When I saw this pipe on ebay, I knew I had to have it. So what's so special about this little poker? First of all, this GBD is made in France. So what, big deal. But most importantly, it's stamped Orly! Yeah, the airport in Paris, again so what. Ok, here's the somewhat embarrassing part. Orley, (spelling a little different, pronounced the same) is a nickname I've had since 1969. I got this nickname by thinking that all kids listened to Little Orley 78rpm records in the late 40s and early 50s, and mentioned it to the guys I worked with. They thought I was nuts, and started calling me Orley. You can Google Little Orley to get the details, but they were records with stories about a little kid named Orley, as told by "Uncle Lumpy", who was Hugh Brannum, who was also "Mr. Green Jeans" on Captain Kangaroo. A side note: Hugh was a pipe smoker too! Are you confused now? Anyway, this nickname has followed me ever since, and to this day, my wife still calls me Orley about 50% of the time. I know this is a fairly weak reason for buying a pipe, but I had never seen one stamped Orly before, and I've bought pipes for far less important reasons than this. I figure these were probably made to be sold at the Orly airport.
Ok, the other reason I like this pipe is that it is the same shape as the very first pipe I bought over 30 years ago. I was told that it was a Savinelli second, and as I got more into pipes, I later looked up the shape and it looked to be a Savinelli shape. No bid deal, it's a good smoking pipe so I've never had the urge to get rid of it. But here I was, buying the second only poker shape I've ever owned, not counting MM cobs. And on top of that I'm coming up on my one year anniversary in Nov. of being a member on the site.
So yeah, it's a special pipe to me, in spite of its little pits and dings, and it cleaned up real nice. I left it a natural finish because that's kind of how it was to begin with.
Maybe it's time to change my avatar/user name from agnosticpipe to orley. Any thoughts? Or does anyone really care.... :lol:
As usual, I forgot to take before pics, so here's a couple from the seller's auction page.
Here's the pipe after the clean up, followed by a pic of the GBD along side my original Sav second poker from 1982.
Ok, the other reason I like this pipe is that it is the same shape as the very first pipe I bought over 30 years ago. I was told that it was a Savinelli second, and as I got more into pipes, I later looked up the shape and it looked to be a Savinelli shape. No bid deal, it's a good smoking pipe so I've never had the urge to get rid of it. But here I was, buying the second only poker shape I've ever owned, not counting MM cobs. And on top of that I'm coming up on my one year anniversary in Nov. of being a member on the site.
So yeah, it's a special pipe to me, in spite of its little pits and dings, and it cleaned up real nice. I left it a natural finish because that's kind of how it was to begin with.
Maybe it's time to change my avatar/user name from agnosticpipe to orley. Any thoughts? Or does anyone really care.... :lol:
As usual, I forgot to take before pics, so here's a couple from the seller's auction page.
Here's the pipe after the clean up, followed by a pic of the GBD along side my original Sav second poker from 1982.
Beautiful job on the stem.
