Dad, Grandpa, Uncle?

Thank you for sharing those memories, my friend.

My dad smoked a pipe when I was a kid, but they were long gone by the time he died. I could have had several of William Faulkner’s but passed up the opportunity, not being a kleptomaniac.

Not many pipe smokers in my family unless I go back to my great grandfather and I didn’t know him nor did any of his pipes survive in the family. 

However, after my divorce, my ex wife started seeing a guy whose father had just recently died. When he found out I smoked pipes, he brought me over all of his dad’s pipes and gave them to me, along with one of those pipe stands with the green glass humidor on one end. They were mostly boring basket type pipes, which went into one of my mediocre pipe boxes, but there was this Peterson’s Special P lip Canadian, which I will get around to cleaning up someday. So it was a family hand down, just not my family and I have a pleasant memory attached to it, thought it was quite nice of the guy.

Can't help, Dad smoked Chesterfield no-filter near up to when he died. Supposedly an Uncle on Mom's side had a few pipes but both long gone. Mom non-smoker but tolerant of Dad

Another great thread you've put up, thank you

Ed

I'm not sure many ex-husbands receive gifts from their ex-wives' new significant others.

Probably not, but there was very little upset around our divorce, it was mutual and not founded in the usual “stuff” and immature behaviors that I see many people go through. We remained and still are best friends and I think that created an opening for whoever she was dating to act like a normal person rather than weird around me.

All cigarette smokers except for my father who didn't smoke nor did his parents. I'm the only pipe smoker in my family.

You're a good honest man Bob I'm honored to know you'

You at least sat down and "read" the Playboys, though, right?

My Grandad, was an amazing guy, he was 'hired out' (check out Irish Hiring Fairs) to a rich farmer at FIVE years old, until the age of 12, never attended school, no reading or writing, yet he built a family, farm business and was the most humble,honest, Godly man you could ever meet.
He first smoked a pipe at 10 years old, Gallagers warhorse plug was his tobacco, carried around in an old, beat up leather pouch with a penknife. He smoked Peterson straight billiards,, strictly so, and the bit on his pipe would get so chewed from clenching (I think the only photograph I've ever seen of him without his pipe, firmly clenched, was my parents wedding photographs!), that when he couldn't get a good draw any longer, the pipe would go into the stove and a fiery grave.
My grandmother would then produce a brand new Pete from her 'mystery cupboard' (she was the custodian of the plug and pipe), he'd then shave some plug, rub it out, then fill using the 'spiral scoop' method from his huge palms, stuff it down with his thumb, and fire it up.
Even now, I'm 8 years old, and staring intensely at the ritual workings, I can smell the strong, sweet, thick smoke.
I never got any of his pipes, my younger brother has one of his old Petes, but it's a real chewed up museum piece, still, I wish I had it,, as far as I know I'm the only grandchild to have 'taken up the briar'.
But I got something even better; I started pipe smoking about 2 1/2 years ago, and not long into my journey, an Aunt of mine revealed that she had found some of his tobacco,, unopened. Two half oz bars of Gallaher's warhorse, now the old guy passed in 97,and my Aunt reckons the plugs were at least from 95 or 96 (part of the mystery cupboard stash) as in the last couple of years he was alive he didn't smoke as much, and he used up a lot of his 'cellar' (He'd laugh at that notion).
But there were two bars of this long discontinued plug left, and now they were mine!
As you can imagine, it's a pretty special smoke,smooth beyond compare, yet still very strong, sweet n smoky, it's my jarred-up Christmas treat now, with its own dedicated Pete straight billiard (of course), and I toast a glass of Guinness to the man who helped make me a man.
Just to add, Grandad had one of those weird, almost spooky Irish deaths; on the morning he died, he didn't get out of bed, instead he asked another of my Aunts to phone all his sons and daughters, asking them to come to his house, he hadn't been well, so they promptly came when called.
My mom told me that when everyone was gathered, he talked to them some; he was happy they were there, he then asked my uncle to 'bring him his pipe, for a wee draw' which he did, he then closed his eyes and passed peacefully.
Dedication.....
The pipe was his oldest comforting friend, often the only pleasure he had, in hard times like you and I couldn't imagine. At the end it was this faithful companion he reached for again, like every time he stepped out into the cold winter night, feeding the cows, cap on, pipe lit.

Jon, what a wonderful story. Thank you so much for sharing that remembrance of a great man. You are so fortunate. And now we are, too, for reading that.

Now that's a pipe smoking story. Sounds like a great man. And those plugs must be amazing.

If I ever figure out how to post pictures on here, I will happily do so, 😊

Incidentally, at the time I was gifted the Warhorse, I sent a small sample to a YouTuber called 'Uncle Phil's Cellar', he did a nice VR if any of you are interested in watching it (maybe some of you already have).