Then... and Now

[telescopes]

I've been actively buying pipes since the 1980s. Before that, I spent many hours in tobacco shops with my father who actively bought pipes.

Unless a pipe was Danish, one thing was certain: It would fit fairly neatly into a certain category in terms of shape and finish. In terms of finish, there were three types - plain, rusticated, and sandblasted. Grain mattered because to be honest, there wasn't much else to differentiate quality. Of course, there were the occasional meerschaum shows and those pipes always looked like magic.

Today, browsing through pipe collections from around the world, one thing is clear: Many of today's pipes are unconstrained by the limitations of the past. Pipe makers today are just as much about imaginative design as they are about construction and quality of the briar. What we take for granted in terms of pipe design today would be difficult to conceive of four decades prior.

I have a wonderful collection of many vintage and antique pipes, but none of them can rival the pipe designs of some of our modern artists. Yes, in their own class, the pipes of the past can be viewed as testaments to workmanship and the design limitations of their day. No one should detract anything from the accomplishments of yesterday's pipe manufactures and carvers - but likewise, today's carvers have taken pipe making to a whole new level.

What do you think?

 

[warren]

As most know, I'm very conservative. So, brightly colored stems and odd shapes can be very jarring. I'm not denigrating the new guys, some are very skilled. But, I'm "old school" when it comes to shapes. So, I can admire the skill and, sometimes even the "eye" of a carver but, I'm only buying what grabs my eye (conservative shapes, bent to some degree or another) and leaving the new stuff for those who can fully appreciate them.

 

[trouttimes]

Wow! We agree on something Warren. Freehand or “Danish” pipes just don’t much float my boat. I’m an old trad kind of guy.

 

[Briar Lee]

I've been actively buying pipes since the 1980s. Before that, I spent many hours in tobacco shops with my father who actively bought pipes.

Unless a pipe was Danish, one thing was certain: It would fit fairly neatly into a certain category in terms of shape and finish. In terms of finish, there were three types - plain, rusticated, and sandblasted. Grain mattered because to be honest, there wasn't much else to differentiate quality. Of course, there were the occasional meerschaum shows and those pipes always looked like magic.

Today, browsing through pipe collections from around the world, one thing is clear: Many of today's pipes are unconstrained by the limitations of the past. Pipe makers today are just as much about imaginative design as they are about construction and quality of the briar. What we take for granted in terms of pipe design today would be difficult to conceive of four decades prior.

I have a wonderful collection of many vintage and antique pipes, but none of them can rival the pipe designs of some of our modern artists. Yes, in their own class, the pipes of the past can be viewed as testaments to workmanship and the design limitations of their day. No one should detract anything from the accomplishments of yesterday's pipe manufactures and carvers - but likewise, today's carvers have taken pipe making to a whole new level.

What do you think?

I do not think, rather I’m sure and certain that life and our little articles of amusement we collect have always and will always get better, never worse.

The world and it’s future belong to the young.

They will build on and improve our efforts.

Old men have been complaining the world and the younger generation have been going to hell since I was 17 and heard those geezers up high on the buyer’s promenade at the Cattleman Auction talk while every time that back exit door opened I wondered if bossy the milk cow or a a ex rodeo bull bent on murdering a hillbilly boy would come out, for us to pen up.

When my daughter took a job working the back pens at a sale barn I nearly wanted to die, until she said the barns had changed their rules.

They don’t auction any rodeo stock and they will not accept wild cattle off the truck, and no “downers” or “cancer eyed” stock either.

I said what do the big packers buy now?

She said they contract their livestock.

The unsound and wild stock go to the Amish slaughterhouses, or a backhoe is used to dispose of them.

Quite, an improvement.

 

[HRPufnstuf]

I have always chosen pipes to please myself, with few exceptions my enjoyment of pipes is solitary. Tradition has always played a role in my selections..the influence of my deceased father and great uncle. Artpieces, while demonstrating great creativity and masterful skill, rarely appeal to me. A pipe, for me, must be able to get up and go to work. I have exceptions, two meers, but they are my evening rest pipes. I offer no criticism of collectors, I admire many of the more exotic pipes I see in "What are you smoking?" every day. And I freely admit that my idea of "exotic" may be archaic, I am quite conservative in my lifestyle and beliefs. Pipes are an expression of our selves.

 

[mikethompson]

Different strokes for different folks I guess, but while I do appreciate some modern designs, but eye is always drawn to the classics.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've been actively buying pipes since the 1980s. Before that, I spent many hours in tobacco shops with my father who actively bought pipes.

Unless a pipe was Danish, one thing was certain: It would fit fairly neatly into a certain category in terms of shape and finish. In terms of finish, there were three types - plain, rusticated, and sandblasted. Grain mattered because to be honest, there wasn't much else to differentiate quality. Of course, there were the occasional meerschaum shows and those pipes always looked like magic.

Today, browsing through pipe collections from around the world, one thing is clear: Many of today's pipes are unconstrained by the limitations of the past. Pipe makers today are just as much about imaginative design as they are about construction and quality of the briar. What we take for granted in terms of pipe design today would be difficult to conceive of four decades prior.

I have a wonderful collection of many vintage and antique pipes, but none of them can rival the pipe designs of some of our modern artists. Yes, in their own class, the pipes of the past can be viewed as testaments to workmanship and the design limitations of their day. No one should detract anything from the accomplishments of yesterday's pipe manufactures and carvers - but likewise, today's carvers have taken pipe making to a whole new level.

What do you think?

I can appreciate the creativity even if I have no desire to purchase any of it. While my taste goes to the more functional and rigorous requirements of the classic canon of shapes, I occasionally enjoy owning some very "whacked out" pipes.

One the one hand I own a fair amount of Britwood, and the ability to hit the exacting specifications of a classic shape should not be understated. It's an unforgiving standard. Let us not forget that the standard for having chops, among many quite imaginative carvers, including some of the top rated Danish carvers, is the ability to execute a flawless billiard. Do that to show mastery of form where there's no place to hide, then run barefoot through the flowers.

On the other hand I like creativity as long as it is not unmoored from utility, hence my collecting Talbert, Von Erck, and especially Paul Tatum. The thing is, the pipes they make are excellent smokers. They aren't sacrificing fundamentals to pursue flights of fancy. Style is great, just not over substance.

 

[didimauw]

I like how pipes have changed over the years. However I don't see myself smoking anything other than a so called "classic" shape. Billiards and apples is all I care for.

 

[telescopes]

This tale of two very different takes on the Bulldog for, one a classical take from Dr. Grabow, and the other a more modernist approach by Kristiansen. Both have the bowl shape of a bulldog as well as the diamond shaped shank. Both have a saddle stem, but the modernist approach of the Kristiansen as well as it’s unique take on rustication sets it well apart from the Royalton. They both smoke equally well. But that is where the similarities end in terms of execution.

 

[telescopes]

. Style is great, just not over substance.

I couldn’t agree more. I posted example right above this post to demonstrate what I was really trying to state.

 

[bullet08]

I do not have antique pipes. But coming from bagpipes perspective, there were well known makers from 1880 and on for few decades. Those are considered holy grail. They do not have a perfect round bores. They might look old. But they have that magic tone. Sure, latest technical pipes are amazing, and sound great. But they miss something. When listening top players playing those old pipes, it's just something different about the sound. Modern pipes lack that impact.

I wonder if smoking antique pipes will have that kind of feeling or impact. Not historical, something about the smoke coming out of it having that magical aspect.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

One the one hand I own a fair amount of Britwood, and the ability to hit the exacting specifications of a classic shape should not be understated. It's an unforgiving standard. Let us not forget that the standard for having chops, among many quite imaginative carvers, including some of the top rated Danish carvers, is the ability to execute a flawless billiard. Do that to show mastery of form where there's no place to hide, then run barefoot through the flowers.

I was a dumb line cook for about 18 years ("sous chef" in a place too small for a sous, and asked to be a chef but my passion was with my choosen career).

I feel the same about mastering your craft before getting "cute". The standard skills will guide you along with muscle memory, patterns, and recognition. Without the chops, you're a one trick pony.

My bar of measurement as a cook (in a professional kitchen) is a roast chicken. Mine has 7 ingredients (bird, salt and pepper, garlic, thyme, butter, and stock) and takes about an hour. Every time I roast a bird, I wonder why I don't make it more often.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Function over form for me.
I’d rather have a dozen cool old estates that smoke well and have some soul than one commissioned funky high dollar work of art I’d be afraid to look at wrong, let alone enjoy in the wild.
My outlook may come from being blue collar by choice, with varied interests that tug my relatively meager discretionary funds in multiple directions, YMMV.

 

[karam]

the ability to hit the exacting specifications of a classic shape should not be understated. It's an unforgiving standard. Let us not forget that the standard for having chops, among many quite imaginative carvers, including some of the top rated Danish carvers, is the ability to execute a flawless billiard. Do that to show mastery of form where there's no place to hide, then run barefoot through the flowers.

I was going to come here and say that, but you wrote it more eloquently. I may be boring as hell but have no interest in whacky shapes, for me the perfect straight billiard, half bent, bent, bulldog and poker are all I need. Oh and Savinelli's impossibly elegant 904 shape

 

[OverMountain]

Great looking pipes. Like that Grabow royalton, they don’t make them anymore!

 

[PaulRVA]

With the exception of Preben Holm, Stanwell and Ben Wade Freehand's
Which were popular when I started out and maintain a special fondness with me I prefer the classics over modern pipes.
When I was younger I steered away from billiards because I didn’t want to be seen as Fred McMurray-ish but as I got older I seem to grab the billiards and Canadians more than anything else. All in all I can appreciate modern pipes although
I’d pass one up for a classic every time.

 

[Sigmund]

The great thing is you don’t have to choose one or the other. Ive old estates and Ive been having fun refurbishing old cheap beaters. I also have pipes by modern makers and my Ser Jocopos. I smoke what I like and I like them all. There is no right or wrong way…just your way and mine.

 

[telescopes]

The great thing is you don’t have to choose one or the other. Ive old estates and Ive been having fun refurbishing old cheap beaters. I also have pipes by modern makers and my Ser Jocopos. I smoke what I like and I like them all. There is no right or wrong way…just your way and mine.

The same here. One thing I always marvel at is how sandblasting and rustication have changed to become more artistic. Today, artisans are more willing to blend those surfaces around boarders of smooth natural grain to create unique effects that both highlight the shape of the pie as well as the surfaces they alter.

 

[DesertDan]

Fashion is fleeting, style is timeless.
I like some of the "art" pipes that I see. As a woodworker myself I can appreciate pipemakers efforts to do original and unique designs.
I tend to be a traditionalist with my own collection, but I do look for pipes that have interesting embellishments or variations on the classic shapes. I do not have and Danish pipes in my collection as of yet.

 

[ssjones]

This is an interesting thread to ponder. Like Sable and others, I'm attracted to the nterpretation by the classic British marquees of the standard shapes.
Today, we have Eskimos, Blowfish, shapes, etc.
The freehand seems have come into popularity in the 1970's
What shapes were considered avant-garde In the 1950's or 1960's?