Your First Pipes

[chilipalmer]

Actively reading the forum over the last few days put me in a nostalgic mood. While ruminating about those thrilling days of yore, I realized I was smoking the first "real" pipe I ever bought and brought a question to mind.
A little backgound. I first picked up a pipe as a sophomore in college; a Medico black bent billiard. Despite being tortured with a steady diet of Borkum Riff cherry, it performed admirably. Before the year was out, I had another Medico and a Dr. Grabow and I fancied myself an authentic piper.
Those were my only pipes for almost a decade, as I came and went with pipe smoking. It was in the mid-1990s that I returned to piping for good. I had fallen in with a group of older pipe smokers at work and they took me in hand and gently but firmly guided me away from the false path of cigarettes into the inner circle of pipe smoking knowledge. After setting me on the path to better and more varied tobacco, they suggested I consider expanding my pipe collection. I took their advice and over three months in the spring of 1994 bought three Aldo Velani pipes. I still have them and after innumerable bowls and a few nicks and dings, they are still great smokers and in my regular rotation.
So, my question is, who remembers the first "real" pipe they bought, what was it, do you still have it, and, if you have it, do you still smoke it? You know the pipe I am talking about: that pipe that let the world know you were a confirmed piper.
Cheers,
Chili

 

[crusader]

First pipe was a Grabow Riviera purchased from Walgreens wit a pouch of Capt. Black white. Still have it and is a great smoker. My first "real" pipe in my mind was a Bjarne I got off eBay and I just smoked some 965 in it.

 

[warren]

It was a Ropp from Woolworths. I knew it would get the coeds. I smoked cigarettes, it appeared the girls preferred profs with pipes. They did. And, they didn't prefer freshmen with pipes, only profs. Took a month to find out there were hockey groupies and they didn't care what player smoked. Life was indeed good.

 

[addamsruspipe]

Grandpa's Savinelli full bent rusticated pipe. Don't smoke it much any more, but will always be in a place of honor on the shelf.

 

[rigmedic1]

I don't possess my first pipes any longer, but I remember them well. My first pipes were a hardwood and a cob, both by Missouri Meerschaum, that I bought at a TG&Y when I was 15. My first Tobacco was Middleton's Cherry blend. My first briar was a Dr. Grabow Omega bent billiard, from a K&B drug store, the iconic New Orleans drug store chain. They are all gone: the pipes, TG&Y, and K&B, but I remember them fondly. Not so much the Middleton's Cherry Blend.

Burned through a lot of Yellowboles and Dr. Grabow's, and still have a Dr.G. Viscount author, that I smoke every once in a while. Stayed on Captain Black and Lane 1Q as my main smoke well into the 1990's, and a blend named Goedewaagen from a local shop that turned out to be McClelland Tastemaster. Didn't discover anything else until Dunhill 965 in 2005. Now I have tried over 350 different blends.

 

[saltedplug]

Grabow bent, sold or given away years ago.

 

[fatbob]

Had been smoking grabows for years but in 96, with my father in law in a tobacco shop, bought a beautiful CAO meershaum. Couldn't really afford it but thought it was important to let him know I recognized and appreciated beauty. It's been 40 years and I still have her.

 

[jndyer]

I first purchased a MM cob, not sure which model and then added a Country Gentleman and a MM hardwood. I really enjoyed learning to smoke with 1-Q and RLP-6. After a couple of months I was able to buy my first briar pipe a bent black rusticated HIS pipe. I still have that and will smoke it from time to time even though it gurgles something fierce.

 

[thomasw]

My first few pipes were three MM cobs, a Peterson and a Medico bent billiard. I bought them back in the mid-80s. I was given my G-dad's two Dunhills in the early 90s after he went to sleep. Both the Peterson and Medico are gone; the Peterson was crushed by a bike just over 15yrs ago; the Medico was lost during an exciting moment while fly fishing on a lake (my son and I both caught beautiful rainbows simultaneously... so during the landing, plop). I don't have those original cobs; my G-dad's Dunhills are still used... one dates from 1940. But my first awesome sought-after and researched pipe purchase was a Castello in 1994; I got it as a present at my one year anniversary from my hardcore wife. It is still a great pipe.

 

[didimauw]

My first real pipe was a grabow lark bent. I smoked the daylights out of that thing. Beat on it, filled it with cake till I couldn't get tobacco in it, and accidentally put it through the washer. A few years after buying it, I lost it. It wasn't until last year I bought a replacement. I like my new lark, but boy do I miss that old one...

 

[Briar Baron]

Orlik De Lux bent billiard. Made in England, bought in the 70s. Still have it but only gets smoked once every year or two. Been spoilt with various higher grade Italian pipes that seem to make up the current rotation

 

[ocpsdan]

My first was a no-name basket pipe. I beat the hell out of it in those early years of pipe smoking. It's been repaired numerous times, and the bowl is horribly cracked. It's retired now. Somewhere under the oxidation there's a pipe there.. but I keep it as a reminder of what I've learned since buying it.
My first good pipe was a Russ Cook. I haven't looked back since then.

 

[cortezattic]

My first pipes were from the corner drugstore: a Medico bulldog and a Kaywoodie H9 Hy-Bole.

The tobacco was Middleton Cherry and Sail Yellow -- though I sampled many blends from the wide array carried by the drugstore.
After a couple of years the Medico burned out as I was careless enough to smoke it outdoors on a windy day.

As for the Kaywoodie, well, the stinger and its ¾-bent shape didn't work well for me, and I didn't smoke it much.

I sold it on eBay a few years ago; and amazingly, it fetched about ten times what I believe I paid for it. I think that H9 shape must have appealed to a Lord Of The Rings fan. That, or someone needed the H9 to fill-out the series of which the H9 was a part.

 

[mso489]

I bought my first pipe in the late '70"s at the local Tinder Box, which is still in the mall in a different location. I still have it, a Tinder Box St. Ives, which is probably a Chacom, a really attractive bent pot with a distinctive vertical saddle stem. I don't see many like it. It is still a good smoker. I wipe out the bowls on my pipes, don't build cake, and don't own a reamer, and this has kept my pipes nicely over the years. I smoked one of Tinder Box's re-named blends, North Sea for one, and probably 1-Q, whatever Tinder Box called that. The stain on the pipe is a light brown/maple color, although the pipe is briar. i can't remember how much I paid -- somewhere between $12 and $25 I'd guess, though that range was more then than it is now.

 

[briarblues]

I do not have either my first pipe ( given to me by my parents ) nor the first pipe I purchased for myself.
The first ever pipe was a Yello Bowl straight pear shape. My parents also gave me a pouch of Borkum Riff. I smoked 1 bowl, burnt my mouth and tongue. Emptied the bowl and the yellow bowl liner fell out. Did not try a pipe again for about 5 years.
First pipe I bought myself was a Danish Sport, bent billiard, made in Italy. Smoked it for a while and then learned a little more about pipes and bought Stanwell's then after for many years.
Regards

Michael J. Glukler

 

[tschiraldi]

My first pipe were my Dad's old pipes that were given to me by a good friend to whom my Dad had given them to 20 years prior. A Castello Old Antiquari pot, a Caminetto Business Calabash, a Comoy's Golden Grain skater, and 2 Savinelli Nonpareils. All old, all in great shape! I still have them and smoke them regularly. I suppose this is why I love Italian pipes.

Tim

 

[jpmcwjr]

First pipe was a re-gifted Dunhill. Sadly, due to my mishandling, it got cracked (run over by street cleaner) and then lost. The first pipe I bought I still have, what a piece of crap. Tiny bowl, varnished, metal inserts, paper filter. Can't find it right now, so can't give the name.

 

[mso489]

Referencing my earlier post, I still have a soft spot for Tinder Box. It's a chain. The tobacco prices are pretty high. Last time I was there, the pipe wall had visibly diminished. But when I bought my first pipe, they had great house pipes at moderate prices. In the mall, they've never had a smoking area. But they helped me get started in a supportive and informative way.

 

[glassjapan]

I was regular cigar smoker for years and had always wondered about a pipe. I picked up a MM cob and said if I ended up enjoying pipe smoking I'd get a pipe commissioned. My first tin was some Escudo and when that was gone I went thru a few tins of FVF trying to figure it out. Once I felt good about it, I got in touch with Rad Davis in '07 and got him to make me a smooth bent egg. It's still one of my favorites and it smokes like a dream.