I used to smoke a pipe back in the mid-70's because I thought it was cool.
I also had a real deer stalker hat and a calabash pipe which I thought were cool.
After that I grew up.
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| Turkish Meerschaum with Hand |
A few weeks ago I bought three meerschaum pipes during an auction at the Pacific Salmon Association annual fundraiser in Powell River, BC. I didn't buy them with the intention of taking up pipe smoking again, I bid on them for a number of other reasons:
- no one else was bidding on them;
- I know the person who donated them and I'm pretty sure he got two of them when he worked in Turkey and another one while working in Tanzania;
- They reminded me of my dare-devil youth;
- I think they look cool;
- I probably haven't grown up after all.
At the end of the night I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was the new owner of this little collection of pipes. They found their way home and are currently on display in a prominent spot on top of the fireplace.
Recently I came across a blog called
The Wayward Irregular by Matthew D. Jordan where he wrote
The Gentleman's Guide to Smoking A Tobacco Pile (Without Looking Like a Hipster). I was intrigued: why should a gentleman smoke a pipe; and why don't I want to look like a hipster?
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| Turkish Meerschaum 'Bent' Pipe |
It's true that I rarely see anyone smoking a tobacco pipe anymore. I rarely see anyone smoke any other kind of pipe either. Although we did see people smoking hookahs when we lived in Singapore. There was a resurgence among younger people to relax around huge multi-stemmed apparatus in the back corners of restaurants. They were sharing flavoured tobacco smoke that is pulled through water before being inhaled. Now to me that's a fine activity: relaxing, tasting smoke, and chatting after dinner.
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| Relatives Relaxing Near Bristol England |
My Grandfather, Kenneth McLennan - better known as K.A.T. McLennan - helped me pick out my first pipes (and the deer stalker) while visiting Scotland in 1974. We picked out two 'rejects' at his tobacconist in East Linton, East Lothian. Plus some Erinmore Flake tobacco.
The term 'reject' applies to pipes that have a slight flaw and can't be sold at full price, perfect for a beginner like me.
My father smoked cigarettes - the roll-your-own with Players Navy Cut tobacco in the blue tin with the sailor on the label, both grandfathers smoked pipes.
My mothers father was a Norwegian teacher and farmer who lost his right arm and left thumb when a cannon he was tamping discharged while the ram was still in the bore. He was an amazing man who could do many things with only his left hand and four fingers - including fill, tamp and light his pipe.
My fathers father was an officer in the Kings Own Scottish Borderers posted to most of the hot spots around the British Empire during and between the first and second world wars. Although I don't have any strong memories of him (a bit distant as an officer should be) I know he smoked a pipe otherwise I wouldn't have asked him to help me choose one. To prove it I went digging through the family archives looking for photos of him, pipe in hand - or mouth. And I found a few, this one being my favourite even if the photo is slightly creased.
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| K.A.T. McLennan, Camp Malone, 1922 |
I also found a very rare photo of my Great-Grandfather (I'm pretty sure it's of my Great-Grandfather) smoking a pipe as well.
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| Father of K.A.T. McLennan |
And the best part is that I found these photos in one of three tobacco tins used most likely by my grandfather to store the photos - and if not by him then by my Uncle David who passed all the photos to my father in the first place.
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| "The Quintessential British Tobacco" |
In his post Matthew D. Jordan states that "handling a tobacco pipe properly is like mastering a fine Japanese tea ceremony, but with fewer kimonos and eyeliner."
But why should men re-discover the art of pipe smoking, when smoking tobacco is near kin to murdering your grandmother and smoking marijuana is considered a basic human right?
In his article
How and Why to Smoke a Pipe The Bad Catholic suggests that the reason men need to re-discover pipe-smoking (tobacco pipe smoking) include these socially positive points:
- to feel more manly
- to relearn the experience of fellowship
- to connect with their great, ancestral, pipe-smoking past
- to learn how to contemplate (once they learn what "contemplate" means)
- and to replace addiction with ritual.
How true these words!
Just owning my new pipes has increased my manliness quotient. I'm already feeling more fellowship with male friends and just writing this post has me reconnected with my ancestral past.
I looked up the word "Contemplation", it means to look at something thoughtfully for a long time.
Trust me, when I got the pipe made in Tanzania I looked at it for a long time in order to figure out the carvings on the bowl.
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| Tanzanian Pipe with Carved Bowl |
Does smoking tobacco in a pipe really replace addiction with ritual?
Apparently a gentleman does NOT inhale the smoke, he just swirls it around his mouth to taste it, similar to sipping a good wine. The purpose of smoking a tobacco pipe is to take time for a rest and to clear the mind. As Matthew D. says,"it forces you to sit and think - pay attention to the pipe and meditate on the art."
Right. The first of my two questions "Why should a gentleman smoke a tobacco pipe?" has been answered.
Now I'm off to search out a good tobacconist, bring home a few samples of fine tobacco, carefully load my pipe, gently set the tobacco alight and contemplate the second question: "What is a hipster"?
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| Friends and Relatives in India searching for Hipsters - 1922 |
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