How To Get Someone Into the Hobby?

[sparrowhawk]

I'm meeting with a very old dear friend next month after not seeing him for 15 years. (We just sort of drifted away for awhile.) Like me, he finally kicked the cigarette habit, and he mentioned he has a pipe that he smokes once in a while. I didn't get the impression it was a real passion for him, like us miserable souls. But misery likes company, and I want him to become a real pipe smoker. So Jud is putting together a Sutliff goodie bag together for him, and I plan to present him with a Peterson 107 Irish Harp (a used one; I have a second one). Now, what kind of comments can I make, when I see him next month, that will seduce him into taking up the hobby and becoming a real piper? I mean, he's got the one pipe--probably an el cheapo he picked up at a tobacco store--and probably smokes something, when he does smoke, some basic dime store tobacco like Captain Black or Carter Hall, but I'm bringing an excellent pipe and superb tobacco--but what kind of off-hand comments can I make that will make him take up pipe smoking like a mania, in short, like us? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[mso489]

Nothing sneaky nor ulterior, but people need to feel they've made their own decision. Definitely don't push the pipes too hard. Trust there will be some good food and drink available, either at home or where you meet, restaurant or bar or whatever. Have plenty of other subjects in mind to explore, a lot of catching up to do. Weave the pipe talk in a really easy-going way. "Oh, hey, I brought a pipe for you." Don't hit him with too much information, but if he asks questions, give him enough info. Go slow. Later, you can offer to send him an MM cob, another blend, or whatever, but let it evolve. Otherwise, the guy will think you're pressuring him and won't like it. Don't shun his OTC tobacco. "Good, but you might also want to try...."

 

[derfargin]

Keep it simple, and don't over think this. You're just offering up something that you enjoy as a gesture of your fondness of the hobby and you're thinking perhaps, maybe he'll like it too.
One word of caution, try not to get wrapped up in his gratitude, or lack there of. Pipe smoking makes YOU giddy with excitement, chances are it's just an occasional thing for him.
You never know, he might enjoy Captain Black and Carter Hall(nothing wrong with Carter Hall) and just because you're bringing him Escudo, or Gaslight or whatever, doesn't mean he'll automatically do back flips.

 

[danielplainview]

+1 mso
Don't push him in. Pull him in. Fire up one of your best looking pipes filled with the most fru-fru delicious smelling bakky in your cellar and let the cards fall where they may. I think either you have the bug or you don't. My brother for example, loves looking at my collection. He admires the beauty and craftsmanship of pipes, loves the smell of the tobacco, sniffs the jars and tins. He knows the name brands, can decipher rustic from blasts, but has no desire to actually smoke a pipe. A piper is not made, It's in the blood.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Fire up some Molto Dolce :D He'll be hooked on the aroma alone.

 

[settersbrace]

"It puts the pipe in its mouth and smokes it!" "If it doesn't smoke the pipe it gets the hose!"
Sorry, Silence of the Lambs just came to mind there.

 

[dochudson]

Fire up that Pete Harp and when he compliments you hand it to him and let him test drive it. when he tries to give it back just says thanks but it looks good on you. Then break out several tins to sample.

 

[northernneil]

A piper is not made, It's in the blood.

This!!!!

 

[sparrowhawk]

These are all valuable suggestions, particularly those that remind me not to knock the pipe and tobacco he currently smokes. You would have thought I'd have realized that, but I didn't. BTW, image is somewhat valuable to him: he's a professor of humanities at the same college I used to teach at as adjunct facility. And I do indeed plan to add some Molto Dulce to the mix; you don't know whether to eat it or smoke it. :D Thanks a bunch, guys. I'll let you know how it turns out in a month or so.

 

[ivapewithfire]

Have you thought of giving him a link to here?
Seems like it's a pretty good place to get the information you need. It's either going to take or it won't.
You can lead a horse to water, but.....

 

[sparrowhawk]

Oh, that goes without saying. After all, I learned virtually eventhing I know about the hobby here. I'm also going to give him the addresses of some of the finer online stores. If I can engage him in a conversation about pipes, then I'll have succeeded. He's probably afraid of becoming addicted to pipes like he was to cigarettes, and doesn't know it's a completely different experience. But I think he's definitely a potential piper.

 

[ivapewithfire]

OK, I know it seemed obvious. Just didn't see it stated.
Good luck in your endeavor. The more the merrier!

 

[mso489]

sparrowhawk, one more thought. When you visit with your friend, he might be luke warm on the pipes and not seem all that interested, although I hope he is gracious about the gift pipe and tobacco. But don't therefore conclude your effort is a bust. Sometimes when people get back to their own home ground and routine, and sit down for a smoke, the whole thing dawns on them. He already enjoys a pipe now and then, so this could be a delayed reaction. Give him a little space and the tobacco and his own imagination may do the work.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I've never heard of someone giving someone else a pipe and having that other person become a pipe smoker, except wives giving their husband a pipe, or father to son, etc... Sure, when someone of significance gives someone something, that makes it special. But, when a friend or pier gives you something, it just doesn't have the same value. For the most part, the person has to make their own investment into this. I've given away about ten pipes to guys that I've never seen smoke them outside of the first. But, a few guys that I sent to the B&M now have racks full of pipes. I know that for myself, buying something makes it much more valuable than something given to me. The easier something comes to me, the easier it is to let it go. But, something I've put stock in, I take way more seriously.
Just my observations.

 

[drwatson]

Well my method has been duct tape them in a chair and smoke a pipe until they succumb to your will! :evil:

 

[cosmicfolklore]

...and hold their eyes open and make them watch Lord of the Rings on loop for hours and hours, like some sort of variation on The Clockwork Orange while blowing cherry vanilla flavored Hobbit's Weed in their face.

 

[mso489]

Years ago, my fiancee and a friend wanted to really entertain kids at Halloween, so we got up in spooky outfits and met them at the door. The kids were pretty irreverent and smart-mouthed us (as kids do). But we found -- not wanting to taunt them back -- that the less we said, the more terrified they became. Not our plan at all. We wanted it to be fun. But their own minds did the work and we were just the props, and some of them ran screaming! We didn't do that again, but it did convince me that people bring the expectations with them. We just provided the occasion for their own desire to be scared witless. So with anything, if you set up the situation, the magic can happen. Build it and they will come. So with pipes, don't push them, but let your enjoyment be seen, and see what happens.

 

[sparrowhawk]

Cosmic, you make an interesting point. Now I'm wondering if I should present my friend with tobacco and that very nice Irish Harp pipe. He does smoke a pipe, as I mentioned, and I think giving him some tobacco obtained from the pipe club should be harmless for that reason. But should I keep that second pipe and put it back into my own rotation? What say you all? And btw, it's difficult to let him watch me smoke because, like everywhere else, we can't smoke in the places we usually meet, i.e., his office behind the movie screen and the tavern across the street. Damn these anti-smoking do-gooders! Soon they'll make it a crime to smoke anywhere outside or our own homes. (I can foresee when each house is hooked to an anti-smoke alarm that's wired to the police.)

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When I start talking to people about tobaccos, usually when they say that they like the way the pipe smells, I go on and on about Virginias and Perique. I get glazed eyes sometimes talking about the subtle differences and the different types of leaf. Aging jars full of Different blends. Some get intrigued.
Choosing a pipe is like choosing a haircut, buying a jacket. Take your friends and try on pipes at a B&M. Have fun with it. Don't buy anything for them. Make it a hoop they have to jump through. If they invest in the hobby, they're more likely to stick with it. Don't let your want, get the best of you. They have to come to it. You can't push it on them.
But, I think that if you have fun with it, and express how much you enjoy the hobby, others will become curious. You may have already planted the seeds.
As far as the pipe? That is up to you. I really don't have a preference or suggestion. And, I may be all wrong about this. But, it's just based on what I have seen and know of myself. And,my attorney advises me to add that YMMV ::

 

[cosmicfolklore]

...think, that first time you really got tongue bite, and you looked at that pipe a few hours later when you couldn't taste food or drink anything without it hurting like hell... When you looked at that pipe, did you think about what you have invested in that pipe? Or did you think, that deadgum guy gave me this thing and now I can't swallow? Which one is going to keep you trying to figure it out? getting back on the horse? so to speak.