What is the deal with these carved briar pipes I see around? I see lots of animals, some facial or figure styles and even some that look like a football. Are these just gimmicks or is there something I am missing with these?
I have hesitated to buy a Meer that is carved into a face or animal shape, even though I kinda like them. I just don't see me walking around smoking a pipe with a monkey(or any other) face on it in public.
Carved briar in the same vein is just not my cup of tea. I suppose, like anything else, there is a market out there and someone must be buying them...
It's not a briar, but I have a CAO Cavalier Meerschaum which was a Christmas Present in 1984 and I still smoke it every now and then. I was sitting outside with it the other day and my 1 year old granddaughter came out. She has seen me smoke a pipe outside and is fascinated by the smoke but this time she just stopped and didn't know what to make of the pipe I was smoking.
One of my sons has this Elephant pipe. He says it smokes ok but he's more of a Nording freehand fan.
I remember seeing pipes carved into figures and things at souvenir shops as a kid; Mexico, Miami, Bahamas, etc... I don't think all of them were meant to be sold as souvenirs, but at least some of them probably were meant for tourists.