. “Counting Your Blessings” is a wonderful segway song for this time of year.
You have given me a couple of missions now. Finding a birth year Dunhill, and looking into a Moonshine Pipe. I like Johnathan’s business model to keep prices down and getting new people excited about pipe smoking.
Hope that more people with these skills get involved in making pipes. But you are right there are very few blenders. Not too long ago there were tobacconist in all the larger towns now you may have to travel quite a ways to get to a true tobacco shop.
Great show,
Brian