On Nostalgia And Misconceptions

[anotherbob]

Cosmics etiquette post got me thinking. I've had more then a few older gentlemen approach me when I am smoking to talk about pipes. And from that small sampling it seems like the more things change the more they stay the same. It seems just as likely that they had one pipe or a collection of pipes or where a single blend or enjoyed trying many different blends as it seems for a contemporary pipe smoker. Yet so many people seem convinced that in the day there where mainly one pipe one blend smokers It literally seems like the biggest difference is where we get our pipes and tobacco not what we do with them.
I wonder if any of these codgers have gone online after writing down the name of the shops.

 

[OzPiper]

When I first smoked a pipe in the early '70s, there were only a handful of good tobacconists (3 that I knew of) in Sydney. As it was way before the Internet, choice of pipes and tobaccos were limited to what the stores carried. With tobaccos, it mainly OTCs. I was an undergrad then, so money was tight and I bought one pouch of tobacco at a time.

After graduation I chanced upon a tobacconist in the arcade beneath the Sydney Hilton Hotel. He had large jars of his own blends, and generously gave a lot of his time educating me in the joys of Perique, Latakia and Balkan blends. Even then it was a luxury for me to have 2 blends going at the same time.

The Internet has opened up a cornucopia of tobaccos and bewildering choice of pipes and carvers - truly a golden age. If only we can rid ourselves of the Neo-prohibitionists and nanny-state politicians.

 

[bullet08]

I would imagine it depends on where that person was living. In a bigger city, they might had better access to number of shops. Then again there are people who would not venture out more than two blocks from their home. In more rural area, they might had very limited access and what they can get on shopping day from general store. I remember when I first came to America. I stayed with my uncle's family for few months. We were the only Asians in the county. He was the only doctor in the area. Most shopping was done at Texaco. Major grocery shopping was every other week at next big town that was 3 hours away. They didn't even have McDonald's.

 

[boatme99]

My father smoked a pipe on and off his entire adult life. He always bought Half and Half or Pr. Albert at the base exchange.
I can remember about 4 pipes. Seems like Grabow's and other inexpensive pipes, again available at the exchange.

 

[telescopes]

In the Saint Louis area we were blessed with many tobacco shops. We had a large share of Tinder Boxes, a few Pipe and Pouch, and of course lots of private owners such as the world famous John Dengler. Well into the 90s these shops thrived. Smoking a pipe was not uncommon. And then, the war on drugs got ramped up and politicians decided to extort big tobacco. Those who smoked became the first to suffer the indignity of cancel culture- only it was called that back then. Now , the forces that drove the prior self righteous cancelation of choices will continue to cancel until there is nothing left but freedom of thought. it was never about choice.

 

[anotherbob]

@telescopes when has that not been what people do? Ever see the Simpsons? Man people flipped out about that, include the President of the United States. A few years ago people stopped buying from a certain sporting goods store cause they stopped carrying firearms. Sorry but I get sick of hearing these terms. They're lazy. And they take something which is common and magically make it into some aberration. I hate that because instead of debating each issue as it comes and on it's own merits it's just something stupid the kids do now. I can't think of any point in history any where people didn't do that. But now it's got a name and it's sold as something that's wrong with today. Sorry I just have to rant about that because frankly people have always been out of hand. And also sometimes they're actually right too sometimes. The thing is by supporting an idea like that it removes the grey area on both sides of the debate. Which then actually fuels what's being complained about.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Before Tinderboxes hit the malls in Alabama, the only tobaccos that were available were most likely codger blends and local grown twists. Maybe Birmingham had a tobacconist, but not everyone in the state had access to travel that far. When I talk to old timers living just outside of Birmingham, they talk about Birmingham as a place that they had never been to. Most likely before the 50's, the majority of folks in rural areas just smoked local twists that served as chewing tobaccos and pipe tobaccos. Maybe the general store carried a codger blend, but in all of the pictures of General stores I have seen, most never carried more than one brand of anything they carried, meaning that it was not like today when you go to buy a soap at the grocery store, you have a wall of bar soaps. One store may carry Dove, and down the road another store carried Dial. Think about the movie Oh Brother, when George Clooney went to buy hair cream, and the store didn't carry his brand, Dapper Dan. Most likely they wouldn't have carried more than one brand of a codger blend also.

 

[mso489]

My historical source on pipes is my dad, born in 1917, who smoked a pipe from about age 15 through 65, when he quit to take a non-smoking job on a campus, since he smoked all day or not at all. All my years growing up, he smoked a pipe, breakfast to bedtime, owning essentially one pipe at a time -- with maybe a smokeable burn-out as a back-up. He smoked only Granger, and only from the pouch. On the rare occasions when someone gifted him with a tub, he'd fill his foil pouch from the tub. He bought his pipe tobacco at the grocery or drug store, and his pipes and sometimes a pouch from newsstands in downtown Chicago where he worked. He smoked his pipe through World War II when he was a junior officer in the U.S. Navy, eventually promoted to skipper of a class YMS minesweeper in the Philippines. He died at age 89, licensed to drive without glasses. Though he worked in the financial district dealing in bonds, he disassociated from possessions mostly. He'd pack for a vacation in a valise. He didn't buy a car new until I'd left home for junior year in college. He'd be sure I'd lost my mind if he saw I own ninety some pipes. He's say, "You don't need all those."

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Back in the day (60.s through 80's) I recall tobacco being sold everywhere. Grocery stores, pharmacies, other retail stores, bars and restaurants. Most bars had a cigarette machine, some had two. I also recall some pouch tobacco, tubs and of course, chewing tobacco being sold in many of these places. And cheap cigars.

Talk about irony. Until the turn of the century, I'll bet pharmacies were one of the biggest sellers of tobacco in most towns.

 

[anotherbob]

Back in the day (60.s through 80's) I recall tobacco being sold everywhere. Grocery stores, pharmacies, other retail stores, bars and restaurants. Most bars had a cigarette machine, some had two. I also recall some pouch tobacco, tubs and of course, chewing tobacco being sold in many of these places. And cheap cigars.

Talk about irony. Until the turn of the century, I'll bet pharmacies were one of the biggest sellers of tobacco in most towns.

in the 80's when I was a tyke I remember drug stores having these huge displays of all these different tobaccos. Sadly some of the things they carried would have appealed to me but they stopped carrying some of the more interesting things like plugs in the mid 90's. Now they either seem to have nothing or really cheap cigs that are smoked by meth heads and 90 year old ladies.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Cosmics etiquette post got me thinking. I've had more then a few older gentlemen approach me when I am smoking to talk about pipes. And from that small sampling it seems like the more things change the more they stay the same. It seems just as likely that they had one pipe or a collection of pipes or where a single blend or enjoyed trying many different blends as it seems for a contemporary pipe smoker. Yet so many people seem convinced that in the day there where mainly one pipe one blend smokers It literally seems like the biggest difference is where we get our pipes and tobacco not what we do with them.
I wonder if any of these codgers have gone online after writing down the name of the shops.

Smokers Are Like Their Pipes—Varied but With Some Similarities (Published 1975)

Article on growth of pipe-smoking in US; Dr E Cuyler Hammond, Arthur Miller, Angela Davis, Treas Sec William E Simon, Chmn Arthur F Burns and Repr Millicent H Fenwick comment; illus (L)

www.nytimes.com

 

[rushx9]

Think about the movie Oh Brother, when George Clooney went to buy hair cream, and the store didn't carry his brand, Dapper Dan. Most likely they wouldn't have carried more than one brand of a codger blend also.

I don't wan't FOP g*dammit!
I'm a Dapper Dan Man!

 

[verporchting]

Back in the early 80s there was an Edward’s shop I frequented that sold their own blends and pipes but otherwise any pipes and tobacco came from a fantastic local newsstand. Both long gone now, sadly.

Otherwise you could always find the usual suspects like Captain Black or Borkum Riff at any drugstore or gas station. Like everyone else I bought what was available and didn’t know or really care about anything else. Never even occurred to me there were unicorns out there and I certainly didn’t feel deprived by that lack of knowledge.

I love this age of knowledge and availability - despite the perceived scarcity and the occasional panic over not acquiring a particular blend or that recurring PAD or whatever. But honestly, I loved smoking my pipes (only had 3-6 for years and years) and I smoked one bag or pouch of tobacco until it was gone before buying another. Never, ever felt like I was missing out on anything. Life was good.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Before Tinderboxes hit the malls in Alabama, the only tobaccos that were available were most likely codger blends and local grown twists. Maybe Birmingham had a tobacconist, but not everyone in the state had access to travel that far. When I talk to old timers living just outside of Birmingham, they talk about Birmingham as a place that they had never been to. Most likely before the 50's, the majority of folks in rural areas just smoked local twists that served as chewing tobaccos and pipe tobaccos. Maybe the general store carried a codger blend, but in all of the pictures of General stores I have seen, most never carried more than one brand of anything they carried, meaning that it was not like today when you go to buy a soap at the grocery store, you have a wall of bar soaps. One store may carry Dove, and down the road another store carried Dial. Think about the movie Oh Brother, when George Clooney went to buy hair cream, and the store didn't carry his brand, Dapper Dan. Most likely they wouldn't have carried more than one brand of a codger blend also.

Don’t want fop damn it, I’m a Dapper Dan man. Don’t be cussing young man.

wonderful Coen brother’s movie

 

[Casual]

Talk about irony. Until the turn of the century, I'll bet pharmacies were one of the biggest sellers of tobacco in most towns.

The funny thing is what happened when pharmacies here stopped selling cigarettes, because they were a vice. They’re now filled to the gunwales with sugar snacks and “energy” drinks. No vice there!

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Why did pharmacies keep condoms behind the counter and tobacco outside the counter? Now it’s reversed.?

 

[sablebrush52]

Los Angeles was a piping paradise when I started smoking in 1971. Besides all of the Tinderboxes, including the Original Tinderbox, going strong since 1928 in Santa Monica, there were a number of independent tobacconists who sold a wide variety of blends, many made in-house, and who would make up a custom blend just for you. You could buy tobaccos and pipes at Sears, Robinson's, The May Co, and pretty much any department store, as well as drug stores, grocery stores, convenience stores, etc.

And while there was no Internet, there was this thing called "mail order" that was a big thing, with companies like Wally Frank supplying pipes and tobaccos to anyplace that had mail service. So people did have wide access to goods even in very rural areas ir they wanted to use it.

We didn't have the thousands upon thousands of tinned blends that we have today. With all of the in-house blenders, we may have had more, but as far as imported tins the selection was less. But we certainly didn't feel like there weren't choices. We just didn't have 100 different labels that tasted exactly the same.

Curiously, Dunhill blends were actually made by Dunhill, rather than being just a now deceased name attached to a foreign comglomerate. McConnell blends were actually made by McConnell. Rattray's were actually made by Rattray's and McConnell. By and large British tobacco blends were actually made in Britain by a number of individual and idiosyncratic manufacturers. They weren't just a bunch of labels owned by the same company.

Then as now, people did or didn't collect pipes, and did or didn't collect a variety of tobaccos. Most of the people I knew back then had maybe a half dozen blends at most that they smoked. The majority had one blend that they smoked regularly, only occasionally supplementing it with something "special". If anyone was smoking a few dozen blends on a regular basis, that would have been quite the anomaly.

Nobody talked about cellaring. Why would anyone do that stupid? Tobaccos were aged before being made available for purchase. I'd just pop in at one of the tobacconists I frequented and pick up an ounce or two.

Even back then I liked a variety of blends and would rotate between 4 or 5 on a regular basis, then swap one out for something different when I was getting bored of it. I might mix in some Carter Hall or Edgeworth from time to time, I became fixated on Captain Black for awhile and that became my only smoke for a time. Balkan Sobranie and 759 were regulars, Three Nuns when it was around, as well as a number of in-house blends that no longer exist in memory.

 

[anotherbob]

Why did pharmacies keep condoms behind the counter and tobacco outside the counter? Now it’s reversed.?

theft. People aren't too ashamed to buy condoms now.

 

[hairvise]

Los Angeles was a piping paradise when I started smoking in 1971. Besides all of the Tinderboxes, including the Original Tinderbox, going strong since 1928 in Santa Monica, there were a number of independent tobacconists who sold a wide variety of blends, many made in-house, and who would make up a custom blend just for you.

That tinderbox in Santa Monica was the one that my father went to for years. I can remember him taking me there. He had a 3 x 5 index card on file that shows the exact mix of his preferred English blend. Thanks for bringing back the memories, @sablebrush52