Your first pipe smoking role model

[johnnyreb]

The strange old eccentric who stood outside the Perkins downtown with his beard, his briar, and his windcap between cups of coffee at all hours of the night.

I never got to thank you for that quarter you threw in my cup either. LOL!

An older fellow with an impressive beard walking around downtown during an art fair.

Sounds like several of us could fit that bill.

 

[eriksmokes85]

Bing crosby for me. I used to think if I smoked a pipe my voice would be like his.

 

[shutterbugg]

Popeye.
But seriously, my dad's buddy. He carred a man-purse (looked like a miniature briefcase) with his wallet, car keys, pipes and tobacco and accessories and a bakelite cigarette case with a pack of unfiltered Camels. Smoked a homebrew of Edgeworth RR, Borkum Riff and Amphora, which he mispronounced amorpha. Smelled pretty decent, but I tried it later when I started smoking a pipe. Compared to the B&M blends I was used to, it tasted like crap. But actually my reason for starting to smoke a pipe was in college the girls in class put up a stink about me smoking cigars, but they were all like "oooh we love the smell of a pipe!" so I got me some English and showed 'em a stank worse than any cigar :D

 

[bentmike]

My Dad in the late70's.

 

[haroldt]

Fred MacMurray on My Three Sons and two uncles

 

[jollyroger]

My military commander named Michael. He had the tendency of lighting his pipe after contact or other stressful situations and his sudden relaxed composure calmed me.

Nearing the end of my tour, an unfortunate turn of events left me without any means of evacuating a hostile village after having long out stayed the period of time that was planned.

After several hours I got radio notice to prepare for hot evac. I therefor expected either an airborne or armored transport and was therefore in absolute awe when I witnessed Michael blazing down the most dangerous village road in an unarmored jeep. He stopped right in front of me generating a cloud of dust and I ran in only to see him wink at me with his pipe in mouth and smoking. Said "sit tight son" and drove out like a bat out of hell while being targeted left and right.

When he said those three words he became the coolest entity on the entire planet to me and I could never get that smoldering pipe and his almost detached expression out of my mind.

We're still friends today though I don't get to see him enough.

 

[maxx]

Dad, Uncle Neil, Fred MacMurray, Bing Crosby, Sherlock Holmes, Hugh Heffner, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, American Indians.

 

[okiescout]

My dad, and an old gentlemen I worked for as a very young man.

 

[deathmetal]

The story about Michael is great. Heroes walk among us.

 

[jollyroger]

Michael is a unicorn. He set the standard of bravery and devotion so impossibly high that everybody around him became far more committed and brave just from knowing he was nearby. His voice on the com was enough to get people amped and all the more determined.

Last we met he still smoked his pipes regularly, but oddly enough he never smokes any pipe that finished a tour. Just places it on a shelf and moves on. The pipe I have engraved in memory wasn't there so I guess it was ruined or lost.

I guess we all have our own quirks.

 

[jkrug]

My uncle George. Always loved the smell of his pipe when we visited. He was never without it. ::

 

[drezz01]

Didn't know any pipe smokers personally growing up. Like many, I'm sure, Lord of The Rings played a big role. Their pipes not only seemed like a thoughtful and enjoyable past time but like constant companions no matter where an adventure took them.

 

[okiescout]

Jollyroger, great avatar. Thanks for your service!

 

[deathmetal]

He set the standard of bravery and devotion so impossibly high that everybody around him became far more committed and brave just from knowing he was nearby.

A management expert described this phenomena to me as "nurture": how exceptional individuals (or horrible ones) shape organizations in their own image.

 

[markus]

First: My Grandfather, he would smoke every evening in front of the TV and he would sometimes tell me stories while smoking. He used to mix Middleton's Cherry Blend With Captain Black and I remember that it smelled delicious.
Second: The Lord of The Rings, I read the books as a kid and remember the picturesque descriptions as the hobbits and Gandalf smoked their pipes.
Third: Sherlock Holmes, I started reading the books a couple years ago and was inspired all over again.

 

[docspipe]

Pictures of my father from WWII with pipe in hand.

 

[docspipe]

Surprisingly, my dad didn't smoke a pipe while we were growing up that I remember. I found his pipes, and some of his brother's pipes that I still have. Nice remembrance.

 

[docspipe]

The first pipe I smoked from was one of my dad's Dr Grabow's. A nice slim billiard with a decent (and not too chunky like they have now) stem. That was 40 years ago. Cracked the end of the stem the stem a long while ago, but still have the pipe in a nice pipe rest on my bureau.