God Save the Queen!
-
Kevin Godbee - Jul 11, 2016
- 5 min read
Fred Brown
Well, while reading all this scary stuff about Brexit and Britain causing the end of the world as we know it, I began to think about something else. Let’s sprinkle a little fairy dust on this scene, shall we?
And, uh, you may want to fasten your seatbelts.
Brexit might actually be good for us pipe and tobacco fanatics. I know, I know, the Pundit has lost his alleged mind.
First, you need to understand that I am no financial expert. I might polish up to look bright as a new penny, but there are sharper tools in the shed when it comes to money and what to do with your extra cash.
Over the years, I have purchased many a British pipe and tin of tobacco. My house and so-called tobacco cellar are littered with very British pipes, stamped Dunhill, Ashton, Charatan, Peterson, Upshall, Northern Briars, Ferndown, etc.
Tobacco tins range from Samuel Gawith to you name it. I ordered tobacco from England before England "officially" banned shipping tobacco to the U.S. I ordered from Germany, so I know my way around those invoices and manifests. I have several old Dan Pipe Catalogs in my collection!
So, here is the crux: The British Pound Sterling has dropped faster than Marie Osmond can lose 10 pounds! Last time I looked, a single pound was worth about $1.37. That’s going to change, of course, and probably get worse for the sterling.
You see where I’m going with this? Okay, I have also read the really smart money guys who say, no, the drop in the pound won’t translate to a dip in tobacco prices from Great Britain.
I beg to differ a smidgeon.
We know you can no longer charge British tobacco to a credit card, right? But, please tell me why if airline fares to Britain are expected to hit the Brexit wall, as are other consumer goods, such as tea, why not tobacco?
I understand that British retailers purchased world-class tobacco at market prices years back to keep their stocks high.
But here again I’m just saying, why would those same retailers prefer to get caught with a ton of tobacco that has dropped in value and not sell it for what they can get on the dollar against a falling pound?
This sounds like Eco 101 to me. I’ll leave it to you brainiacs to enlighten me.
But, if I own, say, a British warehouse full of tobacco purchased for, say, 200,000 pound sterling, which was worth $314,000 U.S. dollars last September and on June 23 was worth $274,000, that’s a loss of $40,000.
It doesn’t take a fiscal genius to see that my warehouse full of tobacco is heading south, fast.
I’m thinking that before this Brexit thing runs its course, those tobacco retailers who are left standing in Great Britain will indeed be willing to cut deals to clear off some shelf space.
And, I haven’t even mentioned the piece-de-resistance, those expensive Dunhill pipes! It is highly unlikely that a firm like Dunhill, which survived World War I and II, will be in a giving mood.
But, a Dunnie worth $783 in September began shedding money like falling leaves with the Brexit vote. A $700-and-up Dunnie began losing some serious value, say $600 in some cases, overnight.
You could fly to, say, Merry Old England on a roundtrip ticket for $580 in the fall, according to a Washington Post recent review of Brexit.
And that ticket is bound to drop later when U.S. commercial airlines are willing to cut deals to fill up seats, since it will cost more for Brits to visit America. The Brits might choose to stay home to see what is going to happen to their little family nest eggs, instead of taking a holiday in what was once cheap America, eh?
So, for a cool $1,000 or so, you could fly to England, take in a few sites and then drop off at the corner of Jermyn Street and Duke Street where Mr. Alfred Dunhill opened shop in 1907. You could haul in a Dunnie and still have a little change left.
I’m just saying.
This is not a scientific economic study, understand. It’s purely a Pundit view of life as we know it today.
God Save the Queen!
And, Another Thing
A couple of issues have wedged themselves into my consciousness lately and then acted like a sledgehammer to the head.
First is it just me or have pipe prices headed north of sanity? I mean, I saw a regular pipe on a popular pipe and tobacco web site for more than $3,400! Holy pipe tool, that’s a lotta money!
There are many $1,000-$2,000 pipes on the market today. The de rigueur seems to be somewhere around $600-$800.
Now, I realize that these prices are being posted because the pipes are handmade by very fine artisans. The Pundit has no problem with pipe art and those nose-to-the wheel artisans working to produce fabulous pieces.
But there is a whole other world out there of pipe smokers who are looking for good, smokeable pipes in the $100-$300 range. There are some very good pipemakers carving pipes at that price point, too.
But this brings up the other nightmare that has been working in my head.
The FDA, as we all know, is out to destroy the pipes and tobacco industry as we know and love it.
So, why are pipemakers creating these beautifully-crafted pipes for jaw-dropping prices when the market is about to be eroded significantly by federal regulations?
Okay, I get it about the artiste, the shop-worn, dusty, artist in beret sitting at his lathe or cluttered work table through the night working the final touches to a masterpiece.
But at some point, isn’t reality going to set in? I mean, if you are turning out $3,500 pipes and the market is going south, does it make sense to continue turning out master works when a finely crafted pipe of lesser aura and character will suffice?
I’m not talking about returning to the days of yore when pipes of dubious quality rolled out of the factories, and gathered dust bunnies in some drugstore. I bought those, too, and have only one left. It is reserved for Codger Blends only.
But, honestly, pipes hitting the $3,000-$4,000 stratosphere are stretching credulity. I know the Formers and Dunhills, Bo Nordhs, S Bangs, Ivarssons and Chonowitschs can fetch mighty high prices for their work, and should. I drool over those as well as you.
But, we are talking legendary pipe makers here, not fresh faces at the work bench.
I believe in the law of supply and demand model.
But Pundit’s Law says until you land in the league of legends, the demand for your supply needs to reflect lucidity.
|
|
Written by Kevin Godbee
3 Responses
Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 640. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Ben Rapaport. Ben has been known internationally as an avid pipe smoker, antique pipe collector, and book author. His first book on pipes was published in 1972, and his latest book – his 10th – is out now in very limited quantities. The distribution has already sold out, but you can still get a copy of “The Wide World of Wood Tobacco Pipes. Two Centuries of Craftsmanship and Creativity” by contacting him directly at ben70gray@gmail.com. At the top of the show we’ll be turning the tables on our recurring Ask the Pipemaker segment. This time, Jeff Gracik will ask the questions, which Brian will answer as a pipe collector, and you can give your answers too.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 639. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Per Billhäll. Per is the owner of Scandinavian Pipes, which is an online retailer of high grade pipes. He started smoking pipes in the 1960s. His first high grade pipe was made by Hans “Former” Nielsen, who is one of the living legends from Denmark. That led to Per becoming a huge pipe and tobacco collector, and show attendee where he became well known. Along with pipe book author Jan Andersson, they started The Pipe Club of Sweden in 1991. Then in 1999, Per started “Scan Pipes”. He is now one of the pipe retailing legends from Sweden. At the top of the show Brian will talk about holiday blends, and other special pipe tobacco blends.
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.
I think the question for most of us, who won’t be jumping a jet during the Brexit currency adjustments, is will we see any easing of prices on Dunhills and Ashtons, or for that matter Parkers and Britannia, right here at U.S. online retailers? For most of us, that’s the marketplace for British pipes.
I suspect that the Dunhills, JJFoxes, Davidoffs, all of the St.James area of Mayfair have a long view, and will be in no hurry to drop their prices. That we Yankees can buy more Pounds Sterling with our dollars may allow Brit pipe makers to charge more in the American market. Prices, though, will fluctuate!
Still a trip to the auld sod would be timely for many reasons.
If You want perfection You’ll just have to realize that You’re going to PAY THE PRICE!!!! Now quit whining about it.
Jon