A Trip To Walgreens

[mso489]

Walgreens is a drugstore chain headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, near where my dad grew up, in Highland Park, Illinois, and where I grew up in Park Ridge. They've expanded in the South where I live now. Some years ago, I understood they'd dropped pipes and pipe tobacco from their inventory. I didn't check on them, but I admit not seeing them anymore back of the check-out where they used to be. Forward to today, as I was picking up a prescription for my wife. I was fascinated by all the vape juice flavors, not as a temptation but just as a phenomenon. Below those there were some cartons of cigarettes, a rack of individual packs, quite a few inexpensive cigars, and some chewing tobacco. Hmmm. Then I looked way down to the bottom shelf, in the shadows. Wow. There were several corn cob pipes in plastic, and several small Dr. Grabows, maybe six pipes in all, and yes, some Capt. Black and another pouch tobacco with small lettering I couldn't read. I think pipes and pipe tobacco are back at Walgreens. How about that?

 

[mackeson]

I didn't know they went away, just the selection greatly reduced. At least here in CO. They carry Grablows and MM pipes. The tobacco selection used to be a bit bigger 10 or so years ago with the Walgreens house brand (which seems to have gone away), but they do still have a couple choices.

On the other hand... Most gas stations around here no longer carry even the common OTC pipe tobaccos, but plenty of vape crap. I guess the market share of pipe tobacco is no longer profitable enough to warrant shelf space.

 

[mso489]

If I have the story right and remember correctly, the house brand was Admirals Choice that is now carried by pipesandcigars.com. Now my curiosity is going, I might ask about that alternate brand of pouch tobacco, to see what it might be. Why would college kids fiddle with vape when they can have a historical-traditional experience trying out a tobacco pipe? You'd think the non-conformity would be irresistible.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Why would college kids fiddle with vape when they can have a historical-traditional experience trying out a tobacco pipe?

Decades of anti tobacco propaganda.

You'd think the non-conformity would be irresistible.

Conformity is apparently the new cool. Gen Xers were the last of the great rebels.

 

[philobeddoe]

CVS dropped tobacco products several years ago, but at least in Indiana, Walgreens has had tobacco products non-stop.

 

[jacks6]

Sutliff makes their house brands - it's basically SuperValue in a tub

 

[jacks6]

Also, if you like OTC's Rite Aid may be a good place to look. Several that were bought out by Walgreens and had to liquidate their inventory had their pipes and tobacco marked down to almost nothing. I found boxes of carter hall for .89 or less about 2 months ago. They also carried Grabows and Missouri Meershaums.

 

[mackeson]

Gen Xers were the last of the great rebels.

Yes, yes we were.

Funny thing... We were known as the slacker generation with no attention span, the "MTV generation,"(back when MTV played those music video thingys). The new generation has made us look damned responsible.

Why would college kids fiddle with vape when they can have a historical-traditional experience trying out a tobacco pipe? You'd think the non-conformity would be irresistible.

I agree, but even as a college student, I didn't fit in smoking a pipe. My friends teased me that I looked like an old man. Though I was an o"old man" with a biker jacket and mohawk. Strange and fun times, the early 90s

 

[fetidbog]

CVS dropped all tobacco products to protect the public health(although you can still buy all the beer, wine and junk food you want). Their store brand was Admiral's Choice. The Walgreens here still carries their "Blenders Gold" blends. There were a few somewhat favorable YouTube reviews about them recently. Our local Walgreens also usually carries a couple of Missouri Meerschaum cons and maybe one overpriced Dr Grabow. And I did recently find Amphora Original Blend and some Super Value blends at the local Kroger grocery store.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Walgreens in Kentucky have always seemed to carry a few Grabows and a few cobs.

I remember seeing Half & Half, Sir Walter, Prince Albert and Carter Hall back when pipe and cigar sundries were kept in a regular aisle, not behind the counter. Nowadays it's usually just Captain Black.

 

[fetidbog]

I have got to stop posting from my phone. That should read cobs. Not cons. My apologies.

 

[mso489]

Thanks for the correction on the Admiral Choice brand and other information. I'll have to check on that alternate blend to Capt. Black at my local Walgreens, just for curiosity. Perhaps I just missed seeing them, but I think the pipes and pipe tobacco did disappear from my Walgreens for a while, or maybe it was just bundled out of sight, available for anyone who asked. Now you can see them if you crane your neck over the candy display and look near the floor.

 

[seacaptain]

 

[mso489]

seacaptain, great photo! The wall of nails and the upbeat chipper shirt motto. Incongruity as a way of life. Including me, in various ways, to be honest.

 

[seacaptain]

Conformity is apparently the new cool. Gen Xers were the last of the great rebels.

Yes we were. We were the last generation to spend more time playing outside than inside, dealing with bullies on our own instead of reporting them to a "school resource officer", getting a trophy only if we actually won something, and actually going over to our friends house to hang out instead of "texting" them all day. Sure, we had video games, but we actually had to ride our bikes to an arcade to play them instead of hiding in our room all day.
We're the last generation with any mental and physical toughness. We're the GI Joe, Karate Kid, and Fight Club generation. The current generation is scared of anything that even looks like a gun, demands government fix their problems instead of self reliance, and runs to their safe space to cry whenever anyone has a different opinion from them.

 

[brian64]

Conformity is apparently the new cool.

God that's depressing...but unfortunately true.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

I do remember buying my first cob, pouch of Capt. Black Gold, and first Grabow from a drugstore. Can't remember which now. Then I remember something about the drugstores saying they would no longer carry any tobacco at all, since they were a drugstore and there to provide assistance at being well, so it was hypocritical of them to carry items that help us to harm our health. Quite funny that they never removed alcohol from their shelves. :rofl:
Good to know some stores are carrying items like that again, even if it's just a little. Might help me actually track down pouches when I want one again, since even some of the smoke stores around me don't even carry pipe tobacco anymore. Mostly vape stuff now.
@Seacaptain, I would generally agree, except they filed me under the new "millennial" label most recently based on their "quality data". It kind of sucks since I'm 35 but just barely inside their little metric. I grew up probably about the same as most gen-Xers and identify more closely with them than the millennial crowd. I hate being rolled in with them since I am most apparently not with them. I grew up with dial-up, didn't get my first cell phone until I was almost 18 and that was only for emergencies and a bag phone at that. I spent more time outside than inside as well, learned what it felt like to lose and deal with disappointment and the last thing I'd have ever considered, both then AND now, is pick up a gun to settle a dispute. You used your fists and even if you lost, you still gained your foes respect. I have quite a few guns myself, although I never really get the chance to use them now, since moving into a big city. I don't own any handguns, mostly .22's, .30-.30's, a .410 and a couple of 12 gauge shotguns. All were used for hunting, but now I use the shotgun for home protection.

 

[mso489]

As with any generation, the young 'uns look wimpy regarded from a distance, acting like herd animals. But when you get to know individuals, and learn their stories, they are often incredibly tough and wise beyond their years. I'm sure we were the same at their age. I remember being pretty skeptical of my peers from time to time.

 

[smokeydogg]

I don't follow the typical millennial generation agenda. Our numbers are limited, but I find more like me once they hit the real world and start paying taxes and have a family. I wish I would have grown up with Walgreens advertising mm pipes, I probably would have found this great hobby sooner. Does anyone else have the desire to buy a pallet of cigarettes every time they see a "truth" commercial? I don't even smoke cigs..

 

[seacaptain]

There are obviously individuals who are exceptions but there's no doubt our culture has shifted significantly in the last 20 years in order to accommodate Millennials as a group.
Whether it's universities creating "safe spaces" with playdough and coloring books, or Fortune 500 companies like mine who did away with defined time off benefits because "the newer generation expects to be able to take time off when they want", our culture has lowered expectations to make Millennials feel comfortable.
To tie the discussion to the original post, my wife is a manager at Walgreens (and no, that's not her in the pic), and of the young people they hire, only about 25% have any work ethic and even fewer can handle any type of criticism.
Walgreens came up with a "Frontier" program to engage employees by having them come up with ways to improve their jobs. The ideas Millennials come up with are things like social questionnaires such as "what's you favorite movie?", or "recognition" programs - Everybody gets a trophy. In other words, they aren't even capable of understanding how to improve their jobs because they don't even know what a job is. They think it's just another place to socialize.
The changes that companies, colleges, and society have made to accommodate Millennials is real and will only get worse as they move into positions of authority.