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Post by johnlawitzke on May 4, 2023 20:39:13 GMT -5
I just wrote this longish reply to an interesting thread on another forum. I thought that it would an interesting topic for here…
Where did you buy your first pipe?
Buying a pipe was nothing special back when I bought my first pipe. So, I don’t remember exactly when it was but I do remember what and where. It was late 1982 or early 1983 sometime during my freshman year at Michigan State University. From reading back through this thread, I think I bought mine at one of the more unique locations… On Grand River Ave. right across from campus there was a student party store called Campus Corners II (or CC2 as it was called). This was a typical trashed store catering to students with beer, liquor, munchies, and a head shop counter. Most of the time, they didn’t card customers. One day, I thought that because I was now a college student studying engineering, I should have a pipe. In the head shop counter of CC2, there was a token tobacco pipe which I bought. In retrospect, it was an unbranded Dr. Grabow small Omega with a p-lip. The only stamp was "Imported Briar". I also bought a pouch of something, probably a Borkum Riff. After that, I found Campbell's Smoke Shop which was the real tobbaconist in the college town and bought tobacco there. I didn’t get my second pipe until a few months after graduating when we were on our honeymoon.
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Post by Ronv69 on May 4, 2023 20:57:11 GMT -5
Sunday morning, August 19, 1984. Peterson duty free shop, Shannon airport, Shannon Ireland.
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Post by trailboss on May 4, 2023 21:04:29 GMT -5
Mine was a Grass mask in about 1976, think of a respirator mask with a bowl, Colorado Springs....
Tobacco was a small turban headed figural Meer from the Tinderbox store at El Camino Real and San Antonio in the San Antonio shopping center on the Mt. View/Los Altos Ca. border 1982. Bought "North sea" by the ounce every few weeks (Peter Stokkebye Nougat"). The staff was nice, but they never helped guide me towards other tobacco's. I enjoyed the pipe as i regularly trekked from the bay area to "shakey town" (Los Angeles) in a big rig. Once I stopped doing that run and went local, I quit smoking as I did not want to influence my kids, my dad had just died and smoking pall mall's played a big role.
I "lost" the pipe along the way, wish I had it....started smoking the pipe again in 2005 and was blown away by the choices...if them Store employees had provided due diligence, I might have a crate of Sobranie and Three nuns cellared away!
Great thread start, John!
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Post by username on May 4, 2023 21:05:37 GMT -5
Don't remember the exact date but it was at the tinderbox in Tucson a Mr Brog pear wood with a tin of Murrays era Dunhill nightcap as I thought the tin art was cool.
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Post by urbino on May 4, 2023 21:19:52 GMT -5
Bought mine at a mom and pop shop in Waco, TX. Can't say I remember the name. This would've been in '94 or '95. The pipe was an Amadeus sandblast, the shape very similar to a Savinelli 316. It was a darn good smoker. Went up in the fire, with all my other smokables.
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Post by trailboss on May 4, 2023 21:26:26 GMT -5
Bought mine at a mom and pop shop in Waco, TX. Can't say I remember the name. This would've been in '94 or '95. The pipe was an Amadeus sandblast, the shape very similar to a Savinelli 316. It was a darn good smoker. Went up in the fire, with all my other smokables. Wow that sucks. A house fire can really ruin your day....reminds me I should catalogue a lot of stuff and consider a rider policy. |
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Post by turbocat on May 4, 2023 21:38:50 GMT -5
A Dr. Grabow folding pocket pipe along with a pouch of Kentucky Club Mixture if I remember correctly at a party store in Ortonville, Michigan, 1982.
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Post by Silver on May 4, 2023 22:04:29 GMT -5
A Dr. Grabow from a K Mart in Eastpointe, MI (East Detroit in those days), along with a pouch of cherry (I think) tobacco. Tried to smoke it without any instruction, became frustrated and pitched it. Shortly, thereafter, went to the local Tinder Box and bought an Irish Seconds bent billiard, tobacco,tamper, cleaners and was given some instruction. Things went much better. I still have that pipe.
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The Wizzard
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Post by The Wizzard on May 4, 2023 22:17:22 GMT -5
I bought my first pipe at a tobacco store in Wolfville, Nova Scotia (1970). I was a student at the time. The shop was run by a fellow from Holland. The pipe was a Brigham with a rock maple filter. I smoked Edgeworth tobacco in a yellow package. I liked the pipe at the time but am currently not a fan of Brigham filters.
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tree16
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Post by tree16 on May 4, 2023 23:17:51 GMT -5
My first pipe was also a Mr Brog, I'm of a younger generation so it was an online purchase through Amazon my freshman year of college. I had started smoking cigars first and decided on a churchwarden pipe that I hoped would provide a cooler smoke but was also influenced by LOTR more than I would admit at the time. For tobacco, we had a B&M store that catered mostly to cigars but had a respectable bulk tobacco supply. I asked for a sample of the most popular blends and was pushed towards a couple of aromatics that smelled great in the jar... Over the next few days I smoked myself sick and completely scorched my tongue. It's not a work of beauty but I'm glad I still have it in my rotation. I ditched the churchwarden bit (cheap coated aluminum that would gurgle every time) and replaced it with a bent billiard stem from a MM after some Dremel work to the mortise which has made it a much more enjoyable smoke.
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Post by urbino on May 5, 2023 0:13:36 GMT -5
My first pipe was also a Mr Brog, I'm of a younger generation so it was an online purchase through Amazon my freshman year of college. I had started smoking cigars first and decided on a churchwarden pipe that I hoped would provide a cooler smoke but was also influenced by LOTR more than I would admit at the time. For tobacco, we had a B&M store that catered mostly to cigars but had a respectable bulk tobacco supply. I asked for a sample of the most popular blends and was pushed towards a couple of aromatics that smelled great in the jar... Over the next few days I smoked myself sick and completely scorched my tongue. It's not a work of beauty but I'm glad I still have it in my rotation. I ditched the churchwarden bit (cheap coated aluminum that would gurgle every time) and replaced it with a bent billiard stem from a MM after some Dremel work to the mortise which has made it a much more enjoyable smoke. There's a very long running debate about the best kind of tobacco to recommend or give to a new smoker. Aromatics are likely to give them a flavor they at least recognize and probably enjoy, but they're going to get tongue bite and have trouble keeping it lit. |
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Post by Ronv69 on May 5, 2023 0:18:25 GMT -5
My first pipe was also a Mr Brog, I'm of a younger generation so it was an online purchase through Amazon my freshman year of college. I had started smoking cigars first and decided on a churchwarden pipe that I hoped would provide a cooler smoke but was also influenced by LOTR more than I would admit at the time. For tobacco, we had a B&M store that catered mostly to cigars but had a respectable bulk tobacco supply. I asked for a sample of the most popular blends and was pushed towards a couple of aromatics that smelled great in the jar... Over the next few days I smoked myself sick and completely scorched my tongue. It's not a work of beauty but I'm glad I still have it in my rotation. I ditched the churchwarden bit (cheap coated aluminum that would gurgle every time) and replaced it with a bent billiard stem from a MM after some Dremel work to the mortise which has made it a much more enjoyable smoke. There's a very long running debate about the best kind of tobacco to recommend or give to a new smoker. Aromatics are likely to give them a flavor they at least recognize and probably enjoy, but they're going to get tongue bite and have trouble keeping it lit. A little coaching can help with that. Too tight packing, sucking too hard or fast can be controlled. It takes a bit of practice. |
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tree16
New Member
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Post by tree16 on May 5, 2023 8:23:21 GMT -5
There's a very long running debate about the best kind of tobacco to recommend or give to a new smoker. Aromatics are likely to give them a flavor they at least recognize and probably enjoy, but they're going to get tongue bite and have trouble keeping it lit. Yeah I don't fault the clerk that assisted me but if others ask me in the future I think I'll focus more on the ease/comfort of the smoke so they'll want to try it again and find their own tastes. |
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Post by Plainsman on May 5, 2023 8:57:37 GMT -5
Don’t remember exactly where, but it would have been a cob in Ithaca, NY, September 1957.
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Post by taiguy66 on May 5, 2023 9:36:38 GMT -5
Sunday morning, August 19, 1984. Peterson duty free shop, Shannon airport, Shannon Ireland. I think my first pipe was one of Ron’s haha. All kidding aside, my first was a Vuen at a local pipe store in Seattle. Sadly, like many other pipe stores, they’re all gone. |
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Zach
Pro Member
If you can't send money, send tobacco.
Posts: 4,042
First Name: Zach
Favorite Pipe: Too many currently, bound to change
Favorite Tobacco: Haunted Bookshop, Big 'N' Burley, Pegasus, Habana Daydream, OJK, Rum Twist, FVF, Escudo, Orlik Golden Sliced, Kendal Flake, Ennerdale
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Post by Zach on May 5, 2023 11:48:41 GMT -5
The first pipe I bought was a Missouri Meerschaum Ozark Mountain cherry hardwood pipe from a "Tobacco Stop" shop. These shops that mostly just sell cigs and RYO stuff. Bought some Prince Albert's Cherry-Vanilla cavendish in a pouch with it. It wasn't barely a week or so later and I went into Riegel's tobacconist here in my city and bought my first briar pipe, a Leonessa Briosa slight bent rusticated apple. I still have both pipes. That was September 2012.
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Spartacus
Junior Member
Posts: 464
First Name: Cliff
Favorite Pipe: Von Erck / Scottie Piersel
Favorite Tobacco: Escudo / Capstan / 5100 / Ramsgate
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Post by Spartacus on May 5, 2023 15:59:24 GMT -5
1980 Lyon's Drug Store in Steamboat Springs Colorado. It was a giveaway pipe package with Captain Black.
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Post by just ol ed on May 5, 2023 21:53:07 GMT -5
probably a couple cobs in '62, smoked corn silk. 1st briar, big bent billiard from long gone shop near Denver. Prop...George O'Belmito. Over 400lbs died young from diabeties overload. Now a yard pipe, shank/bowl held together with electrical tape, replacement lucite stem from JT Cooke. Smokes as well as ever
Ed-kinda on the old side!
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Post by CrustyCat on May 6, 2023 5:54:20 GMT -5
My first pipe was a MM Country Gentleman. Bought it at a local gas station/smoke shop along with some Captain Black pipe tobacco. Don't remember exactly when, probably 5 or 6 years ago.
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Post by coalsmoke on May 6, 2023 5:58:43 GMT -5
I bought my first pipe in when...'70 or '71? I think it was a brylon billiard from a tobacconist near the corner of 42nd Street and Madison Ave. in Manhattan when I had a clerical job there. My tobacco of choice was one of the Amphora offerings only because I knew someone who smoked it. Later on, when I was in the Navy, I had a full bent rusticated Jobey from the base store and smoked whatever the ship's store had in stock: Sail, Captain Black, etc. Not the best start, but I didn't know any better, honest!
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Post by Goldbrick on May 6, 2023 8:22:44 GMT -5
Mine was a Grass mask in about 1976, think of a respirator mask with a bowl, Colorado Springs.... Tobacco was a small turban headed figural Meer from the Tinderbox store at El Camino Real and San Antonio in the San Antonio shopping center on the Mt. View/Los Altos Ca. border 1982. Bought "North sea" by the ounce every few weeks (Peter Stokkebye Nougat"). The staff was nice, but they never helped guide me towards other tobacco's. I enjoyed the pipe as i regularly trekked from the bay area to "shakey town" (Los Angeles) in a big rig. Once I stopped doing that run and went local, I quit smoking as I did not want to influence my kids, my dad had just died and smoking pall mall's played a big role. I "lost" the pipe along the way, wish I had it....started smoking the pipe again in 2005 and was blown away by the choices...if them Store employees had provided due diligence, I might have a crate of Sobranie and Three nuns cellared away! Great thread start, John! Ha! if grass counts, then I had some metal pipes as far back as 73, and in 76 a lovely little pipe I fashioned from metal parts, with a briar, screw on bowl...it got tossed into the woods during a random traffic check... Tobacco pipes came in 78, November was the first, a no-name from the local Tinder Box, then one every pay-day till the wife slowed me down...I still have the first tobacco pipe, and I still regret tossing that little metal pipe with the briar bowl. |
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Post by trailboss on May 6, 2023 13:50:52 GMT -5
probably a couple cobs in '62, smoked corn silk. 1st briar, big bent billiard from long gone shop near Denver. Prop...George O'Belmito. Over 400lbs died young from diabeties overload. Now a yard pipe, shank/bowl held together with electrical tape, replacement lucite stem from JT Cooke. Smokes as well as ever Ed-kinda on the old side! Sharp as a tack though, Ed! Remembering a name like that from 1962… that is impressive in my books. |
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Post by oldcajun123 on May 9, 2023 9:30:40 GMT -5
 Norfolk Naval Hospital, in the early 60s, bribed nurse to go to the Gedunk, she bought me a Kaywoodie Fine Line, smoked it in janitors closet late at night, I still have it!
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Post by oldcajun123 on May 9, 2023 13:58:49 GMT -5
 Here it is!
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Post by don on May 9, 2023 17:26:38 GMT -5
I still have it. I don’t recall the name of the shop. I was a freshman at CU Boulder in 1980 and decided that a pipe was in order. I do recall it was a mall store. Maybe a Tinderbox? Anyone know what that might have been? Lost to time due to my failing memory….
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Rattlesnake Daddy
Full Member
Posts: 630
Favorite Pipe: Always changing
Favorite Tobacco: G&H Dark Birds Eye, Bayou Night.
Location:
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Post by Rattlesnake Daddy on May 9, 2023 20:06:14 GMT -5
I purchased my first pipe around '91/'92 from the Tinder Box in Gwinnett Place Mall, Duluth, GA. It was a bent Dublin sitter made in Israel. I still have it, and smoke it occasionally.
RSD
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Post by trailboss on May 9, 2023 23:01:38 GMT -5
I purchased my first pipe around '91/'92 from the Tinder Box in Gwinnett Place Mall, Duluth, GA. It was a bent Dublin sitter made in Israel. I still have it, and smoke it occasionally. RSD I wonder if it was from the Shalom family of pipes? Shalom/Alpha pipes were exported to the USA, and many were stamped Tinderbox. I have three Shalom pipes and they smoke well. |
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Post by Legend Lover on May 10, 2023 6:19:42 GMT -5
Basket pipe in a B&M in Belfast. It gurgled a lot, but I never knew about putting a pipe cleaner down the stem mid-smoke. I haven't smoked it much since, as there are better pipes in my collection. I must bring it out some day and give it a blast.
I took a dremel to it at one point and did a partial rustication for the craic.
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Rattlesnake Daddy
Full Member
Posts: 630
Favorite Pipe: Always changing
Favorite Tobacco: G&H Dark Birds Eye, Bayou Night.
Location:
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Post by Rattlesnake Daddy on May 12, 2023 17:25:49 GMT -5
I wonder if it was from the Shalom family of pipes? Shalom/Alpha pipes were exported to the USA, and many were stamped Tinderbox. I have three Shalom pipes and they smoke well.
I believe it might have been made there. It is only stamped "Israel" on the shank, no other markings.
RSD
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Post by trailboss on May 13, 2023 9:24:06 GMT -5
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Norfolk Naval Hospital, in the early 60s, bribed nurse to go to the Gedunk, she bought me a Kaywoodie Fine Line, smoked it in janitors closet late at night, I still have it!
