We are Only Custodians of Fine Pipes

[Briar Lee]

About thirty years ago I spent $75 at Springfield Missouri for this magnificent Bari Wiking large egg pipe, from a man who must have been Carlie Rich’s twin brother separated at birth.

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The seller claimed he’d bought that pipe and some others from the estate of a lawyer who’d babied his pipes like they were his children. Normally the Charlie Rich twin guy sold new high dollar meerschaums, but he’d also deal in high end estate pipes, showing them only to selected customers.

For thirty years I’ve smoked another lawyer’s pipe, and I’ve kept it nice.

We don’t really own nice pipes like this one.

We are just granted the privilege of enjoying them, during our time.

 

[warren]

For me they're simply tools. But, I do prize a well made tool, usually dressed in a bit of silver and proportioned to please my eye. My kids will toss 'em when the time comes. I'd expect nothing more. If I ever come by a pipe of historical significance, I'll advise them.

 

[OzPiper]

@Briar Lee
Like you, most of my pipes are estates.
I like the idea that 100yo objects are still giving good service.
And when I'm done with my pipes, I hope they go to someone who will cherish and use them and perhaps pass them on.

 

[anotherbob]

About thirty years ago I spent $75 at Springfield Missouri for this magnificent Bari Wiking large egg pipe, from a man who must have been Carlie Rich’s twin brother separated at birth.

View attachment 204286View attachment 204287View attachment 204288View attachment 204289

The seller claimed he’d bought that pipe and some others from the estate of a lawyer who’d babied his pipes like they were his children. Normally the Charlie Rich twin guy sold new high dollar meerschaums, but he’d also deal in high end estate pipes, showing them only to selected customers.

For thirty years I’ve smoked another lawyer’s pipe, and I’ve kept it nice.

We don’t really own nice pipes like this one.

We just are granted the privilege of enjoying them, during our time.

So you don't think he faked his death? He'd only be what in his 90s now?

 

[bullet08]

I don't know. I don't like putting name on myself. I might start to talk in third person.

 

[Briar Lee]

So you don't think he faked his death? He'd only be what in his 90s now?

The real Charlie Rich died young, age 62, in 1995.

The meerschaum pipe seller was maybe a decade older than the actual Charlie Rich.

One thing I learned from him was NOT to dye my hair.

He had a handsome son, a generation younger, with dark hair in his shop with him.

The endless parade of well dressed, well to do women from the beauty shop next door acted like that boy didn’t exist, when they came in to spend a lot of money on a present.

Grecian Formula never shows his type in their ads with the old guy with the young girl in the red convertible.

 

[didimauw]

Fuck that, I'm getting buried with my pipes!!!

 

[Grangerous]

I mostly enjoyed sifting through the tobacconist basket of, well, you know—“basket pipes”—a joy younger pipe enthusiasts may never know. And while I’d hand select whatever caught my eye (from the basket) I seldom allowed my eyes to wander to the pricier pipes (behind the display glass).

And I was content happy with my meager collection of pipes stamped “genuine imported briar” or “ “ nothing at all.

Then, like taking a bite of the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I joined this forum and I discovered I was naked.

Thanks to this forum, I now possess GBD, BBB, Parker, Dunhill, Stanwell, Savinelli, Pioneer, Petersons et al and I treat them well, but now must wring my hands in agony over their fate.

Thanks, Forum Members

 

[rmbittner]

I don’t normally think about my pipes this way. I might, if my dad had been a pipesmoker and some might have belonged to him. But I have to go back to a great-grandfather I never knew to find a pipesmoker in my family. So the pipes I’ve acquired—90% estates—haven’t led me to reflect on their previous owners…and certainly not on future owners. (I really don’t imagine much of a pipesmoking future 50 years down the road.)

But this week I received an eBay purchase that is deeply affecting me, for some reason. It’s a gorgeous pipe to me, and perhaps the only one I now own that has any real historical relevance. It’s a Sergio. These Italian pipes were made by Ascorti for only about three months in 1980, after the departure of Ascorti and Radice from Caminetto but before Ascorti and his team started making his own branded pipes. According to Pipedia, only 800-1,000 “Sergio” pipes were made at that time. I’d never even seen one before this one showed up on eBay last week.

It was not an expensive pipe. But it’s one I feel privileged to have in my collection…in a way that only a couple other of my pipes make me feel.

 

[reloader]

I hope my pipes are passed on to someone who will use and enjoy them as much as I do now. Each pipe has a little tag hanging from it with all the information I know about that pipe. Brand, shape, stem material, year etc. so that my wife or son will know what to tell the next owner they are getting.

 

[Andre_T]

There is a reason why I buy my father very nice pipes... I know one day I will get them back sadly.

 

[SBC]

I hope my pipes are passed on to someone who will use and enjoy them as much as I do now. Each pipe has a little tag hanging from it with all the information I know about that pipe. Brand, shape, stem material, year etc. so that my wife or son will know what to tell the next owner they are getting.

Similarly, I keep a document with background -- both general and personal -- on each pipe I've kept in personal rotation, so that someday my family knows what's what and can decide what's meaningful to them.