Smoking Old Pipes Owned by Father?

[mfrohardt]

My father smoked a pipe (Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish) most every evening during my childhood. He passed away a few years ago and all his pipes are sitting in his "smoking room". I've never been a smoker (50yo) but I think I'd like to have a smoke on major holidays such as his birthday and Father's Day to remember him.
My question is if these old pipes are fine to smoke? He has approximately 25 pipes and some would be close to 50 years old. Is there anything I need to do first besides scrape the bowls out and clean the stems with a high proof alcohol, as some have suggested?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
- Matt, from Iowa

 

[anotherbob]

not really. If the pipe is really nasty it might be worth a deeper cleaning. Also learn to smoke a pipe so you don't struggle with it and burn your tongue.

 

[jpmcwjr]

No alcohol is indicated at this point. Depending on where you live and the humidity in the room, wetting the chamber (interior of the bowl) may be a good idea. (Are the stems loose?)

I wouldn't start with reaming the bowl (scraping), nor would I start with a full bowl of tobacco.

After a few drags, some moisture will have entered the stem; at that point I'd use a pipe cleaner.

 

[GardenStateoftheArtBriar]

My father smoked a pipe (Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish) most every evening during my childhood. He passed away a few years ago and all his pipes are sitting in his "smoking room". I've never been a smoker (50yo) but I think I'd like to have a smoke on major holidays such as his birthday and Father's Day to remember him.
My question is if these old pipes are fine to smoke? He has approximately 25 pipes and some would be close to 50 years old. Is there anything I need to do first besides scrape the bowls out and clean the stems with a high proof alcohol, as some have suggested?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
- Matt, from Iowa

yea i'd second getting another pipe for starts to learn cadence or you may not enjoy it

 

[OzPiper]

My father smoked a pipe (Borkum Riff Cherry Cavendish) most every evening during my childhood. He passed away a few years ago and all his pipes are sitting in his "smoking room". I've never been a smoker (50yo) but I think I'd like to have a smoke on major holidays such as his birthday and Father's Day to remember him.
My question is if these old pipes are fine to smoke? He has approximately 25 pipes and some would be close to 50 years old. Is there anything I need to do first besides scrape the bowls out and clean the stems with a high proof alcohol, as some have suggested?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
- Matt, from Iowa

Welcome to the Forums, Matt

It’s always good to have momentos of your parents
I’m sure those pipes are fine to smoke. But you haven’t indicated what state they are in

I always clean my pipes immediately after each smoke. So they are all “ready to go” - just load and fire up,

If that is the case with your Dad’s pipes, than a light clean with some pipe cleaners or a water flush is all you need do

However a lot prefer that “well used and loved” look - ie no/minimal cleaning with caked bowls and chomped stems.

Perhaps you can post a few photos of the pipes and we can advise you accordingly

 

[bullet08]

I remember my father had a pipe. Not sure if it's around still. Will have to ask my mother. Would love to smoke my father's pipe.

 

[Sobrbiker]

My dad gave me his pipes a year and a half ago, and I’d never d smoked a pipe (well, tobak at least) until then (I was 55, he was 93). He hadn’t smoked them in well over 40yrs.
I cherish them and smoke them often, and thoroughly enjoy the journey that started by researching cleaning them up, and using them.
Now, forty pipes and untold numbers of blends later, I’ve got dad’s pipe to blame
They live on the “top shelf”

 

[Sobrbiker]

My dad gave me his pipes a year and a half ago, and I’d never d smoked a pipe (well, tobak at least) until then (I was 55, he was 93). He hadn’t smoked them in well over 40yrs.
I cherish them and smoke them often, and thoroughly enjoy the journey that started by researching cleaning them up, and using them.
Now, forty pipes and untold numbers of blends later, I’ve got dad’s pipe to blame

 

[mfrohardt]

Thanks to everyone for their replies and stories. It gets me excited to start in on this new hobby.

I don't have the pipes with me at the moment, so I'm unable to post pictures of his collection. I'm heading to my parent's house an hour away to collect them in a few weeks. I'll probably just scrape the bowls and wipe them out to start. He had 2-3 pipes that were his favorites and show up in lots of our family vacation photos. I'll probably leave those as "his", as there's something special to me to just leave them as him being the last one to smoke them. But he also has several that he never smoked and I may choose one of those as his "gift" to me.

 

[Joe H]

@mfrohardt , welcome to pipesmagazine! I’m looking forward to seeing the pipes when you get them in hand. I’ve posted on other threads that most of my piping stuff came from my dad. Some he gave me in the 90s, the rest I’ve collected while cleaning out the old house after he passed away. He was raised during The Depression and was a pack-rat so I’ve found lots of stuff. The local pipe store has been the recipient of a lot of it; the owner has a great collection of vintage pipe memorabilia so dad’s stuff fits in nicely. My little pipe nook is virtually all stuff from dad (pipes, racks, lighters, even the old tobacco).

I mounted some of dad’s pipes in a frame because I rarely smoked them but still felt like having them out on display. I recently found a one of my deceased brother’s Zippo from when he was doing Marine Amphibious Unit duty in the Western Pacific. I just got it repaired by Zippo and have been enjoying using it to light dad’s pipes.

I’m a casual pipe smoker, maybe a couple times a week if the weather is nice to rarely or not at all during the Alaskan winters. For me, having these sorts of momentous enhances the whole smoking experience as it rekindles fond memories even when I’m not actively burning tobacco. It’s one of the reasons I signed up to this great website and why I enjoy topics like this one so much. Thanks for starting this thread!

 

[elvishrunes]

My dad gave me his grandads pipes, maybe dads, but they’re Brigham’s from the 30s or 40s, just a paper towel and pipe cleaner is all I used, they smoke great! Like any other estate pipe..

 

[telescopes]

Of my father's pipes, I have three. One, a black Medico billiard with a sterling silver overlay around the bowl; two, a Willard full bend; and three, a hillbilly long stemmed cherry wood pipe that was handmade by one of his machinist friends.