Piper sightings

[TheSmokeamater]

Normally I wouldn’t think it worth mentioning that I saw a guy smoking a pipe. As rare a sight as that is these days.

While on an errand for my job this morning I drove past a graveyard and spotted a grounds keeper at the main gate lighting his pipe. What struck me was that he appeared to have stepped straight out of 1940. Nothing he wore seemed to be from the latter 20th century. Even the rake leaning against his shoulder, as he lit his bent billiard, looked primitive. He wore baggy brown dress pants with a faded plaid flannel shirt that looked ridiculously soft, and a worn out brown fedora. The pipe just seemed to top off the whole old timey vibe.

It was just a really cool and strange sight. Probably made so, in part because I could not afford to do a double take as I was driving.

I entitled this post “Piper Sightings” incase anyone else wishes to add to it.

 

[williamcharles]

Maybe he was from the '40's. Strange things happen in graveyards.

 

[jefe1037]

Maybe he was from the '40's. Strange things happen in graveyards.

this is where my brain went first.

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Maybe he was from the '40's. Strange things happen in graveyards.

this is where my brain went first.

Mine as well.

(I find the idea of pipe-smoking ghosts much less unsettling than the usual ghosts. Much less likely to haunt you than to just tip his hat and go back to whittling or fly-tying for all eternity.)

 

[TheSmokeamater]

Maybe he was from the '40's. Strange things happen in graveyards.

this is where my brain went first.

Yes. It is kind of creepy considering I saw this guy at the gate of a graveyard. Usually if I have one of "those" kind of expiriences I get the creeps instantly. But not this time. It was very rooted in reality. He had a 50 gallon plastic container with a number spray painted on it. In my mind if he were an apparition from the past he would have had a metal trash can instead.

Nothing like the time in 4th grade when I walked past a classroom, and the kids in the room were all in black&white, wearing 1920's garb, staring at me. That was creepy.

 

[dshpipes]

Maybe he was from the '40's. Strange things happen in graveyards.

this is where my brain went first.

Mine as well.

(I find the idea of pipe-smoking ghosts much less unsettling than the usual ghosts. Much less likely to haunt you than to just tip his hat and go back to whittling or fly-tying for all eternity.)

A yup.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

It would seem even zombies who smoke pipes are a mild-mannered bunch. Good to know.

 

[PipeLeisure]

I seems that I have been spotting more pipe smokers over the past few years, I think its gaining some popularity these days? Sure seems that way when you are trying to buy a pipe online also, they sell so damn fast..think about that.

 

[Buckshot]

I seems that I have been spotting more pipe smokers over the past few years, I think its gaining some popularity these days? Sure seems that way when you are trying to buy a pipe online also, they sell so damn fast..think about that.

It's the guys from the graveyards that are scarfing then up! :affraid:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

There's a lot of younger guys getting into pipes. I think there's just enough generational separation to stimulate some interest among those wanting some connection to a time they never knew, the simple joys and comfort a pipe can bring, the social aspect, and it being uncommon enough to be "new."

Considering today's 18 - 35 crowd has more access to knowledge, history and archives than ever before, music, trends, and styling are more "retro" than cutting-edge. Combined with a piss-poor attempt from the music and movie industries to jump on that bandwagon, they'd rather get the real thing than watered-down modern interpretations. Grandpa is now kind of cool, not some has-been in the face of the contemporary. There's a noticeable growing movement of being tired of a speedy, convenient, disposable society with instant gratification.

Just an optimistic theory. May the newer generations keep alive a few of the rituals of the past. 8)

 

[TheSmokeamater]

There's a lot of younger guys getting into pipes. ......................
Just an optimistic theory. May the newer generations keep alive a few of the rituals of the past. 8)

I agree with your observations. I also share in your optimism.

Just look at the pipe community on YouTube. It's huge, and there are a lot of young guys involved. This is mostly a very healthy thing for the industry. I think the pipe smoking pastime is definitely headed for a bit of a boost. Notice I didn't say, "boom". Not like the cigar boom of the 90's.

With all the up sides to a major boost in popularity, pipe smoking consumers and those on the business end all stand to benefit enormously. However as with all things, you have to take the good with the bad. This includes, shortages and by extension increased prices, the market being flooded with cheap gimmick products in slick packaging. ("Balkan Sorbrani EXTREME!!"...Imagine that! ). We've seen all that and more in the cigar world. And let me be frank here, loads to total jerk bags will taking up our gentle hobby. Balanced of course by some fine gentlemen.

Maybe I'm wrong in painting this picture of doom. Pipe smoking takes skill, patience and a certain "character". Something jerk bags don't have much of.

I won’t dwell too much on the negative. I'm just playing devils advocate... :twisted: I DO agree with you.

--Rich

 

[IndySmoker]

with the new No-Smoking law in Indiana, there won't be much public pipe smoking anymore

 

[jefe1037]

with the new No-Smoking law in Indiana, there won't be much public pipe smoking anymore

just up the road in chicago, the city that INVENTED the smoking ban, lies one of the best B&M pipe stores in the WORLD. Just sayin, besides the stores themselves, and a few private clubs or a lounge or two, most pipe smokers prefer the time and reflection in the comfort of their own home, and a smoking ban in public establisments does not change most pipers habits.

 

[J Soshae]

And if the government succeeds, our hobby will become expensive and rare. Then it will become a status symbol. :farao: