Daily Archives: May 30, 2012

A surprise gift awaited me at the door

Leave a reply

I was just going through some files on my hard drive and came across this one and relived the event that I had written about. Do you ever have those moments when the event you are recalling comes alive again and you can see the people, hear the sounds and smell the scents yet again? That is what happened to me. I was up with my dogs early this morning as our alarm went off with a malfunction. Instead of going back to bed I decided to look over some older files and see what could be deleted. I came upon this one and just sat and relived the moment again. I remember very clearly getting a call from my daughter saying “Dad, Don dropped by a box for you. He says it is pipe tobacco that a friend gave him. Since he does not smoke a pipe he wanted you to have it.” Throughout the day I kept thinking about what could possibly be in that box. You will see why I wondered about it, beyond just curiosity when you read the rest of this tale. Here is what I wrote that afternoon when I got home and opened the box from Don.

…Over the past four years my family has been saving bottles for a homeless fellow who dumpster dives across from our house. He has an organized route through the lanes in our area searching for bottles. He pushes a grocery cart with his dog attached by a tether. He climbs into the rubbish bins and ferrets out empty returnables. He makes enough on them to provide for himself and his dog, Spaz, a little wiry terrier cross that looks a lot like Don. Over the years as I was walking by I would talk with Don. Over time we have become friends. He has been in our home for dinners on many occasions and a guest at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. My wife will often make him a sack lunch and leave it on the step when we are not here. Don has become part of the family. He stops by almost weekly for a visit and a cup of tea or water. He brings his dog for a visit as well.

This morning he came by to deliver a package for me while I was at work. Some buddy of his was given a big express post package of pipe tobacco and he knew I smoked a pipe so he thought of me. My wife and girls called me to let me know. I spent the day wondering what he would have found. I also wondered about the reality of the story and if I was not just getting some of the fruit of his dumpster diving. The girls would not give me any hints other than it was a fairly large box. They certainly know how to wreck my concentration. When the day was over I packed my bag and headed home with expectation for what awaited me on the dining room table. What was it that Don brought me?

I got home and my wife and the girls were sitting on the porch with Don and Spaz. They were sipping tea and just visiting. Don had that twinkle in his eye that I had come to learn meant mischief and I really wondered what he had brought me. I grabbed a chair next to him on the porch and in front of it waiting for me just like a Christmas present on Christmas morning was a large box. It was a little worse for wear from the ride in his shopping cart. I fully expected it to be full of some tins of Amphora or something of a similar ilk. I opened the box and found a large bag inside. That bag was tied shut. I untied it and inside, double and triple bagged were these baccies. I was flabbergasted. I could tell by the look on Don’s face that he was enjoying my surprise and wonderment at his gift.

The Pease Classic Collection: (Sample 1 ounce bags)
Charing Cross
Abingdon
Blackpoint
Kennsington
Piccadilly
Stratford

The Pease Top 5 (Sample 1 ounce bags)
Barbary Coast
Haddos Delight
Cairo
Cumberland
Robusto

Aromatic sampler (1 ounce sample bags)
McClellands M55 Georgian Cream
Peter Stokkebye PS31 Optimum
Peter Stokkebye PS38 Highland Whiskey
Lane Hazelnut
McClellands 715 Raspberry and Cream

Dunhill (2 4 ounce Sample bags)
Dunhill A2000 Toasted Cavendish
Dunhill A3000 Black Cavendish

I opened my work bag and took out a pipe. I opened some Charing Cross and loaded the pipe. Don fired up a cigarette from his own makings and we sat and drank iced tea and enjoyed the beauty of the day. These were blends that I had not tried and were on the list to get. If I was to put together a list of baccies that I wanted to smoke it would have included many of these blends. I was grateful to my friend for this opportunity. I will never forget his kindness to me. One who had little in terms of the goods of this earth gifting me like this was incredibly moving. I just publicly want to acknowledge his gift to me! Thanks Don!

When I look back at that moment and the gift Don brought me I am still blown away by his generosity. Many of these tobaccos I had never had before. The Dunhill Tobaccos were ones that I was not familiar with and the aromatics were not ones I had tried before. The Pease samples were the first to go under the flame and I enjoyed them all. About a year ago now Don disappeared. I don’t know if he moved on or if he died. He struggled with major health issues and was literally wasting away. I will never forget him or his kindness to me. It was good to relive this moment today.

Why I Buy Old Estate Pipes

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

For some the idea of putting someone else’s pipe in their mouth is repugnant and therefore something they would never do. For others the building of their own story around a specific pipe is what keeps them from buying previously owned pipes. For me both of those thoughts do not negate the pleasure I get from estate pipes.

I too enjoy buying a new pipe and then choosing the tobacco to christen it with as I work on my own story with this pipe. Though some do not like the process of breaking in a pipe, I find that I like the virgin first smoke in a new piece of briar. I love building the stories of when and how and with whom I smoked the pipe. I love thinking through why I purchased this one pipe and what it was that drew me to it. I enjoy the process of working with the carver or artisan as the pipe is born. The events and the place add dimensions to the smoke for me. It is not just a disconnected piece of wood for me. It comes dressed in a story.

The same can be said of an estate pipe. The reason I buy estates is not just for the good deal on old briar but because of the stories that are associated with them. As I smoke this pipe after it is cleaned the place and the time I found the old pipe is a part of the thinking in my mind. I remember what it was that drew me to it and where I was when I bought it. I remember who was with me and what we were doing. I always try to research as much information and the story attached to the pipe as I can. That information may be merely some data on a previous owner, or maybe just a time period. But sometimes I get the full blown story from the seller. I find out who used to own it and what they were like. I find out their tobacco likes and dislikes, not only form the story but from the ghosts in the old pipe. I can tell a lot about the pipe by the state it is in when I bought it. If it tarred and thickly caked and the stem is discoloured and has few bite marks I can see that the previous owner loved this pipe and obviously it smoked well enough to make them keep coming back to it. Often there is a bit of tobacco still in the bowl as if the person laid it down for a moment and never got back to it – kind of like I do sometimes when I get called away after just loading a pipe. There is much more that can be learned just by looking at the pipe as you handle it and clean it.

When I have exhausted the information that is available to me through the seller and through my observations I am still not finished with the story of the estate pipe in my hands. Then I use my imagination to help me put the pipe in its time and in the hands of the person who bought it. I picture their smoke as they pack the pipe with the chosen tobacco. I picture the setting of the smoke and even try to imagine what they were thinking when they chose the pipe for the first time in the shop. I know this is esoteric stuff but it is the stuff of a good story for me. It adds colour to the object in my hand. After all, this pipe comes to me with a history and to some degree I want to honour that history and enjoy it in the process.

To this data, real and imagined, this story I add my own new stories. I join a line of folks who have held this pipe and cherished it over the years. I know full well and appreciate that someone will follow me in that line and add their own stories to the ongoing life of this briar. As it has outlived its first owner I know it will outlive me. I wish at times that the old pipe could talk and tell me the stories it knows and holds. I wish it could speak of the quiet conversations with its previous owner. I wish that I could travel back and have a smoke with the previous owner and listen to their full stories. I wish also that I could jump ahead and give that info to the person who gets the pipe from me. All of that contributes to the joy of the old pipe for me. The hunt for the perfect estate pipe is good. The restoration and resurrection of old briar is good. The rekindling of fire to the tobacco in the old bowl is good. The patina and feel of old wood is good. But it is the story of the pipe, the mystery and the history that grabs me and keeps me on the hunt.

As I close these thoughts I want to use one of my finds, one of the old ones I got on the hunt. It is an Altesse Genuine Briar (with a real amber stem). I know the pipe comes from the era of the 30’s. It rests in a snake skin case that is in pretty good shape. The pipe bowl is out of round yet the overall care taken of this pipe speaks a wealth to me. Its previous owner loved this pipe. It is well smoked and well cared for. When I bought it from the antique dealer it still had a bowl load of tobacco in it. It was unsmoked tobacco so I imagine the owner loaded the bowl and somehow never got back to it. His heirs sold the pipe to a traveling antique dealer who sold it to the one I bought it from. Nowhere in the process did the bowl get dumped. It was hardened and dried out tobacco to be sure… but what must have happened to that old fellow who cherished this pipe that he did not light that bowl?? The thought of it makes me wonder. So when I cleaned it up and reloaded the bowl I raised it in his honour and said cheers old fellow. Here’s to the bowl you did not get to finish!! Enjoy the smell of your pipe as the smoke wafts your direction.

…. I know this sounds cheesy but hey… cheesy is my prerogative! Just an example of what draws me to preowned briar! Here’s to your pipes! Cheers