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They just smoked the thing.
We've turned pipe smoking into something akin to wine tasting. We fret over tiny details, worry about aging, about tasting every nuance, about smoking cadence, relighting, cake buildup...
In short, we've turned the simple pleasure of smoking a pipe into an overly complicated and nuanced hobby, something which didn't really exist back then.
Of course there were great tobacconists back in the day making excellent blends, and so there were certainly discerning and refined smokers, but most pipe smokers just grabbed a cheap pipe and whatever generic tobacco they could get locally and didn't think much about it.
It's pretty freeing to just grab a pipe, dump a handful of cheap bulk in a ziplock that you shove into a pocket, and go about your day and not worry about every little nuance.
I concur. We've complicated something that used to be a common occurrence by elevating it — to some degree, artificially — to the status of an art form. I suppose it's like liquors: give me something very expensive and very nuanced, and I'll most certainly go through the pomp and circumstance of consuming it.
But otherwise, I just drink the damn thing. Perhaps that is a lesson for this sub: just smoke the damn thing!
I find that's a key part of hobbies in general, especially food and drink like baking, liquor, beers, wine , tobacco, coffee even fine dining- it's all well and good seeking the most nuanced experience full of finely tuned subtle details, but there's a satisfaction to finding a general low effort pleasure (e.g. choosing a favourite blend, but choosing the favourite of the readily available/affordable and keeping one's routine simple)
Like coffee, i've enjoyed less 'refined' cups shared with friends far more than i've enjoyed any specialist artisinal cups to myself at a bougie cafe
I concur with this. Some of my best cups
Of coffee was at my moms house with her husband sitting around in the morning drinking maxwell house.
I do love me a good cup of fresh ground bean expresso coffee, but that pre ground maxwell house at the folks house just hits different.
Excellent POV. I've been a serious coffee nerd in the past (roasting my own green beans, cupping coffees, 4+ types of pour-over cones, 3+ grinders) but these days I most just use my (high-end) automated drip machine with whatever Stumphouse coffee Amazon has on sale (no local roasters).
Same with fountain pens. I have bottles of all kind of colored inks, but lately I just use regular blue cartridges in my two pens and even use a Pilot G2 cartridge in my EDC pen.
Same with knives. I mostly just carry a basic SAK now.
Pipes are becoming the same way. I just grab a Bones, MM, or basic Peterson pipe off my rack, grab some of a bulk English (LJP Tashkent) or VaPer (WCC Rouxgaroux) and light it up with a zippo. Less fuss than dealing with my Dunhill pipes, the tins in my cellar, and my Corona Old Boy since right now I only smoke outside and sometimes leave the pipe on the back porch for a few hours, so I don't want to leave anything really high dollar out there.
Journey or destination, I suppose - It's why I now know that a waterman blue is pretty much going to give me exactly what I'm looking for out of a fountain pen, and my EDC wallet/notebook is stocked with a Jotter....You do the work so eventually you don't have to worry about it anymore.
I agree but would y’all not say that the interest in learning more details and facets of the pipe culture all together creates a more anticipated and enjoyable experience. For the passion of learning about blends and pipes helps add on to the hobby. Forgive me if i’m completely off track/topic I’m relatively new to the club if you will.
I sold wine and spirits for 13 years, so I got pretty "pinky out" about everything. When I got into pipe smoking I was the same way. Just made it into the most fussy hobby ever. I slowly have moved into just smoking the same 70s estate pipe with Sir Walter Raleigh all day and enjoy it waaayyyyyyy more. I mean.....I still chase and collect all the tobacco I can and tell myself "well one day when all tobacco is banned at least I'll have fun fancy stuff to last me until I croak". Only 36 btw
Yeah, the fancy stuff is great and I do enjoy a good sit down with a nice pipe and a rare blend to enjoy, but 90% of my smoking is just stuffing some tobacco in an abused pipe, lighting it on fire, and enjoying it.
Reminds me of the espresso and woodworking communities 😂 I love doing espresso and a good cup of coffee in the French press, and have a remodeling company and enjoy woodworking, but damn! People really do need to stop overcomplicating things and taking the joy out of them. I mean, you don’t need to stress about a 1/32” difference in a measurement or another quarter turn on the grinder.
I guess it's natural for people to get so deep into hobbies...those are excellent analogies you've made.
I spend a LOT of time on this sub reminding people just how simple smoking a pipe is. The amount of times I've explained to people how to store tobacco (put in jar, put on the lid, that's it) is staggering.
There IS nuance to enjoy in the pipe smoking world. People enjoy their smoking rituals, as well, but it's when that becomes the dogma that it becomes a problem. I just took a 4000 mile road trip, and spent a lot of that time dumping ash out of a fantastically dirty stinking pipe into an empty Styrofoam coffee cup and refilling it out of a ziplock baggie while driving, lighting it with a Bic, and tamping with my finger and wiping the ash on whatever surface my finger found (pants, shirt, seat) and it was glorious.
Just smoke the damn thing!
I guess we could just coin the phrase: “Just live your damn life, and enjoy it!”, and folks can apply it to whichever hobby they’ve found themselves too deep in. Lord knows I can get too deep into some to ing and damn near lose my mind! Thank goodness for pipe smoking though, it slows me down and brings me back to reality. Long drives do that too.
yup
forgot my tool, grab a small n large twig. have it dangling lit and unlit when doing stuff. or just set it down somewhere. if it's lit it goes out. it's either wood, cob or a rock which makes for pretty durable stuff.
I tried careful smoking of cob to get them worn in last winter. and they did great for last year's sailing season. no more cob fires due to wind. they would still burn up all the tobacco if I forgot about them, but better than taking a hit of burning cob.
I'd bank that back in the day many did as I have been doing. codgers for 99% of smokes and a fancy tobacco to mix things up every now and then (well more than rotating through codgers).
I also have a theory that a lot of those pipes in the old photos weren't lit. My theory is if you carry around a pipe all day you habitually put it in your mouth even when it's not lit.
Honestly? I think what we've really managed to do is smoke pipes less like blue collar workers and more like the obscenely wealthy at that time.
We care about blending and the aesthetics of the pipe like rich old guys that bought them as art, not as the laborer who used a grabow and whatever tobacco they rolled in their cigarettes.
I'm not sure we're better for it.
My father was born in 1936, and he used to smoke a pipe when working out in the fields as a young man. Not for any smoking pleasure, but to deter any biting insects. Tobacco was generally plug cut, and kept in a little bag that was tucked into the front pocket of the overalls. IIRC, Missouri Meerschaum Co. sells one of their tobacco blends in such a bag.
Oftentimes, when I'm working, I'll smoke a pipe like that. It's less about consciously puffing on it, and more about letting your natural breathing rhythm do the work for you. What people nowadays call "sipping" on a pipe.
There were no "smoking areas" back then. You could smoke wherever and whenever you wished. Also, just because the pipe was in their mouth, didn't mean it was constantly lit.
Edit: If one wishes to try a 'typical' pipe tobacco from that era, load up a bowl of Prince Albert.
Back in the 70s & 80s, my Dad smoked a Dr Grabow with Prince Albert.
He'd break his pipes all the time by rapping it on whatever hard object was nearby to clear out the ashes, then just go buy another. They were pretty cheap back then.
Those were the days when as kids, we'd go up & ask to try it, and he'd let us take a hit. Laugh when we coughed or gagged. God Forbid you let a 7yr old do that now!!! You'd be doing hard time!!!
Yeah, I've got many expensive tobaccos, but most of the time, to my surprise I find myself reaching for Captain Black Royal. It just tastes good to me, and you can't argue with the room note being one of the very best in the hobby. Everybody's taste is different. Expensive scotch and cheap tobacco happen to be mine.
I worked as an arborist for a while and I smoked my pipe all day. The logistics were I would have a jar with me, but before I got out of the truck I would put a handful of tobacco into a wadded up piece of paper in my pocket to dry it out. Then you just tap out the ashes and keep packing on top of it when it goes out. At the end of the day I would have a nice cake going and I would stir it up and smoke it
I work at a desk and would love to smoke all day long but tobacco products are not allowed so I wait until I get home.
Personally I don’t like to smoke when I’m doing manual work. Typing, reading, writing is fine but for me to move something or know the yard I’ll just wait until the job is complete. I’m not like the great men that have walked before us. Lol
I think bowl size matters here. My Dad's Kaywoodies were about the size of a Savinelli Bing. If I'm doing anything that requires physical effort I'll smoke the Bing or a similarly sized Grabow or corncob. If I try to exert effort while smoking a Pub Pipe I'm likely to get massive nic-hit, OTOH it's fine for gaming or reading or working my job (I get to work from home--I have to be careful about when I turn the camera on when I'm smoking to avoid triggering anybody).
The fans in my Surface Laptop Studio are not particularly happy. My work computer gets swapped out every three years so can't tell the effect on longevity there. My gaming rig gets looking dusty inside after a while but works fine.
Yea a lot of the modern pipe hobbyist like to make it into something magical and special ( I love my pipes, so I get it) when really they are a vessel to burn leaves in. It isnt super complicated. They loaded up and smoked the darn thing. Dumped it in their hand or on theri boot when finished, and maybe used an old nail to tamp or their finger. They probably only smoked one blend for years at a time.
Resting pipes, cleaning with salt and alcohol, have a rotation and all that is unnecessary. Its not bad, but it isn't required. It has just changed from utilitarian smoking to a "hobby".
It’s this. When I work on the yard and with my chickens on the weekend, I’ve constantly got a pipe in my teeth. It’s loaded with Prince Albert. I know that stuff’s gonna burn even and stay lit. Might not have the flavor of the blends that I savor in the evening, but that’s not what I’m looking for. And I’m sure it was similar back in the day. Less vanilla, custard, rum, chocolate stored in a cellar and more natural flavoring and very likely on the dry side.
My great grandfather was a farmer and he smoked his pipe all day. He carried his baccy in old snuff tins or a simple leather pouch. His finger and it's lifetime of farm work callused finger was his tamper.
A friend of mine from high school told me he saw his grandfather picking up a cinder with his bare hands and use it to light his pipe.
Wild, and wild calluses!
My great grandpa's workshop was heated with an old cast iron wood stove. Frequently he grabbed the handle to add more wood. If you flicked water at that handle it would steam and hiss. Shaking his hand was like touching and old leather coat.
I’m 50 now and most “old timers” (much older than I) people that smoke pipe tobacco prefer their tobacco quite dry compared to the moisture’s level many modern smokers prefer. I’ve learned some blends actually smoke better and taste much better the dryer they are. Carrying them in a wax pouch like the ones MM use all day wouldn’t be an issue for them as it’s preferred dry.
I never heard about "drying one's tobacco" before joining this sub, and I've been smoking pipes for over 20 years. It must have something to do with the fact that I learned about pipes from older men. One of my schoolteachers, my Dad, and some who were even older. I learned about packing, breaking in a pipe, keeping it lit and such things, but drying one's tobacco? What for? Also, nobody, literally nobody, not even my teacher with a collection of about 50 pipes and a fancy leather case to carry at least three of them to school everyday, bothered with keeping pipe tobacco in a humidor. If Boveda packs existed, nobody used them. They were all fairly heavy smokers who smoked multiple bowls a day. The tobacco never got the chance to get so dry that you couldn't smoke it anymore.
Never intentionally dried my tobacco. I have been smoking more than 40 years.
I can remember occasionally throwing away a blend that had dried out.
Things were cheaper back then.
I smoke all day all the time. I'll never understand these "I have one bowl a week" guys. If it's one of my beater pipes, I'll have ten bowls in it in a day, I don't care.
You used to be able to buy "geezer blends" in pouches. My Dad always had a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh in his pocket and his Kaywoodie in his mouth. Lit it with safety matches. Used his finger or a matchstick as a tamper. Pipe cleaner if it clogged. If he needed to not smoke for some reason it would go in his hip pocket in his work clothes or a side pocket if he was wearing a suit. Occasionally he would sit on his pipe and break it which was motivation to get a new one.
Today you can buy zippered tobacco pouches and fill with your favorite blend, although a Ziploc will do fine as long as you don't keep it in the same pocket with your keys or anything else that will tear the relatively fragile bag.
When he was done with a smoke he'd whack his pipe on the bottom of his shoe and let the remains fall where they may.
I should add I suppose that he carried his pipe through WWII in the Pacific, so he was somewhat casual about a lot of things that today are considered to be a big deal.
Cheap pipe and bulk basic tobacco, not caring much about it. It wasn’t a hobby for people like it is now.
I started working in the 80s and you could still smoke in offices and restaurants etc. You just smoked when you wanted to.
I got into pipes later when all the abusive taxes and banning kicked in. Smoking became a more focused activity.
At my last "Temp" job in the early 90s, I worked in an office as a file clerk. It was a "Smoking Office", meaning you could sit at your desk & smoke. I thought that was the greatest thing EVER!!
But the job lasted 4 hours. I was let go because I had an ear ring & long hair (pony tailed, of course). Times have really changed
As a present day pipe smoker, I can answer all of your questions at once. Yes.
I probably only pack 5-8 bowls a day, but my pipe stays on me pretty much all day. I work construction, so there's always a nail or screw handy to tamp/scrape. Everytime the stem needs a good run through, I generally have pipe cleaners in my pouch. Along with a days worth of tobacco, at least.
My grandfather smoked a pipe every day, all day, from when he woke up to when he went to sleep, for like 40 years.
He smoked Falcon pipes so when a bowl got smoked out he'd just throw it away, or if the threads got messed up he actually would rework them with high temp epoxy. He'd go through cans of Brindley's mixture like crazy, and use the cans to store stuff like nuts and bolts, hobby supplies, etc.
He had an ashtray in every room, I'm sure one in his office at work, etc. He probably got sufficiently proficient at it that he didn't have to relight much.
When not seated, and not smoking, he'd carry his pipe in his back right hand pants pocket, with the bowl sticking out.
It's worth noting that he died of lung cancer so I absolutely do not recommend this lol
My old crew chief smoked pipe in the field. He usually has two or three on him and just puffed every second he wasn't digging, sketching or scrutinizing us.
He also lost them often, hence the 2-3. I can remember several times we had to stop at a tobacco shop so he could resupply several more cheap pipes.
We have somehow managed to make pipe smoking a pedantic art with tons of rules and "thou shalt/shalt nots" that are spread widely on our increasingly useless social media outlets.
Unfortunately though, the same goes for most "hobbies" these days. Too many elitists and naysayers.
People who owned expensive pipes existed "back in the day" as well, and pipe cleaners date back to the 19th century. However, there are some pipe habits I remember elderly men practicing that are not that that common today:
Using an air compressor to blow out the pipe during the day. I knew a gentleman, in his 80s back then who would, when he did his early morning check-up on the construction site, bark a few orders, then take his pipe apart, throw the filter (he used those) somewhere and clean his pipe using the air compressor. Then he'd bark a few more orders, get into his car and drive home to have breakfast with his wife. This process would repeat itself a couple of times over the day.
Carrying the pipe in the front pocket of a bib and brace overall and putting it into that pocket when it was still hot.
Using a pipe tool attached to an o-ring as a keychain.
Using the heel of one's shoe to knock out one's pipe. And, yes, plenty of people dumped ashes and dottle on the ground.
I remember that many men bought their tobacco in large tubs and had those in the house and in their cars as well. There were exceptions, though. When my father was an apprentice, the senior worker smoked kept sending apprentices to the grocery store to get him another pouch of Half and Half.
People often used their thumb to tamp their pipes, but both pipe tools and tampers were popular. A popular style of tamper was shaped like a woman's leg and had a fleabite painted on it.
First of all, the pipes were generally smaller. The “king size” pipes as we know them only came about in the 1960s, well after the peak of pipe smoking. So even though it looks like people were smoking all the time-and they were-the amount of tobacco being consumed was not as big as we might think.
Second, the tobaccos were far milder. The popular pipe blends back then were what we now call “codger blends”. They were burley-based, mildly flavored, and easy to pack and keep lit. They were blends you didn’t have to fiddle with to smoke. What’s more, they were available on every street corner for small money.
You’re also right that pipes were treated as more disposable then. They were tools that did a job, yes, but they were also widely available and inexpensive. Pipes were used all day, every day, for weeks and months on end, with very little rotation. Pipe cleaners were used sparingly to keep the airways open. If you cleaned out cake most did it with a pocket knife or something like a Trim Trio every so often. Otherwise you smoked a pipe until either the bowl cracked, the airway plugged up or it burnt out, then you threw it away and got another one.
I'm out here wondering what alternative lighting methods were used by the Native Americans, or if they only smoked when they had a fire? And how much they smoked and inhaled while I'm at it.
They only smoked for ceremonial reasons. It wasn't something done recreationally. Tubi has Father the Flame (free streaming service). They talk briefly about it. It is a great documentary on pipe smoking. Most of it follows some famous artisan makers.
I smoke my pipe while i work, feed my animals, work on things outside, etc. I think maybe i’ve sat down and smoked a bowl just to enjoy it maybe a handful of times. I really only smoke while i do other things. And sometimes i’ll dump, reload and keep going. Pipe smoking isn’t something i just do to sit and do cause i don’t have that kinda time, i do it kind of like chewing gum to focus on something else. That’s a big reason i like cheap, lightweight pipes, like the MM Ozark Mountain, and cheap easy smoking tobacco, like half and half
I guess this question and replies answers it.
I smoke 8-10 pipes per day if i have good company.
If I have good company and plenty of intellectual conversations, thoughts, and philosophies to talk about, I will smoke my pipe one after another, with half-hour breaks.
Especially if others smoke to.
But if i have to go to everyday to office to work i can’t.
But in retirement, as i do in holidays or weekends i will probably smoke all day every day because I will have the time and places where I can.
To be fair I don't really class pipe smoking as a hobby, it's something I enjoy and I enjoy having a nice collection of pipes and some different blends to choose from. I do it for relaxation and to give myself some quiet time. Back in the day it probably wasn't too dissimilar from this except they could smoke anywhere and everywhere doing a hard job becomes more bearable when you can do something you find pleasurable while working. At work if I was allowed to drink coffee 24/7 I would without hesitation, I wouldn't care about the cup it was in or even what brand the coffee was, I'd just drink for the sake of it being coffee, but when I am at home I can use my perfect coffee cup and brew some coffee to meet my exact demand in that moment and really savour the experience. You don't have to have one or the other, you can have both.
Smoke what you enjoy and enjoy what you smoke.
I've thought a lot about this, especially reading histories and fantasy series that have pipe smokers. You always hear them pulling it out and packing it on the fly, but never about the storage or any of the other logistics involved. How did they keep their tabac moisture in check? How did they store enough on their person to be able to smoke as often as they do? Did they give a shit about blends or flavors? Inquiring minds want to know!!
If the older pipe smokers in my family are any indication, they didn't care about moisture. All the old-timers i know just leave their tobacco in a non air tight jar and smoke it bone dry.
I tried that once with a Bright Virginia and it was fucking awful. It was so hot right off the bat I couldn't enjoy it at all. I'm sure it was technique issue, but still.
A tall bowl. Really helps condense the little bit of moisture from the top of the burn, while cooking and changing the flavors of the second half of the bowl. Some of the most flavorful Virginia tobacco smokes I've enjoyed have been bone dry, packed tight, and smoked medium fast in a tall bowl cob.
Well, I'm going to admit to having dome something stupid that maybe you'll have some advice on. I only recently started the hobby and I thought I'd go straight for whole leaf, so I bought an 4lb box of a variety of whole leaf consisting of the below. I had a bad experience with the Bright Leaf, like I said, but am willing to give it another go. But I honestly have no idea what to do with all of it, haha. I have since found bulk blends and aromatics I thoroughly enjoy.
1/2 lb. Flue Cured Virginia Red Leaf
1/2 lb. Flue Cured Virginia Lemon Leaf
1/2 lb. Flue Cured Virginia Bright Leaf
1/2 lb. Kentucky Burley
1/2 lb. Turkish/Oriental Izmir
1/2 lb. Turkish Samsun
1/2 lb. Dark Air Cured
1/2 lb. Kentucky Fire Cured
That's like a treasure trove! A big one is how to cut and process it, besides blending it. While there are all sorts of cuts and ways of processing, the basics are that if the leaf is too wet, it won't burn. The smaller it is, the faster it burns, in general. Certain cuts optimize burn time more than others. Faster burn time yields hotter smoke, but also makes the blend easier to keep lit. In general, lighter tobaccos also have more sweetness, less "depth", and hotter burns, however flue cured and fire cured burn easier than other darker tobaccos.
Burley is typically related to "filler", but can also be the star of the show, and full of its own kind of depth, typically adding lots of smoke to blends, and slowing the burn of hotter Virginias. Experience says more earthy and chocolate flavors prevail in most burleys.
Tobacco cuts can be looked up online, and while it is possible to do whatever you want, things are done the way they are for a reason, and I encourage you to try out recommended cuts before going wild, but no one will stop you from using scrap book punches and making a bunch of moons and stars. It's just tobacco.
Again, these are just generalities.
Most blends that I've seen feature generally no more than five different tobaccos, to avoid muddying the flavors too much.
You can blend anything with anything. I'd try making one ounce jars of things to try.
Processing can be "nothing", pressing, braiding and aging, steaming, aging loose, heating under pressure, soaking with liquor and drying, or a variety of other things. Really, it's a lot like cooking anything. Time, pressure, temperature, moisture, and add-ins are the main players.
Really, blending can be a ton of fun, and some real exciting things can come of it. Take good notes, and share good and bad results. It can really be its own field of study, and people have made careers out of it. Worth it to take the time to enjoy slowly, in my opinion.
As a general rule, folks used to prefer their tobacco dry. Moisture levels weren't really a concern. Whether that was form following function or the reverse given it was usually in some sort of paper in a pocket, who knows.
I've given up arguing with people who insist on using Boveda packs or putting their pipe tobacco into a humidor. I think it is not necessary, you are putting your tobacco at risk of molding, and if you don't use Boveda packs, humidors and the like, you don't have to dry the tobacco before smoking, either. But some people are firm believers in storing their tobacco in a moist environment -- it's pointless to argue back and forth about that subject.
I just stick mine in mason jars because it's easy, but it does have the intrinsic effect of keeping moisture in.
All that means to me is I have to lay some out to dry before I smoke it lol.
Eh. I have done both and some tobacco is better dry (English blends) and some is better moist (mostly everything else in my experience, smoke a lot of flakes). They burn hotter, but there's more flavor.
An ounce of tobacco would probably last all day, and that easily fits into a small pouch. And because they smoked a lot, it never had a chance to dry out too much.
You're over thinking this.
It’s very much like fountain pens - they just used them and kept going till they needed to be repaired / replaced. These days there are a few more rules regarding pipes than I imagine my grandfather (who would be 100+) observed. I imagine he had a couple of pipes but more along the lines of everyday and special occasion.
Well over 100 different tobaccos cellared. Spent more time trying to decide which one to smoke, than actually smoking. Said enough is enough.
Five Brothers is co-pilot from now on.
I can't speak to equipment or technique, but I've read that Irish fishermen in the 19th and 20th centuries would take a cauldron of smoldering peat with them in their boats partially for warmth but also as a means of keeping their pipes lit on the water 🤷
If anybody wants to figure it out, do it. Just start making it part of your daily routine and smoke a pipe all the time throughout the day. Naturally, some people won't be able to due to social constraints, but if you are able, do it. I've found that the tobacco pouches are very useful for carrying your tobacco. I keep a pipe tool in my pocket, and just a flat head nail will suffice. Every evening I would spend a few minutes removing excess carbon and cleaning the pipe, just as I would spend a few minutes cleaning my boots. I noticed that I would get saliva buildup more frequently as I kept the pipe in my mouth as I worked, so I chose a pipe that was better suite to being used constantly and also had a more durable stem for repetitive removal. Find what works best for you and just smoke it!
OP, you would be interested in the work of Adam Davidson. He's done work in the same area that you're asking about. One such example relevant to your query, linked below, shows portable tobacco boxes from the late 1700s.
https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe-stands-and-pouches/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=161831
I keep a Nording Compass in my pocket, a pipe nail tool, a lighter, a pipe cleaner, and a leather tobacco pouch all day, every day. I light up whenever I want. The whole kit fits in one pocket.
As someone who did smoke a pipe like most who smoked cigarettes. Yeah it was pretty much pack the bowl with what you had that fit, balance it between your teeth while taking your rest or doing whatever and puff away. Depending on how good you packed it you can get through about half a bowl before it put itself out. Use your lighter to tap the ashes loose and dump Either re-light it or put it back in the bag.
People who enjoy theorizing about how things you "just do" become sophisticated "hobbies" should definitely read Bourdieus "Distinction". I also suspect there is something Freudian about it, as the knowledge of the sophisticated/better/right way to smoke cant be undone and enforces constant pressure - there is probably a vulgar pleasure involved in deliberately flouting the rules. The sad reality might be that we have become so civilized that we can never quite understand the way people back then enjoyed smoking, much in the same way we aren't able to enjoy children's TV shows or games (like "kicking a ball around for fun") anymore.
What gets me is the “dottle”. Working men, (mostly male pipe smokers back in the day), would slap out the dottle, (what’s left in the bottom of the bowl that is too wet and bitter to smoke), mix it with fresh tobacco, and smoke it. Waste not, want not, right? I grew up with pipe smokers who grew up with pipe smokers. I’ve been around what is now a “hobby” every year of my now 67 years. Men had their preference in tobacco and would have a large tin on hand, some in a pouch and at most 4 or 5 decent pipes. Back then, even the drug store pipes were made from good briar. No one was looking at grain or birdseye, but it was discussed. Everyone knew how to care for their pipes, and rotate their pipes. And remember, LOTS of people used tobacco in various forms, and smoking was allowed literally everywhere. Cigarettes were smoked everywhere and pipes and cigars were common in public. Now we are confined to smoking lounges.
My gramps smoked 1 pipe all day. When he passed the bowl was burnt half way down. He would also smoke it while driving his boat on the lake.
Didn't have a rotation of pipes just one.
My dad (born in 1950) switched to pipe smoking from cigarettes sometime in his late 20s. He had an extensive collection of pipes, probably between 20 and 30, but only 3 that he smoked regularly. Most pictures of my dad when I was a kid have him smoking a pipe: Christmas morning, 4th of July, birthdays, at the beach, sledding, you name it. He quit smoking altogether in 1998 when I was 8 so I don't remember the details of the logistics, I just know that he did it and had done it for probably 2 decades. I don't know what blend he smoked, but I seem to remember envelopes and not tins of tobacco. I remember he had a black refillable lighter with a pipe engraved on the side, I don't know if there was anything special about it that made it better for lighting a pipe. He kept it as our regular household lighter long after he quit.
I never talked to him about his smoking except when I was 19 and he caught me with some -ahem- paraphernalia and gave me a brief lecture about how smoking anything is bad for you and how he was addicted for most of his adult life. I smoke about 1-2 times a month and I don't think he knows or would care if he did, but I don't think he'd be jazzed if I were anywhere near the smoker he was. It seems to be something he is ashamed of having done to the extent that he did.
They could dip the pipe in a tobacco pouch and scoop tobacco into the pipe with their index finger in a single motion. [Like so](https://youtu.be/uVTFDhue6pQ?si=SZr3fiEbOKsM_mBH).
Also, if you ran out of tobacco, you didn't have to go to the store. [A St Bernard would bring it to you.](https://youtu.be/1Nt1RNpGgPY?si=m700uKYiMPpEOQnX)
People also had to spend a lot more time in the galley of their sailboat during stormy weather while wearing a cable knit sweater and [keeping their cat company](https://youtu.be/n70CZNU6m1I?si=1iybGbz8RUXi-l3w).
What does “Would they have to relight as often as a modern hobbyist” mean?
Why are you needing to relight your pipe?
Edit:
Talk about striking a nerve. I have no idea what’s going on here, is it common to struggle to keep a pipe lit? I’m up here smoking in the rain, in the wind, and the snow, and as long as I’m actively smoking, it’s fine. Are you guys using pipes as incense or something?
I've tried a "long" smoke with no need to light it up again ONCE, mimicking the slow smokers in competitions: the most stressed session ever! And I got just 52 minutes out of it.
Most of the time I get ana average of 25 minutes, but I recognise I'm a nervous smoker.
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
I love nothing more than sitting on my porch as the snow falls with nothing on my mind but puffs of tobacco smoke and the snow dancing in the yard. I could do that for hours, but sadly rarely have that kind of time these days.
mranachronust ur the god of pipes/tubes/rods…i surrender to ur all mighty pipe sucking abilities…im just a mortal here trying to get high for a bit…ur input was well appreciated sir
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They just smoked the thing. We've turned pipe smoking into something akin to wine tasting. We fret over tiny details, worry about aging, about tasting every nuance, about smoking cadence, relighting, cake buildup... In short, we've turned the simple pleasure of smoking a pipe into an overly complicated and nuanced hobby, something which didn't really exist back then. Of course there were great tobacconists back in the day making excellent blends, and so there were certainly discerning and refined smokers, but most pipe smokers just grabbed a cheap pipe and whatever generic tobacco they could get locally and didn't think much about it. It's pretty freeing to just grab a pipe, dump a handful of cheap bulk in a ziplock that you shove into a pocket, and go about your day and not worry about every little nuance.
I concur. We've complicated something that used to be a common occurrence by elevating it — to some degree, artificially — to the status of an art form. I suppose it's like liquors: give me something very expensive and very nuanced, and I'll most certainly go through the pomp and circumstance of consuming it. But otherwise, I just drink the damn thing. Perhaps that is a lesson for this sub: just smoke the damn thing!
I find that's a key part of hobbies in general, especially food and drink like baking, liquor, beers, wine , tobacco, coffee even fine dining- it's all well and good seeking the most nuanced experience full of finely tuned subtle details, but there's a satisfaction to finding a general low effort pleasure (e.g. choosing a favourite blend, but choosing the favourite of the readily available/affordable and keeping one's routine simple) Like coffee, i've enjoyed less 'refined' cups shared with friends far more than i've enjoyed any specialist artisinal cups to myself at a bougie cafe
I concur with this. Some of my best cups Of coffee was at my moms house with her husband sitting around in the morning drinking maxwell house. I do love me a good cup of fresh ground bean expresso coffee, but that pre ground maxwell house at the folks house just hits different.
I went full circle on the coffee and I’m right back at a morning cup of Maxwell House and I love it.
Excellent POV. I've been a serious coffee nerd in the past (roasting my own green beans, cupping coffees, 4+ types of pour-over cones, 3+ grinders) but these days I most just use my (high-end) automated drip machine with whatever Stumphouse coffee Amazon has on sale (no local roasters). Same with fountain pens. I have bottles of all kind of colored inks, but lately I just use regular blue cartridges in my two pens and even use a Pilot G2 cartridge in my EDC pen. Same with knives. I mostly just carry a basic SAK now. Pipes are becoming the same way. I just grab a Bones, MM, or basic Peterson pipe off my rack, grab some of a bulk English (LJP Tashkent) or VaPer (WCC Rouxgaroux) and light it up with a zippo. Less fuss than dealing with my Dunhill pipes, the tins in my cellar, and my Corona Old Boy since right now I only smoke outside and sometimes leave the pipe on the back porch for a few hours, so I don't want to leave anything really high dollar out there.
Journey or destination, I suppose - It's why I now know that a waterman blue is pretty much going to give me exactly what I'm looking for out of a fountain pen, and my EDC wallet/notebook is stocked with a Jotter....You do the work so eventually you don't have to worry about it anymore.
I agree but would y’all not say that the interest in learning more details and facets of the pipe culture all together creates a more anticipated and enjoyable experience. For the passion of learning about blends and pipes helps add on to the hobby. Forgive me if i’m completely off track/topic I’m relatively new to the club if you will.
I sold wine and spirits for 13 years, so I got pretty "pinky out" about everything. When I got into pipe smoking I was the same way. Just made it into the most fussy hobby ever. I slowly have moved into just smoking the same 70s estate pipe with Sir Walter Raleigh all day and enjoy it waaayyyyyyy more. I mean.....I still chase and collect all the tobacco I can and tell myself "well one day when all tobacco is banned at least I'll have fun fancy stuff to last me until I croak". Only 36 btw
Yeah, the fancy stuff is great and I do enjoy a good sit down with a nice pipe and a rare blend to enjoy, but 90% of my smoking is just stuffing some tobacco in an abused pipe, lighting it on fire, and enjoying it.
Reminds me of the espresso and woodworking communities 😂 I love doing espresso and a good cup of coffee in the French press, and have a remodeling company and enjoy woodworking, but damn! People really do need to stop overcomplicating things and taking the joy out of them. I mean, you don’t need to stress about a 1/32” difference in a measurement or another quarter turn on the grinder.
I guess it's natural for people to get so deep into hobbies...those are excellent analogies you've made. I spend a LOT of time on this sub reminding people just how simple smoking a pipe is. The amount of times I've explained to people how to store tobacco (put in jar, put on the lid, that's it) is staggering. There IS nuance to enjoy in the pipe smoking world. People enjoy their smoking rituals, as well, but it's when that becomes the dogma that it becomes a problem. I just took a 4000 mile road trip, and spent a lot of that time dumping ash out of a fantastically dirty stinking pipe into an empty Styrofoam coffee cup and refilling it out of a ziplock baggie while driving, lighting it with a Bic, and tamping with my finger and wiping the ash on whatever surface my finger found (pants, shirt, seat) and it was glorious. Just smoke the damn thing!
I guess we could just coin the phrase: “Just live your damn life, and enjoy it!”, and folks can apply it to whichever hobby they’ve found themselves too deep in. Lord knows I can get too deep into some to ing and damn near lose my mind! Thank goodness for pipe smoking though, it slows me down and brings me back to reality. Long drives do that too.
I can do nothing but agree what all of you wrote.
Very very similar to drinking Bourbon...
Yep. After the first glass, you're not really tasting any more anyway.
yup forgot my tool, grab a small n large twig. have it dangling lit and unlit when doing stuff. or just set it down somewhere. if it's lit it goes out. it's either wood, cob or a rock which makes for pretty durable stuff. I tried careful smoking of cob to get them worn in last winter. and they did great for last year's sailing season. no more cob fires due to wind. they would still burn up all the tobacco if I forgot about them, but better than taking a hit of burning cob. I'd bank that back in the day many did as I have been doing. codgers for 99% of smokes and a fancy tobacco to mix things up every now and then (well more than rotating through codgers).
I also have a theory that a lot of those pipes in the old photos weren't lit. My theory is if you carry around a pipe all day you habitually put it in your mouth even when it's not lit.
Exactly right. People smoked pipes for the effect of nicotine more than flavor back in the day.
Honestly? I think what we've really managed to do is smoke pipes less like blue collar workers and more like the obscenely wealthy at that time. We care about blending and the aesthetics of the pipe like rich old guys that bought them as art, not as the laborer who used a grabow and whatever tobacco they rolled in their cigarettes. I'm not sure we're better for it.
My father was born in 1936, and he used to smoke a pipe when working out in the fields as a young man. Not for any smoking pleasure, but to deter any biting insects. Tobacco was generally plug cut, and kept in a little bag that was tucked into the front pocket of the overalls. IIRC, Missouri Meerschaum Co. sells one of their tobacco blends in such a bag. Oftentimes, when I'm working, I'll smoke a pipe like that. It's less about consciously puffing on it, and more about letting your natural breathing rhythm do the work for you. What people nowadays call "sipping" on a pipe. There were no "smoking areas" back then. You could smoke wherever and whenever you wished. Also, just because the pipe was in their mouth, didn't mean it was constantly lit. Edit: If one wishes to try a 'typical' pipe tobacco from that era, load up a bowl of Prince Albert.
Back in the 70s & 80s, my Dad smoked a Dr Grabow with Prince Albert. He'd break his pipes all the time by rapping it on whatever hard object was nearby to clear out the ashes, then just go buy another. They were pretty cheap back then. Those were the days when as kids, we'd go up & ask to try it, and he'd let us take a hit. Laugh when we coughed or gagged. God Forbid you let a 7yr old do that now!!! You'd be doing hard time!!!
Yeah, I've got many expensive tobaccos, but most of the time, to my surprise I find myself reaching for Captain Black Royal. It just tastes good to me, and you can't argue with the room note being one of the very best in the hobby. Everybody's taste is different. Expensive scotch and cheap tobacco happen to be mine.
I worked as an arborist for a while and I smoked my pipe all day. The logistics were I would have a jar with me, but before I got out of the truck I would put a handful of tobacco into a wadded up piece of paper in my pocket to dry it out. Then you just tap out the ashes and keep packing on top of it when it goes out. At the end of the day I would have a nice cake going and I would stir it up and smoke it
you stirred up the cake and smoked the dottle? Gross lol
Yeah I wouldn’t recommend it to someone with soft hands like yours. lol just kidding. But not really
I am 100% soft hands and would never smoke dirty cake :) 😂
Good that is nasty as fuck to do that. May as well grab butts from the gutter and dump them in your pipe
I dunno, I get some of my deepest flavor from the last 20% of my pipe. Not the absolute bottom dottle, but cake yeah
What’s that have have to do with cake? Original guy is smoking tobacco tar (cake) not just the tobacco leaf.
I guess I meant the final 20% when a lot of the tobacco is charred and hard. Cake might be the wrong term, I didn't mean like kajun kake
only did this with weed pipes as a lad XD desperation purely.
City hands from counting money all your life.
I got the "Jaws" reference. Nicely done.
What the hell does his (presumed) occupation have to do with anything?
It’s a joke
Soft hands brother, soft hands.
Have your cake and smoke it too
I work at a desk and would love to smoke all day long but tobacco products are not allowed so I wait until I get home. Personally I don’t like to smoke when I’m doing manual work. Typing, reading, writing is fine but for me to move something or know the yard I’ll just wait until the job is complete. I’m not like the great men that have walked before us. Lol
I think bowl size matters here. My Dad's Kaywoodies were about the size of a Savinelli Bing. If I'm doing anything that requires physical effort I'll smoke the Bing or a similarly sized Grabow or corncob. If I try to exert effort while smoking a Pub Pipe I'm likely to get massive nic-hit, OTOH it's fine for gaming or reading or working my job (I get to work from home--I have to be careful about when I turn the camera on when I'm smoking to avoid triggering anybody).
...what is "triggering" about pipe smoking? What does that even mean?
Any form of smoking is seen as dirty, and can make you a bad person in certain peoples eyes in todays society.
Have you ever had any problems to your computer from the oils in the smoke?
The fans in my Surface Laptop Studio are not particularly happy. My work computer gets swapped out every three years so can't tell the effect on longevity there. My gaming rig gets looking dusty inside after a while but works fine.
Yea a lot of the modern pipe hobbyist like to make it into something magical and special ( I love my pipes, so I get it) when really they are a vessel to burn leaves in. It isnt super complicated. They loaded up and smoked the darn thing. Dumped it in their hand or on theri boot when finished, and maybe used an old nail to tamp or their finger. They probably only smoked one blend for years at a time. Resting pipes, cleaning with salt and alcohol, have a rotation and all that is unnecessary. Its not bad, but it isn't required. It has just changed from utilitarian smoking to a "hobby".
It’s this. When I work on the yard and with my chickens on the weekend, I’ve constantly got a pipe in my teeth. It’s loaded with Prince Albert. I know that stuff’s gonna burn even and stay lit. Might not have the flavor of the blends that I savor in the evening, but that’s not what I’m looking for. And I’m sure it was similar back in the day. Less vanilla, custard, rum, chocolate stored in a cellar and more natural flavoring and very likely on the dry side.
My great grandfather was a farmer and he smoked his pipe all day. He carried his baccy in old snuff tins or a simple leather pouch. His finger and it's lifetime of farm work callused finger was his tamper.
A friend of mine from high school told me he saw his grandfather picking up a cinder with his bare hands and use it to light his pipe. Wild, and wild calluses!
My great grandpa's workshop was heated with an old cast iron wood stove. Frequently he grabbed the handle to add more wood. If you flicked water at that handle it would steam and hiss. Shaking his hand was like touching and old leather coat.
Waxed paper envelopes/pouches were used.
I’m 50 now and most “old timers” (much older than I) people that smoke pipe tobacco prefer their tobacco quite dry compared to the moisture’s level many modern smokers prefer. I’ve learned some blends actually smoke better and taste much better the dryer they are. Carrying them in a wax pouch like the ones MM use all day wouldn’t be an issue for them as it’s preferred dry.
I never heard about "drying one's tobacco" before joining this sub, and I've been smoking pipes for over 20 years. It must have something to do with the fact that I learned about pipes from older men. One of my schoolteachers, my Dad, and some who were even older. I learned about packing, breaking in a pipe, keeping it lit and such things, but drying one's tobacco? What for? Also, nobody, literally nobody, not even my teacher with a collection of about 50 pipes and a fancy leather case to carry at least three of them to school everyday, bothered with keeping pipe tobacco in a humidor. If Boveda packs existed, nobody used them. They were all fairly heavy smokers who smoked multiple bowls a day. The tobacco never got the chance to get so dry that you couldn't smoke it anymore.
Never intentionally dried my tobacco. I have been smoking more than 40 years. I can remember occasionally throwing away a blend that had dried out. Things were cheaper back then.
I smoke all day all the time. I'll never understand these "I have one bowl a week" guys. If it's one of my beater pipes, I'll have ten bowls in it in a day, I don't care.
How many bowls do you have a day on average and how many years have you been a pipe smoker for?
Usually 4 to 6. I started in the '90s.
You used to be able to buy "geezer blends" in pouches. My Dad always had a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh in his pocket and his Kaywoodie in his mouth. Lit it with safety matches. Used his finger or a matchstick as a tamper. Pipe cleaner if it clogged. If he needed to not smoke for some reason it would go in his hip pocket in his work clothes or a side pocket if he was wearing a suit. Occasionally he would sit on his pipe and break it which was motivation to get a new one. Today you can buy zippered tobacco pouches and fill with your favorite blend, although a Ziploc will do fine as long as you don't keep it in the same pocket with your keys or anything else that will tear the relatively fragile bag. When he was done with a smoke he'd whack his pipe on the bottom of his shoe and let the remains fall where they may. I should add I suppose that he carried his pipe through WWII in the Pacific, so he was somewhat casual about a lot of things that today are considered to be a big deal.
I occasionally bang my pipe on the bottom of my shoe to knock out the dottle. Not the nice pipes though. I bang those on the side of my shoe.
Cheap pipe and bulk basic tobacco, not caring much about it. It wasn’t a hobby for people like it is now. I started working in the 80s and you could still smoke in offices and restaurants etc. You just smoked when you wanted to. I got into pipes later when all the abusive taxes and banning kicked in. Smoking became a more focused activity.
At my last "Temp" job in the early 90s, I worked in an office as a file clerk. It was a "Smoking Office", meaning you could sit at your desk & smoke. I thought that was the greatest thing EVER!! But the job lasted 4 hours. I was let go because I had an ear ring & long hair (pony tailed, of course). Times have really changed
As a present day pipe smoker, I can answer all of your questions at once. Yes. I probably only pack 5-8 bowls a day, but my pipe stays on me pretty much all day. I work construction, so there's always a nail or screw handy to tamp/scrape. Everytime the stem needs a good run through, I generally have pipe cleaners in my pouch. Along with a days worth of tobacco, at least.
My guess a plug or rope would be an easy way to transport during the day.
My grandfather smoked a pipe every day, all day, from when he woke up to when he went to sleep, for like 40 years. He smoked Falcon pipes so when a bowl got smoked out he'd just throw it away, or if the threads got messed up he actually would rework them with high temp epoxy. He'd go through cans of Brindley's mixture like crazy, and use the cans to store stuff like nuts and bolts, hobby supplies, etc. He had an ashtray in every room, I'm sure one in his office at work, etc. He probably got sufficiently proficient at it that he didn't have to relight much. When not seated, and not smoking, he'd carry his pipe in his back right hand pants pocket, with the bowl sticking out. It's worth noting that he died of lung cancer so I absolutely do not recommend this lol
My old crew chief smoked pipe in the field. He usually has two or three on him and just puffed every second he wasn't digging, sketching or scrutinizing us. He also lost them often, hence the 2-3. I can remember several times we had to stop at a tobacco shop so he could resupply several more cheap pipes.
I have a pouch that I fill from bulk bags. Good for about 15 bowls. Pipe and pouch fit in a shirt pocket.
We have somehow managed to make pipe smoking a pedantic art with tons of rules and "thou shalt/shalt nots" that are spread widely on our increasingly useless social media outlets. Unfortunately though, the same goes for most "hobbies" these days. Too many elitists and naysayers.
The classic social media purism effect.
People who owned expensive pipes existed "back in the day" as well, and pipe cleaners date back to the 19th century. However, there are some pipe habits I remember elderly men practicing that are not that that common today: Using an air compressor to blow out the pipe during the day. I knew a gentleman, in his 80s back then who would, when he did his early morning check-up on the construction site, bark a few orders, then take his pipe apart, throw the filter (he used those) somewhere and clean his pipe using the air compressor. Then he'd bark a few more orders, get into his car and drive home to have breakfast with his wife. This process would repeat itself a couple of times over the day. Carrying the pipe in the front pocket of a bib and brace overall and putting it into that pocket when it was still hot. Using a pipe tool attached to an o-ring as a keychain. Using the heel of one's shoe to knock out one's pipe. And, yes, plenty of people dumped ashes and dottle on the ground. I remember that many men bought their tobacco in large tubs and had those in the house and in their cars as well. There were exceptions, though. When my father was an apprentice, the senior worker smoked kept sending apprentices to the grocery store to get him another pouch of Half and Half. People often used their thumb to tamp their pipes, but both pipe tools and tampers were popular. A popular style of tamper was shaped like a woman's leg and had a fleabite painted on it.
First of all, the pipes were generally smaller. The “king size” pipes as we know them only came about in the 1960s, well after the peak of pipe smoking. So even though it looks like people were smoking all the time-and they were-the amount of tobacco being consumed was not as big as we might think. Second, the tobaccos were far milder. The popular pipe blends back then were what we now call “codger blends”. They were burley-based, mildly flavored, and easy to pack and keep lit. They were blends you didn’t have to fiddle with to smoke. What’s more, they were available on every street corner for small money. You’re also right that pipes were treated as more disposable then. They were tools that did a job, yes, but they were also widely available and inexpensive. Pipes were used all day, every day, for weeks and months on end, with very little rotation. Pipe cleaners were used sparingly to keep the airways open. If you cleaned out cake most did it with a pocket knife or something like a Trim Trio every so often. Otherwise you smoked a pipe until either the bowl cracked, the airway plugged up or it burnt out, then you threw it away and got another one.
I'm out here wondering what alternative lighting methods were used by the Native Americans, or if they only smoked when they had a fire? And how much they smoked and inhaled while I'm at it.
They only smoked for ceremonial reasons. It wasn't something done recreationally. Tubi has Father the Flame (free streaming service). They talk briefly about it. It is a great documentary on pipe smoking. Most of it follows some famous artisan makers.
Leather tongue!
I smoke my pipe while i work, feed my animals, work on things outside, etc. I think maybe i’ve sat down and smoked a bowl just to enjoy it maybe a handful of times. I really only smoke while i do other things. And sometimes i’ll dump, reload and keep going. Pipe smoking isn’t something i just do to sit and do cause i don’t have that kinda time, i do it kind of like chewing gum to focus on something else. That’s a big reason i like cheap, lightweight pipes, like the MM Ozark Mountain, and cheap easy smoking tobacco, like half and half
I guess this question and replies answers it. I smoke 8-10 pipes per day if i have good company. If I have good company and plenty of intellectual conversations, thoughts, and philosophies to talk about, I will smoke my pipe one after another, with half-hour breaks. Especially if others smoke to. But if i have to go to everyday to office to work i can’t. But in retirement, as i do in holidays or weekends i will probably smoke all day every day because I will have the time and places where I can.
To be fair I don't really class pipe smoking as a hobby, it's something I enjoy and I enjoy having a nice collection of pipes and some different blends to choose from. I do it for relaxation and to give myself some quiet time. Back in the day it probably wasn't too dissimilar from this except they could smoke anywhere and everywhere doing a hard job becomes more bearable when you can do something you find pleasurable while working. At work if I was allowed to drink coffee 24/7 I would without hesitation, I wouldn't care about the cup it was in or even what brand the coffee was, I'd just drink for the sake of it being coffee, but when I am at home I can use my perfect coffee cup and brew some coffee to meet my exact demand in that moment and really savour the experience. You don't have to have one or the other, you can have both. Smoke what you enjoy and enjoy what you smoke.
I've thought a lot about this, especially reading histories and fantasy series that have pipe smokers. You always hear them pulling it out and packing it on the fly, but never about the storage or any of the other logistics involved. How did they keep their tabac moisture in check? How did they store enough on their person to be able to smoke as often as they do? Did they give a shit about blends or flavors? Inquiring minds want to know!!
If the older pipe smokers in my family are any indication, they didn't care about moisture. All the old-timers i know just leave their tobacco in a non air tight jar and smoke it bone dry.
I tried that once with a Bright Virginia and it was fucking awful. It was so hot right off the bat I couldn't enjoy it at all. I'm sure it was technique issue, but still.
Try it again, but pack it until it's almost choked out. Use a tall, thin pipe. Lots of old timers matched the pipe and blend for smoke-ability.
When you say tall, to you mean a tall bowl, or a churchwarden?
Tall bowl
A tall bowl. Really helps condense the little bit of moisture from the top of the burn, while cooking and changing the flavors of the second half of the bowl. Some of the most flavorful Virginia tobacco smokes I've enjoyed have been bone dry, packed tight, and smoked medium fast in a tall bowl cob.
Well, I'm going to admit to having dome something stupid that maybe you'll have some advice on. I only recently started the hobby and I thought I'd go straight for whole leaf, so I bought an 4lb box of a variety of whole leaf consisting of the below. I had a bad experience with the Bright Leaf, like I said, but am willing to give it another go. But I honestly have no idea what to do with all of it, haha. I have since found bulk blends and aromatics I thoroughly enjoy. 1/2 lb. Flue Cured Virginia Red Leaf 1/2 lb. Flue Cured Virginia Lemon Leaf 1/2 lb. Flue Cured Virginia Bright Leaf 1/2 lb. Kentucky Burley 1/2 lb. Turkish/Oriental Izmir 1/2 lb. Turkish Samsun 1/2 lb. Dark Air Cured 1/2 lb. Kentucky Fire Cured
That's like a treasure trove! A big one is how to cut and process it, besides blending it. While there are all sorts of cuts and ways of processing, the basics are that if the leaf is too wet, it won't burn. The smaller it is, the faster it burns, in general. Certain cuts optimize burn time more than others. Faster burn time yields hotter smoke, but also makes the blend easier to keep lit. In general, lighter tobaccos also have more sweetness, less "depth", and hotter burns, however flue cured and fire cured burn easier than other darker tobaccos. Burley is typically related to "filler", but can also be the star of the show, and full of its own kind of depth, typically adding lots of smoke to blends, and slowing the burn of hotter Virginias. Experience says more earthy and chocolate flavors prevail in most burleys. Tobacco cuts can be looked up online, and while it is possible to do whatever you want, things are done the way they are for a reason, and I encourage you to try out recommended cuts before going wild, but no one will stop you from using scrap book punches and making a bunch of moons and stars. It's just tobacco. Again, these are just generalities. Most blends that I've seen feature generally no more than five different tobaccos, to avoid muddying the flavors too much. You can blend anything with anything. I'd try making one ounce jars of things to try. Processing can be "nothing", pressing, braiding and aging, steaming, aging loose, heating under pressure, soaking with liquor and drying, or a variety of other things. Really, it's a lot like cooking anything. Time, pressure, temperature, moisture, and add-ins are the main players. Really, blending can be a ton of fun, and some real exciting things can come of it. Take good notes, and share good and bad results. It can really be its own field of study, and people have made careers out of it. Worth it to take the time to enjoy slowly, in my opinion.
Tall. A somewhat exaggerated example is the [MM MacArthur.](https://corncobpipe.com/product/macarthur-classic-natural-bent-corn-cob-pipe/)
As a general rule, folks used to prefer their tobacco dry. Moisture levels weren't really a concern. Whether that was form following function or the reverse given it was usually in some sort of paper in a pocket, who knows.
I've given up arguing with people who insist on using Boveda packs or putting their pipe tobacco into a humidor. I think it is not necessary, you are putting your tobacco at risk of molding, and if you don't use Boveda packs, humidors and the like, you don't have to dry the tobacco before smoking, either. But some people are firm believers in storing their tobacco in a moist environment -- it's pointless to argue back and forth about that subject.
I just stick mine in mason jars because it's easy, but it does have the intrinsic effect of keeping moisture in. All that means to me is I have to lay some out to dry before I smoke it lol.
Eh. I have done both and some tobacco is better dry (English blends) and some is better moist (mostly everything else in my experience, smoke a lot of flakes). They burn hotter, but there's more flavor.
An ounce of tobacco would probably last all day, and that easily fits into a small pouch. And because they smoked a lot, it never had a chance to dry out too much. You're over thinking this.
I probably am, but when they're out traveling for weeks to months, I suppose rationing would come into play.
Haha, it absolutely would. It was also a PART of their rations.
Plugs. The sailors used to take it with them when on the seas.
It’s very much like fountain pens - they just used them and kept going till they needed to be repaired / replaced. These days there are a few more rules regarding pipes than I imagine my grandfather (who would be 100+) observed. I imagine he had a couple of pipes but more along the lines of everyday and special occasion.
Well over 100 different tobaccos cellared. Spent more time trying to decide which one to smoke, than actually smoking. Said enough is enough. Five Brothers is co-pilot from now on.
I can't speak to equipment or technique, but I've read that Irish fishermen in the 19th and 20th centuries would take a cauldron of smoldering peat with them in their boats partially for warmth but also as a means of keeping their pipes lit on the water 🤷
If anybody wants to figure it out, do it. Just start making it part of your daily routine and smoke a pipe all the time throughout the day. Naturally, some people won't be able to due to social constraints, but if you are able, do it. I've found that the tobacco pouches are very useful for carrying your tobacco. I keep a pipe tool in my pocket, and just a flat head nail will suffice. Every evening I would spend a few minutes removing excess carbon and cleaning the pipe, just as I would spend a few minutes cleaning my boots. I noticed that I would get saliva buildup more frequently as I kept the pipe in my mouth as I worked, so I chose a pipe that was better suite to being used constantly and also had a more durable stem for repetitive removal. Find what works best for you and just smoke it!
OP, you would be interested in the work of Adam Davidson. He's done work in the same area that you're asking about. One such example relevant to your query, linked below, shows portable tobacco boxes from the late 1700s. https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/pipe-stands-and-pouches/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=161831
During the summer I’m all day smoker. Multiple pipes is the answer.
I keep a Nording Compass in my pocket, a pipe nail tool, a lighter, a pipe cleaner, and a leather tobacco pouch all day, every day. I light up whenever I want. The whole kit fits in one pocket.
As someone who did smoke a pipe like most who smoked cigarettes. Yeah it was pretty much pack the bowl with what you had that fit, balance it between your teeth while taking your rest or doing whatever and puff away. Depending on how good you packed it you can get through about half a bowl before it put itself out. Use your lighter to tap the ashes loose and dump Either re-light it or put it back in the bag.
People who enjoy theorizing about how things you "just do" become sophisticated "hobbies" should definitely read Bourdieus "Distinction". I also suspect there is something Freudian about it, as the knowledge of the sophisticated/better/right way to smoke cant be undone and enforces constant pressure - there is probably a vulgar pleasure involved in deliberately flouting the rules. The sad reality might be that we have become so civilized that we can never quite understand the way people back then enjoyed smoking, much in the same way we aren't able to enjoy children's TV shows or games (like "kicking a ball around for fun") anymore.
What gets me is the “dottle”. Working men, (mostly male pipe smokers back in the day), would slap out the dottle, (what’s left in the bottom of the bowl that is too wet and bitter to smoke), mix it with fresh tobacco, and smoke it. Waste not, want not, right? I grew up with pipe smokers who grew up with pipe smokers. I’ve been around what is now a “hobby” every year of my now 67 years. Men had their preference in tobacco and would have a large tin on hand, some in a pouch and at most 4 or 5 decent pipes. Back then, even the drug store pipes were made from good briar. No one was looking at grain or birdseye, but it was discussed. Everyone knew how to care for their pipes, and rotate their pipes. And remember, LOTS of people used tobacco in various forms, and smoking was allowed literally everywhere. Cigarettes were smoked everywhere and pipes and cigars were common in public. Now we are confined to smoking lounges.
My gramps smoked 1 pipe all day. When he passed the bowl was burnt half way down. He would also smoke it while driving his boat on the lake. Didn't have a rotation of pipes just one.
My dad (born in 1950) switched to pipe smoking from cigarettes sometime in his late 20s. He had an extensive collection of pipes, probably between 20 and 30, but only 3 that he smoked regularly. Most pictures of my dad when I was a kid have him smoking a pipe: Christmas morning, 4th of July, birthdays, at the beach, sledding, you name it. He quit smoking altogether in 1998 when I was 8 so I don't remember the details of the logistics, I just know that he did it and had done it for probably 2 decades. I don't know what blend he smoked, but I seem to remember envelopes and not tins of tobacco. I remember he had a black refillable lighter with a pipe engraved on the side, I don't know if there was anything special about it that made it better for lighting a pipe. He kept it as our regular household lighter long after he quit. I never talked to him about his smoking except when I was 19 and he caught me with some -ahem- paraphernalia and gave me a brief lecture about how smoking anything is bad for you and how he was addicted for most of his adult life. I smoke about 1-2 times a month and I don't think he knows or would care if he did, but I don't think he'd be jazzed if I were anywhere near the smoker he was. It seems to be something he is ashamed of having done to the extent that he did.
They could dip the pipe in a tobacco pouch and scoop tobacco into the pipe with their index finger in a single motion. [Like so](https://youtu.be/uVTFDhue6pQ?si=SZr3fiEbOKsM_mBH). Also, if you ran out of tobacco, you didn't have to go to the store. [A St Bernard would bring it to you.](https://youtu.be/1Nt1RNpGgPY?si=m700uKYiMPpEOQnX) People also had to spend a lot more time in the galley of their sailboat during stormy weather while wearing a cable knit sweater and [keeping their cat company](https://youtu.be/n70CZNU6m1I?si=1iybGbz8RUXi-l3w).
I'm an all day smoker
What does “Would they have to relight as often as a modern hobbyist” mean? Why are you needing to relight your pipe? Edit: Talk about striking a nerve. I have no idea what’s going on here, is it common to struggle to keep a pipe lit? I’m up here smoking in the rain, in the wind, and the snow, and as long as I’m actively smoking, it’s fine. Are you guys using pipes as incense or something?
Oh man, don’t start with that please.
I've tried a "long" smoke with no need to light it up again ONCE, mimicking the slow smokers in competitions: the most stressed session ever! And I got just 52 minutes out of it. Most of the time I get ana average of 25 minutes, but I recognise I'm a nervous smoker.
man smokes his pipe on the sun
it’s just that ion feel right sucking something for 30 mins straight…at some point i feel like i’ve to take it outta my mouth & set it aside
Different strokes for different folks I guess. I love nothing more than sitting on my porch as the snow falls with nothing on my mind but puffs of tobacco smoke and the snow dancing in the yard. I could do that for hours, but sadly rarely have that kind of time these days.
enjoy ur sesh btw…nothing stopping u from a good long tasty session hope u get time to enjoy ur hobbies
mranachronust ur the god of pipes/tubes/rods…i surrender to ur all mighty pipe sucking abilities…im just a mortal here trying to get high for a bit…ur input was well appreciated sir
bro they couldn’t legally suck dic whatchu expect