Random Question: History of Pipe Tobacco in the U.S.

[EvertonFC]

I've heard often that we're living in a golden age of pipe tobaccos, in terms of options and blends. So my question is this; during the golden age of pipe smoking in the U.S., what was the selection like? Were there 1,000s of blends? Hundreds? Dozens? Does anyone have some idea of what sort of variety was available? Thanks in advance.

 

[bullet08]

Define "golden age" in US. When was it to your definition? When people say golden age regarding tobacco availability, any time in history could be it. Any time in history was golden age because the price is keep increasing, and more blends are coming out. Until a point the government decides to shutdown the tobacco industry, it will be golden age.

 

[EvertonFC]

Define "golden age" in US. When was it to your definition? When people say golden age regarding tobacco availability, any time in history could be it. Any time in history was golden age because the price is keep increasing, and more blends are coming out. Until a point the government decides to shutdown the tobacco industry, it will be golden age.

Let's say the 1950s - 1960s.

 

[bullet08]

Good chance, most people were still smoking OTC codger blends. Well heeled gents in bigger cities might have had opportunity to smoke imported brands, but they would be the minority.

 

[OzPiper]

I would argue that the Golden Age started with the internet and online sales

Prior to that you were limited to what was stocked at the B&Ms and outlets like gas stations and supermarts which would have a rather limited selection of OTCs

 

[Chasing Embers]

I would argue that the Golden Age started with the internet and online sales

Prior to that you were limited to what was stocked at the B&Ms and outlets like gas stations and supermarts which would have a rather limited selection of OTCs

Blenders like C&D, LJ Peretti, and others took phone orders.

 

[mso489]

Everton, you switch tenses in your original post. I think your golden age of the past was the 1950's and 1960's, and your golden age in terms of blenders, blends, variety, and cuts is today.

My dad was an ardent all-day pipe smoker in the 50's and 60's, and he smoked only Granger from the foil pouch. My Uncle Roger, on the other hand, was more of a boutique blend smoker and smoked redolent aromatics from Iwan Ries. Uncle Roger also had a supply of clay pipes for guest to smoke if they chose.

In those days, you had a selection of over-the-counter pipe tobaccos in pipe shops but also in every drug store, grocery store, gas station and newsstand.

So there were two golden ages, golden for different reasons. Back in the 1950's, commuter trains all had smoking cars, the rear seats in airplanes were all designated for smoking, and most restaurants had ash trays.

Today there is little public smoking, but you have thousands of blends to choose from, but few places in public where smoking is acceptable.

 

[OzPiper]

Blenders like C&D, LJ Peretti, and others took phone orders.

Catalogues and mail order were around for a long, long time.

But it’s reach can’t be compared to that of the internet

We can now access goods including pipes and tobacco globally

 

[Chasing Embers]

Catalogues and mail order were around for a long, long time.

But it’s reach can’t be compared to that of the internet

We can now access goods including pipes and tobacco globally

I was just commenting on this part of your post.

"Prior to that you were limited to what was stocked at the B&Ms and outlets like gas stations and supermarts which would have a rather limited selection of OTCs."

 

[fireground_piper]

The world will never know because 1 popular blend could be called 200 different names across many shops around the world. Do you count that as 200 “different” blends or 1?

 

[OzPiper]

I was just commenting on this part of your post.

"Prior to that you were limited to what was stocked at the B&Ms and outlets like gas stations and supermarts which would have a rather limited selection of OTCs."

When i started smoking a pipe in the early 70s, there were only a very few B&Ms in Sydney (other than cigarette kiosks)
Two that I frequented had bulk blends (in large glass jars) as well as a selection of tins and OTCs
I liked frequenting them as I could have a chat with the guy behind the counter and ask for recommendations.
Very occasionally I'd pick out a pouch from a newsagent or supermart because of convenience.

 

[Chasing Embers]

When i started smoking a pipe in the early 70s, there were only a very few B&Ms in Sydney (other than cigarette kiosks)
Two that I frequented had bulk blends (in large glass jars) as well as a selection of tins and OTCs
I liked frequenting them as I could have a chat with the guy behind the counter and ask for recommendations.
Very occasionally I'd pick out a pouch from a newsagent or supermart because of convenience.

I used to spend hours talking on the phone to Craig Tarler and his wife (C&D).

 

[OzPiper]

I used to spend hours talking on the phone to Craig Tarler and his wife (C&D).

If I recall correctly, didn't they make a special blend for you ?

 

[RookieGuy80]

There have always been tobacconists with big glass jars and stacks of tins, but I imagine for most that was a special sometimes treat. The pipe smoking golden years weren't about the availability of boutique blends. No, those golden years were golden because you could wake up, light a pipe, and keep smoking it until bedtime. You could smoke wherever you wanted. A doctor could be standing over you saying "scalpel...retractor...ashtray". It was smoking a can of Prince Albert a week.

 

[Chasing Embers]

If I recall correctly, didn't they make a special blend for you ?

Yep, pound bricks of Black Frigate minus the latakia. Just red Virginias, Orientals, and rum.

 

[OzPiper]

Yep, pound bricks of Black Frigate minus the latakia. Just red Virginias, Orientals, and rum.

That is some special order

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I remember reading somewhere that back in day 5 bros had numerous competitors in the straight strong unadulterated otc burley category.
I like to imagine country stores where one once could buy a variety of good strong domestic ropes and plugs.
And if you like Turkish/oriental tobacco you’d have had a much better selection, decades ago. These are the kinds of tobacco that interest me most, so for me, the golden age ended long ago

 

[orvet]

I would define the Golden Age of Pipe Smoking, when it was readily accepted in society, as World War II through the late 1980s. It was not uncommon to find a magazine article that published survey saying that women trusted men more who smoked a pipe that those who smoked cigarettes.
I do recall reading a US surgeon general's report, circa 1969 if memory serves, in which the Surgeon General of the United States said "Pipe smokers on the average live three years longer than non-smokers."

In the 1970s, especially in college towns, there was usually a smoke shop, or smoke shop / magazine/bookstore that carried a pretty fair selection of pipe tobacco and cigars. When I was going to school in Eugene Oregon, there was Maddox pipe shop which had both bulk and tinned tobaccos. I still have one of their pipes. Walgreens carried a huge selection of tobacco, as did most drug stores. Fred Meyer stores, owned by Krogers, had a massive selection of tobacco and cigars.

It wasn't until about 1979 after I had moved away from Eugene that I again found a true pipe tobacco and cigar store. It was a magical place and I went to work there part-time. That was my first real introduction to bulk tobacco blends, mostly from Lane Limited and Peter Stokkebye.

I remember the 1970s and most of the 1980s as being great times to be a pipe smoker. Especially when I started buying better pipes.

I think that one could make the case that now, today can be called the Golden Age of Pipe Tobacco as well as pipes.

I left the tobacco business in 1992 and when I started smoking again and January of this year, 2023, I was amazed at the varieties of tobacco I could order as well as the number of artisan pipe makers here in the US and around the globe.

For ease of access to a great variety of tobacco as well as Artisan pipes, I think today with the advent of the internet, we probably have better access to tobacco and pipes than I ever had in the 1970s and 1980s.

I didn't smoke a pipe in the 1960s with the exception of a corn cob that I bought in 1969, and that didn't last too long. I think the first Briar pipe I bought was probably in 1971 while I was in the Marine Corps. So I can't really speak to smoking in the 1950s or 1960s but for the most part, I found a better selection of tobacco's and pipes starting in the 1970s. But coming back to pipe smoking after a 20-year hiatus I am blown away at the variety of tobacco's available and the number of great pipes, both estate pipes and new pipes, that are available today!

 

[warren]

Well heeled gents in bigger cities might have had opportunity to smoke imported brands,

They could also order up personal blends from their tobacco shop.

 

[warren]

"Pipe smokers on the average live three years longer than non-smokers."

Yup, those government functionaries are always correct in what they say.