Pipes in the Dark Days
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Fred Brown - Feb 1, 2022
- 6 min read
“Tis the times’ plague, when madmen lead the blind.”—William Shakespeare
“How now?”
“Even so quickly may one catch the plague?” — William Shakespeare
There we were, thinking the plague seemed to be fading. And then, omicron, the little Greek “o” with a big “Omen” arrived and set the world ablaze with virus.
Sometime, in the days before the current darkness, at a pipe show in Raleigh, Va., PipesMagazine’s Radio Show host Brian Levine, the pipes and tobacco veteran, told me an old tale: a British doctor was perplexed by the plague of typhoid deaths. He happened by a water source in which the citizenry pumped their daily water from a public well supplied by an underground aquifer.
He studied the source and then advised town authorities the way to be rid of the scourge: “take the handle off the pump.”
That was in the late 19th century, and it was later discovered that typhoid, Salmonella enterica, was the culprit. Historically, the bacteria were said to have caused the death of Pericles, Greek Athenian leader of sometime in the 460s BC.
Oh, the horror!
All, right, enough of this sorrowful start. Onward, shall we?
I have been thinking of an old friend who smoked nothing but Bugler tobacco. That tobacco, manufactured in 1932, was primarily for roll-your-own cigarette smokers.
My friend, a really fine writer who once authored a book published by Random House, smoked Bugler because it was a cheap blend of Turkish and burley or Virginia or both. It was a grand-slam mixture of tobacco and is still produced for cigarette smokers.
I tried a bowl given to me by my writer buddy, who later became a public relations spokesman for a prominent Washington politician.
That one bowlful taught me a valuable lesson: watch what you ask for in pipe tobacco. To say that I had an out of body, otherworldly experience, envisioning an alternative existence—pretty well sums up my one and only foray into Bugler tobacco!
I never sampled that sort again and have remained cautious about burleys and Virginia combos ever since.
One more note about strong tobaccos. Now, I realize many of you are stout enough, experienced enough—to smoke old shoe leather, but take heed as I share another tale.
Once upon a time, in a now-departed brick and mortar pipes and tobaccos store a young pipe smoker wanted to try one of Samuel Gawith’s strongest tobaccos.
My tobacco merchant friend recommended Samuel Gawith’s 1792 Flake, a Virginia based of Tanzanian leaf laced with strong Tonquin bean but recommended caution. The Newbie cast restraint to the winds, stated with youthful confidence he could handle it, opened the tin, filled his pipe, lit it up and took a deep draw: Newbie hit the deck after that big puff.
Why go into all this? Well, the Pundit has been contemplating a great deal about pipes and tobacco in our time of plague. They comfort us, and if we follow our instincts about smoking a pipe, follow our feelings, follow our best thoughts, we will find enjoyment at the end of these dark days.
I moved on from that early Bugler experience to find wonderful tobacco blends, from aromatics to, yes, burley and Virginias—but touched up with Perique, and Orientals.
So this bit of advice for all you new pipe smokers out there. Don’t give up. You will find that right blend.
However, if a pipe reviewer such as Jiminks on tobaccoreviews.com says your choice is strong, beware. Jiminks is an exceptionally reliable source, a veteran pipe smoker, who knows blends, strengths, nicotine power and more.
Another piece of advice from an old deep South barbecue chef whose famous restaurant I once frequented: slow and low is how you cook the best “Q.”
Of course, you must also have the right “Q” sauce, which I won’t reveal here on pain of severe punishment from my barbecue chef pal.
But slow and low is how I prefer to puff. No matter whether or not it’s an aro or one of those magical mixtures by true masters of tobacco blending.
And here is another old-world tip from the Pundit: Yes, I like pipe lighters, and I have drawerfuls of ‘em; some famous brand names, some collectibles, some lesser knowns.
But the best and safest method by which to light your bowl I have found is with an old-fashioned wooden kitchen match. Say, the “Diamond” brand. The stick is, roughly speaking, two and three-eighths inches long and the flame is soft and round enough so as to not scorch that beautiful birdseye rim on your precious pipes.
By the way, for those of you of insatiable curiosity on all things tobacco and pipe-related, Chuck Stanion has an excellent essay on pipe rims in his August 2020 Pipe Line column on SmokingPipes.Com
Now, with cobs, or, say, an old basket pipe, I haul out flame throwers.
This month, the shortest of the year, we honor a rather famous World War II journalist, author, historian and pipe smoker: William L. Shirer.
Shirer, who wrote the top-selling The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany in 1960, was born Feb. 23, 1904, in Chicago, Ill., and died Dec. 28, 1993, in Boston. He was 89.
Shirer, who was once characterized as something of a “pipe-smoking” professorial type, was a prolific writer. He also combined his journalistic skills with radio broadcasting back to the U.S. with CBS while in Berlin during the opening year of World War II.
His two books that put the Pundit on the road to delving into World War II history were Berlin Diary, published in 1941, and his work on the Third Reich.
In particular the Pundit likes this Shirer quote:
History must speak for itself. A historian is content if he has been able to shed more light.
And, before I let you go not so gently into that good and dark February night, our time together would not be complete if we did not consider our Founding Fathers. With hallowed President’s Day soon upon us, it is important not to forget this is also the month we honor U.S. presidents on President’s Day.
The holiday was begun initially to honor President George Washington on his birthday, Feb. 22. But all that changed due to calendar goofs and then a move to honor all presidents.
This year, President’s Day falls on Feb. 21, and Washington’s birthday is Feb. 22.
Confused? So is the Pundit. Just know that many of our Founding Fathers were tobacco planters, and most of them enjoyed a bowl or two during their busy founding days.
And in modern times, we have accounts of Presidential pipe smoker Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006), 38th President (1974–77), who was rarely seen without his pipe.
Photo by Fred Brown
Written by Fred Brown
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 641. Our featured interview tonight is with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl and is featured in our recurring series, “Ask the Tobacco Blender”. However, tonight he will be the interviewee as we learn about how he became a pipe smoker and collector, when he got his first pipe and how he progressed from there. At the top of the show, Brian will have a review of the rare German tobacco blend, Tumblin’ Dice.
I remember the first time I heard someone else say it. “How many pipes do I need? Just one more.” It’s glib, sure, a bit of a joke, but it also rings a bell of truth, at least to me. I certainly have “enough” pipes, but pipes are seductive little things. Just when we think we’re all set, we have enough, another will come along that tempts us beyond any sense of reason. I suppose it’s the same way with any sort of collecting. There’s always another white whale we’re in pursuit of. When we finally track that one down, though, another will almost inevitably breach the surface, taking its place as the new object of our desire, enticing us to change course and set sail once again. But, there’s a potential problem with having a lot of pipes. Maybe. The more pipes we may have, the harder it can be to keep them in rotation. It makes sense. We tend to gravitate towards our current faves, the ones that most appeal to us for whatever reason, and sometimes, maybe they stay in rotation longer than they really should. The side-effect of this, of course, is that another favored pipe might end up too-long forgotten. That’s exactly what happened recently. Exhibit A: The Castello pictured is one that has been long overlooked. It’s a Trademark shape #55. It’s a really nice example of the shape. The red pearlized stem is beautifully done. The wood isn’t really anything special to look at, but it’s evenly covered, without any bald spots. When I look at it, I wonder why it wasn’t done in the more typical dark ruby-red finish that adorns most Trademarks. I’ve seen a great deal of variation amongst the grade over the years, including one really nice bent-bulldog that left the factory with a brown sandblasted finish. (For those who don’t know, Trademark has long been the lowest Castello smooth grade, usually finished in a dark red.) Was this a stamping/grading error, or is there just more leeway in the grade than we’ve come to expect? I might never know. This example is from the early 1970s, maybe even the late 1960s, identified by the upper case Ks in the grade designation. (On Sea Rock and Old Antiquari pipes, the Ks reflect the size, while with the smooth finishes, Trademark, Castello and Collection, the Ks represent the relative grade.) It has been living in a different rack than the one housing the majority of my #55s. I don’t recall why I put it there, but as many of us can relate to, rack space is often at a premium. I stumbled upon it while looking for something completely different. “Oh, you? Why are you there? I remember you smoke pretty well.” Yeah, I sometimes talk to my pipes – one of many quirks, I suppose. I won’t begin to worry until they start talking back. I grabbed it from the rack, dusted it off, and decided to give it a fill with a bowl of a slightly aged VA/perique blend, Telegraph Hill, from 2018. What a delightful smoke! At five years, the tobacco is expressing a lot of the complexities of aged Virginias and the perique adds a delightful fruitiness. When young, the composition is a bit brighter, maybe a little spicier, but time has polished any edges, and amplified the sweeter notes. Like the pipe, I’d forgotten about this blend for quite a while, but one evening in March, after chatting with my good friend Nate, who is quite a fan of it, I decided it might be time to revisit it. I got a couple of fresh ones, and excavated a couple older tins from the library. I normally reach for Fillmore when I want a VA/perique thing because of its boldness and depth, but in revisiting this one, I’m finding something soothing and comfortable about it that I’ve really been enjoying, both young and aged. Sticking with the theme of the forgotten, and as a perhaps interesting tidbit to the photographically inclined, I shot the pictures for this month’s column with my old Nikkor-O 35mm/2.0 mounted on my trusty Nikon Df. The last time I used this lens, it was adapted to one of my Fujifilm bodies, and I didn’t care much for the results, so I put it away and pretty much forgot about it. But, I’ve recently been exploring some of my old kit, deciding what to keep, what to pass along, and this one once again came to my attention, kind of like that old Castello. On the Df, there’s something about its vintage rendering that I find truly appealing. Another forgotten treasure, and just like with that old pipe, it seems that, at least today, everything old is new again. If your collection is on the large side, are there pipes or tobaccos that you’ve all but forgotten, only to come back to them one day to find yourself wondering why? Maybe it’s just another fun dimension to this endlessly fascinating journey.
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.
