What led us to pipes?

[UkuleleDude67]

I first started pipe smoking because I had a theatre director that smoked falcon pipes and what I found out later was SWRA. I was a young punk actor trying to be Orson Wells. So I got some straight Dr Grabows. I knew that you had to have more than 1. I smoked in New York but just stuff from news stands. I quit pipes and jumped in to a 25 year love hate relationship with cigarettes. I quit smoking. For my son’s stag party he didn’t want cigars, he wanted pipes. I went t and bought some of the cheapest MM cobs and vanilla tobacco. I kept the tobacco and pulled out my dr Grabows from 1985. I was a pipe smoker again for real this time.

 

[D.L.Ruth]

I kind of started during my first deployment to Iraq. Just ordered a pipe and tobacco online and smoked it for a bit, but went back to cigarettes. Then started smoking cigars but at 10-20 bucks per cigar was to pricey. So I switched back to pipes. I enjoy the pipes over cigars, better tobaccos in my opinion.

 

[Ranger107]

My Dad smoked a pipe off and on. I quit cigarettes after I got out of the service. When I started college there was a quaint little pipe shop in campus town. Went in on a whim and decided to try a pipe. The older gentleman who ran the shop sold me a Guildhall billiard, a Comoys 2nd, and a tin of McBaren Golden Blend. He was a kindly gentleman who knew everything about pipes and tobacco. From there you can guess the rest of the story. 53 years later, and still enjoying the habit, lol.

 

[Balisong]

I was introduced to pipe smoking when I was 4 or 5 at Jordan Marsh, a long gone department store in Boston. My mother and I were shopping in the men's department when a scent caught my attention. I followed the scent until my mother caught up with me. She told me it was the pipe that the man I was following was smoking and I could smoke one when I was old enough.

In the summer of my 16th year I reminded my mother of that day and she granted her permission but I couldn't smoke cigarettes. I went to CVS and bought a Dr. Grabow and a pouch of tobacco. I smoked it like a stove and bubbled the finish. I sanded it down and continued to try different tobaccos, the cigarettes were still better. My high school TV teacher smoked a pipe so I asked what he smoked. He liked Mac Baren Virginia No. 1 and said that Peretti's in Park Square had it, I got a tin that weekend. It was much better than the drug store blends and I started my journey from there.

 

[Swede]

My Dad had an old pipe stand, several briars, and old dried out tobacco in the middle storage part of the stand. I tried that, but didn't realize not to inhale, so no allure at that time. In college, we had a pipe shop on the square. After eating at a Chinese restaurant down there one day, I wondered into the shop and left with a shop brand (Bowling Green Pipes) house sitter briar pipe (still have and smoke 40 years later) and some cavendish if I remember correctly. Later, I bought a CAO meerschaum from them. The pipes went into hiding until about 2017, when I tired of two years of high cigar prices. I stopped cigars and pipes entirely until about 2019 or 2020. It was just in time to miss out on all the McClelland tobacco that was left from 2017. I regret not trying it, and also all the blends the pipe shop must have had back then.

 

[Eutychus]

In the ‘70s while we were undergrads at Cal, my best friend took up pipe smoking and bought his pipes and tobacco at the Drucquer & Sons store on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. It had no appeal to me at the time, but somehow over time the idea began to appeal to me. In the mid ‘80s I had moved back to the Bay Area and decided to give pipes a try. By then the Berkeley shop had closed, but the Drucquer & Sons Piedmont Ave. store in North Oakland was still in business. I’d stop by about once a week and get advice about pipes, pipe tobacco and, occasionally, cigars. I can’t remember it all, but my favorite pipe was my Peterson system pipe, and some of my favorite tobaccos were Drucquer & Sons 805 blend, Balkan Sobranie, and Escudo. In ‘89 I moved back to my home town of Lodi, and still smoked, but with decreasing frequency. After getting married I put away my pipes and tobacco and when we moved to Louisville in ‘99 I off-loaded my pipes in a moving sale. With horror I recall pitching out an unopened can of 805. I retired at the end of last year and thought I would enjoy smoking pipes again, and I was correct. In fact I enjoy it now more than I ever did. And what a pleasure it is to be part of this little online community to share the simple pleasures of pipe smoking.

 

[Idlefellow]

From a fairly early age I knew I would smoke a pipe and drink Scotch whisky; both just seemed to be the epitome of class and cool. Started both while in college, back when the profs could smoke in the classroom and you had to sneak the whisky into the dorm. I've had the occasional lapse in both over the years. These days I don't smoke nearly as much as I used to, but probably drink more than I should .

 

[ftrplt]

Grew up "Down South" around lots of tobacco; but never smoked cigarettes (even growing up around and working for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co!!). Lots of pipe smokers back then; mostly SWR, Half & Half, Granger, CH, PA, and other "codger/drug store" blends. I got hooked during my freshman year in college. Instructors/professors & students could, and did, smoke during class back then!!! That pipe smoke aroma was overwhelming!! So I trotted over to a local smoke shop (where I later worked!!) and started my journey. First pipe was a Dr. Grabow; second a Dr. Plumb!! First tobacco was Half & Half. Sixty years later I'm still at it!! FTRPLT

 

[Bud Savoie01]

I bought my first pipe in early September 1961 as I entered my freshman year of college. For one dollar I received a briar pipe, a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh, and a booklet by the same company on how to smoke, care for, and clean a pipe. In spite of the informative booklet, I must have made every mistake a fledgling pipester could make. Very many of my classmates also bought pipes, since those were the days when pipe smoking was considered "collegiate." I don't know whether the same picture is still in the minds of today's collegians. At any rate, by the time of graduation, I was one of the comparative few who had managed to master [?] the art and was still at it. During my Vietnam stint, my tobacconist used to; send me two pounds of tobacco at a time.

 

[Eutychus]

In the ‘70s while we were undergrads at Cal, my best friend took up pipe smoking and bought his pipes and tobacco at the Drucquer & Sons store on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. It had no appeal to me at the time, but somehow over time the idea began to appeal to me. In the mid ‘80s I had moved back to the Bay Area and decided to give pipes a try. By then the Berkeley shop had closed, but the Drucquer & Sons Piedmont Ave. store in North Oakland was still in business. I’d stop by about once a week and get advice about pipes, pipe tobacco and, occasionally, cigars. I can’t remember it all, but my favorite pipe was my Peterson system pipe, and some of my favorite tobaccos were Drucquer & Sons 805 blend, Balkan Sobranie, and Escudo. In ‘89 I moved back to my home town of Lodi, and still smoked, but with decreasing frequency. After getting married I put away my pipes and tobacco and when we moved to Louisville in ‘99 I off-loaded my pipes in a moving sale. With horror I recall pitching out an unopened can of 805. I retired at the end of last year and thought I would enjoy smoking pipes again, and I was correct. In fact I enjoy it now more than I ever did. And what a pleasure it is to be part of this little online community to share the simple pleasures of pipe smoking.

It ain’t funny @Ranger107

 

[Swede]

In the ‘70s while we were undergrads at Cal, my best friend took up pipe smoking and bought his pipes and tobacco at the Drucquer & Sons store on Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. It had no appeal to me at the time, but somehow over time the idea began to appeal to me. In the mid ‘80s I had moved back to the Bay Area and decided to give pipes a try. By then the Berkeley shop had closed, but the Drucquer & Sons Piedmont Ave. store in North Oakland was still in business. I’d stop by about once a week and get advice about pipes, pipe tobacco and, occasionally, cigars. I can’t remember it all, but my favorite pipe was my Peterson system pipe, and some of my favorite tobaccos were Drucquer & Sons 805 blend, Balkan Sobranie, and Escudo. In ‘89 I moved back to my home town of Lodi, and still smoked, but with decreasing frequency. After getting married I put away my pipes and tobacco and when we moved to Louisville in ‘99 I off-loaded my pipes in a moving sale. With horror I recall pitching out an unopened can of 805. I retired at the end of last year and thought I would enjoy smoking pipes again, and I was correct. In fact I enjoy it now more than I ever did. And what a pleasure it is to be part of this little online community to share the simple pleasures of pipe smoking.

I see that the Drucquer 805 had Dubec in it. The Straus Tobacconist Independence blend has the same tobacco.

 

[Ranger107]

It ain’t funny @Ranger107

Depends on how you look at it. I did the same thing in 2015. Sold all but 3 pipes. When we moved to Prescott in 2016 decided to take it up again. Spent a ton of money replacing 50 or so pipes mostly from the 70s and 80s. Could have kicked myself, lol.

 

[Ranger107]

All these posts bring back a lot of memories. As an undergrad at Iowa State we could smoke a pipe in class if the professor allowed it, which most did. My philosophy prof was a pipe smoker and I visited his office quite regularly to puff and discuss philosophical views.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I started smoking because 1) I learned I liked the act of smoking from smoking other things 2) I'm a master procrastinator and do most things last minute 3) I would have to write all night long to meet deadlines (see 2). I needed wanted something to do while I thought, organized, wrote, and edited all night long. Now I do it for flavor, relaxation, and as a respite out of the modern world convention of speed and multitasking. Of course, it doesn't always work, but the attempt is there. And on very rare occasion, you have that sublime smoke, and there's nothing else quite like it. It's also one of those fascinating things that is forever educating and humbling. If you choose, you can never cease honing that expertise.

A big part of my smoking now has to do with flavor. I loved candy as a kid. I like to eat as much as the next person, but I've concluded that I'm not driven by flavor pleasures like many are...except then when it comes to the pipe. When people are babbling on and on and on about food, from smoking a pipe, this is the closest I've found that I can genuinely relate to this oral and flavor fixation. I love me some chocolate and coffee and breads and various cuisines, and X, Y, Z...but smoking a pipe has given me my finest flavor experiences.

 

[Eutychus]

I see that the Drucquer 805 had Dubec in it. The Straus Tobacconist Independence blend has the same tobacco.

When I was at the Straus store in Florence they didn’t have Independence in stock. But it is in their list of English blends. I get up to Florence every month or so and I can drop by and ask about it. I am really enjoying their Private Stock Aromatic, which is an English blend as well.

Depends on how you look at it. I did the same thing in 2015. Sold all but 3 pipes. When we moved to Prescott in 2016 decided to take it up again. Spent a ton of money replacing 50 or so pipes mostly from the 70s and 80s. Could have kicked myself, lol.

Friend, you're right, of course. And if we can, it's better to laugh at ourselves and our mistakes.

 

[Eutychus]

All these posts bring back a lot of memories. As an undergrad at Iowa State we could smoke a pipe in class if the professor allowed it, which most did. My philosophy prof was a pipe smoker and I visited his office quite regularly to puff and discuss philosophical views.

Gosh that brings back memories. I remember dropping by a professor's office and he was smoking a pipe as were having a wonderful discussion about the poetry of Dylan Thomas.

 

[Balisong]

My philosophy prof was a pipe smoker

What philosophy course(s) did you take? During my second college stint I tutored Intro for a professor who became a friend and Logic for him and the rest of the department. At UMass Boston Logic from the philosophy department satisfied the Math requirement so it was a magnet for all the non critical thinkers!

 

[Ranger107]

What philosophy course(s) did you take? During my second college stint I tutored Intro for a professor who became a friend and Logic for him and the rest of the department. At UMass Boston Logic from the philosophy department satisfied the Math requirement so it was a magnet for all the non critical thinkers!

Several different genres. Intro of course, then branched into the Eastern realm, Buddhism, etc. But my favorites were the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. And of course the modern day at the time, Chomsky, Heidegger, etc. Used to sit up till 5am in the 24 hour house of pies in campus town arguing things like what is the essence of man, that kind of BS, lol. But it was fun.

 

[Timbo]

Grew up around a few pipe smokers every now and then and always loved the smell.

When a mate and I were sitting in uni bored one day we decided to take up smoking. Cigarettes? Too common. Cigars? Too Pricey. Pipes? Hhhmmm why not. And so we started smoking our pipes. For me it was a Big Ben briar and some Amphora Red tobacco to begin with.

Got bored with the aromatic tobaccos and didn't realise there were natural pipe tobaccos so sadly I switched to cigs for a long while till running into a pipe smoking friend decades later. He put me onto Latakia blends and I haven't looked back.

 

[Carl]

I bought my first pipe in about 1965-66 from Smokers Haven in Columbus, OH. I still have that GBD bent bulldog Without a mentor to explain the intricacies of pipe smoking and the "fiddliness" of the pastime, I moved to cigs for the next 40 years or so. I quit them about 10 years ago and gradually moved back to pipes. I dabbled with them over the years but never too consistently. About six years ago, I picked them up exclusively and have enjoyed them ever since. I have a "small" collection of about 25 briars, one Meerschaum, and a couple of cobs. Most of my pipes are Savinellis along with a smattering of other brands. I like English blends but have started to branch out into aromatics. Frankly, I like the rituals of pipe smoking and the pleasures of the aroma and taste of my regular tobacco blends.