| | Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members | |
| Author | Message |
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BriarPipeNYC
Age : 69 Location : New York City Registration date : 2018-01-26
 | Subject: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:34 am | |
| First... thank-you for having me as a member. I'm sure that not only will it be enjoyable to read all the postings on various subjects, but that I will also learn many pipe-ish things, here also.
Born and "bred" in New York City, and have been smoking my modest briar pipe collection, on and off, since 1966 the year I turned 16 years old. Being allowed by my parents to smoke a pipe when I turned 16 yrs. old, was a big milestone in my life. I considered myself as a grownup, a man!...and the girls would just flock to me because I was different then the rest of the skinny, jerks who smoked cigarettes. Well, it didn't quite turn out as I planned, girl-wise. Yada, yada, yada.....fast forward. In my salad days, I learned how to hate my pipes. Smoked cheapo tobaccos, gooey aromatics, and smoke the pipe all wrong. Tongue-bite, gurgling-juicy smokes, acrid-rank smells, oxidized bits, smelly ashtrays, sticky pipe cleaners....YECH! Concurrently, pipe shops in NYC started closing down by the dozens, and the price of briar pipes, and tobaccos skyrocketed. So I stopped smoking about 20 years ago.
I'm back. My pipes laid there, for 20 years, in a forgotten drawer, comatose.....and each time I saw them, they begged me to ...."give us one more chance"..... So, I joined a few pipe smoking forums, watched some very informative You-Tube videos, asked questions, followed suggestions, and now.... I can actually enjoy the art of smoking my briar pipes once again.
So now your up to date. I'm still discovering the merits and demerits of some of the various mixtures and blends that are now available to us pipe smokers. Back when I started to pick up the pipe this incredible variety of blend choices, and computer-shopping was nonexistent. All my favorite B&M tobacco shops are gone like Wilke's, Wally Frank, De La Concha, Barkley Rex (many locations back in the day), and most of them have become cigar lounges. Too bad. The aromas wafting around the old-timey Tobacconist shops was not to be believed! I miss those days. Gone, also, are all the hole-in-the-wall, "Pipe Hospitals" that operated in lower-Manhattan. What's a "pipe hospital"? Back in the day, a guy could get his pipe repaired while he waited, or even more commonly done, men dropped off their broken pipes at one of these "pipe hospitals" in the morning, went to work, and they just picked up their refreshed, and repaired pipes, when quitting time rolled around. Very convenient for the many pipe-smokers walking around the streets of NYC. These quaint, "pipe hospitals" were nothing more that 4' X 6' wooden shacks. They looked very much like today's garden/storage sheds. All had a small lathe, plenty of files, and other hand tools, plenty of briar and Vulcanite dust, and hundreds of repaired and unclaimed pipes hanging all over the ceiling, dangling from strings. Eye candy for this young, sixteen year old "man".
That was then, and this is now. So....on with the show. Thanks for the interest.
Frank NYC |
|  | | Richard Burley

Location : North Coast NY Registration date : 2011-04-09
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Fri Jan 26, 2018 11:20 am | |
| Those were the days, my friend. I remember those places well. And you could smoke in movie theater loges! Welcome to the cabal. (I too started on the pipe at age 16. No hiatus, however, other than a six-month fascination with premium cigars, a new discovery at the time.) |
|  | | Brewdude Moderator

Age : 67 Location : Arid-zona Registration date : 2011-05-04
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Fri Jan 26, 2018 4:18 pm | |
| Great intro Frank, and glad to have you aboard. Welcome to BoB, and I look forward to more of your reminiscences.
Cheers,
RR |
|  | | ak2000

Location : NW Burbs Chicagoland Registration date : 2017-10-15
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Fri Jan 26, 2018 7:45 pm | |
| Informative intro, thank you and welcome! |
|  | | Corncobcon

Age : 70 Location : From the prarie of KS. to Lake of the Ozarks, MO. Registration date : 2017-10-15
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:45 pm | |
| Welcome Frank. I enjoyed your talk about the city. It brought back memories for me as I was a boy growing up across the Hudson and visited the city many times. I hope you enjoy this board as much as I do. |
|  | | DrT999

Age : 61 Location : Piedmont of North Carolina Registration date : 2011-08-31
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:17 pm | |
| Welcome to BoB, Frank! I hope you enjoy your time here
"T" |
|  | | BriarPipeNYC
Age : 69 Location : New York City Registration date : 2018-01-26
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sat Jan 27, 2018 6:59 am | |
| Thank-you one and all. Been lurking here for a while and decided to take the plunge and join up...and, so I did.
Sorry for the long, rambling intro. I have a tendency to be a little long winded. Yell at me when that happens. Looking forward to some learnin' from you guys and gals. See... I could be politically correct when I want, which ain't too often.
Love making new friends that share my interests. Love re-smoking my pipes. Most of the pipes that I own were bought 20-40 years ago, when meat was cheap. Back then, I knew absolutely nothing about fine pipes and tobaccos. I smoked "Mixture No. 79" because my father did so when he was in the Coast Guard (WW-ll), and sometimes "Sugar Barrel". Got sick to my stomach, way too many times to count and had no idea just how to suck on my briars. In my youth I did everything fast, including smoking my pipes. Freight-trained through a lot of leaf, crappy leaf, and nicotined my way into hating pipe-smoking for a looooong time. Until recently. Lurked around some pipe-smoking forums, watched some informative You-Tube videos that taught me a few things, and now I'm back, increasing my carbon footprint. Screw, Al Gore!
Like to smoke my pipes. After I got me some learnin', I can do it much more betterer than I used to do it. Now, those old briars can do what they were born to do. I can sit back and watch the world go by in a smoky reverie.
Just so you know, I ain't confrontational, and will not argue a point to death. Not me. Ain't in my DNA, and it ain't worth the trouble. You know what they say about opinions......
So, I'll be back, and post.... when I think I have something to say of interest......
Frank NYC |
|  | | Ozark Wizard

Age : 55 Location : Mark Twain National Forest, MO Registration date : 2014-10-11
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sat Jan 27, 2018 5:14 pm | |
| Welcome to the forum! One day turnaround on pipe repairs you say? Must have been the Golden Age...... |
|  | | AJ

Age : 71 Location : East of the Rocky Mountains Registration date : 2012-03-18
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Jan 28, 2018 12:58 am | |
| Hello Frank, a warm welcome to the BoB. I'm looking forward to reading your postings. AJ |
|  | | Hermit

Age : 66 Location : Ascension Parish Registration date : 2008-04-22
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:28 am | |
| We have a few members over 100, but you're the first over 800. Welcome to BoB, old-timer! |
|  | | BriarPipeNYC
Age : 69 Location : New York City Registration date : 2018-01-26
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:40 am | |
| Yes....Hermit.
The forum has listed my age at 823. Sometimes, I feel that way when I get out a a too soft chair, but, I'm not ready for the "Marble Orchard" just yet.
Funny.....
Frank NYC
BTW....how do I correct/edit the wrong age notation?
**********************************************************
Just went into my "profile", and edited my DOB. I make these annoying kinds of mistakes all the time. : ))
Last edited by BriarPipeNYC on Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:54 am; edited 1 time in total |
|  | | DrT999

Age : 61 Location : Piedmont of North Carolina Registration date : 2011-08-31
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:46 am | |
| - BriarPipeNYC wrote:
- Yes....Hermit.
The forum has listed my age at 823. Sometimes, I feel that way when I get out a a too soft chair, but, I'm not ready for the "Marble Orchard" just yet.
Funny.....
Frank NYC
BTW....how do I correct/edit the wrong age notation? Hit 'profile' on the BoB bar on the top of the page, and, if it doesn't popup as the first page, 'information' changing your birthdate is about 1/2 down the page, after 'gender' |
|  | | BriarPipeNYC
Age : 69 Location : New York City Registration date : 2018-01-26
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:55 am | |
| Thanks....I just this second, edited my DOB. Sorry.
Frank |
|  | | Oxman

Age : 51 Location : Tabora, Tanzania in darkest East Africa Registration date : 2014-06-05
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Mon Jan 29, 2018 12:32 pm | |
| Great intro Frank. I look forward to reading your posts.
Welcome to BoB. |
|  | | Stick

Age : 49 Location : 'Blighty' Registration date : 2014-02-19
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Mon Jan 29, 2018 4:18 pm | |
| A warm welcome from Blighty, Frank.
Glad you rediscovered your briars!
|
|  | | idlehands

Age : 76 Location : central Florida Registration date : 2018-01-26
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:46 am | |
| Welcome to BoB Frank. Sorry for replying so late, but been extremely busy. Looking forward to your posts. |
|  | | Walkman

Location : Colorado Registration date : 2017-09-23
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Mar 18, 2018 6:05 am | |
| Welcome from the Mile High City! |
|  | | Slowalkintexan
Registration date : 2018-04-04
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Sun Apr 15, 2018 12:40 pm | |
| Welcome, Frank,, I enjoyed your posts,,,Love too chat with you some time.. |
|  | | Stick

Age : 49 Location : 'Blighty' Registration date : 2014-02-19
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:14 pm | |
| - Stick wrote:
- A warm welcome from Blighty, Frank.
Glad you rediscovered your briars!
Just re-read your post Frank and enjoyed it again as much as the first time. Very interesting read mate, thank you! |
|  | | BriarBeagle

Age : 47 Location : Laguna Niguel, CA Registration date : 2016-11-08
 | Subject: Re: Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:54 pm | |
| Great to have you with us Frank. Welcome back to the wonderful world of pipe smoking.
BB |
|  | | | Greetings to The Brothers of Briar Members | |
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