Treasures

I never know what I’ll find at a pipe show, but experience has taught me never to be surprised by surprise. When hundreds of pipe enthusiasts gather to buy, sell or trade, there are bound to be treasures on the show floor. What is remarkable, however, is that sometimes those treasures are one-of-a-kind, never-find-one-again items like the pick and tamper set you see pictured at the top of this post.

Rewind to day one of the West Coast Pipe Show. I had just finished breakfast with my friend, Richard, and it was time to hustle off to the show floor to set up before the doors opened to the general public.

Tonni Nielsen had reserved a show table but decided not to come because he’d sold so many pipes a month earlier at the Richmond show. So, courtesy of Tonni, Richard and I had a table where we could display a few items for sale, ourselves. I’d brought only a couple of pipes to sell–literally two–so I found myself with lots of time to browse the other tables before the doors opened.

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On Comoy stems and manufacturing processes

Updated on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at 7:31AM by Neill Archer Roan

Over the last year as I’ve worked on my book about Comoy Blue Ribands the work has necessitated a a deep dive into Comoy as a whole. Obsession is the only word that really captures the state of mind in which I found myself. Perhaps the most difficult part of the journey was in creating distinctions between opinions and what I could empirically prove to be true. I was repeatedly surprised by how my learning process repeatedly impeached longheld assumptions—assumptions held so long and with such familiarity that my comfort with them had made them indistinguishable from facts.

Whenever I have had the privilege of conversation with subject-matter experts of various disciplines, I could not help but notice a common character trait among them: humility. Research and the learning that comes about as a result of disciplined and sometimes tedious methods quickly acquaints one with undiscovered country of one’s ignorance. The more we learn, the more we become acquainted with what we don’t know. What I found most daunting, however, was that the biggest barriers I had to overcome were those things that I believed to be true that were, in fact, untrue. I found myself standing in my own line of sight.

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Leafy Sea Dragon by Tonni Nielsen

While there are many notable pipe collections in our pipe community, Richard Friedman’s Sea Creature collection is unique among them. Taking its inspiration from Richard’s life at sea, his collection is populated with a vast array of ocean creatures—some so exotic and other-worldly that it boggles the mind that their essential shapes or natures could be imagined, let alone rendered, in briar.

Leafy Sea DragonWhile some shapes, like the blowfish, fugu, and whale, have made their way into the mainstream, others like the manta ray, the sea horse, the squid or the octopus will almost certainly never become commonplace. Among these rarities, one in particular stands out: a Leafy Sea Dragon by Tonni Nielsen that Richard acquired at the last Richmond Pipe Show.

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Checking in

As is obvious, I haven’t posted on a Passion for Pipes much for a couple of months. As a result, I’ve received quite a few messages of concern from readers and friends, most of whom are worried that something is wrong beyond my being very busy with other things. So, I feel like I owe you all an update.

First, I have been extremely busy with work. Business at the Roan Group has been booming with new clients and a fairly intense work schedule with existing clients. It has been a good time, but it has also meant more than a few 12-14 hour work days.

Second, December was a big push month for the Comoy Blue Riband book which will be released at the Chicago Show this coming May. A couple of important interviews occurred late in the book’s development that occasioned a couple of rewrites, the most significant of which was a conversation with John J. Adler, the man who ran Cadogan—Comoy’s parent company. That interview provided information and insights that required rethinking and recrafting the narrative in order to present the most accurate picture.

My publisher just sent me a round of preliminary press-sheet proofs and there are a few niggling issues that must be resolved before the book goes into full production. So there is that to accomplish.

One very good piece of news is that the book will be released in hard cover. Given the amount of reference information in it, I think this will make the book far more durable over time.

I hope to be posting more in the near term. Thanks again for bearing with my absence.

'Twas the Pipe Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, I sat with my pipe,
The hearth log was burning, I had not a gripe.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
My sweet wife was sleeping, yet I was awake,
I pondered my plan as I rubbed out a flake.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
With his pipe clenched alit, it must be St Nick.
I’d hoped while I sat of inviting him in,
For a bowl, and a chat, and a wee splash of gin!

To smoke with St Nicholas when Christmas comes ‘round,
Was a pipe dream I feared, but a pipe dream profound.
More rapid than eagles his reindeer they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the reindeer they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I put down my pipe, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his beard, like my own, sported ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

Some pipe smoke curled ‘round him like clouds on a peak,
“It’s a fellow pipe-smoker!” St. Nicholas did speak.
“Have you any Virginias by Ouellette or by Pease?
I’ll sit here awhile, and we’ll smoke, if you please.”

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The clay tavern pipe held tight in his teeth,
Issued smoke that encircled his head like a wreath.
He pulled out some matches and tamped his tobacco,
“I haven’t relit since I sat down in Krakow.”

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

We shared a few tales, then I helped with his work,
We filled up the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
My wife had appeared at the foot of the stairs,
“You’re smoking indoors!” she abruptly declared.

My guilt overcame me. St Nicholas blushed.
I stammered and stuttered. “I’m sorry,” I gushed.
He picked up his pipe, then tickled his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good pipe!”