I'm rather proud of my pipe fetishes. I am also a proud pipe snob, ha ha. Well... I want to be a snob. I'm working on it, ...maybe one day. I'm learning, ha ha.
When Is A Pipe Pretentious?
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"IMHO, a pipe is only pretentious when smoked by one who is pretentious."
I agree, and to wit, consider this quote from Carl Weber's book titled "Weber's Guide to Pipes and Pipe Smoking":
"Not enough attention has been give to the pipe smoker's manner, or style, as he holds and uses his pipe. This can be as great an art and as esthetic as the pouring of tea in Japan--and, indeed, may reveal the personality of the whole man. Never fidget with a pipe. Hold it quietly, lovingly, and unostentatiously, as though born with one in hand. Observe any English actor who has true presence, with pipe in mouth or simply resting in hand. What does he do? Virtually nothing. He makes smoking seem as natural as breathing--the pipe seems a mere appendage to his hand. Yet next time you see him, try to estimate how much this seemingly innocent dexterity adds to his charm!"
Further on in that book he states, "Literary aficionados of the pipe have included such able authors as Thackeray, famous for this quotation, 'The pipe draws wisdom from the lips of the philosopher and shuts up the mouth of the foolish; it generates a style of conversation contemplative, thoughtful, benevolent and unaffected.'"
To both of these quotes I say Amen!
I agree, and to wit, consider this quote from Carl Weber's book titled "Weber's Guide to Pipes and Pipe Smoking":
"Not enough attention has been give to the pipe smoker's manner, or style, as he holds and uses his pipe. This can be as great an art and as esthetic as the pouring of tea in Japan--and, indeed, may reveal the personality of the whole man. Never fidget with a pipe. Hold it quietly, lovingly, and unostentatiously, as though born with one in hand. Observe any English actor who has true presence, with pipe in mouth or simply resting in hand. What does he do? Virtually nothing. He makes smoking seem as natural as breathing--the pipe seems a mere appendage to his hand. Yet next time you see him, try to estimate how much this seemingly innocent dexterity adds to his charm!"
Further on in that book he states, "Literary aficionados of the pipe have included such able authors as Thackeray, famous for this quotation, 'The pipe draws wisdom from the lips of the philosopher and shuts up the mouth of the foolish; it generates a style of conversation contemplative, thoughtful, benevolent and unaffected.'"
To both of these quotes I say Amen!
A friend of mine deals with pipe smokers and cigar smokers daily. She said that pipe smokers are far and away the first to get rude and are much harder to please.
I was pretty shocked by this, since my experience has always been good with pipe AND cigar smokers.
I dunno if it qualifies as pretentious though, but I found that to be an interesting observation.
I was pretty shocked by this, since my experience has always been good with pipe AND cigar smokers.
I dunno if it qualifies as pretentious though, but I found that to be an interesting observation.
When it's not a Dr. Grabow
When it's not a cob
When it's clean
Lol with Kevin, who never fails to remind us that he used to work in the pron industry (on the business side) :rofl:
When it's not a cob
When it's clean
Lol with Kevin, who never fails to remind us that he used to work in the pron industry (on the business side) :rofl:
Hunter: It's a good thing Thackeray missed missed the computer, forum, instagram and twitter generations. The pipe does nothing to slow the fingers on a keyboard.
Okay, indulge me in a bit of over-thinking here. Maybe "pretentious" is one of those judgement or judgmental words. Sentimentality, correctly used, means unearned emotion, emotion for show, but some flinty cynics think any strong emotion is sentimental. Likewise, hypocrisy means saying one thing and doing another, but is frequently used to dismiss any difficult balancing of conflicting values. So a certain amount of what you hear with words like this is the sensibility of the speaker or writer. You have to know the speaker or writer to know if their observation is valid or simply name-calling without basis in fact. Just a thought.
A certain pipe smoker can be affected, and if he's smoking a Bang and if he is affected, he will probably tell you what he's smoking so as to further his affectation; but I don't think an object can in any case be judged affected. It only has the qualities that humans ascribe to it.
Pipe smokers on the whole are more intelligent and educated than the general population, and if you participate on a cigar forum, it is immediately obvious that pipe smokers are much better writers. My take is that if cigar smokers want to control the perceptions of others, they become belligerent; but pipe smokers could be said to use arrogance for at least a similar purpose, and in this case their intelligence and education is used to further that ruse.
Pipe smokers on the whole are more intelligent and educated than the general population, and if you participate on a cigar forum, it is immediately obvious that pipe smokers are much better writers. My take is that if cigar smokers want to control the perceptions of others, they become belligerent; but pipe smokers could be said to use arrogance for at least a similar purpose, and in this case their intelligence and education is used to further that ruse.
I suspect you're right a least to some degree. We pipe smokers consider it to be at the apex of tobacco consumption. And for that reason we look down on the rest. The old adage "cigarettes are to be smoked, cigars to be enjoyed but pipes are to be savored" was doubtlessly penned by a pipe smoker. You can almost feel the distain!!!
Except for pipe clubs and pipe shows, most pipe smoking is done in solitude, so if pipe smoking is pretentious, it must be ourselves we are subjecting to pretense. This is because of restrictions, rules, statues and laws relating to smoking in general. Cigar smokers seem to be a little more inclined to find audiences for their habit, whether at lounges, the horse track, or at social events that provide smoking areas. I suspect there are people in their teens and twenties who have never seen a pipe being smoked in person ... maybe on old TV shows and in films.
To be pretentious, you must be unlike others around you. But to be unlike others around you is not necessarily to be pretentious. "You think you're better than us," is the accusation. Richer, smarter, beyond how we classify ourselves. You're exclusionary, arrogant, and pompous, as if you are above our class. But some people are in fact richer or smarter, or better looking or tougher. They aren't pretending to be; they are. The social push towards egalitarianism has the consequence of moral judgments against the rational discrimination among real differences in human capacity and achievement. In a culture where pipe smoking was common, the pipe smoker couldn't be judged pretentious for smoking a pipe, per se, but only for smoking particular kinds of pipes.
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