It was in the mid 1960's. I was less than 10 years old when my cousin Shan and I collected some cigarette buts from our parent's ash trays. We graduated to pilfering smokes. We didn't inhale but we enjoyed the "grownups" stature it gave us in front of our friends. My Dad caught me smoking and as punishment, he made me eat two or three of his Pall Malls. The punishment worked. I never smoked Pall Malls again. I switched to Winstons.
By the time I was about 16, my parents relented, threw up their hands, and gave me permission to smoke. That same year I bought a Doctor Grabow and began smoking Palladin Black Cherry. Even then I liked variety, so I also dabbled in Carter Hall, Half and Half, and Prince Albert. I still smoke Carter Hall and PA on occasion and sometimes, nothing will do but a bowl of one of the old codger blends.
Half&Half was very distinctive. I understand that the blend sold under the Half&Half label is not the blend I smoked in my youth.
In the 1970's, I purchased my first serious pipe, a Ben Wade Freehand. I'm still not sure what happened to that pipe. I loved the hand feel and the exotic shape.
In the 1980's I also took up hand made cigars. I smoked up to five or six daily. I quit cigars the month I spent more on tobacco than I did on my rent. My favorite stick at the time was Royal Jamaicans. The factory was destroyed by a hurricane. The label has been resurrected but Royal Jamaicans today are now made in the Dominican Republic.
In the 90's, I left behind pouch blends in favor of house blends from local tobacconists. I eventually began mixing my own blends and made the acquaintance of Perique, Latakia and other constituent ingredients. I also began purchasing some upper end pipes. I didn't buy tins during this period, on the theory that I could create my own blends to taste for far less. And really, I wasn't completely wrong. I still get satisfaction from mixing my own blends. They tend to be very simple but will hold up against many house blends.
Sometimes in the 90's, local B&M's started to close. Those that remained open catered almost exclusively to the cigar crowd. It became difficult to find mixing tobacco and the few stores left that offered house blends were usually just re-branded Lane bulks.
I smoked cigarettes as well until about 8 years ago but was finally able to shake them off after dozens of attempts, using every available crutch I could find: Chantix, nicotine nasal spray (which I enjoyed way to much) and patches.
I avoided all nicotine delivery devices for the first several years being cigarette free. I just couldn't light a pipe without triggering a cigarette craving. But after a few years, I would permit myself the occasional special cigar.
I began exploring the world of tin tobacco when I picked up a can of Sutliff Balkan Blend 957 from a B&M in Tyson's Corner Virginia. Eventually, this purchase led me to discover PipesMagazine and the forums. I've learned more about pipes and tobacco from the members here in the last year than I did in the previous 30.
