I've Got Friends in Low Places

[telescopes]

The thread about White Owls really was just a chance to have some good laughs, but what surprised me was the number of posters who seemed to actually enjoy machine made cigars. Not just enjoy them, but really to appreciate the history behind them as well.

After I contacted @didimauw to end the thread as I felt it had run its course, I shared with him my love of low brow culture, something he seems to appreciate as well. That got me thinking that an actual thread dedicated to all things Low Brow might not be a bad idea.

So here it is. Seriously and no joking this time.

Living here in SoCal, I view Low Brow as a culture that embraces Hot Rods, Tiki Bars, Cheap Booze, Googie architecture, and many of the things most people would turn their nose up and walk on by.

Machine made cigars are an example of Low Brow for many.

Are you Low Brow? If so, what aspects of Low Brow do you embrace. Harlequin Romance Novels? Seriously, don't be afraid. If the last thread taught me anything, it is that so many of our regular posters are happy to share their love of the low life if they know their are others out their who are just as happy to do the same.

I'll go first. I have a lot of tiki mugs from all over the world. Too many to say.

 

[serpentx]

Taco truck cuisine and cheap (straight) bourbon. I don't smoke White Owls anymore, but they were the official cigar at enlisted card games

 

[wolflarsen]

I hate shirts with buttons.
Ben Davis pants are the only pants I know how to wear.
The Missouri Meerchaum Legend is one of my favorite pipes.

 

[OzPiper]

Whatever floats your boat or brings a smile to your face

I have friends who do not drink anything less than top shelf.
And I have a very good friend who revels in finding wine at auctions costing $20 per case.
I'm happy to drink with them all.
After all it's their company I enjoy most.

I love eating.
And I particularly love offal.
Truth be told, I'm probably happiest eating a bowl of noodles at a roadside hawker stall than a 10-course degustation dinner at a 3 *** restaurant.
But if you're paying, I have no problems with that

I enjoy a bowl of the oft maligned Mixture 79 as much as a bowl of Penzance.
But I draw the line at recycling scavenged cigarette butts or dottle

 

[irishearl]

Being retired, I have to love cheap stuff.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I'm neither brow. I like what I like regardless of what "cultural" group it fits in. I grew up as a country boy, so there are tons of simple things I enjoy. Machine made cigars certainly isn't one of them, I'm picky about the cigars I smoke. I enjoy collecting nice golf clothing and wearing it when I play golf. Peter Millar is my favorite. On the other hand, around the house and even going out most of the time, I will wear gym shorts and Nike/Under Armour StaDri T shirts. I think I took whatever suits and ties I had to one of the charity places when I moved to Florida from Indiana.

I bought a Cadillac Lyriq around 6 months ago. I chose it not because of status but because I wanted electric and I thought it drove way more comfortable and quiet than a Tesla. I actually took it through the car wash for the first time since purchasing it a couple of days ago which shows how much I care about the "show".

In things I care and have a passion about, I don't spare expense to enjoy them. But that's for my personal enjoyment without any thought to what other people may think. I also live well within my means which I've found is an essential element to peace of mind and low stress.

 

[sardonicus87]

I'm not low or high brow, but I do like/enjoy stuff that might be considered lowbrow... especially these days smoking cigarettes is probably lowbrow. But I have two Harley motorcycles and I also listen to mostly extreme metal. But owning motorcycles and the discussion of lowbrow reminded me of this comedian stand up bit about how he "likes trashy shit" and starts talking about motorcycles, but I can't think of the comedian and I can't seem to find it. Was on some TV special.

I like beer, I guess to alcohol connoisseurs or even the general public, beer is stereotypically lowbrow relative to wine or scotch or something. I don't like all beer, I like decent beer though (like Einstöck or Ayinger or Warsteiner, etc), but you can still find some of them in the grocery store (like I can get Einstöck and Warsteiner at the Publix around the corner from my house), and I don't generally like the craft beer stuff that beer snobs like.

 

[yanoJL]

I have an antique wooden chest filled to the top with tins; FVF, Esoterica and other fine blends.

I enjoy looking at them while I codger scoop SWR from a tub into an old Comoy's billiard.

 

[warren]

I can fit in wherever you wish. I am not one to compartmentalize but. some must in order to be comfortable I've noticed. I prefer to take people at face value until they have established themselves as either good or bad, useful or useless.

That being said, I enjoy cheap, machine made cigars while thoroughly delighting in certain hand rolled. That choice is determined by whether I'm going for the nicptine or treating myself to something flavorful and robust after dinner/I love Vienna Beef hot dogs as well as boutique steaks purchased from a particular ranch in Nebraska, almost as good as Irish beef. I own an F-150 and a Mercedes, thoroughly enjoying the benefits each provides. My clothes run the gamut, handmade tailored suits to sweats. My boots are all top of the line custom made however, I won't maltreat my feet. But, I'm known to slop around the house in flip-flops. My present pup is a rescue but, I've owned pedigreed dawgs in the past. I can readily enjoy a Bud but, prefer Port in the quiet of the evening. Any commercial flight over two hours is Business Class at least. I prefer First as I usually sleep when airborn. And, so forth.

So, middle-brow I suppose.

 

[kcghost]

Just can never tell when something will catch your eye and you just have to have it.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I eat things I find in the woods. Mostly animals. Don’t know if that counts.

 

[DanWil84]

I think there is a definition for everyone if something is lowbrow or not. I like watches, but I have one nice one where some would have 10 of the same in all precious metals. A 10 to 15 euro cigar is lowbrow to some that smoke boxes of cohiba's at 50 to 100 a pop.

So in essence I'm both. When you talk about hobby's (tobacco, alcohol, watches) I like, to me, high brow things. When it is about things I really need (house, cars, cloths, food) i'm pretty low brow to some. Important for me it is within my means, so my hobbys might me lowbrow to some, but bills first then fine things.

 

[JOHN72]

I am in line with Dan. The important thing is to keep your feet on the ground.

 

[Sigmund]

Im lowbrow with most clothes. It may suprise folks in the US but France is not the king of fashion in most areas. It is very rural and super casual. Im also retired so no need for fancy work clothes. Most the time I wear jeans found at the thrift shop as well as shirts. However, I do not skimp on shoes and I need to find myself another nice leather jacket. Mine is worn out. It sure wont be high brow but Im not gonna buy junk.

I think some things are worth the money...many are not. Ive never felt the need to be high brow for someone else. That is a big part of how I managed to semi retire at 55. I still make and sell handmade sax mouthpieces but no more daily grind for me.

 

[condorlover1]

I have never given the whole subject a great deal of thought. I enjoy good food, good drink but I am also perfectly happy eating Marmite on toast or Baked Beans. I suppose I have to be that way since Mrs Condorlover is very expensive, has no idea of the value of money and would put us all in the poor house if she was allowed too!

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I smoke bulk blends with MM , drink Maxwell House , and buy my @ Costco. However, I can be a “plug in play guy” anytime it’s required. That said, I feel most at home around folks that are down to earth with little pretense…pretension brings out my ☘.

 

[buzkirk]

Lowbrow, like The 3 Stooges.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

This exchange between Jon Carroll and mystery writer, Ross Macdonald (real name, Kenneth Millar), originally appeared in Esquire Magazine in June of 1972:

The reporter said: “It seems that people who read a great many mystery stories are subject to a kind of social hazing. It seems to be considered a mild vice, like smoking cigars or speaking too loudly.”​

​

“I think,” said Millar, settling into his chair, “that there are serious reasons for it. The mystery novel deals with subjects that are untouched in the kind of sensitive and stiff middle-class society you’re talking about—death, crime and other forms of evil. The subject is evil; all mystery novels are about evil. Evil has traditionally not been talked about very much. I really think the roots of the mystery novel go back to the medieval fabliau, which deliberately dealt with taboo subjects. I think it’s significant that very early dramas were known as mysteries. They dealt in a more human way than the Scriptures or church services with sacred subjects and matters of good and evil. Now, of course, what used to be taboo is more or less taken for granted. But a certain aura of evil hangs around the form—the same kind of aura that, for a different reason, hangs around sex writing.”​

​

Awkward silence. The reporter then said: “Another link between sex writing and thriller writing is that they are both popular arts.”​

​

Millar leaned forward, sighting an easy opening. “Very much so. That’s the primary reason that I’m a mystery writer. I have a very strong feeling that it’s the duty of a writer, or at least of this particular writer, to write popular fiction. Ideally, a community tends to communicate with itself through its fiction, and this communication tends to break down if there are Mandarin novels written for Mandarins and lowbrow novels written for lowbrows, and so on. My aim from the beginning has been to write novels that can be read by all kinds of people.”​

​

I collect many things, and the work of Kenneth Millar/Ross Macdonald is among them. Within that collection, I collect both lowbrow and highbrow items by a writer who worked in a genre considered populist and low brow and elevated it to what could be considered literature; I collect his lowly paperbacks with illustrated covers, but also his handwritten manuscripts and letters.

Some of you may have read this link before (I’ve shared it in the past). Several years ago, I designed a Ross Macdonald coffee table book that had text made from interviews my late friend, Paul Nelson (of Bob Dylan and New York Dolls fame) did with Ross Macdonald the Spring and Summer of 1976; the book featured over 1,300 items from my personal Ross Macdonald collection. Here’s an interview I did with the Library of America shortly after the book’s release:

With It’s All One Case, a designer and collector has Ross Macdonald covered - Library of America

It’s All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives (Fantagraphics, 2016) A major new entry into the critical literature on crime novelist Ross Macdonald arrives this fall with the release of It’s All One Case: The Illustrated Ross Macdonald Archives from Fantagraphic Books. Editor Kevin...

www.loa.org

There are many combinations of lowbrow and highbrow (to varying degrees) within my interests. I collect toys, but often strive for ones in their original packaging; I collect LPs by popular musicians, but this includes rare test pressings and acetates; I collect comic books, but also original art; I love a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon in the summer, but usually prefer craft beer by microbreweries; I’m able to enjoy a humble table wine, but love Vintage Port and Madeira. I love White Castle hamburgers, but a wine paired meal at Le Bernardin is much appreciated and savoured. I’m at home watching cheesy action movies, but happy to discuss symbolism and allusions in a Fellini film for hours. I love Jidaigeki Samurai and Yakuza movies, but also collect the original Japanese theatrical movie posters for them.

I grew up with Big Daddy Roth Hot Rod stickers and Art Spiegelman’s cardboard Wacky Packages for Topps from 1967. Lowbrow is in my DNA, and highbrow grew from within that.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

I'm not gonna post a picture of my massive Tiki collection because it's too hard to photograph all at once but you get the idea.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Every time I find the best of something I am driven to find its low cost equivalent.
Very few products have ever been made where a top of the line example isn't matched or exceeded by a competitor at a fraction of the price.

To use the ubiquitous car analogy, the Nissan R35 GT-R became one of the most popular sports cars in history because of the ability to match the performance of famous supercars at a fraction of the cost.
I love Ferrari, but I admire the Nissan GT-R almost as much because of the accomplishments in economical design.