Pipe Smoking Social Meaning…If There Is One

[TheHellYeah]

Hello everyone.

I know that this question might not directly envolve a discussion about pipes or tobacco, but I am very curious about how all of you are analyzed by the others around you in your country, just because you smoke pipe.
Living in Portugal I can tell you that pipe smoking is a niche and therefore, besides having a small choice of pipe tobaccos, people tend to see you as someone trying to give an idea of superiority towards others, trying to look more intelectual than others and sometimes being classified as a poser or even hipster.
Let me tell you that this doesn’t affect me since I tend to disconnect every time I light a bowl. On the other hand, in my close circle of friends I usually detect that they can’t really appreciate the ritual and process of smoking a pipe and superficially analyze the act as I said before.
I have the idea that in the US this doesn’t happen and that there’s no link at all between pipe smoking and social status or intelectual definition, but I’m not sure if it really is so and I always use this example - “ In Portugal a pipe smoking shop is a glamour and niche one, but in the US you can easily see them as groceries stores alike(no depreciation intended here ok?) Can you share your experience and tell me if I’m wrong or right?
How about in other countries around the world?

Once again… this doesn’t affect me at all, but I’m honestly curious about this kind of social and cultural questions and approaches.

Thank you all in advance!
Happy smoking!

 

[OzPiper]

I mostly smoke at home.
Only close friends know I smoke a pipe
Do I care what others think ?

NO !

 

[Chasing Embers]

I live in a tobacco friendly community in Central Kentucky. I regularly use multiple tobacco products at home, in public, and at work and no one so much as bats an eye.

 

[lraisch]

In my part of the US, the experience is probably close to yours. I'm older and on the rare occasions I'm smoking a pipe outside I don't attract much attention. I do think that younger people may find a certain dubious expression aimed at them. Perhaps the hipster or poser vibe makes some people self-conscious about the pipe.

 

[TheHellYeah]

I mostly smoke at home.
Only close friends know I smoke a pipe
Do I care what others think ?

NO !

Exactly my point!

 

[OzPiper]

Tobacco is taxed very heavily in Australia.
Cigars (much more so than pipes or cigarettes) are certainly associated with affluence and generally regarded as a status symbol
Since the excise on tobacco is based on weight, there is no such thing as a cheap cigar anymore.
Or for that matter cheap OTC pipe tobacco.

I don’t belong to to, but have been invited to cigar nights at a friend’s club - where you have to be a member or an invitee to gain entrance.
Comes with a strict dress code

There are no dedicated pipe shops in Sydney, Australia.
There are a small number of cigar shops, with a fairly limited selection.
And very few venues where one can smoke a pipe in public.
The last time I sighted a pipe smoker in the wild was over 10years ago.

 

[TheHellYeah]

Tobacco is taxed very heavily in Australia.
Cigars (much more so than pipes or cigarettes) are certainly associated with affluence and generally regarded as a status symbol
Since the excise on tobacco is based on weight, there is no such thing as a cheap cigar anymore.
Or for that matter cheap OTC pipe tobacco.

I don’t belong to to, but have been invited to cigar nights at a friend’s club - where you have to be a member or an invitee to gain entrance.
Comes with a strict dress code

There are no dedicated pipe shops in Sydney, Australia.
There are a small number of cigar shops, with a fairly limited selection.
And very few venues where one can smoke a pipe in public.
The last time I sighted a pipe smoker in the wild was over 10years ago.

By “a pipe smoker in the wild” you mean someone smoking a pipe outside a closed space? (Sorry if question seems redundant)

 

[OzPiper]

By “a pipe smoker in the wild” you mean someone smoking a pipe outside a closed space? (Sorry if question seems redundant)

”In the wild” = out and about, in public
Sorry, I should have realised that English is not the first language for some members

 

[Sgetz]

I basically only smoke at home. Only close friends know I smoke a pipe. In the UK there are few place one can smoke and they are full of cigarette smokes. I can stand the smell of them!

 

[RookieGuy80]

You know, that's something I've never once thought about. But them most of my life has been spent largely doing my thing and not worried about what other people might be doing or thinking. I don't do things necessarily because nobody else does them, but because those are the things I want to do. Smoking a pipe is no different.

In the US, not many people smoke a pipe. I think it's low single digits of people regularly smoke a pipe. We're probably seen as hipster or we're smoking for attention or something. Hell, I'm sure some will think I'm smoking a very different plant from my pipe.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Hello everyone.

I know that this question might not directly envolve a discussion about pipes or tobacco, but I am very curious about how all of you are analyzed by the others around you in your country, just because you smoke pipe.
Living in Portugal I can tell you that pipe smoking is a niche and therefore, besides having a small choice of pipe tobaccos, people tend to see you as someone trying to give an idea of superiority towards others, trying to look more intelectual than others and sometimes being classified as a poser or even hipster.
Let me tell you that this doesn’t affect me since I tend to disconnect every time I light a bowl. On the other hand, in my close circle of friends I usually detect that they can’t really appreciate the ritual and process of smoking a pipe and superficially analyze the act as I said before.
I have the idea that in the US this doesn’t happen and that there’s no link at all between pipe smoking and social status or intelectual definition, but I’m not sure if it really is so and I always use this example - “ In Portugal a pipe smoking shop is a glamour and niche one, but in the US you can easily see them as groceries stores alike(no depreciation intended here ok?) Can you share your experience and tell me if I’m wrong or right?
How about in other countries around the world?

Once again… this doesn’t affect me at all, but I’m honestly curious about this kind of social and cultural questions and approaches.

Thank you all in advance!
Happy smoking!

The post sure suggests that it bothers you - just be yourself, but more so!

None of the birds or squirrels looking in on our deck bother me a bit. I can't really comment on any great social or cultural questions re pipe smoking, it's pretty much a solitary thing for me, always will be.

 

[seaweed]

Tobacco being available at grocery stores has more to do with historical attitudes towards pipe smoking than current ones, in my opinion. It is so rare to see a pipe smoker, that I think most would be thought of as trying to cultivate some sort of intellectual identity, whether that’s true or not.

I think, in general, the cultural attitude towards pipe smoking is similar to Portugal. The public sees it as a novelty or affectation, and it’s a mixed bag why someone is smoking a pipe. Some do it to appear a certain way, most do it for other reasons.

 

[blackpowderpiper]

I do 99.5% of my smoking at home. It's largely a solitary past time as I actually do not know of another pipe smoker in my area. Having said that, the few times I do smoke in public have gone without incident. I try and be respectful to others around me but I could care less what others think in regards to me smoking a pipe, or anything else.

 

[tobakenist]

Mostly smoke at home, sometimes when Dog walking, most people are curious and polite, never had a problem with anybody in my 50 years of smoking, I'm a big fit looking chap so they might not dare, I would avoid close places as I don't like cigarette smoke so I don't hinder others with my pipe smoke. I'm UK based and we are on the hole torrent people.

 

[Kirklands]

I, too, mostly smoke at home or at the home's of friends. Looking around in public I see occasional cigarette smokers, but almost never a pipe or cigar smoker. I assume, without much evidence, that tobacco use is really looked down on by most people for presumed health reasons.

 

[blackpowderpiper]

Sort of off topic but funny to me. I once was travelling for business and had to overnight in a small town in Alabama. I was staying at one of the older Holiday Inns which had the attached lounge. I went into the lounge one evening to have a couple of cold ones and a cigar. The entire lounge was filled with a blue haze of cigarette smoke. As I cut my cigar and was beginning to light it, the bartender asked me not to smoke my cigar as the smell might offend the other patrons. I thought that was pretty funny.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Sort of off topic but funny to me. I once was travelling for business and had to overnight in a small town in Alabama. I was staying at one of the older Holiday Inns which had the attached lounge. I went into the lounge one evening to have a couple of cold ones and a cigar. The entire lounge was filled with a blue haze of cigarette smoke. As I cut my cigar and was beginning to light it, the bartender asked me not to smoke my cigar as the smell might offend the other patrons. I thought that was pretty funny.

Yeah that was always a situation I could see both sides of.
Granted, clouds of cigarette smoke are vile and not something I miss per se. Even to cigarette smokers though, a cigar can be another level of nasty smelling.
Hypocrisy is rampant throughout society, why exclude barrooms and lounges?

When I make a trip to a tobacconist with an indoor lounge it's always fun but when it fills up with cigar smoke it can get a bit uncomfortable.

 

[admin]

Smoking a pipe in public certainly gets attention as it is so rare. Once you are noticed, the observer's perception depends on your overall appearance as well. Are you wearing jeans and a t-shirt, or trousers and a sports jacket? Are you smoking a corn cob pipe, or briar, or meerschaum?

For me, I most often here that it reminds them of their grandfather, or that I am quirky.

 

[bullet08]

I never cared what people thought of me. Now I'm slightly older, I really don't care what they think.

 

[crashthegrey]

I'd say, in a word, antiquated.