Piper Ramblings & a Passing Question

[rhogg]

I really never figured myself for a pipe smoker, and then again why should I? It is odd, out of style, and an antiquated tradition that died in my family with my grandfather. But then again I myself am odd and out of style. I belong nowhere and yet manage to squeeze my awkwardness into any place I choose. I'm like a slippery chameleon with a temperament amicable to the entire animal kingdom.
The unfortunate habit of cigarette smoking was something I picked up as a child just after my mother closed the front door after discarding her smoke on the ground. For many years I switched between dipping and smoking whenever cigarettes became a burden too much to bear.
Being the strange man of a million pleasures I picked up a cob and some Prince Albert last summer. I never looked back for fear of becoming a pillar of stone. The pleasure of the pipe have enveloped my being much to everyone's surprise.
Apparently the site of man on the verge of his 31st birthday smoking a pipe is akin to Moses parting the Red Sea.
I could not be happier. The pipe is everything you never got but dearly wanted from tobacco. Cigars are a close second and a sometimes equal companion. I often wonder why pipe smoking is a largely lost pastime. Why was it abandoned so abruptly with the passing of a generation?
The revival is in full swing. I see lots of folks buying pipe tobacco at the local B&M, but I still don't grasp why it faded from popularity for so long.
I constantly get cigar smokers asking me curiously about the pipe. If they only knew that there was another world beyond aromatics....

 

[juvat270]

One of the best posts I've read in awhile. I agree with you 100% about your feelings towards pipe smoking, especially this, "The pipe is everything you never got but dearly wanted from tobacco." I too am a former cigarette smoker and one who actually liked cigarettes. I treated them much the same way as pipe tobacco. I was always trying different brands in an effort to find the "perfect smoke." The closest I came was a Japanese brand called "Mild Seven."
Anyway, I'm getting off track here, to answer your question about its fade from popularity...I don't really know. When I was kid, I was always fascinated when I saw someone with a pipe.Though I think it was probably a combination of two things: peoples attitudes towards tobacco began to change, and fashion. More people smoke cigarettes and they're available everywhere, so despite peoples attitudes, cigarettes weathered the anti-tobacco storm better than pipes. Add to that the fact that I think people just saw pipes as something only old men used. I can remember in the mid to late 90s never seeing anyone with a pipe. At least compared with being a kid in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. I too am starting to see it more and more now. But, thats how it goes with fashion and pop culture. These things ebb and flow. Were seeing a resurgence now and I'm willing to bet in a few years itll start to die out again.

 

[rigmedic1]

Couldn't have put it better, my sentiments exactly. I think pipe smoking fell aside to the quicker, faster, I want it now instant gratification generation. Thankfully, a few of us held to the old traditions of patience and virtue in all things tobacco, and preserved the value of delayed gratification. It was always thus, and always thus will be. ::

 

[markw4mms]

I think you guys pretty much nailed it. I can only hope the the new interest in pipe smoking isn't just a fad because it would be a shame for it to really die out for good.

 

[admin]

Excellent post Rhogg!

 

[jship079]

Who knows maybe were in the pipe bomb similar to the cigar bomb of the 90's. My guess is the world got to damn fast to many pipe smoking is hard to do while working, moving, etc. it also takes allot of care to smoke a pipe tamping,cleaning packing etc we want instant gratification with no work on our part that's my thinking.

 

[harrumphicus]

I'm getting sick of the instant-gratification "movement". I've been smoking cigarettes since I was 16 and it was usually just "quick, take the edge off you fiery demon!"... That aside, I've always enjoyed the taste of tobacco, and have tried a lot of different kinds in a (mostly fruitless) attempt to find the right one. The way life is on a ship at sea, I have plenty of time to slow down and enjoy myself a bit if I so choose, so I shall. But now I have to start over on the search for my favorite tobacco!

 

[soylentgreen]

Life's too damn fast, no time for a pipe. Besides, if you can't smoke in the house (as many cannot), then pipe smoking is probably competing with 400 TV channels, Wii-Playstation-XBox, Netflix, Blue-ray, World-of Warcraft, etc. The point being that having a zillion choices of entertainment being fed to us is a new thing. This compounds the time pressures.

 

[harrumphicus]

My off time is now limited to playing guitar, browsing the net (mostly this silly place) and smoking. If we could still smoke inside the ship, I'd always have a pipe in my hand, while I'm browsing and playing guitar; as of right now, they're three separate activities, though.
It's really not that hard to cut all the BS time-wasters out of your schedule. If I can do it, anyone can.

 

[hobojoe]

My feelings are ,that the 3 Wars turned the tide of pipe smoking.

Seems everyone received a 15 minute smoke brake when doing routine jobs.

I heard that they gave cigarettes away In WWII. Also in the lulls between

fighting The cigarettes take long to smoke. That's a lot of men being converted.

How can you offer a smoke to another person ? Carry a throwaway filled pipe!!!

Its my belief that us WWII babies are going back to the quieter times when we retire

and that might be causing a resurgence of pipe smoking. The younger people might be picking up on seeing

and smelling the aromas. Than again the price of a carton of Cigs to pipe tobacco may also be making a difference.

Joe

 

[yuri66]

Life's too damn fast, no time for a pipe. Besides, if you can't smoke in the house (as many cannot), then pipe smoking is probably competing with 400 TV channels, Wii-Playstation-XBox, Netflix, Blue-ray, World-of Warcraft, etc. The point being that having a zillion choices of entertainment being fed to us is a new thing. This compounds the time pressures.
@soylentgreen, you hit the nail, in my opinion right on the head, as did many others, life has become too fast for most to enjoy. We have cell phones ringing, TV blaring and everybody is in a damned hurry these days. No time for the simpler pleasures of life, sad to say....I just asked myself the other day that question, what happened to the time when people actually did "stop and smell the roses"...
Yuri

 

[lordnoble]

Who knows maybe were in the pipe bomb similar to the cigar bomb of the 90's.

You can't say, "pipe bomb"! Do you want the ATF at your house? Oh great! Now I just said it! Thanks a lot! :rofl:
-Jason

 

[ace57]

Good Post. :clap:

 

[clanobucklin]

Maybe it's genetics but my Dad was a chain smoking pipe smoker. He loved Amphora Red and would always walk around with his pipe in his mouth. If he was playing golf he stuff the pipe in the back pocket of his Polyester pants and walk around carrying his golf club with his pipe hanging out his back pocket- sometimes it was still lit. My job (as his caddy) was to walk behind him carrying his golf bag and a small pail of water - just in case he broke wind and set himself on fire.
So it is little wonder - that I took up the pipe in my 30's after years of cigarette smoking. Had a brief fling with cigars in late 90's-2006.
No I don't play golf - nor do I walk around with my lit pipe in my back pocket! :lol:

 

[lordnoble]

Hey Bob, didn't you say that your ancestors helped out the James gang? I wonder if they were pipe smokers too...
-Jason

 

[seakayak]

Great post! I believe the time and effort it takes to develop the skill of pipe smoking is the greatest hinderance to those who avoid the pipe and the greatest attraction to those of us who continue to enjoy it.

 

[judcole]

Glad you found the world of pipes, Rhogg! ::

 

[rhogg]

Everything you guys are saying makes sense.
Another thought I have is that guys like myself are really for the most part that last generation that has seen a relative smoke a pipe. My son who is almost 4 would likely not even know what a pipe is without having seen his daddy smoke one. Luckily the words of Frosty the Snowman has actual meaning to him (corn cob pipe), but for most little kids I'm sure they are just repeating what they have heard.
So what happens to pipe smoking when an entire generation largely has no knowledge of the practice?
It is possible I am over thinking this because Food Lion still sells snuff here in Virginia which is absolutely astounding to me. Most people have no idea that they sell tobacco that you are meant to sniff into your nose. Obviously they must sell it because they stock quite a few different flavors.
I am however a little concerned that something I am growing to love is on the grand scale of things, a dying practice.

 

[sfexeter]

I think my pipe smoking is a definite attempt at finding a simpler time. I too remember the smell of my grandfathers pipe. Since I inherited his pipes in the early 90's I have made a few attempts at learning the art. Recently I have rediscovered them. Lately my time with those ancient pieces of briar has been my only reprieve from cruel reality.

 

[juni]

Great post. I don't really care if it is popular or obscure. It pleases me to collect and smoke pipes and that is all that matters to me.