NAAFI Pipe Tobacco

[simong]

Navy, Army, Air Force Institutes for those unfamiliar with the acronym. Wonder if anyone has ever had the pleasure of a tin? I have & it was rather splendid. The navy's own blend I had, which was a medium strength mixture with a very tasty rum topping. I've seen tins of the Army blend but never tried it. I'm sure the RAF boys must have had their own blend as well but I've never seen a tin so who knows? People say Player's used to make the NAAFI blends but I could swear the navy tin I had was a Gallahers product, due to the cut & packaging. Maybe someone more enlightened might like to chime in.

 

[hawky454]

I don’t have anything enlightening to add. Do you have a guess when that tin was produced? Still kept its rum flavoring, so it sounds like the tin a had a good seal on it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don’t have anything enlightening to add. Do you have a guess when that tin was produced? Still kept its rum flavoring, so it sounds like the tin a had a good seal on it.

...for a dreaded rectangle tin.

 

[simong]

I don’t have anything enlightening to add. Do you have a guess when that tin was produced? Still kept its rum flavoring, so it sounds like the tin a had a good seal on it.

Hello hawky, yes the seal was fine mate. From the 70's it was.
Dodgy decade the 70's, terrible clothes but the tobacco was spot on!

 

[hawky454]

Hello hawky, yes the seal was fine mate. From the 70's it was.
Dodgy decade the 70's, terrible clothes but the tobacco was spot on!

Simon, you know you were rocking some bell bottoms with long hair and a pipe hanging out of your mouth in the 70’s!

It was before my time, I was around in the 80’s though, I think the 80’s fashion was worse than 70’s and it seems like that shite is coming back around.

 

[condorlover1]

 

[greeneyes]

I've seen several empty tins of this one but never imagined one'd have survived given the condition they always turn up in.

I've got my eye on this little rehydration project below. Splash of water and it'll be fresh as the day it was packed!

 

[simong]

I've seen several empty tins of this one but never imagined one'd have survived given the condition they always turn up in.

I've got my eye on this little rehydration project below. Splash of water and it'll be fresh as the day it was packed!

View attachment 143436

108 years old.....should be good to go! ?
Did you get the tin with the Christmas card from princess Mary as well? Surprises me how many of those tins crop up, still intact!
Here's a nice photo of a cavalryman who appears to have lost his horse. The Christmas box from princess Mary providing some consolation no doubt.
Another photo of a complete box. Contents were a pack of cigarettes, pouch of tobacco, photo of & a card from the princess. Outside of the tin there was also a pipe & trench lighter.

 

[simong]

Simon, you know you were rocking some bell bottoms with long hair and a pipe hanging out of your mouth in the 70’s!

It was before my time, I was around in the 80’s though, I think the 80’s fashion was worse than 70’s and it seems like that shite is coming back around.

I think that must have just been you boys in the states. Seem to remember everybody looking quite smart in the 80's over here.?

 

[condorlover1]

@simong : They found a whole pile of those Christmas 1914 tins complete with contents in boxes in Ireland a few years ago. I have one I used for RYO tobacco forty years ago from my Uncle Claudius and I have somewhere a couple of complete ones in storage that were bring homes. I don't think I have the pipe but I have certainly seen the trench lighter kicking around in a drawer at my Mothers house. Funny to relate but my mate at school had one of those tins from his Grandfather and we smoked a couple of the cigarettes circa 1978 - goodness they were stale and rough!

 

[mso489]

That's a real time capsule in itself, with so much national and cultural history. Even the NAAFI acronym is notable. The Royal family reaching out to the fighting men at war is so tenderly expressed, especially with the photograph of the princess. Quite remarkable.

 

[Duke of Erinmore]

Still looking for the occasion to crack it...



I used to have a NAAFI tin of Gold Block as well but I swapped it for a Radice rusticated pipe...

 

[timelord]

When did the NAAFI stop stocking these? My dad was in the RAF from 1936 until 1966 and although I assume he would have had NAAFI issued rations during WWII I only ever remember him smoking Players cigarettes when I was a wee lad (he smoked pretty much all his adult life and switched blends a couple times in later years).

I'm sure there were pipe smokers in the RAF, dad wasn't one of them but you usually see a pipe or two in the old films.

 

[simong]

When did the NAAFI stop stocking these? My dad was in the RAF from 1936 until 1966 and although I assume he would have had NAAFI issued rations during WWII I only ever remember him smoking Players cigarettes when I was a wee lad (he smoked pretty much all his adult life and switched blends a couple times in later years).
I'm sure there were pipe smokers in the RAF, dad wasn't one of them but you usually see a pipe or two in the old films.

I think the NAAFI must of stopped supplying pipe tobacco sometime in the mid 80's. My father used to get boxes of King Edwards's from his mate in the army but he couldn't get him any condor. That might just of been in here in Hereford though, wether it was still around on the larger military bases I don't know. I think @Ettrick puffer was in the 'Cake' maybe he might know more?

 

[Ettrick puffer]

I think the NAAFI must of stopped supplying pipe tobacco sometime in the mid 80's. My father used to get boxes of King Edwards's from his mate in the army but he couldn't get him any condor. That might just of been in here in Hereford though, wether it was still around on the larger military bases I don't know. I think @Ettrick puffer was in the 'Cake' maybe he might know more?

@simong sorry mate I didn’t smoke back then when I was in the ‘Cake’ smoking wise I just remember folk buying snouts. I can’t recall a single pipe smoker back then in uniform. I’m pretty certain in my Grandads time he got issued either Wills or Capstan during wartime.
Happy smokes
Ettrick puffer