In spite of what others might say, stale smoke reeks. How you store your pipes, don't know why you need to display them, is only a small contributor to the problem. Non-smokers detect the reek easily. Smokers do not notice the reek as much, if at all, because they have become inured to it. The reek crept up on them slowly and is the now the "normal" smell.
So, the suggestion to find a new girl friend, if smoking is more important than she is, is realistic. Actions have consequences and stale smoke smell is simply a fact of life for smokers. The wee particles of smoke adhere to hair, paint, carpet, clothes, skin, etc. You can try to minimize it but, many non-smokers find such to be terribly distasteful.
Paul: In the days of yore, smoking was simply acceptable and the reek was everywhere. Non-smokers simply accepted it as part of life. They didn't know any better. In this day and age people do not have to accept it. And, they don't ... sometimes loudly. These days even I enjoy entering a cafe and smelling the food instead of fresh and stale smoke.
Way back when gentlemen, went to extremes to keep the personal reek minimal. They wore caps, jackets, restricted smoking to the den or the "smoking room." They asked permission before lighting up in a public area or private residence. They didn't smoke around the "fairer sex." Then ... women started to smoke in public, who knows why, and openly smoking in mixed company became acceptable. I guess what goes round, comes round. Society is always morphing, progressing and regressing.
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