Did The Codgers Really Have it Right?

[boudreaux]

I've been reading and sampling many tobaccos and am thinking - Did our elders really have it right when they had, at most 1-2 pipes and 1-2 tobaccos that they smoked?
Although some of us have no worries about expense limits when it comes to buying tobaccos and pipes, I often consider that it adds a "complicating," if also interesting aspect to our already busy lives.
Did the codger set just not feel that such complexity to achieve enjoyment was worth it? Was this due to lasting effects of the Great Depression that I keep hearing about? "You never lived through a depression..." begins the weekly sermon, as I roll my eyes.
What are your thoughts on this? Look at the bigger picture...

 

[alex87]

Well I think that pipe smoking has gone from a way of tobacco consumption, to a hobby for those of us who appreciate not only the fine art of pipe making but also blending tobacco's for flavour. Sure there are crossovers, people who smoke for both reasons a plenty. However I get the sense that the "codger" generation didn't see smoking a pipe as a hobby.
Cigarettes were expensive and viewed as an upper class based way of consuming tobacco. Another reason why they had relatively limited numbers of pipes and tobacco blends could be due to distribution. Sure lots of manufacturers produced tobacco, but worldwide distribution, reputation and sales is a product of globalization and the advent of the internet. So I think pipe smoking has evolved over the years to become more than just smoking a product for the nicotine.
We can see this evidence in the cost and quality of both pipes and tobacco. If I am smoking for the nicotine and some flavour, and only make a small amount of money with a relatively large family to take care of, why spend a lot on both a pipe and tobacco. Better yet, I can't spend a lot on a pipe and tobacco, my funds have to go elsewhere, like food on a table and shelter costs.
Also we are currently in a generation of immediate gratification. "I want a pipe now, and I want it to be the highest quality". Whereas I see the "codger generation" being more inclined to spend time adapting to what was available to them. They had the mentality of adapt how I do things to what I have, not get things that adapt to the way I am.
So I guess you could say that this situation of limited resources and patient mentality allowed them to become more content with fewer options, not to say they didn't want more options...
I think there is so much choice out there it spoils us now...but without so much choice we would adapt...like our brothers of briar before us.

 

[checotah]

We sorta did. Pipe collecting wasn't as big as it is today, partly because of disposable income, partly because the internet wasn't around (which now provides information as well as resource), and partly because pipes were more commonly looked upon as something you had so you could smoke. As far as tobaccos, there just generally weren't that many varieties available, unlike today. Again, the internet has helped spread the word about other tobaccos, and provided resource venue for people to buy and sell.
And who you calling a "codger"? Oh, that's right... I guess I am! :lol:

 

[numbersix]

It's a good question. I think ultimately to each his own. I can say that I notice a big difference in flavor with a well rested pipe. That said, there are some people who are less affected by nuances of flavor.
My buddy's father would drink coffee all day and all night. He couldn't care less about the quality or how it was made. One time I saw him heat up a pot of coffee that was sitting around for two days (with only about 1 inch of coffee left).
The stuff heated up and smelled terrible, but he was unaffected. Rather than thinking he has inferior taste buds, I actually give a person like that credit. To me it's the antithesis of 'fussy'. More power to 'em, but I wouldn't drink stale coffee or smoke a stale pipe. I guess I'm spoiled rotten.

 

[mso489]

I think we tend to accumulate too much stuff, over all. Having just carried two carloads of items from the

attic to the church flea market fund raiser, I can attest. Do I need forty pipes? Twenty varieties of tobacco?

I'm thrifty in a lot of ways, I think. When I was younger, I was really spare on possessions, but I won't do that

old tape. But yes, less can be more. One or two MM corn cob pipes and a pouch each of Prince Albert and

Carter Hall can provide quite a bit of smoking pleasure, if it comes to that. Just not much to tell about on

Forums!

 

[puffy]

When I was a kid here in western Carolina a big portion of folks were farmers.They grew most of what they ate.The one crop that they sold for cash was tobacco.That was just about all the money they had to run on for the whole year.Some folks worked in factories,but for very low wages.Of course folks including pipe smokers were careful when spending their money.Also they just bought what we today term drug store tobacco because that was what was available.Very few if any of my grandfather's generation in these parts knew of smoke shops of todays order.They really had very little or no information about blends other than what they saw in stores.As far as pipes go I think my grandfather had two both Medicos.He really didn't see a need for more pipes or more expensive pipes.That's the way it was back then when this was farm country.Of course it could have been different in cities.Just let me say here that I totally disagree with grandpa's conservative view of pipes and tobacco.Then though I have access to a world of information that he didn't have.

 

[boudreaux]

Lots of good feedback here. One thing I'd like to zero in on to keep this chat going is the complexity factor.
Because choices were few in tobacco and pipes and because of other possible economic factors, the hobby, as some call it (and if it was a hobby) for them was very simple.
Think about what we discuss on here. There is the concept of rotation of pipes and tobaccos. Also the need to buy mason jars to properly age stored tobacco, leading to an assortment of markers, label stock, particular lighters for inside and outdoors, the fuel for them, appropriate other "tools," like polishing cloths buffing wheels, Obsidian polish, waxes not commonly obtainable at the hardware store, pouches, bags, the commissioning of people to build cabinets and pipe racks, and on and on...
Is it any wonder that wives may think we are nuts, as we continue on our endless search for nirvana/utopia? :roll:
And yes, checotah, I am a bonafide member of "Old Fartdom." Not yet ready to admit it, but the signs are all becoming prevalent.

 

[puffinbilly]

I grew up in Liverpool in the 50’s and early 60’s, if you smoked and you smoked a pipe you usually smoked either Saint Bruno or Condor, there wasn’t much more on the shelves. If you smoked cigarettes there was a choice of Woodbines, Players or Embassy. It wasn’t a hobby it was just the way you chose to enjoy tobacco. There wasn’t much reason to have a huge collection of pipes. I’m in no way saying that we were deprived or times were hard and I certainly don’t want to make you roll your eyes, it is just the way it was; a different culture if you like.

A good analogy is the average beer drinker; he has his favourite tipple, he drinks mild or bitter or lager and perhaps enjoys the odd glass of rum. When he goes to his local bar the barmaid knows what he wants. He drinks three or four glasses of lager with his friends on a Saturday night and finishes the evening with a nightcap. He hasn’t had a bad night out because he has had to drink lager yet again.

I have been smoking a pipe for forty years. I now am the proud owner of four pipes and am experimenting with different tobaccos; it is beginning to be a hobby for me - before I just smoked a pipe.
Bill

 

[petergunn]

Did our elders really have it right when they had, at most 1-2 pipes and 1-2 tobaccos that they smoked?

I'm a minimalist by nature and that attitude transfers into my pipe smoking so I can relate to what you're asking.

Although some of us have no worries about expense limits when it comes to buying tobaccos and pipes

Realize that a forum about pipes and tobacco is going to attract pipe and tobacco collectors who like to discuss their passion but I believe they are the exception not the norm.
You need to seek your own level and do what pleases you after all it's just about making smoke.

 

[nachman]

I had been smoking a pipe for a few years when, in 1963, The drug store I shopped had a post Christmas close out on items they couldn't sell. Among them was a sampler of six one ounce tins of Dunhill tobaccos. It was dirt cheap so even though I had never heard of them, I bought one. It opened a whole new world to me. I started buying tobacco at the tobaconist and after a while he convinced me to buy a fancy Danish pipe even though it cost about twenty dollars. At that point smoking became a hobby for me.

 

[allan]

This is a fascinating thread.
Pipes, tobacco and collections of these are just the same as any other collectables that many of us enjoy. My wife collects handbags and shoes, and for years I silently, or not so silently, ridiculed her (big, immature mistake).
How many tvs, computer gadgets, x boxes etc etc does anyone of us really need? Our times have really changed and even though most of us work very hard, there is much more disposable income than in the past, allowing us to branch out to collect wines, cigars, etc. We generally have more time to collect and examine various tobaccos for reasons mentioned above, and although one could consider it wasteful, this is the time we are in.
We are very fortunate

 

[rmason]

I think attitudes have just changed, they may have looked at it as another way to get nicotine, while now we consider it an art form that takes time to practice and master. Plus anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

~Ron

 

[alex87]

I think a sentiment I see/read from a lot of people not only on this forum but also in person, is one of respect for personal opinions and practices. This I think is born from our ability to choose. We have a world of resources at our disposal...i'm not limited to my immediate geographical surroundings, not only for product but also other human's who share an activity that we have in common. This is a wonderful evolution. The goal of smoking a pipe is simple, and has remained the same since the 16th Century, to enjoy the smoking of tobacco. Only the means has changed. To deny ourselves the evolution of tobacco, pipes and their construction, and knowledge would be deny ourselves the opportunity to really enjoy smoking a pipe as a personal activity.

 

[wilson]

There are times when I am smoking Carter Hall or Walnut and think to myself "why bother with all of those other tobaccos?"
Then, there are days when I cannot wait to try something different. And when I have something new being delivered I'm like a damned kid at Christmas. That much joy for 10 or 12 bucks is hard to beat.
It's only complicated if you let it be complicated. If I look at my modest stash and can't decide, I grab some CH or WalHall and a cob and I'm content. In the end, I'm happy that I have so much choice.

 

[crazypipe]

If I had it to do all over again I would have only 7 pipes and 7 tobacco, that's it. ::

 

[cortezattic]

This is indeed the golden age of pipe tobacco, mainly because of internet marketing and the emergence of boutique blenders.

BUT, in about 1969, when I started smoking, there were scores of drugstore tobaccos available in any drugstore. I remember

spending a lot of money sampling different blends. They were mostly cased Burley aromatics, but there were a lot of them.

 

[wilson]

Teddy, which 7 tobaccos?

 

[fiawol]

Its hard to tell whether there is a different mind set today or just the fact that it is so easy to find others that share your invests today. I'm willing to bet there is a belly button lint collecting group out there that may be asking themselves "doesn't it seem like more people are correcting belly button lint nowadays?". Honestly though, today as I enjoyed my pipe I did ponder about this topic. I have begun to notice the subtleties of my tobacco and it felt like the fist time I noticed the real taste of a coffee or a beer. I think the times have changed in the respect that people have a popular method of getting nicotine and that is cigarettes. The people who smoke a pipe, I believe, have made that choice not primarily for nicotine but for the enjoyment of it. So already they are pointed in the direction of hobby/art and that leads to all the different niches that this site showcases.

 

[foggymountain]

I had 15-20 pipes back in the 1950s, not 1-2. I did smoke one tobacco, Balkan Sobranie, because it was good enough to be the only one I needed. Despite the multitude of blends available today, there isn't one I know of which is that good.

 

[judcole]

This is indeed the golden age of pipe tobacco, mainly because of internet marketing and the emergence of boutique blenders. BUT, in about 1969, when I started smoking, there were scores of drugstore tobaccos available in any drugstore. I remember spending a lot of money sampling different blends. They were mostly cased Burley aromatics, but there were a lot of them.

Yes, I'm not sure where the idea that there weren't many tobaccos available then comes from. I had no trouble going into the drugstore and picking not only between the "codger burleys" that still survive, but others long gone. Sail (4 varieties), Amphora (3 or 4 varieties, at least), Troost, Flying Dutchman, MacBaren.

We didn't have the thousands that are available now, but I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't 100 just in the drugstore.