On Being Cavalier

Updated on Friday, June 26, 2015 at 5:01PM by Neill Archer Roan

Cavalier (Extraordinaire) by Comoy’s

The classic cavalier by Comoy’s that you see depicted above is a rare bird, the only version I’ve ever seen of the shape by Comoy’s. An Extraordinaire, it is a large pipe that is beautifully grained and impeccably made. I acquired the pipe from the Bisgaards, hitting the buy button the minute I saw the pipe. It was only upon receiving it that I realized that it was likely made in the 1950s. It has the old, arched, serifed Comoy’s type stamp.

As with other consumer products, fashion flexes its muscle in the pipe world, too, especially with respect to the waxing and waning of pipe shapes. For example, for a number of years nosewarmers have been fashionable. So have chubby rhodesians. As a result of this year’s Kansas City Pipe Club’s North American Pipe Carver’s Contest, interest may be renewed in the cavalier shape.

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The Beautiful Stranger

There are some pipes the impact of which I feel so much that they are imprinted indelibly in my memory, I want them so much. Worse, they are the persistent ghost–the unbidden visitor who strides into any moment, however inconvenient or distracting a presence they may be.

And when the owner refuses to part company with the pipe? Does this settle the matter? No. If, anything it’s worse, akin to the beautiful stranger who, once seen, cannot be unseen nor forgotten. The indelibility of these memories astonish me. When there is so much I struggle to remember, these things I cannot forget. There is more than a little truth to Buddha’s admonition that the root of all suffering is desire. Such was my experience of the sandblasted bent bamboo apple depicted above.

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On Liverpools

Comoy Blue Riband Liverpools: Shapes 133, 30, and 434Compared to its cousins, the Canadian and the Lovat, the Liverpool attracts fewer admirers. In my experience, many pipe smokers are not even sure what a Liverpool is. However, this seems to be changing. For mysterious reasons, the Liverpool’s star is rising. It is true for me, and I’ve noticed of late that more than a few of my friends are enthusing about the Liverpools I’ve seen them smoking.

Like the Canadian and the Lovat, the Liverpool is a long-shanked variant of the Billiard shape. Unlike the oval-shanked Canadian, the Liverpool’s shank is round. Unlike the saddle-stemmed Lovat, the Liverpool’s stem is tapered. Like the Lovat, the Liverpool’s billiardish bowl is slightly forward-canted. In summary, a Liverpool is a long- and round-shanked pipe with a tapered stem and a slightly forward-canted, billiard-like bowl.

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The Escape Pipe

An Escape Pipe assembledIt is a common misconception that all pipe manufacturing ceased during World War II when most pipe factories were repurposed to support the war effort. It is true that many factories were repurposed. For example, Comoys made blades that went into engines for the propulsion of aero engines. Civic made canvas items that included webbing for parachutes. But some pipe factories, for example Oppenheimer, continued to make pipes.

In fact, pipe-making was a protected industry during both World Wars I and II because soldiers smoked. Although the war effectively eliminated most makers’ ability to source briar, the Briar Pipe Trade Association allocated available briar stocks to manufacturers during the wars so that pipes could continue to be made for British forces. Some of those wartime pipes were special, indeed.

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Announcing the 2014 Passion for Pipes POY: the Québec

Updated on Monday, November 25, 2013 at 11:31AM by Neill Archer Roan

1911 H. Comoy, Ltd. Catalog CoverThanks to Delaware collector Bob Herbert, I had the good fortune to see and study a copy of  H. Comoy & Co. Ltd.’s 1911 catalog, the first that the House of Comoy ever issued. It was a remarkable catalog for its day, replete with color cover and photographs of all the pipes the company offered its customers at the time. Imagine, this catalog is 103 years old!

As you might imagine, perusing the catalog was not unlike stepping into a time machine. Most of the shapes offered then were very different from what is offered today. While we might think of the depicted shapes as classic, they were actually progenitors of what we think of as classic shapes today. Over time, proportions have changed. Shanks and stems are not as beefy as they once were. Stem tapers are longer and more gradual. Button profiles are more refined. Even the smoke stream orifices changed from circular or oval to fluted and rounded rectangles.

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