When Is A Pipe Pretentious?

[mso489]

Pipes and/or pipe smoking is sometimes called pretentious, or unpretentious. How so? Pretentious means claiming a position of distinction or merit especially when unjustified. I think it is maybe that the pipe gives the impression that its smoker is pretentious. I was once complimented by my local independent pipe shop owner for smoking an unpretentious pipe (Savenelli unfinished 404 zulu with more than a decade on it). My wife likes a Casano unfinished briar Calabash shape (or is it a Dublin) for being unassuming. But wait. Does that mean the guy at the pipe show smoking the Cavalier shape or a clearly very expensive artisanal pipe is pretentious? What position of distinction or merit is he claiming other than presumably owning the pipe in his mouth? I think this is a tricky usage. It's the pipe smoker who may be pretentious, and the pipe may be a prop in that, but I'd be cautious about judging.

 

[phred]

Yeah, it's one of those things that's tricky to define. There are some pipe smokers out there who just make the pipe look like an affectation, rather than something that they truly enjoy. I knew a guy in college who tried to radically change his persona sometime around my junior year - he went from a longhaired surfer dude to a bearded, tweed-jacket-with-elbow-patches pipe-smoking would-be professor practically overnight, and those of us who'd known him before laughed ourselves sick... The whole look screamed "pretentious git" to anyone who knew him. Those who didn't, though, could easily have assumed him to be studious and thoughtful, as I have to admit he pulled off the look remarkably well.
In a similar vein, I saw a fellow out for a spin on his scooter the other day (painted in Denver Broncos colors), wearing horn rimmed glasses, a bowler hat, and smoking a Missouri Meerschaum pipe while toodling along. I suspect, based on first impressions, that he would either be a charming eccentric that I'd get along famously with, or he'd be a raging hipster that I would not get along with at all. Hard to tell just from externals, really.

 

[beastkhk]

I think there are a couple different comparisons there. Pretentious as a pipe smoker to a non-smoker and then pretentious amongst pipe smoking peers.
I think the former happens more often then the latter.
Personally, from my behavior, I think some of it might come from if I am smoking and clenching a pipe I talk a lot less. Non-smokers might think that is due to some ego created by having a pipe and that I feel I am too good to have an in depth conversation with them, but in reality it is because I have something in my mouth making it more difficult to speak.

 

[voorhees]

I can see both sides, but I also have a "Go Man!" attitude, seeing someone sporting epic facial hair or a unique mustache has always been something I enjoy seeing. So, as a pipe smoker I would enjoy seeing a fellow clenching say a artisan blow fish. However pipes elicit strange looks most of the time anyway.

 

[mikestanley]

IMHO, a pipe is only pretentious when smoked by one who is pretentious. Now, perhaps some pipes are a bit "much" in public but any pipe can be pretentious, given the "right" owner.
Mike S.

 

[menuhin]

I immediately think of this pipe smoking girl on YouTube
Pipe Smoke Inhaling Girl

 

[voorhees]

Boy she is trying too hard. However she makes me have happy shorts for some reason.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Geeeeez! Well that pipe probably burned out a long time ago.

 

[menuhin]

She's basically saying "look, I'm smoking a pipe", with all the inhaling and over-puffing despite potential tongue-bite. Luckily, she seem to be smoking a 9mm-filtered pipe.

She may well be a German partly because of her look, and partly because 9mm-filtered pipes are most popular in Germany. I hope her friends can guide her to smoke more patiently.
So far my pipe-smoking is mostly very solitary, only by myself or with a few closer pipe-smoking friends.

 

[dustmite]

I don't think it's possible for a pipe to be pretentious. The man or woman holding it is another story...

 

[beastkhk]

I don't know, with "XXX" in her name and fetish in the video title I think she might be over emphasizing the pipe smoking on purpose.
I can see where the pretentious vibe might be picked up, but would argue that the pipe in that video could have been replaced with a cigar or cigarette and the attitude would likely come off the same.(which makes me wonder if it is intentional for character purposes)

 

[jmill208]

Boy she is trying too hard. However she makes me have happy shorts for some reason.

Ditto.
It's hard to watch, but it's not. (I watched it twice!?)

 

[johnnyreb]

Maybe she is sending a message or "Sexting" with her husband-to-be. Anyone else notice the big diamond ring?

 

[warren]

Mike has it right in my opinion. When the pipe doesn't look as though it "belongs" in the picture, it's an affectation, ergo, pretentious.

 

[mso489]

Sure, when the pipe is a prop and seems to be smoking the pipe smoker, when things feel stagy, as if the person is trying to attract attention, or scare off the riffraff with their sophistication, pretension is a definite possibility, I'd guess. But then again, there were probably a few tourists at Princeton University who thought that funny guy with the uncombed hair smoking the pipe was pretentious, maybe an old hipster ... Einstein I mean.

 

[phil67]

Number one... the video is asinine and has nothing whatsoever to do with pipe smoking. More likely than not she is a cigarette smoker as she is constantly inhaling, chugging on that sucker like a locomotive and probably the first time she has ever smoked a pipe merely for making a video.
As for the term pretentious when it comes to smoking a pipe it never entered my mind, nor do I honestly think that anyone knows, much less care what type of pipe you are smoking as it really doesn't mean anything to them, unless they know about pipes and are pipe smokers themselves. It wouldn't bother me in the least, much less would I give a damn if I lighted up a cob in the Iwan Ries smoking lounge which I have done in the past. People who see someone smoking a pipe (and are not pipe smokers) might possibly be somewhat puzzled, amused, etc., but I can assure you they could give a damn what type/style of pipe you are smoking as to them it's simply a 'pipe' and nothing more. Come to think of it... that's exactly the way I feel! If the term pretentious is to be used it would apply to the one smoking the pipe and feeling that the pipe he/she is smoking somehow makes an impression on others. If so, they are indeed pretentious and only fooling themselves. Bottom line... not my kind of people. :wink:

 

[joshb83]

I can only speak on observations, but it would seem that piping has become more a conversational piece. Anywhere I am, if I'm smoking a pipe I always end up in a polite conversation asking about the "art" of piping. I think the pretentiousness is more in the eye of the public. Some people just give off a blue blood look, or a "holier than thou" persona. I've never run into a person that ever gives me a smug look about my hobby. It's usually always met with a strange glance, or a polite smile, or an immediate question. I'm sure there are plenty of people that can see us differently. But in my personal experience I think the pretentiousness is based off the persona of the piper and not the pipe.

 

[pipebaum81]

The pipe is not pretentious; it’s a block of wood or clay. The smoker has the ability to be though. Ask yourself this: When heading out the door to an annual pipe show, which pipe do you grab? Which pipe do you wish to be seen smoking?" To that same regard, which pipe would you bring along with you the first time you attended a new pipe club?
If these decisions are given any thought beyond "well, it is "fill-in-the-blank" day so my rotation dictates I smoke this pipe" then we have to acknowledge that we as a community are prone to some level of pretention.
One might say that the pipe doesn’t define the man. Ok, I like that but if I had ever had the opportunity to meet, say the late Master Craftsman, Paulo Becker, and he was smoking a Dr. Grabow I would have a lot to contemplate, would I not? What we do with said pretention is of course up to us.
j/B

 

[carytobacco]

Any pipe more expensive than the one I'm currently smoking is pretentious.

 

[johnnyreb]

All things being equal and smoking not being against any league rules or city ordinances, etc I think you would appear to be out of place and quite pretentious standing on the sidelines of your child's soccer game smoking an XL Sherlock Holmes style Calabash pipe but not out of the norm or even noticeable if you were smoking an ordinary bulldog. I see the perception by others of being pretentious more along the lines of the appropriateness of the situation than the monetary or perceived value of a brand name. Overkill is always going to be perceived by others as being pretentious.