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woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,568
15,209
SE PA USA
No, a day spent running errands for my 90 year old mom. Pouring rain, stressed out shoppers, and nothing is quite good enough for her, but she's very appreciative. It's textbook stress. The we watched two Wallander episodes.
I did get in a pipe of Squadron Leader on the way home, so...maybe you are right.

 

stephenw

Might Stick Around
Nov 14, 2014
99
2
WV
I am old enough (62) to remember when almost everyone with whom I came into contact smoked. There were a lot of pipe smokers around when I was much younger and it just seemed to be a very civilized method of enjoying tobacco. Many of my Junior High teachers smoked pipes and I would enjoy spending time in or around their offices and taking in the aroma of their pipes. At a very young age I fell in love with the rituals that went along with pipe smoking. Smoking a pipe just seemed to be what an man of class and distinction would do. Once I was sent off to college, pipe smoking just came naturally and I have been smoking a pipe for the last 44 years. In 44 years I have only had one complaint regarding the tobacco I was smoking (a very horrid Latakia blend) but I have received many compliments from strangers on the aroma of my tobacco. It seems that the world is now a less civilized place in which to live because we no longer have men (and women) taking the time to enjoy the slow calming effects of pipe smoking.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,832
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Very simply put, it was the smell if burning pipe tobacco. Anything that smelled that good was worth trying out. There was a wonderful tobacconist, Copley's Pipe Shop, a block away from where I worked after class. Copley's had been around since the 1930's or '40's and the place had a wonderful collection of tobacciana, pipes of all types, and a large assortment of blends that they made on the premises. Nicest people you could ever want to meet. I got a couple of pipes and a few of their blends and that was it. That was also where I got introduced to the wonder that was Balkan Sobranie, 40+ years ago. The new stuff doesn't really hold a candle to it.
In the 1970's there were a fair number of fine pipe shops in Los Angeles. Today, it's nearly a ghost town. In a couple of years we'll probably be able to take the "nearly" off of that statement when a couple of old time shops close.
LA is still a great place for cigars. You can find them everywhere. But pipes? Forget about it.

 

boilermakerandy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 27, 2014
248
0
I am old enough (62) to remember when almost everyone with whom I came into contact smoked. There were a lot of pipe smokers around when I was much younger and it just seemed to be a very civilized method of enjoying tobacco. Many of my Junior High teachers smoked pipes and I would enjoy spending time in or around their offices and taking in the aroma of their pipes. At a very young age I fell in love with the rituals that went along with pipe smoking. Smoking a pipe just seemed to be what an man of class and distinction would do. Once I was sent off to college, pipe smoking just came naturally and I have been smoking a pipe for the last 44 years. In 44 years I have only had one complaint regarding the tobacco I was smoking (a very horrid Latakia blend) but I have received many compliments from strangers on the aroma of my tobacco. It seems that the world is now a less civilized place in which to live because we no longer have men (and women) taking the time to enjoy the slow calming effects of pipe smoking.
Stephen,
At age 49 I am a wee bit younger than you and my childhood in Indiana was much like you described, everyone smoked in some fashion and there was no stigma associated with it. When I went off to Purdue in 1984 some of my professors smoked a pipe while lecturing, I thought that was pretty neat and it influenced me. It is amazing to me how much more free we were in every regard 30 or 40 years ago. When I was a kid my parents used to hand me a buck and send me into the grocery store or filling station to buy them each a pack of cigarettes, now the things are hidden behind lock and key and it is practically an act of God to buy a pack. Can't take any chance of the kiddies possibly getting a hold a cigarette. Gray-haired me even has to show my ID to buy a damned packet of pipe cleaners. It's "for the children" has been used as an excuse to strip us of our liberties. Makes me sick, what a nations of wimps we've become.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
When I went off to Purdue in 1984 some of my professors smoked a pipe while lecturing, I thought that was pretty neat and it influenced me.
I find that fascinating. It's almost hard to imagine someone smoking in many of today's sterile, modern classrooms. A former professor/colleague of mine used to smoke during lecture in the early 70s. One time he nearly set his pants on fire -- mid-lecture -- but that's another story.

 

psychpipes

Can't Leave
Sep 4, 2013
321
102
36
Nature Coast of Florida
My pipe smoking stemmed from my dad. He's always been the stoic type. Never said much to us as kids, but always supported us. I think I fought hard to get his approval. He wasn't really a communicator, and had a hard time relating to us kids. When I was younger, he had an old car he worked on after he got home. I always asked him to show me how to work on it, but he replied with "Don't worry about it. Get a good education, and hire some idiot like me to fix it for you." Then he'd sit me in the driver's seat and turn on the radio while he kept working (always with a pipe in his mouth).
I worked really hard to get good grades. When I got my bachelor's, he bought us each a cigar (a hoyo de monterrey excalibur). It was the first time I ever smoked anything. We sat on the porch smoking, not saying a word (I did mention he wasn't a talker, right?). I had a lot of worries as I had just gotten married, she was in the military in Texas, and I was waiting to hear back from graduate school. Out of the blue, he told me he was proud of me. It was a big deal. I always knew he was, but to hear him say it left me dumbfounded. He gave me a quick smile, and that was it.
I really enjoyed the cigar and the experience and shortly after bought a small humidor and a few samplers from Thompson. Unfortunately, cigars on a graduate student's income were proving to be too much. I was talking to my dad one night, and somehow got onto the subject. He recommended trying a pipe. He told me that he switched over because of costs as well. He sent me my first pipe; a Stanwell 2007 POY, and the rest is history. Pipes have really brought us closer together. For some reason, sitting out together with pipes loosens him up. He's always been a one pipe guy. He smokes a Stanwell Zebrano pot, with HGL. After I got into it, I started sending him different tobaccos. He's actually expanded because of it. We have conversations and exchange tobacco all the time these days.
It also helps that I never seem to think as clearly as I do when I'm relaxing with a pipe. It helps me slow things down, like my brain is syncing with the cadence of my puffs.

 

oldsalt

Lurker
Nov 20, 2014
49
0
Florida Keys
I was going to post something meaningless but now there is no way. psychpipes, pretty heavy stuff but great to hear. Glad you could find some common ground with your dad. My father turns 86 in a couple of weeks and I'm still trying to find ours. It may have taken awhile for you and your dad but consider yourself fortunate. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

 

seagullplayer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 30, 2014
500
129
Indiana
My father passed away 24 years ago, somehow I inherited his pipe collection. Both of my younger brothers smoked at the time, but not me. I had them put up and stored away down in my barn for years (think decade+).
Last year I got it in my head that I wanted a pipe to smoke when I took to the woods. Walking the dog or mushroom hunting or whatever. So I went to dig out dad's old stash of pipes and tobacco. Only to find that someone had found them before me, I am sure it was my sons when they where teenagers, both are grown men now, both married, one with kids of his own. Neither will own up to it by the way. All they left was the pipe rack with an empty tobacco jar.
So I set about attempting to restore dad's pipe collection. I know there where four or five, and I know what his favorite was. I also know what tobacco's he favored. Over the past year I have done my best to restore the set, and move it back into the house.

Along the way I have learned to enjoy the hobby.

 

hunterwold1

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 27, 2012
144
0
I heard that my father smoked a pipe before I was born. We had a neighbour who smoked a pipe and I remember liking the smell of the pipe tobacco even when I was small. I never smoked at all until my grandson was born and the other grandfather and I and the son-in-law each smoked a cigar to celebrate. About three years ago I found a pipe and pouch at a rummage sale and plunked down my two bits for it. Turned out to be a Vauen 3/4 bent apple with a meerschaum lining in the bowl. I am not a daily smoker but have come to enjoy fine English blends. I get together with a friend who taught me how to smoke my pipe and we enjoy out pipes over a wee dram.

 
I grew up with pipe smokers in the house and most of the men at family gatherings smoked pipes. My dad smoked a pipe, briefly. He was more of a Winston man, and besides the occasional stealing of tobacco out of the tobacco barn or rabbit weed smoked in a cob while playing Tom Sawyer on the river, I started off my smoking career with stolen Winstons.
A few years ago as I was setting with my dad in the nursing home, holding cigarettes for him as his cancerous lungs fought to get one last puff, I saw cigarettes in a new light. My own lung capacity was diminished from almost a half century of inhaling. My heart was not as stable as it used to be, and I was winded walking up steps. I do not hide my loathing for all things cigarettes. At least the kiddos today are getting the facts before they decide to enslave themselves. In my day, even doctors had bought into the Big Tobacco lies.
So, after years of trying the nic tabs, gum, hypnosis (turns out I can't be hypnotized), cold turkeys, gimmicks, and snake oils to try to quit smoking, I decided to give in. But, if I was going to do it, I wanted the less dangerous form of the tobacco.
I was going to just smoke one bowl a week to curb the tobacco cravings that shivered up my skin and overwhelmed my mind. One bowl a week, ha ha ha. What a stupid fist notion that was. As mentioned in another thread, how can someone learn how to pack well, or even know what blends that we like at that rate. I spent entire days, practicing, like someone learning to play the piano. And, when I got the process and ritual down to rote memory, I wanted to smoke as many blends as I could, rotating tobaccos throughout the day. Then on days off from work, I was excited to have the free time to smoke unabated. I found things that I could do while smoking. Even my job as jeweler, I put in an extra exhaust fan to be able to smoke while working. I set up a smoking room in my cabin, and mounted two pipe holders in my car.
Now, memories of my uncles come to mind, asleep on the front porch in a rocking chair with their pipe still in their mouth, and trickles of smoke coming out of their pipes. Shake awake when they suck ash. I cannot find a single picture of any of them without a pipe in their maw. It's just a part of me.
I run a couple of miles a day, and I do yoga with my girlfriend. yeh, I resisted at first. All I knew of yoga was that it made you enlightened, and I'd seen enlightened people in the parks, homeless and eating out of garbage cans. I didn't want to do yoga, because I didn't want to be disgusting, ha ha. But, it has helped me greatly in getting my health back. But, I still have a blood pressure issue, and I am cutting back my pipes a day to appease my doctor, who is straight forward and objective. I know some will say that there's no connection between blood pressure and nicotine, but when it comes to my life, I'll take the scientific approach over the toss of chicken bones and conjecture. I'm no fool. I can feel it.
Now, I've made most of my pipes, and I enjoy aged tobaccos, and I grow my own, which is way better than most of the blended, flavored stuff they call pure tobaccos. I know, this makes me a tobacco snob to most, but I do play with the Boones Farm variety tobaccos. I just prefer what appeals to my tongue the most, the finer wines of tobaccos. I come from do-it-yourself stock, where we all worked on our own cars and tractors, grew our own chickens, slaughtered our own pigs and goats. So, being self-sufficient in growing premium tobaccos and making the best pipes for myself just fits the way I was raised. I am down to four pipes a day. I don't see myself going below three, but those three will be awesome pure Virginias that I enjoy with enthusiasm.
So, that's my story. And, I do think that the pipe has made me healthier.

 

blueeyedogre

Lifer
Oct 17, 2013
1,552
30
As a child I was always around my Grandfather and great uncles who all smoked pipes and I have fond memories of Medico pipes and Sail green bag tobacco. Once I was in the military I had a Master Warrant Officer that I looked up to who also smoked a pipe and he was the one that took my to a B+M while on weekend liberty and helped me pick out my first pipe and tobacco. All of them also smoked cigarettes, as did my parents, but they always held to the belief that anyone can smoke a cigarette for nicotine but smoking a pipe was for relaxing, enjoy time with friends, and for enjoying good tobacco.

 
Jun 4, 2014
1,134
1
Well since the city kids in school labeled us locals as "Hicks" I thought I'd smoke a pipe to prove them right!
Ok that's not the truth, my Grandfather was a pipe smoker. I have fond memories of him smoking his pipe, the smell of Prince Albert or Half & Half. I have one of his Dr. Graybow's that I smoke on occasion.

 

throbinson

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 19, 2014
233
9
Zurich, ON (Canada)
3 months? You're an old-timer compared to my (even more) measly 1 month. :D
I liked cigars, but, some took way too long to smoke, and not everyone liked the smell. Always debated a pipe because loved the smell so, bought a corn cob and a few samplers to try. I still haven't found that 'grandpa smelling' tobacco yet. Everyone so far says that the pipe smells like a more mild cigar. Still testing some tobaccos, someone suggested an English blend may have that 'grandpa' smell so, trying that next.
I like holding the pipe more than a cigar and I can adjust the amount smoked rather than cutting a cigar end off and storing the rest for later, which is fine but depending how often you do it, the mouth end can get a bit... well, not good. Smells better too. The downside though is it costs more, and more effort/work involved (ie, I never cleaned a cigar... when I was done I tossed it out).
But all in all, I'm liking the pipe more than a cigar, and am ordering a Stanwell Night & Day 207 this week because I finally found someone who has it and ships to Canada. See if it's any better than my corn cob. :)

 
Apr 26, 2012
3,342
5,130
Washington State
Both my Grandfathers were heavy cigarette smokers and one of my Grandma's was too. My Great Uncle smoked Dutch Master cigars. I was never interested in smoking cigarettes as it didn't appeal to me. The night before my wedding (15 years ago) myself and my groomsmen all got nice cigars from a tobacconist, mine was a Romeo Y Julieta 1875 Series Torpedo. It was nice, but I did puke later on that evening. Of course with about 12 beers in me, plus the first time smoking anything didn't mix with all my groomsmen dog-piling on me around 4am after a night of drinking etc. It didn't take them long to clear the pile when I said I was going to puke. Man that was one of the best nights of my life. After that I smoked cigars periodically when my friends and I played poker and occasional I would smoke cigars on a nice summer evening around the fire pit. In late 2009 I decided I was going to take up cigars on a regular basis. In 2011 after about 2 years of cigar smoking I decided to get a pipe. I always enjoyed the aroma of a pipe whenever I was around one. I didn't really take to the pipe though until 2012. As the last couple years have gone on I've got more to pipe smoking than cigars. My cigar humidor went from a steady 260-300 cigars down to my current stash of about 60. I've got a tone of pipe tobacco and about 25+ pipes now. Instead of buying cigars like I was I began buying pipe tobacco and pipes. I really enjoy the hobby and still a enjoy a nice cigar from time to time, but I'm mainly smoking pipes these days. Since taking up pipe smoking I've gotten several of my friends into the hobby as well, but they're not as serious about it as I am.
Just recently found out that my dad smoked a pipe for a short period of time and enjoyed the occasional cigar with his co-workers, but that was before I was born. Found it quite surprising too, because he's always been anti-smoking since I've been alive. He said he didn't stick with pipe smoking because he wasn't much of a clencher and the pipe wasn't comfortable for him. Still was an interesting story when I heard it.

 

jorgesoler

Can't Leave
Dec 3, 2014
401
74
I was more or less 15 years old and nobody in my family used to smoke in a pipe, but I thought the smell was awesome. I had a teacher that used to smoke cigars and pipes in the classroom after the dinner break, and I remember looking forward to going back to the classroom so that I could smell it again. When I finally got myself around into buying my first pipe I was like 19, and I remember I was so criticised I almost quit for good. For one thing mom did not like the smell of it at all, so she would kick me out of the house whenever she found me smoking. I remember her saying the smell of it made her want to puke. And most of my friends did not like it that much either. Most of them though I was only pretending, posing or just being totally ridiculous. Then, I remember one day I came by this book about smoking pipes (Arte y Placer de Fumar en Pipa) and I fell totally in love with it despite all the criticism. It is true that back then I used to dream about getting old so that I could walk down the road inconspicuously with my pipe in my mouth without getting any attention from other people. I did not like when others passers-by threw a glance at me as it made me feel self-conscious. It is like I could hear them "what are you pretending or something; who the hell do you think you are?" However, pipe smoking is eye catching no matter how old you are, so most people keep looking at me despite my age (I am 46).

 

sparrowhawk

Lifer
Jul 24, 2013
2,941
219
Great question and post. I always liked the image of a pipe, but didn't know how to smoke one for years, and during those years I was addicted to cigarettes. Last year I finally got off the cig with the help of Chantex, and a month later, satisfied that I was no longer addicted to nicotine, decided to resume my attempts to smoke a pipe. This forum was extremely helpful in that regard, particularly in discovering the cause of "tongue bite" and the huge varieties of different quality, economical pipes. The pipe was wonderful to help an oral fixation, but also great to help me with my meditative reveries, and the pure JRR Tolkien distinguishment of the pipe. So now I have about 20 pipes (silly me, I thought I'd stop collecting after only three or four) and I love them all. I can believe I spent so much time and money on cigs, as much as I can't believe I did so long without a pipe.

Jorge, I probably would have suffered the same problems had I taken up pipe smoking at such an early age. It seems to be a hobby for the middle-aged and up. Fortunately, I have the kind of persona that is well suited for the image of a pipe smoker: I'm a former college instructor and public and private school teacher, a writer, and artist, people that tend to be classed as intellectual eccentrics anyway, so no problems there.

 
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