Have pipes. Will travel.

In just over three weeks, I’ll travel to the Chicago Show. This year, getting there has posed a few unusual challenges because I’m exhibiting my Comoy Blue Riband collection at the show.

Originally, I planned to drive. Although it is a 750-mile trek, when I have a lot of stuff to transport—pipes, cameras, lights, tripod, computer, Passion for Pipes merchandise, and sometimes even furniture—driving is the only sensible option.

However, this year my work schedule makes driving impossible; I have to fly there and back. So, I had to find a safe and secure way to transport my collection and exhibit pieces. Thanks to my friend, Neil Flancbaum at Smokin’ Holsters, I discovered CasesbySource.com where I was able to purchase a smart solution.

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Preparing a Catalog for my Chicago Show Comoy Blue Riband Exhibit

Illness precluded my attending the Chicago Show last May. I was sorely disappointed at not being able to attend.

I was especially disappointed when I heard about and saw photos of George Amrom’s collection exhibit. I have repeatedly heard from people who saw the exhibit that it was truly an exhibit to remember and one of the best ever mounted at the Chicago show.

 Seeing George’s exhibit inspired me to approach Show Director Craig Cobine about exhibiting my Comoy Blue Riband collection. After many years, I finally have enough representative specimens to make such an exhibition worthwhile, especially for those pipe enthusiasts whose interest is in vintage British-made pipes.
 
So, I inquired of Craig as to whether or not there might be interest in my exhibiting. I was delighted to receive an invitation to exhibit my collection in response to my inquiry.

Because I was unable to attend the show—and I did not have the opportunity to experience the Amrom collection—it occurred to me that preparing a catalog of my exhibit would allow people who will not have attended the show to experience the exhibit, albeit in a different format.

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The Limitations of Experience

As related to pipe-smoking, few things annoy me so much as the arrogant certainty of some pipe smokers who believe, because they have smoked a pipe for some 30 to 40 years or more, that they know all there is to know on the subject.

Invariably, these people accredit their opinions by their long experience, implying that knowledge and wisdom are conveyed by virtue of having passed time with a pipe in their kisser. They trumpet, “I’ve smoked a pipe for over 40 years, and blah, blah, blah (insert opinion-of-the-day here)….”

Bullshit. Many have smoked a pipe for 1 year and repeated that single year 39 times.

Decades of jamming Prince Albert into a cob pipe will make you conversant with cobs and Prince Albert, but it certainly doesn’t substitute for active inquiry and experimentation with scores of different pipe makers and tobacco blenders over that same 40 years. By making this comparison, I am not denigrating Prince Albert or cobs, both of which are what they are, I am declaring that if that is all you have done, then you haven’t done much. This would be just as true for someone who has smoked Balkan Sobranie in an S. Bang. That experience would be just as limited.

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The Novice's Guide on How to Buy Estate Pipes: Glossary of Terms

A Guide to Terms with Annotation

BOWL COATING: A thin application of a fire-resistant paste compound that is applied to a tobacco chamber interior to accelerate cake formation (sometimes called pre-carbonization), and to reduce the possibility of heat damage. Secondary Bowl Coating: In the process of refurbishment, some resellers remove a pipe’s original bowl coating and apply their own version. Some pipemakers do not apply bowl coatings, but resellers sometimes apply one if they are concerned about past or potential damage to a chamber interior. Bowl coating formulas vary. Some are dietary charcoal with organic binder (yogurt or sour cream) and some are waterglass and dietary charcoal. The use or non-use of coatings is controversial; both pro-coating and anti-coating adherents make strong arguments. Unless a reseller or refurbisher has used a coating to conceal the true condition of a pipe, the presence of a coating does not materially impact an estate’s value. (I prefer original condition: the original coating or the original state of no coating.)

BURN-OUT: A severely charred area inside a tobacco chamber. A complete burnout results when the wood is charred or burned from the inside to the outside of a pipe. This is the first issue you should look for in an estate pipe purchase. Burnout renders a pipe worthless in the collectibles market. A partially burnt-out pipe that can be repaired with pipe mud may have minimal value as a smoker.

BUTTON: The articulated, raised area of a stem end that is inserted into the mouth. The stem button facilitates the ease with which a pipe smoker can hold the pipe with the teeth (clench).

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Undiscovered Country

A week ago this coming Saturday morning, I attended the New York Pipe Show. While it is a relatively small show compared to some others, I’ve always enjoyed being there, principally because, in addition to artisans and pipe vendors, it is a place where collectors come to show and trade pipes. I’ve found it to be a show where I’ve been able to pick up some marvelous pipes at very good prices or for trade. One of the collectors who I always look forward to seeing is the noted Comoy collector Bob Herbert.

Bob and I had been in touch via email before the show, and I had been looking forward to seeing him because he always brings interesting and unusual pipes. I’ve bought several unique Comoy Blue Ribands from him and one of the most beautiful old BBB silver-inlaid cuttys that I have ever encountered. 

Early Saturday morning, I ran into Bob at the hotel’s Starlight Restaurant when my friend, Jon Guss, and I met for breakfast. Ever the thoughtful friend, Bob invited me to come and share a chair at his table when I tired of wandering the show floor looking at pipes.

Bob has been a reliable and credible source when I have needed to learn about or confirm some Comoy historical esoterica, but his expertise extends far beyond Comoyiana. He also possesses a great deal of expertise regarding old English and French factory pipes. Bob’s knowledge is rooted in his own collection, one that is both high-quality and reputedly rich in both scope and numbers.

There is nothing like seeing, holding, or comparing many pipes, especially when one’s collection is not limited solely to the big names like Dunhill, Comoy, GBD, BBB, etc. There were many other pipe-making concerns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of which are relatively unknown to most of us. The fact that they are unknown to us does not in any way minimize the quality of these pipes, however, or the extent to which their owners loved them.

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