What Did Your Fathers and Grandfathers Smoke?

[philobeddoe]

Not family, but the pipe smokers I looked up to as a kid, were the old timers with briars, they wore suits and proper hats. I would see them to and fro, they always seemed to smell the same to me, a smell I later realized was Captain Black. I still keep a tub of Captain Black White around, it's a nice way to reconnect with fond memories.....also my wife adores the room note.

 

[hawky454]

Sounds like he would like Boswell's Northwoods...

Exactly. It's the same idea.

 

[mso489]

My dad smoked Granger for most of fifty years, age 15 to about 65 when he quit cold turkey. There were a few years when he switched off to King Edward Cigars. His dad smoked pipes, but he kept the tobacco in an amber tobacco jar in the center of his ten-pipe pipe rack so I never saw the brand. My mom's dad smoked White Owl cigars, mostly, and sometimes fancier ones. I now have my paternal grandfather's pipe rack (with amber tobacco jar), inherited through my dad.

 

[loneredtree]

Not sure about the other men that I knew smoked a pipe but a friend's father smoked London dock, which he called London Dump, and I think Mixture 79. My grand father did not smoke.

 

[doctorbob]

Given the number of rectangular tins in his garage, edgeworth sliced. Although my sister identifies the smell of captain black with him. I think he had a polite tobacco for indoor use and edgeworth when he was quitting cigarettes.
Doc

 

[bentmike]

My dad smoked Captain Black and Borkum Riff. Occasionally a shop house blend in Vanilla or cherry. Mainly he was and still to this day a cigarette smoker. One grandpa did not smoke and the other was a lifelong smoker of Camel filterless. He used to have a wooden box mounted on the kitchen wall that held a cartons worth and would dispense packs one at a time through a slot at the bottom. My great-granddads were both gone from this Earth before my time so I have no idea what tobacco they liked.

 

[jerwynn]

"Prince Albert in a can"! That was Grampa's blend... and the cans were everywhere and repurposed imaginatively from my uncle's garage (mechanic) to my aunt's sewing room and every place in between. My dad smoked Mixture #79 until a doctor in the 1960s gave him a scare and he quit.

 

[jimmy57]

My father smoked Half & Half 99% of the time. He probably varied it some, but not enough for me to recall. My grandpa smoked Between the Acts little cigars, and an occasional White Owl or some such cigar. I began with Half & Half myself.
A good thing to begin with. You'll learn to smoke 'right' or suffer the consequences of tongue bite until you do. ;-)

 

[blendtobac]

I never knew either of my grandfathers, but my dad smoked a blend called Black Watch from a local tobacconist. My Hearth & Home Old Tartan is my recreation of that blend (in fact, it was my first "homage" blend). When the shop was a casualty of the drop-off in pipe smoking in the early 80s, he switched to Half and Half.

He smoked mostly Kaywoodies. I remember knowing that dad had a new pipe when I heard the sound of a hacksaw on metal because he always cut the stinger off. After I took up the pipe, he told me that he bought Kaywoodies because they were $11 at his shop, He didn't want to buy the "cheap" Dunhills, because they sold for $10. If I could only go back in time...
Russ

 

[dontbeaburleyman]

My Dad didn't smoke. I'm told his father (my grandfather) smoked 5 Brothers from sunup to sundown. Immigrated from Italy in 1918. Farmer. Probably a pretty tough dude!

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Apparently one of my grandparents would smoke cigarettes occasionally, but that stopped sometime in the 70's. I was raised in a totally tobacco free environment.

 

[mso489]

Go back and read Russ' post if you haven't. In his childhood, his dad bought $11 Kaywoodies instead of the cheap $10 Dunhills. I'd heard that comparison before, but this confirms the memory.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

My paternal grandfather kept 2 pipes on the end table by his recliner; a dark walnut stained straight billiard and a quarter bent black rusticated billiard (could have been a dublin). Not sure of the brand, I never saw them again after he died. Going through some of his things I did find an old bulk 1lb. bag of bargain black Cavendish about 1/3 full.
My paternal grandmother's brother was the constant pipe smoker. Uncle Jack.. their house smelled of pipe tobacco as a rule. He died when I was around 10 so I don't recall any specifics. My aunt eventually bought their old house. I was over there a couple years ago, digging in the garage and found an old tin of Balkan Sobranie.

To my chagrin it was empty, but I kept it anyway. Still sits amidst my open jars.

 

[dottiewarden]

My grandpa smoked a pipe pretty much his entire adult life. In fact he is the sole influence of my own pipe smoking. He smoked OTCs of the day in briars and cobs.

 

[checotah]

I've responded to similar questions, stating I didn't know what any of them smoked. Found out just recently my maternal grandfather smoked Half and Half. Still don't know what my father, his father, or my maternal great grandfather smoked.

 

[josephcross]

I dont know what my grandfather smoked, but my Dad says he was always smoking his pipe and all his memories of him had a pipe in his mouth. I didnt know that my Dad smoked a pipe until I told him I was smoking one. My dad says he is into aromatics, not sure what kind, Ill have to find out.

 

[deathmetal]

How come they couldn't get any real quality tobacco like Sam Gawith back then?

Far fewer things were imported, and they were much more expensive.
Just like CDs... $13 domestic, $21 imported.

 

[didimauw]

Tompowers: One mans Trash is another mans treasure.

 

[aldecaker]

Good God, Tompowers, you must be a raving lunatic.

 

[jefff]

My grandfather smoked Half&Half and Captian black. I have no idea what pipes he smoked.
As I recall he was quite happy and not at all offended by his choices.