Memorable Pipe Smokers From Your Past.
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I had a grandfather who smoked cigars and a great-grandfather who, judging from the one photo I have of him, smoked a pipe. But the former died when I was five, and the latter was gone before I was even born. I knew no family members who smoked a pipe.
For me, it was a revelation to discover that C.S. Lewis and his brother, Warnie, were avid pipe smokers, as was their friend J.R.R. Tolkien. Their example made a huge impact on me.
As for people I actually knew, though, it wasn't until I got a part-time job at a mall Tinder Box that I really came to know and admire fellow pipe smokers. There was Matt, a part-time close-up magician at local restaurants. Fred, who worked in a factory that allowed smoking (this was in the early 80s) and smoked about 12 bowls a day in a ragged Dunhill. Phil, the retired cop who was constantly puffing at the store because anything from the open jars was free while you were working. And CJ, who eschewed pipes in favor of Churchill-size cigars. I spent four years working with those guys, and there's hardly a day that passes that I don't think of them all with great fondness. Haven't encountered a group like that since. Matt and I were pretty much the "pipe guys," and the owner allowed us to order and stock any tinned blends we wanted, so long as they ended up selling eventually. Thanks to that, I was able to try a ton of blends I'd have never encountered otherwise -- many of which are now gone forever.
Bob
For me, it was a revelation to discover that C.S. Lewis and his brother, Warnie, were avid pipe smokers, as was their friend J.R.R. Tolkien. Their example made a huge impact on me.
As for people I actually knew, though, it wasn't until I got a part-time job at a mall Tinder Box that I really came to know and admire fellow pipe smokers. There was Matt, a part-time close-up magician at local restaurants. Fred, who worked in a factory that allowed smoking (this was in the early 80s) and smoked about 12 bowls a day in a ragged Dunhill. Phil, the retired cop who was constantly puffing at the store because anything from the open jars was free while you were working. And CJ, who eschewed pipes in favor of Churchill-size cigars. I spent four years working with those guys, and there's hardly a day that passes that I don't think of them all with great fondness. Haven't encountered a group like that since. Matt and I were pretty much the "pipe guys," and the owner allowed us to order and stock any tinned blends we wanted, so long as they ended up selling eventually. Thanks to that, I was able to try a ton of blends I'd have never encountered otherwise -- many of which are now gone forever.
Bob
For me it was my late Uncle Jimmy. He was part of the 116th Naval C.B’s during WWII--he was in the thick of it from the start of the Pacific campaign until V-J day. A true American hero, at least in my eyes. Every time I'd visit and sit at the bar with him we'd crack open a beer, and light up a pipe of Captain Black Gold; he smoked the same blend habitually until the day he died. Still today the smell brings back so many memories, and that is one thing I believe that really binds all of us brothers of the briar together. We can smell a blend and immediately be taken back to that moment in time. It's been a year now since he passed, we kept his house in the family and still every time I visit I go down to the bar and light up a pipe just for him.
Great thread! Good job pyratemate for digging up this little lost treasure!
Hey metalhead, I have a Great Uncle John who is also passed on that used to smoke a pipe. My dad has a few of his pipes now.
My dad is an occasional piper and it was with him as a young boy that I first experienced that wonderful and exotic aroma inside a tobacco shop. My dad bought a Peterson System Pipe in that shop and was very proud of it. He smoked some kind of cherry cavendish and Borkum Riff and of course it smelled great.
The only other pipe smoker that comes to mind in my past was my barber whose services I used for about a decade until he passed away a few years ago. Mike the barber always had a big gnarly freehand hanging from his jaw (because he always worked with both hands). He smoked the same brand of bulk OTC day in and day out. Mike was restricted from driving because of medical reasons so he walked to work everyday and I would often pass by him on my commute to work and the pipe would be there as much a part of him as his nose. As a barber and a pipe smoker the conversation in Mike's shop was always entertaining, interesting and thoughtful. I can still remember watching him in the big mirror as he stepped back to light his pipe or reach up to take it out of his mouth to continue conversing. And yet another example of how pipe smokers always seem to be the neatest sort of people Mike also enjoyed oil painting. In between customers he would sit before a canvas and work a bit at time on his paintings. His favorites were landscape scenes with sunsets.
Great memories, Thanks to Lawrence the OP!
Hey metalhead, I have a Great Uncle John who is also passed on that used to smoke a pipe. My dad has a few of his pipes now.
My dad is an occasional piper and it was with him as a young boy that I first experienced that wonderful and exotic aroma inside a tobacco shop. My dad bought a Peterson System Pipe in that shop and was very proud of it. He smoked some kind of cherry cavendish and Borkum Riff and of course it smelled great.
The only other pipe smoker that comes to mind in my past was my barber whose services I used for about a decade until he passed away a few years ago. Mike the barber always had a big gnarly freehand hanging from his jaw (because he always worked with both hands). He smoked the same brand of bulk OTC day in and day out. Mike was restricted from driving because of medical reasons so he walked to work everyday and I would often pass by him on my commute to work and the pipe would be there as much a part of him as his nose. As a barber and a pipe smoker the conversation in Mike's shop was always entertaining, interesting and thoughtful. I can still remember watching him in the big mirror as he stepped back to light his pipe or reach up to take it out of his mouth to continue conversing. And yet another example of how pipe smokers always seem to be the neatest sort of people Mike also enjoyed oil painting. In between customers he would sit before a canvas and work a bit at time on his paintings. His favorites were landscape scenes with sunsets.
Great memories, Thanks to Lawrence the OP!
Growing up in the 60's my friends father smoked a pipe, was bearded, and was a research chemist. Now I smoke a pipe, am bearded, and am a chemistry professor.
When I was a small child my father smoked a pipe off and on, the one pipe I remember most was a Blue Dr. grabow Viscount. There are only two other people that I can remember, one was our neighbor, Bill. He was a farmer and I remember watching him work his crops on his J.D. Tractors, pipe ever present. The other was my cousins grandfather Bob, I have no memory of Bob that doesn't involve a pipe. Dad gave up tobacco years ago, Bill passed away when I was still young, Bob is still alive and kicking and though I don't see him much any more, when I do he still has a pipe hanging from his mouth lit or not.
Plenty of pipe smokers in my past that inspired me. My paternal grandfather enjoyed an evening pipeful of Prince Albert in one of a dozen or so meerschaums he owned. My dad switched to a pipe from cigarettes when I was young; his favorite tobacco was Amphora Red-- the first tobacco I ever tried when my father suggested I try a puff of his pipe when I was about 13 years old. That first experience might have been enough to put me off of pipe smoking forever, but fortunately it wasn't. When I was in high school, I had a slightly older friend who took up pipe smoking in college, and introduced me to The Balkan Sobranie and I think that's what really confirmed me as a pipe smoker. And I can't leave out Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, both lifelong literary friends known for enjoying a good pipe.
Both of my grandfathers smoked a pipe. My Mom's Dad smoked Edgeworth Ready Rubbed. They lived about 7 hours away from us so we didnt get to see them regularly but I remember sitting in his den after he would come from work. He would light up his pipe, read the paper for a bit then play his organ for an hour or so, all while puffing away. He's 89 now and suffering from dementia, I'm going to visit him in 2 weeks and cant wait to sit on his porch and light up a bowl of the ERR with him. I hope it brings a smile to his face.
I've posted this before, but Pap is the reason I smoke a pipe. Every picture we have of him, he has a pipe. Brought a pipe with him from Ireland in 1912 and was the epitome of leaving a legacy in terms of hard work and self reliance. I happen to be visiting my elderly parents now and just last night Dad said,"Boy, your Pap would be proud you took up the pipe." I like knowing that.
http://youtu.be/QVvR7T-cH7U
http://youtu.be/QVvR7T-cH7U
When I close my eyes I see my Grampa Wallace sitting in his big club chair, by the oil heater, smoking George Washington Tobacco. A wonderful man who always let me open the new can of "George". For Christmas everyone (and there were a lot of us) gave Grampa chocolate covered cherries and George Washington.
Hey, Lawrence: Do you by any chance remember the brand of those "Rum Soaked Crooks" the old guy used to smoke in his pipe? Not Wolf Bros. There was another brand wrapped in orange cellophane that I used to like... can't remember the name. Does anybody?
As for my pipe smoking, my pipe-smoking dad influenced me in many ways, but not really there. From an early age, CIGARS were my calling, and Daddy's drug-store pipes filled with Carter Hall or Half & Half didn't sway me. (I even Christmas gifted him quality tobac samplers from Tinder Box and Kentucky Club.... he enjoyed the little tins more than what was inside. And I'm surprised he didn't disown me the time I gave him "The Pipe".
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When I was in college, I decided to augment my cigars with a pipe.... a Missouri Meerschaum cob, usually filled with Paladin Black Cherry. Why? Perhaps I admired our coach, Emory Bellard, who was seen puffing his briar at the end of each week's "Texas A&M Football Highlights" show. Who knows? I began appreciating the pipe more. After riding the "cigar craze" of the 90s up and down, I started my pipe hobby in earnest, the cigars falling to the wayside.
All the pipe smokers of my youth are gone now. I don't know a single pipe smoker anymore, except you guys online, whom I have to thank for my continuing pipe education and enjoyment.
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As for my pipe smoking, my pipe-smoking dad influenced me in many ways, but not really there. From an early age, CIGARS were my calling, and Daddy's drug-store pipes filled with Carter Hall or Half & Half didn't sway me. (I even Christmas gifted him quality tobac samplers from Tinder Box and Kentucky Club.... he enjoyed the little tins more than what was inside. And I'm surprised he didn't disown me the time I gave him "The Pipe".
)When I was in college, I decided to augment my cigars with a pipe.... a Missouri Meerschaum cob, usually filled with Paladin Black Cherry. Why? Perhaps I admired our coach, Emory Bellard, who was seen puffing his briar at the end of each week's "Texas A&M Football Highlights" show. Who knows? I began appreciating the pipe more. After riding the "cigar craze" of the 90s up and down, I started my pipe hobby in earnest, the cigars falling to the wayside.
All the pipe smokers of my youth are gone now. I don't know a single pipe smoker anymore, except you guys online, whom I have to thank for my continuing pipe education and enjoyment.
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I don't really have one. MY dad smoked a pipe when he was young, but quit. He picked it back up 2 years ago for a bit. He smoked Captain Black in a MM Hardwood. He did it for a month or two, and then was back into Black & Milds. I guess it would be my dad.
I don't have any memorable pipe smokers from my past. I just always liked the aroma of pipe smoke. But this seems to be a popular thread. And now I've resurrected it.
Great old thread!! For it was my dad. He tended to smoke Wolf Bros Rum Soaked Crooks and for a time a pipe. My mother told me there was no way I could remember my dad smoking a pipe as he stopped before I was born. I said really? Then how come I remember half and half and a Apple blend he used to smoke? Or how he taught me to use sliced apples to keep the tobacco moist in the pouch? I finally decided he may not have mentioned to my mother he started smoking a pipe again. I loved the smell of his pipe and cigars. There was just something special there. I bought a Dr. Graybow and some half and half at University when I was playing football and all I did was bubble the outside of the pipe and burn my mouth but good..but tried again about 3 years ago and love it. My dad was not the "best friend" type man. Was a bit hard, but heck raising me explains that lol. I miss him everyday, and sometimes as I smoke a pipe I feel a connection with him. Which all by itself is reason enough to sit back and Puff away. Thanks for this Zombie thread Sable, brings back good memories! Happy smokes!
My Uncle Joe. I don't ever remember seeing him without his pipe. He smoked Edgeworth Ready Rubbed. Don't know what kind of pipe he smoked, but I'm sure it was whatever his local drug store sold. My dad was a cigarette smoker, but he also partook of the pipe every so often. His thing was Mixture 79 in a Kaywoodie.
Dean of Students at my university. Always had a clencher as he walked across campus, and another pipe or two in the office. He smoked Burlington Arcade, and so I did, too, after trying the usual crap at the drugstore. Harry S Tint and Sons, Philly, PA, may they R.I.P. Along with that tobacco named for one of the best arcades in London, and which now no longer sports even a single pipe shop.
Gramp on Mom's side. He was a big, rough edged Irishman. He usually smoked a cob. He usually smoked Days O' Work that he'd carve with his pocket knife and rub in his "legendary" larges mitts.
It was a whole tactile production that resulted in the satisfaction of burning tobacco.
It was a whole tactile production that resulted in the satisfaction of burning tobacco.
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