A 1940's Magazine Article On Pipe Smoking

[aquadoc]

So you can't smoke a pipe?!

 

[jaytex1969]

Fun article. For certain, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Bonus: I learned a new word!
Uxoricide: The killing of one's wife. 8O

 

[didimauw]

That was fun!

 

[alaskanpiper]

Fun read!

 

[3rdguy]

Nice read, Thanks for posting.

 

[scloyd]

Yeah, thanks for posting.

Breaking in the pipe...

Wet the inside of the pipe bowl. Soak it awhile if you have time. (Don’t take the stem out while you do this. The wet shank will swell, and you’ll probably break the stem trying to get it back in.) Shake out the excess water but don’t dry the bowl.

Load the wet bowl.

I found this interesting. Has anyone here done this? In the past or presently? What would be the reason to wet/soak the bowl before loading? Any ideas?

 

[frankrem]

Amazing to see that even back when pipe smoking was more prevalent so many of the same problems plagued the new pipe smoker. I can see if it were not for me watching so many YouTube videos I would have fell victim to tongue bite and probably bailed as well. This was a really nice read for this beginning piper. Thank you

 

[loneredtree]

RE Loyd.

When I started in 1962, Wetting the bowl was a common break in instruction. But, not soaking the strumel.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Good article! Czech tool 15 cents! I've seen them overpriced at $5.00!
Wetting the bowl before loading the first few times would make it harder to have a burn through, but I've not seen any one recommend this, and have not done it myself, though I flush out the bowl and stem with hot tap water after every couple of smokes.
I have wetted the chamber, filled it with plain sugar, poured it out and let dry. Load carefully and smoke thoroughly. This will cover a dubious bowl coating on a new pipe and get hard thin cake going faster.

 

[madox07]

It's a nice article, although the language seems a bit outdated. One remark, when talking about grain, it seems to imply that anything less than clear grain is poor quality. In fact it outright says that usually a dark stain means hiding some flaw. You can easily fit rusticated pipes in that category too. I don't know if that's still the case (it may have been back then) ... I have some dark stains or rusticated pipes that are plain awesome.

 

[olkofri]

"There is nothing wrong with [aromatics]. [Aromatics are] all right. Leave [them] alone. It is the smoking habits of the frustrated would-be pipe smokers that need to be taken in hand. You can’t, you say, smoke [and enjoy an aro]. Of course you can’t, friend. You never learned how."
:twisted:

:lol: :lol:

 

[jpmcwjr]

The picture is a dismal one, but it contains a salutary lesson. The obvious truth which emerges is that in attempting to modify the pipe to fit the neural patterns of cigarette smokers we have tackled the problem wrongend to. There is nothing wrong with the pipe. The pipe is all right. Leave it alone. It is the smoking habits of the frustrated would-be pipe smokers that need to be taken in hand. You can’t, you say, smoke a pipe. Of course you can’t, friend. You never learned how.

The comments about aromatics above seem to be taken from this paragraph. However, it's not clear to me what the message is. You have to learn to smoke or like arrows?

 

[litup]

It's fascinating to me that many of the tips in this article are still passed around today. Especially some of the ones that I would say are less common like using graphite on a tight stem or leaving a pipe cleaner in to aid in further drying.

 

[aquadoc]

I thought the writer was witty and spot on with most of his advice.

 

[husky]

What a wonderful article!

But when one of these pipes has crossed the counter and your money has bonged into the cash drawer, the pipe has fulfilled its destiny. Speaking with strictest accuracy, it was made to sell, not to smoke.

So true about so many things today!

I also love that, being Esquire magazine, it doesn't fail to mention the etiquette for a gentleman.

And most of the places where you smoke, outside your own home or club, the kind of smoke you can offer to your companions is to be preferred to the solitary pipe.