The Price Of Tobacco

[Puffy]

I bought my first pipe tobacco back in 1971.Today tobacco costs about four times what it did back then.I guess that's not really all that bad though,if you consider how much some other things have gone up since then.Still each time I have to pay more for tobacco than I did the time before I get irritated and feel that I'm being taken advantage of.I don't really understand why that is though because I can't remember a time during those 40 years that I didn't have at least some tobacco to smoke.I'm sure that like it has in the past the price of pipe tobacco will continue to rise in the future.I guess I will try to adjust my attitude,pay what ever tobacco costs and keep smoking,After all this time I don't have any plans to stop.I'm not sure as to how many young folks will decide to start paying those prices for tobacco though.

 

[Hermit]

Today tobacco costs about four times what it did back then.

Next year it might cost four times as much as it does today. :twisted:

 

[Muddler]

Go buy yourself a box of cigars, then tell us how cheap pipe tobacco is. 50c per bowl compared to $10 a stick.

 

[Hunter5117]

Our friends to the north can tell us about high tobacco prices! I think the tax alone in Alberta is close to $200 per lb, I am very thankful that we are still paying what we are and can get it shipped to us from our friendly e-tailers.

 

[clueless]

Actually I think it is just as likely that if young people understand the cost of pipe tobacco we could all benefit greatly. I have found pipe smoking is much more economical than any other form of tobacco use. If more people realize this, and come to appreciate the infinite variety and tastes available, they could flock to it. That would encourage more producers and blends and be great for all.

I heard Letterman say last night that cigarettes are now $12 a pack in New York. I haven't seen that for my wifes smokes yet but $10 a pack is still 50 cents for a chemically laden, nasty tasting, 5-6 minute smoke.

Of course there are a lot better tastes available in cigars than cigarettes. When I did those for a few years $15, $20, and higher DAYS were the norm. And the tastes were still not what we get from our briars, cobs, and meers.

Yes, prices have gone up. They will go up more. I think we, as pipe smokers, probably get more pleasure - and value - per dollar than most.

Light 'em up and spread the word.

 

[glpease]

I bought my first pipe tobacco back in 1971.Today tobacco costs about four times what it did back then.I guess that's not really all that bad though,if you consider how much some other things have gone up since then.Still each time I have to pay more for tobacco than I did the time before I get irritated and feel that I'm being taken advantage of.I don't really understand why that is though because I can't remember a time during those 40 years that I didn't have at least some tobacco to smoke.I'm sure that like it has in the past the price of pipe tobacco will continue to rise in the future.I guess I will try to adjust my attitude,pay what ever tobacco costs and keep smoking,After all this time I don't have any plans to stop.I'm not sure as to how many young folks will decide to start paying those prices for tobacco though.

I was thinking about this too, recently, after looking at a 1940s Wally Frank catalogue. Pipe tobaccos then were pennies per ounce.

When I started smoking a pipe, about 1980, I was paying between $2.75 and $3.50 for 50g tins. Today, it's about quadruple that amount, and much of that increase is caused by the taxes that are levied at every point in the production and sale of the stuff. Which means, of course, that while the government is certainly getting more out of the deail, those in the industry, from the grower through the retailer, are making quite a bit less, when adjusted for inflation, than they/we were 30 years ago. Of course, being in the business, this "discovery" doesn't thrill me.

On the other hand, I can't think of too many things that have risen less in price over the last 30 years. In 1980, a loaf of bread was about 50¢.

 

[ZeroContent]

Time to start going your own.

 

[Greenleaf]

Muddler, clueless: damn right. But, I'll never quit being pissed off about what they're doing to my leaves. It breaks the heart. But, hell, young people are alreay blowing money at the club or the mall or whatever, so they should not be deterred or ever forget that tobacco is more important than all that petty ****. Yeah, and some hipster punk spending $96 for a Starbucks coffee has no reason to worry about the price of PA. Hell, why even go to Starbucks when you can't smoke there? We can't even go smoke at the damn Waffle House anymore! I miss coffee and smoking at Waffle House, now I must take my coffee at home. Do everything at home, where the whole damn place is a smoking section.

Anti-smokers, rot in hell.

 

[Muddler]

Nothing like a good old Greenleaf rant!

 

[mark]

Yeah Mud, he's almost gotten to the point where he'll cut loose and tell us how he really feels,,,,a little subtle, but if you read between the lines you can make out the jist of it,,,,

 

[Skip48]

Ya know this is one reason I want to build as much as fast as I can get away with. I mean just look at what they have done to cigs (not that I care about them now). I remember back in the 1960' I could buy a gallon of gas and a pack of cigs for the same price and that price was $0.25. That's right twenty five cents a pack.

So if your government decides to tax the sin stuff more (which is going to happen) sooner or later they will hit our little secret of lower price compared to lots of other things from then.

So I am adding tins as I can and I may say at a fast clip for me and also bulk which I intend on loading up on 2015 with such a better price and about as good as any of it. The rest will be my surprise treats as time moves on. I am thinking at least another 5 pounds of 2015 for me soon. I have several 8 Oz. tins and want a lot more of them in the right stuff. Problem is a lot of what we all like only comes in 50G tins and that stinks.

Skip

 

[Justpipes]

Tax revolt.

 

[yvesmary]

Our friends to the north can tell us about high tobacco prices! I think the tax alone in Alberta is close to $200 per lb, I am very thankful that we are still paying what we are and can get it shipped to us from our friendly e-tailers.

A pouch of Amphora Brown is $28.99 at a local convenient store. 9 pouches is just short of a pound so that makes it over $260 a pound. :shock:

 

[SmokeyTweed]

Yves,

You should make a trip up to Edmonton, on whyte ave. there is a little b&m with fairly decent Canadian prices. Right now you can get a pound of tobacco for about $186-$196 i think. Also there are usually a few characters there as well to spread some good tobacco stories. (also a great selection of tobaccos as well)

www.tobacconist.ca should take you right to the site.

1 oz- around 18 bucks
cost to fill my civic up - 45 bucks
1 bottle beer at a bar - $5.50, Guinness $7.20
Cup of coffee from someone called a "barista" - $3.20
Ticket to the movie theatre - $12.50 or $14.50 in 3D!

The only one i'd consider a bargain is the civic actually.

 

[Greenleaf]

Smokey, here's a list of my own we ought to consider. These were my staples when I was dead broke as a fast food worker. Most still are mainstays and have all doubled in price in the past several years. Real wages have not increased, nor have opportunities for employment.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit day pass: $4, was $2
Carton of Camels: $55, was $25
Dozen eggs: $1.50, was 75 cents
Pouch of CH: $6, was $2.50
Fifth of Jim Beam: $18, was $12

Well, the list could go on and that's not counting all the items that are "shrinking." A government, a nation that will not give so many citizens the simple chance in life to make a living will proudly tax into extinction one of the few pleasures remaining to the common man.

I've always thought of expatriating. My country isn't my home--my apartment is. That is, if you believe "countries" really still exist.

 

[yvesmary]

Yves,

You should make a trip up to Edmonton, on whyte ave. there is a little b&m with fairly decent Canadian prices. Right now you can get a pound of tobacco for about $186-$196 i think. Also there are usually a few characters there as well to spread some good tobacco stories. (also a great selection of tobaccos as well)

www.tobacconist.ca should take you right to the site.

1 oz- around 18 bucks
cost to fill my civic up - 45 bucks
1 bottle beer at a bar - $5.50, Guinness $7.20
Cup of coffee from someone called a "barista" - $3.20
Ticket to the movie theatre - $12.50 or $14.50 in 3D!

The only one i'd consider a bargain is the civic actually.

Thanks Smokey. Glad to know Burlington-on-Whyte is still there.

I don't get to Edmonton too often and when I do it's usually a rush job to get my shopping done.

But I'll have to stop in one of these days.

 

[Dutch]

I remember as a kid my dad telling me he went to the movies around 1945 for ten cents, and a coke cost a nickel. I went to the movies recently and paid around $30 for two tickets, cokes and popcorn.

Hell I guess if I'm gonna pay to watch two liberals pretend to be something they're not, I deserve to pay even more than that!

 

[RealtorFrank]

I remember as a kid my dad telling me he went to the movies around 1945 for ten cents, and a coke cost a nickel. I went to the movies recently and paid around $30 for two tickets, cokes and popcorn.

Hell I guess if I'm gonna pay to watch two liberals pretend to be something they're not, I deserve to pay even more than that!

Well said, I hear those stories as well. I can't even justify going to the movies anymore. Another example, i'm 26 when I started driving at 16 here in TN, I remember getting gas for 99 cents a gallon, now it's $2.70-$3, and that was only ten years ago.

 

[daveinlax]

Compared to everything else in my world tobacco has stayed about same price for a few years now. Mail ordered I pay $2.25 an oz for my Mc Celland bulk and less that a $1.50 per stick for my favorite hand rolled cigars including shipping. I usually buy way more than twice what I smoke and have built a fairly good size cellar for the day we are paying the Canadian tax rate for tobacco.

:shock:

 

[OldWorldMonkey]

... after looking at a 1940s Wally Frank catalogue. Pipe tobaccos then were pennies per ounce.

Many posts seem to lament low tobacco prices from decades ago without a nod to our friend, inflation (depreciation of money). In the rush to blame taxes and consumers (or the lack of consumers) we cannot be so hasty as to forget the differences between real and nominal dollars. Tobacco did cost less in the recent past, but so did everything else. People also made much less.

Pennies per ounce is not as economical when one's salary is less than $1500 annually. Even in the 1970s the average annual income for an American was below $10,000.

Those twenty five cents Skip spent to purchase a pack of cigarettes in the '60s could buy a $7 pack today.
In fact, given the Depression, it's likely that purchasing Tobacco for let's say 5 cents an ounce in 1940 would have been like purchasing it for over $60 an ounce today.
That is, if we forget about inflation.

Even with inflation, Skip's 25 cents would still be worth about $2 today. Any additional price increases that make your carton $3 or $6 are those other factors mentioned already— supply/demand, taxes, branding, etc. etc.

Food for thought...