When I was a little fellow my grandfather was a pipe smoker.That may have left an impression on me.(I'm not really sure) Move ahead almost twenty years,and I'm working in a large factory building cars.Working with me was an Italian fellow Who had moved from West Virginia to the city to get out of the coal mines.He was a pipe smoker.(Kaywoodies) He encouraged me to start smoking a pipe.It took me a little while,but with his help I got the hang of it.I don't remember the exact date,but it was about this time of year fourty years ago.I'm still puffing.Things cost a lot less back when I first started.Bulk tobacco was ten bucks a pound.A good pipe was about twenty five bucks.Dunhills were a hundred.Of course I made a lot less money then.I guess in reality ones ability to afford to smoke pipes is about the same today as it was those many years ago.I lost track of my Italian buddy when I retired and moved south.If he's still kicking now he's over ninty years old.I hope he is.I remember him telling that Kaywoodie was the only good pipe ever made.Of course I disagree with him in that respect.
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