What/Who Influenced You to Start Pipe Smoking?

[Lyon0oq]

My Dad smoked a pipe when I was little, and there was this old side table in our living room where his pipe, and my Grandfather's pipe, had been sitting for years. I was a Junior at boarding school in 1987, and when I smoked a cigarette I did so by puffing on it, and this (as it has since the dawn of man) brought ridicule from the older boys. One of them said "If you are going to smoke like that why don't you just get a pipe!?" and although he said it to get a rise out of the others, something in my head clicked. I swiped the pipes from that side table the next time I was home, got my hands on some random supermarket pouch, and off I went. My Junior year abroad in college, I ended up in Bath England, where I stumbled upon Frederick Tranter's (now owned by the Havana House people) and found out what real pipe tobacco actually was. I moved to Boston after college, and it was there I discovered the Black Coffee aromatic from Leavitt & Peirce in Cambridge Square, and that would be my one and only tobacco for the next 20 years. What I thought was bad luck about five years back, turned out to be the best thing that could have happened- I went to order my Black Coffee and was told by the woman at L&P that it had been discontinued!! Forced to go searching, I tapped the pipe community in the hope of simply replacing my one and only tobacco. That, thankfully, is not what happened, and in the past five years both my pipe, and more importantly my tobacco collection, have gotten MUCH larger. Oh, and Leavitt & Peirce did start selling my Black Coffee again. I have it in a jar with the others, and smoking a bowl of it always makes me smile, its like saying hello to an old friend.

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

My Dad smoked a pipe when I was little, and there was this old side table in our living room where his pipe, and my Grandfather's pipe, had been sitting for years. I was a Junior at boarding school in 1987, and when I smoked a cigarette I did so by puffing on it, and this (as it has since the dawn of man) brought ridicule from the older boys. One of them said "If you are going to smoke like that why don't you just get a pipe!?" and although he said it to get a rise out of the others, something in my head clicked. I swiped the pipes from that side table the next time I was home, got my hands on some random supermarket pouch, and off I went. My Junior year abroad in college, I ended up in Bath England, where I stumbled upon Frederick Tranter's (now owned by the Havana House people) and found out what real pipe tobacco actually was. I moved to Boston after college, and it was there I discovered the Black Coffee aromatic from Leavitt & Peirce in Cambridge Square, and that would be my one and only tobacco for the next 20 years. What I thought was bad luck about five years back, turned out to be the best thing that could have happened- I went to order my Black Coffee and was told by the woman at L&P that it had been discontinued!! Forced to go searching, I tapped the pipe community in the hope of simply replacing my one and only tobacco. That, thankfully, is not what happened, and in the past five years both my pipe, and more importantly my tobacco collection, have gotten MUCH larger. Oh, and Leavitt & Peirce did start selling my Black Coffee again. I have it in a jar with the others, and smoking a bowl of it always makes me smile, its like saying hello to an old friend.

lyon0op, glad you switched in your Boarding School.. Majority of beginners begin with OTC's blends to try the scope of Pipe Tobacco n Smoking. I myself would begin with Amphora Full Aroma and MacBaren's 7 Seas Regular being available easily in India. I'm glad you found your favorite blend that turned out to be your every day smoke! And hope the collection you hold of different blends serving you the best way possible.
Keep up the smokes and blends in your favorite pipes..
Happy Piping!

 

[danimalia]

For me, it was the Hobbits and the magical worlds of JRR Tolkien. Just kidding. I hate those stupid elves... OK, not really, they're fine. I rather admire that he was able to create works that have been beloved by multiple generations of people from all over the world.

I was a cigar smoker and hand-rolled my own cigarettes. While browsing sites for hand-rolling tobacco and cigars, I began to look at pipe tobaccos and get curious until once day I couldn't take it anymore and bought a cob and a couple blends. After getting into pipes for a year or two, I went back to cigars real hard and didn't really pick up the pipe again until last Summer, when I wanted to quit cigarettes. Cigars would have just been too expensive to fill in as a replacement, so I started the pipe again, and really loved it.

 

[Lyon0oq]

Happy Piping!

To you as well!

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

For me, it was the Hobbits and the magical worlds of JRR Tolkien. Just kidding. I hate those stupid elves... OK, not really, they're fine. I rather admire that he was able to create works that have been beloved by multiple generations of people from all over the world.

I was a cigar smoker and hand-rolled my own cigarettes. While browsing sites for hand-rolling tobacco and cigars, I began to look at pipe tobaccos and get curious until once day I couldn't take it anymore and bought a cob and a couple blends. After getting into pipes for a year or two, I went back to cigars real hard and didn't really pick up the pipe again until last Summer, when I wanted to quit cigarettes. Cigars would have just been too expensive to fill in as a replacement, so I started the pipe again, and really loved it.

danimalia, I love Tolkein's Universe.. was watching Desolation Of Smaug yesterday.. I myself wanted to get into the hobby being never smoked my life. So surfed SP ended up with 2 Missouri Prides which are currently in transit.. Cigars looks charming but Pipes hold their own class and elegance!
Glad you returned.. hoping you enjoying the hobby to fullest!
Happy Piping!

 

[kcghost]

1974.

 

[BROBS]

My dad always smoked a pipe when fishing.. and always when he would go up to Canada every year to fish for a week I would see him putting the pipe into the tackle box.. along with his (what must have been) ancient tub of Flying Dutchman. I would always see a few pipes around his workshop (he never smoked at home or around home etc.. only fishing) and would play with them.. suck through them and taste the oddly familiar and sweet tobacco flavor that remains in a very dry pipe. My grandfather also had a few pipes sitting around.. but apparently quit smoking a pipe either before or around the time I was born. He always smoked Prince Albert in a can as evidenced by the cans all over his garage.

fast forward 30 years and I started collecting pre-1980 Zippo lighters. The people at where I currently worked asked why I was collecting zippos if I didn't smoke.. and that I should be lighting a pipe with them. I ignored it.. then I guess unconsciously one day I just thought I would try it. Went to the local B&M and purchased an ugly $30 rusticated Italian basket pipe along with a few different tobaccos they had.

And that's what started it... it of course snowballed from there. I mainly found out everything on my own about pipes and tobaccos and have learned even more since I joined here at the end of last year.

 

[Lyon0oq]

For me, it was the Hobbits and the magical worlds of JRR Tolkien. Just kidding. I hate those stupid elves... OK, not really, they're fine.

Bilbo Baggins: No hat, no stick, no pipe, not even a pocket handkerchief. How can one survive? ?

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

My dad always smoked a pipe when fishing.. and always when he would go up to Canada every year to fish for a week I would see him putting the pipe into the tackle box.. along with his (what must have been) ancient tub of Flying Dutchman. I would always see a few pipes around his workshop (he never smoked at home or around home etc.. only fishing) and would play with them.. suck through them and taste the oddly familiar and sweet tobacco flavor that remains in a very dry pipe. My grandfather also had a few pipes sitting around.. but apparently quit smoking a pipe either before or around the time I was born. He always smoked Prince Albert in a can as evidenced by the cans all over his garage.

fast forward 30 years and I started collecting pre-1980 Zippo lighters. The people at where I currently worked asked why I was collecting zippos if I didn't smoke.. and that I should be lighting a pipe with them. I ignored it.. then I guess unconsciously one day I just thought I would try it. Went to the local B&M and purchased an ugly $30 rusticated Italian basket pipe along with a few different tobaccos they had.

And that's what started it... it of course snowballed from there. I mainly found out everything on my own about pipes and tobaccos and have learned even more since I joined here at the end of last year.

Beautiful account BROBS. Zippos are luxury here in India. I myself hold one Zippo of my senior he gifted me which was his first. Seems you got a good collection of them! We hold almost same account when it comes to get ins and outs of learning.. I myself learned from YTPC (Matches 860 (RIP) and Muttnchop Piper) being my gurus and later got to learn great amount of things from PM community!
May you never run out of smokes and blends!
Happy Piping!

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

Bilbo Baggins: No hat, no stick, no pipe, not even a pocket handkerchief. How can one survive? ?

lyon0op nothing ever can get wrong with Tolkein's Tales.. ! They are eternal and will be forever! ?

 

[docrameous]

My dad always smoked a pipe when fishing...

I will readily admit I have a bias, but IMHO it can’t get much better than a day out fishing and smoking a pipe!

Great to hear your story.

 

[danimalia]

I will readily admit I have a bias, but IMHO it can’t get much better than a day out fishing and smoking a pipe!

Great to hear your story.

You know, I don't think I've been fishing since I started smoking a pipe. I'm going to have to rectify that. Maybe with the weather warming up, I'll hit the delta for some striped bass and/or catfish. My stepdad used to say fish could smell tobacco from your hands touching the bait and tackle and didn't like it. That was probably just bullshit to get me to stop smoking, right? I mean, I HAVE caught fish while smoking.

 

[pipebaum81]

My life was falling apart. I had a forced military move and a house that wouldn’t sell. I moved on to my next base and my wife and children stayed to sell the home. I was miserable. From afar my wife said I needed a hobby.

My father was a life long cigarette smoker and while I hated the smell of cigarettes I had a profound respect for tobacco. Radio personality and prolific thinker Dennis Prager would speak from time to time on cigar and pipe smoking. I hadn’t listened to his show in years but I happened to catch an episode in which he took a call from a young man thanking Prager for introducing him to pipe smoking. The caller shared how pipe smoking had brought calm into his life. That the subtle nuances of pipe smoking and the slow-down mentality that quality tobacco warrants impacted his beyond just the moments he smoked. I had found my hobby.

That was five and a half years ago. The wife is no longer mine and my ten year marriage will never have an 11th year. The pipe has stayed and has propagated into a lovely modest collection. Despite experiencing the absolutely deepest lows of my life pipe smoking did bring me a few moments of solace. I had something to look forward to. Something to draw my focus and experience beauty. The young radio caller was right.

 

[jttnk]

My life was falling apart. I had a forced military move and a house that wouldn’t sell. I moved on to my next base and my wife and children stayed to sell the home. I was miserable. From afar my wife said I needed a hobby.

My father was a life long cigarette smoker and while I hated the smell of cigarettes I had a profound respect for tobacco. Radio personality and prolific thinker Dennis Prager would speak from time to time on cigar and pipe smoking. I hadn’t listened to his show in years but I happened to catch an episode in which he took a call from a young man thanking Prager for introducing him to pipe smoking. The caller shared how pipe smoking had brought calm into his life. That the subtle nuances of pipe smoking and the slow-down mentality that quality tobacco warrants impacted his beyond just the moments he smoked. I had found my hobby.

That was five and a half years ago. The wife is no longer mine and my ten year marriage will never have an 11th year. The pipe has stayed and has propagated into a lovely modest collection. Despite experiencing the absolutely deepest lows of my life pipe smoking did bring me a few moments of solace. I had something to look forward to. Something to draw my focus and experience beauty. The young radio caller was right.

Sorry for your losses, glad you are working through it. Dennis has an amazing outlook on so manny things. If you don’t have a copy of Happiness is a Serious Problem, pick up a copy. I’ll assume military move meant you served or are serving, if so thank you.

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

My life was falling apart. I had a forced military move and a house that wouldn’t sell. I moved on to my next base and my wife and children stayed to sell the home. I was miserable. From afar my wife said I needed a hobby.

My father was a life long cigarette smoker and while I hated the smell of cigarettes I had a profound respect for tobacco. Radio personality and prolific thinker Dennis Prager would speak from time to time on cigar and pipe smoking. I hadn’t listened to his show in years but I happened to catch an episode in which he took a call from a young man thanking Prager for introducing him to pipe smoking. The caller shared how pipe smoking had brought calm into his life. That the subtle nuances of pipe smoking and the slow-down mentality that quality tobacco warrants impacted his beyond just the moments he smoked. I had found my hobby.

That was five and a half years ago. The wife is no longer mine and my ten year marriage will never have an 11th year. The pipe has stayed and has propagated into a lovely modest collection. Despite experiencing the absolutely deepest lows of my life pipe smoking did bring me a few moments of solace. I had something to look forward to. Something to draw my focus and experience beauty. The young radio caller was right.

pipebaum81, I hope you are doing good the other side.. Thank you for your service for your nation. Pipe Smoking does holds the affinity to calm one's senses that might get obnoxious with time.. Everyone got their high and lows in their very life.. it's just that tackling the bads and standing stiff at the face of adversities makes us even more stronger. You did that and I applaud you for the same.
Hope you are enjoying your life currently and also your smokes and blends..
Tough time won't lasts my friend,
But tough people definitely does!

Happy Piping!

 

[karam]

Nobody influenced me, I have an uncle who smoked a pipe 30 years ago and remember liking the smell when I was little but between then and now I can't claim any influence.

I started smoking a pipe because I wanted to experience something different from cigarettes but didn't get into it until I found Dunhill's Nightcap, then put everything in a drawer and forgot about it for a couple of years when I switched from cigarettes to vaping. I still needed the taste of combusted tobacco so I picked up my pipe again and got serious reading about blends, and trying various blends out. Now it's a bit of an obsession.

 

[whitebriar]

my grandfather was my first influence toward pipe smoking--
but, i suppose the main influence was all the old guys sitting in the barbershop, smokin' their pipes and tellin' war stories--
i'd pick up a magazine and pretend to read, but really i was listening to all the old men gettin' my education, and understanding that a pipe was the only way to partake of tobacco--

my goodness! was that really 66 years ago?

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

Nobody influenced me, I have an uncle who smoked a pipe 30 years ago and remember liking the smell when I was little but between then and now I can't claim any influence.

I started smoking a pipe because I wanted to experience something different from cigarettes but didn't get into it until I found Dunhill's Nightcap, then put everything in a drawer and forgot about it for a couple of years when I switched from cigarettes to vaping. I still needed the taste of combusted tobacco so I picked up my pipe again and got serious reading about blends, and trying various blends out. Now it's a bit of an obsession.

karam, glad you got into the hobby again after your vaping ventures.. Combustible pipe tobacco has its own aroma which can't be find in other alternatives.. hope you are enjoying your smokes and blends!

Happy Piping!

 

[Dr_Harshit_Joshi]

my grandfather was my first influence toward pipe smoking--
but, i suppose the main influence was all the old guys sitting in the barbershop, smokin' their pipes and tellin' war stories--
i'd pick up a magazine and pretend to read, but really i was listening to all the old men gettin' my education, and understanding that a pipe was the only way to partake of tobacco--

my goodness! was that really 66 years ago?

whitebriar, veterans hold great memories and stories within.. you are fortunate that you experienced all those personally! Hope hobby served you well in all these years..
Enjoy your smokes!
Happy Piping!

 

[karam]

@Dr_Harshit_Joshi I really appreciate you taking the time to answer to everyone!