Joys Of Pipe Smoking : A Really Old Pipe from Paris
It has been two years since I took up the pipe smoking profession (err, hobby :)) and to kick off the next year, I decided to share my hobby to fellow Steemians.
Just one short thought which I will expand upon later on: Pipe smoking is something I do on the weekend; it's nice to walk around and puff or just to sit back and puff. Pipe tobacco is definitely not like cigarette tobacco and it is not the same experience at all.
Pipe smoking is only addictive if you want it to be. The smoke is tough to inhale, which you generally don't want to do anyway. Instead, there is a joy in responsibly enjoying the rich variety of tobaccos/blends and the rich and complex flavours they afford us. Some tobacco might smell like cigarette smoke and maybe sometimes they also taste like it. But, good quality tobacco is a joy.
Today, I am going to talk about a pipe I picked up a few months ago.
Today's Pipe
I have a small collection of pipes, but let me share what I was puffing on today. This one is a unique one to me both in where I got it and quite possibly the little history I know about it.
A little history
Jean Sommer was a pipemaker in Paris, specializing in meerschaum pipes. In the mid-20s, briar pipes became more popular, triggering this pipemaker to start making briar pipes. Production of Sommer pipes lasted until 1935, when the company just shifted to just being a tobacco shop in Paris, which lasted until 1988. ("Aux carrieres d'ecume" (13 et 15 passage des princes, Paris).)
This was so exciting to find out, because this means this pipe is at least 82 years old!
Found at a flea market
In Northern Paris, there is a very large (I think the world's largest) flea market. My wife and I spent an hour or two there while we were vacationing in Paris this year. At the flea market, there were a lot of vendors with old pipes; many broken, a lot of Jean Sommers specifically. This one caught my eye because:
- It looked like it would be easy to repair: the stem oxidizes into a murky green color, but it is not hard to clean and polish it. Also the bowl had a lot of old tobacco crud on the top. I got it mostly clean. There is a bad burn mark on the top, but instead of trying to fix it, I'll just say that it adds character to the pipe :)
- I love pipes with collars. This one is nickel most likely. It was scratched up, but I managed to polish it up a bit. Pipes with silver collars fetch more money.
- I was looking for a billiard pipe. I didn't have one and this is what I was specifically looking for. What's a billiard pipe? Well ... "The billiard is characterized by a fairly cylindrical bowl, canted very slightly forward, with a round shank, roughly as long as the bowl is tall, and either a tapered or saddle stem that makes up roughly half the overall length of the pipe."(http://www.glpease.com/Pipes/Shapes/Billiards.php : from a popular American pipe tobacco blender.)
I chewed down the guy to 15 Euros, but honestly, this was actually something in great shape. Estate pipes usually fetch 20 euros actually or here in Norway, 250 kroner. Higher-quality pipes from luxury brands, like Dunhill, tend to fetch more in the estate pipe market, but not much more.
A good pipe and some handiwork can be fetched at a bargain. But, if you are starting out, buy a basket pipe. :)
Historical imagination
82 years in France ... this pipe was probably smoked (probably heavily) during The Great Depression or World War 2. It could have sat on someone's desk when de Gaulle was president or during the student riots in 1968. Who smoked this one? Or, maybe it passed between people ... What is fascinating is what it could have been, as part of the rich history of pipe smoking.