A Morning With Bing

[jeffboyrd]

I felt a bit nostalgic this morning. I plucked Bing out of my cabinet before my walk to work and packed in some MacBaren Vanilla Cream Flake. Enjoyed my walk in the brisk, clean air of the Upper Peninsula puffing my pipe with Les Paul and Mr. Crosby playing in my head. This day is off to a great start so far...

It's Been a Long, Long Time

 

[voorhees]

Oh so nice...

 

[zonomo]

There you go.... Reminds me of when I visited my cousin in NJ and I took a nice early AM cold brisk walk with my pipe. Really great start to the day.

 

[misterrogers]

Now that's what I call music.

 

[brdavidson]

For my next pipe club meeting I'm raffling off a local artist commission of Bing smoking his signature pipe, can't wait to see the guy's reaction to the painting.

 

[jeffboyrd]

That sounds pretty sweet br. I wish I could get in on a raffle like that.

 

[brdavidson]

I'm hoping it will raise some funds for the club so we can do some more interesting things at the meetings. The artist is a friend of mine and he just did a piece on Frank Sinatra that was unbelievable, can't wait to see our painting!!!!

 

[jeffboyrd]

<br />

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I have to say I enjoy a bowl in my Bing's Favorite in the morning as well. Here in Vegas though it's not really brisk in the morning anymore. Usually almost 60* here at 7 AM by now.

 

[papipeguy]

IIRC, the shape of Bing's pipe was originally created for him by the owner of Kramers tobacco shop in California. It has since been copied by Savinelli and several others.

 

[jeffboyrd]

That's a good observation, Mike, I have been wondering that myself. I am not really sure about the curved stem. I have read somewhere that he preferred longer stemmed pipes, so that his pipe didn't get in the way of his face being photographed, but I've not read or seen anything regarding the curved stem. The curved stem along with the length, further takes the pipe away from the face if you were being photographed, but if we can't find any photos of him with the curved stem, that's kind of a mute point. I'm gonna file it under the category of "I dunno" unless someone else can shed light on the subject.

 

[numbersix]

A nice selection of music Jeff. I am a fan of Bing Crosby - I have a long playlist on my iPod dedicated just to his music.

can't find any photos of him with the curved stem

Bing smoked canadians, square-panels, and others, but the one he designed was more of a straight pencil-shanked liverpool or billiard. Seems that Savinelli took the essence of what a "Bing" pipe was and styled it a bit differently, adding the curve.
I searched for a Bing pipe myself and this was the closest I found, a 2010 POY Stanwell that Tom Eltang designed and called his "Bing":

I obtained it from a Danish dealer. It's a great pipe and an excellent smoker.

 

[jeffboyrd]

That's helpful number 6, I appreciate the knowledge you shared.
I too am a big Bing fan, I particularly enjoy his work with the Andrew's sisters, Don't Fence Me In being my favorite.

 

[englishdave]

My Savinelli Bing (rusticated), was purchased many years ago when, upon visiting my mother in Atlanta, I realized I had not bought my pipe with me! My mother loves the smell of pipe tobacco, and to this day encourages me to smoke in her home whenever I visit.
It was "on sale" at a nearby tobacconist, and I purchased it and smoke it a few times on that trip before being forgotten about on my return home. Many years later I dug it out of a box full of pipe paraphernalia, cleaned it up and started smoking it again. It has since become one of the sweetest smoking pipes I own and has made me a fan of Savinelli's filter system, where before I used to scoff at such things. As an early morning smoke for my viriginia based tobaccos it cannot be beat.

 

[jeffboyrd]

I started to search for Bing like yours number six, so far I've only found one available across the pond. I could nab one, with shipping for approx. $160. I've never ordered from a site across the pond and am a little hesitant to do so without a reference. I actually prefer the aesthetics of your Bing to mine, which is why I am eager in tracking one down.
Here is the site:
http://www.tecon-gmbh.de/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=stanwell+2010&x=0&y=0

 

[numbersix]

I bought mine from here:
http://www.bisgaard-pipes.com/
Went smoothly. The only thing I would recommend is to make sure it's a legit company. I do this by checking their facebook fans (if they have fewer than a hundred, I am suspicious), also seeing if there are any other sites linking to them, etc. I then will send an email and see if they respond quickly.
Good luck - it's a superb pipe and $160 is a good price. I've seen one being sold for $300 on a U.S. site.

 

[numbersix]

Meant to mention... Love "Don't Fence Me In", a great song. My current Bing hit was also done with the Andrew Sisters: Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby
Starts off slow and jazzy, then jumps to a great 40s swing tune. Hard to beat the Andrews Sisters and Bing - the combination of their highs, lows and harmonies is perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oElUtVKBF4

 

[yazamitaz]

Jeff,
Who is the maker of your Bing? I can't quite see the name in your pic.
EnglishDave - thank you for that post. I have been looking at the Sav "Bing's Fav" but have never been a fan of the filter. I too sort of looked down on the filter but you have just encouraged me to change my thinking.

 

[jeffboyrd]

Yaz- Mine is a Sav. I should smoke it more than I do. It's not in my rotation as I reserve it typically for special occasions. I smoke mine without the balsa filter.
Number six- thanks for the advise, I'm going to do some investigating and if all looks right, I will pull the trigger on that stanwell this evening.

 

[weezell]

Bing Crosby and David Bowie "The Little Drumer Boy" duet...Incredible...