Is a Pipe Really a Pipe If It Has Never Been Smoked?

[monty55]

While smoking my morning bowl today with coffee I was gazing at my pipes, I noticed my favorites and then remembered that when I purchased these.. as Estate pipes, they were in many cases many years old, yet had never been smoked until I purchased them. I realize and understand that some collectors choose not to smoke out of some pipes because they want the value to stay as high as possible. Especially with up-and-coming pipe artisans.
I argue that a pipe is not truly a pipe in every aspect of the word.. until it is successfully smoked.

It's obviously a pipe shaped sculpture, made or carved of some medium, with a bowl for tobacco, an airway, and a stem for drawing smoke thru. Yet there is sits.. unsmoked, unproven, and IMHO incomplete. I believe that pipes have a purpose, and if that purpose is not served, then they are not a pipe, but a pipe shaped sculpture.
I ask you... what good are these pipes in front of me if they are not loaded with tobacco and puffed till the tobacco is depleted, the smoke was successful, and I have a smile of content on my face?
I would argue this about anything which serves a purpose whereby the purpose is not being served.
If you happen to agree with me, grab that unsmoked pipe off your rack and give a breath true life into this object which was meant to be smoked, and called a Pipe. ::

 

[voorhees]

I agree its a piece if furniture, a knick knack, a dust catcher until its smoked and used. I do have one unused pipe, but I intend on passing it along to the FPP. (Free Pipe Project)

 

[latbomber]

I agree on an overall assessment of the pipe. Any tool or machine can possess an energy or soul of its own. A car/guitar/knife/pipe etc when used skillfully and taken care of can radiate that energy.
It's like when you go to a museum and see a well worn old weapon or tool. You can almost hear the stories it is trying to tell.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I have an unsmoked Peterson Dracula. I bought it just to have it (you could say as a collectible) and have not once filled it and put flame to it. I don't think any less of it -or myself- because it hasn't been used.
I have a bunch of other pipes I use regularly, but since Peterson was only making the Dracula's the one time, I didn't want to let it pass by. I could use it, maybe someday I will, but it isn't calling to me at present.
I view it strictly as a collectible.

 

[drwatson]

I have many unsmoked pipes. Some will be smoked at some point in time, acouple will most likey never be smoked as, they are just too nice. And then there are the ones I have bought strictly for when my sons are older. If I get a great deal on a pipe, but don't need to put it on the shelf with the others, then it will go into storage for now. I don't think there is really anything wrong with displaying and not smoking.

 

[layinpipe]

Totally agree with TS on this one. I am a pipe SMOKER, not a pipe collector. When i get a new pipe in the mail or an unsmoked estate, i can hardly wait to fire the thing up and see how it smokes, no matter how good it may look or how much money it is worth, smoked or unsmoked. IMO, if a pipe smokes like shit, all it is is a decorative piece of art and does not serve its intended purpose, i don't care how good it looks. If that's all you want it for, a decorative piece of art, then fine and dandy, everyone has the right to do whatever they want with what they buy. But pipes were made to be smoked, that is their intended purpose.
I do see the side of having a few pipes you choose not to smoke because of whatever reason it may be, but i agree with the TS its not really a true pipe if it is never smoked and tested. It is but a decoration until the leaf is stuffed in the bowl and the flame applied to the leaf for the enjoyment of its owner, who has so graciously allowed it to prove its worth and intended use for years to come.

 

[papipeguy]

I guess I'm an accumulator, not a collector. I buy pipes to smoke. Why do otherwise? I've heard of people who buy cars and then store them away hoping that 25 years later they'll be worth astronomical sums; but where's the fun in that. To each his own, I suppose, but what a waste of life and potential fun. Live in the now I say.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I have a Peterson Rocky Donegal 03 as well as my Dracula 03. Same shape, nice little smoker. The Dracula isn't my style of pipe, but I liked the way it looked, I'm a horror fan and Dracula was a great book. I'm sure it smokes well (I'm a fishtail fan) but it is literally the only pipe I own that is unused. Any other pipe I would gladly fire up but I had no desire to use the Dracula.

 

[tuold]

There are those who are sufficiently wealthy to afford to keep stuff around they don't use. I'm not one of those, but I appreciate the collectors of things so the pipes are preserved for posterity.
I also love my estates and wonder who first bought them, the hours they spent enjoying them....

Of course, if my pipe were once owned by a Hannibal Lecter I would not want to know about that!
A tobacco pipe can be a mere utensil, a product from the history of commerce and industry, an object of art, or all the above. I can envision somebody collecting pipes without ever smoking them. Not me though.

 

[drwatson]

This is like saying a sword is not a sword unless you take it into battle. The logic just isnt there.

(Yes I collect them too!)

 

[sablebrush52]

Is a Pipe Really a Pipe If It Has Never Been Smoked?
Of course it is. It's just an unsmoked pipe. When you buy a new pipe from a Tobacconist, you're not buying a tuba or a thong. You're buying a pipe. Some people are pipe smokers, some are pipe collectors, some are both, which is where I sit.

95% of what I have, I smoke. But I've also collected a few pieces, like my 1907 cased Barling companion set, that I'm not going to smoke. I'm happy to own a bit of pipe history just as the manufacturer made it. As for whether it has fulfilled its destiny, who's to say. Maybe being admired an a super rare example of some of the finest craftsmanship to come out of England IS its destiny. When it comes to pipes, I no more embrace rigid totalitarianism than in any other area of my life.

 

[claypipesarchaeologist]

Hmmm... Well, I think a pen is still a pen if it at least has the ability to write. But, the same item can have different meanings for different people. I have a pan pipe that I cannot play, so for me, it is decoration and not an instrument. I can see that same logic applying here. Yes, I agree, Monty.
(If anyone would like to make an instrument out of a pan pipe, send me a PM. I'd only ask for you to cover the shipping.)

 

[drwatson]

Well said sable!

I think there must be more than myself out there who not only looks at a pipe as art, as well as "a pipe". Each one of my pipes are kept in prestine condition, if they are smoke or not. If I spend 700 on a Dunhill why would I not keep it super clean? If I buy a "65" Corvette why would I not do the same. They are all investments, as well as guilty pleasures.

 

[latbomber]

I think it comes down to your life view. If I was given a mint 1920 Dunhill Shell, a Ferrari GTO with 0 miles, and an unplayed 1954 strat, guess which would become my daily smokers, drivers, and players? These objects were not made to be put into cryogenic storage, they were meant to be used and get some full throttle time.
In the words of Hunter S Thompson: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

 

[metarzan]

Is a woman really a woman if she hasn't been... Only reason I bring up that analogy is because I refer to my unsmoked pipes as "virgins". I have a very small bevy that I fully intend to break in but just haven't found the right tobacco/occasion. The mood just hasn't been right. I'm such a romantic. :?

 

[drwatson]

What about tobacco? Is tobacco truly tobacco is it sits in a cellar for "X" amount of years, never to get smoked?

Kudos to everyone on a side note, this is one of the reasons I love this place. We can disagree totally and all still value other opinions!

 

[monty55]

Great reply's.. everyone!
I don't want anybody to misunderstand. I love collecting. I have a collection. I have also bought several brand new expensive pipes that many would just stare at and be content. But I want to smoke them .. because that is what they were made for. I am very anal in my cleaning habits and keep my pipes in perfect cleaned, waxed, and polished shape ready to smoke. Some have mistaken what I said and think that I am saying smoke ALL your pipes, and if they just sit there that's not right. That is NOT what I am saying at all. If a pipe has been smoked.. even and only one time, then it is indeed a pipe and served it's intended purpose. But if it had never been smoked.. not even once, then I say it has not truly become what it was intended to be.
Let's make this simple and real. An automobile... as it sits on the assembly line is a combination of metal and rubber and plastics and polymers. It certainly has all the potential to be an automobile, but until such time as that key is turned and life is breathed into that Automobile then it is not really an Automobile because it never went from point A to point B under it's own power. It they tried and tried to get it started but it wouldn't they would take it off the line and it wouldn't be.. until it did.
A pen certainly has all the characteristics of a pin, but I argue until it puts ink to paper, it is simply a tube filled with ink. Oh, and Dr. Watson.. it's elementary.. the sword is mightier than the pen. :lol:
Furthermore, and more importantly, let's ask the pipe creator. I would bet, and I hope a pipe maker chimes in here, that when a pipe maker is making a pipe, that not only is he thinking of form, shape, look, and feel, but I assure you he is thinking and hoping that this pipe will be a good, successful, cool smoking pipe. And I also bet that if you asked them when they were creating this, from nothing, that if the person that ends up with this pipe NEVER smoked it, EVEN ONE TIME, that they would be hugely disappointed. Why? Because they would be like.. why did I create this.. if it was never going to be smoked?

 

[drwatson]

Are you aging your swords

No most are already aged!

and should we be concerned

Just waiting for the total breakdown of all civilization, so they can be made usefull! :nana:

 

[ejames]

Some people are pipe smokers, some are pipe collectors, some are both, which is where I sit.

That about says it for me. I keep 20-25 in rotation, the rest collect dust. None of them are very expensive,some are new-unsmoked,some are estates I have restored,none will ever be worth much. Have a couple of artisan pipes,but no Bo's or Jess etc. Most,some folks wouldn't bother to collect--but they make me happy,setting there collecting dust.

 

[drwatson]

But it will be of my choice w/o anyone telling me to use or not use. But there no way I would be using my 1862 C.S.A. sword, cause that just needs to hang there and be stared at