TN Bard’s Pipe Dreams

Ok. Now I have done it.

I purchased a Charatan’s Make Special from an English Ebay dealer. It is a Dublin shape with fine birdseye. The nomenclature says: CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND SPECIAL *

The right side of the pipe has the number 391, but the box says Grosvenor Shape 311.

Anyone know what the * means or the shape 311 or 391 signifies, please let me know. I have yet to find the dating for this pipe. It was and still is unsmoked!

I have a feeling this is either pre-Lane or Lane-era, and was made for the European market. It is small, smaller than I like, but it is the only true Charatan that I own.

I have a Charatan second in a Dublin shape that I would not trade or sell for anything.

But this new pipe puzzles me. Any of you out there know more than I (which is easily done) please let me know.

Now, here is my plan. I will smoke nothing but hard-boiled English tobaccos in the Charatan. How about Cob Flake, as an example of my madness? It should be just about right.

I am thinking about taking on some of the Gawith & Hogarth tough ropes in the Charatan. The tougher the better, eh?

Anyone care to comment before my experiments? Feel free. If I am still around in a day or two, I’ll let you know how it all turns out.

Selah

Try this one day soon: You are walking or riding about and the thought pops into your head—it would be nice to just sit and leave the madness, the hurly-burly behind.

Find your favorite tobacconist, go in, grab up a new tobacco, one you have not tried, crack it open, fill that beautiful pipe, and sit back.

Soon, maybe someone joins you. He is smoking a cigar while you enjoy your pipe. You begin a conversation. It evolves into wider and wider subjects: first the local scene, books, politics, the world, the war in Iraq, why wives hate pipes and cigars, the usual.

The atmosphere is so relaxed you hate to leave. So, you don’t. You and the fellow traveler talk on.

I did this the other day. Just popped in to my favorite tobacconist, lit up a new batch of tobacco I had purchased and had not smoked before, and began puffing away.

Soon, I was in conversation with a cigar smoker. We worked over the world in the next hour or so. It was elegant relief.

It put me in mind of the old time men’s smoking clubs. A place where men could go to be themselves and enjoy the company of other men without fear of repression of some sort. You could smoke your cigar or pipe, engage in conversation, or just read your newspaper in peace and quiet.

One of my favorite writers, Mark Twain, once said something to the effect that a man needed a cussing room and a smoking room. He had both in his beautifully constructed home in Hartford, CT.

Twain, of course, was a cigar and pipe smoker. He also happened to be the nation’s finest humorist and philosophers of his time, or perhaps any age.

I love most of his quotes, some of which you will find below. He showed pomposity for what it is and I know he would have a field day in our so-called modern world of “political correctness.” He would burn down that institution with words of fire.

Some time back, I read where Twain ordered cigars by the barrel. Somebody asked him once about his over indulgence in cigars: “I try never to smoke more than one at a time or when I’m asleep,” he responded.

Winston Churchill, another of my heroes, reportedly smoked 10 or more cigars a day. Now, I am not recommending that you go right out and puff your brains out with 10 cigars.

The point is, Churchill didn’t let anyone dictate to his tastes, which were large, or his desires. He did as he pleased when it came to the man and his cigars.

It might also be pointed out that Sir Winston was one of the world’s greatest writers, as was Twain.

One more of my heroes before moving on to some of my favorite Twain quotes. William Faulkner said he needed a few things around him to write:  “The tools I need for work are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky.”
Again, I’m not suggesting that you get rip-roaring drunk and puff the daylights out of your pipe. This is to point out that as Aristotle said, “moderation in all things,” is not such a bad way to go.

A little tobacco. Perhaps a sip of wine, brandy or Tennessee’s finest, Jack Daniels (and, by the way, Mr. Jack himself a teetotaler, said, “My whiskey can be a man’s medicine or his master”) with a cigar or a pipe takes the edge off  the day.

If you can neither smoke nor drink responsibly, then maybe you should not be let loose. I simply refuse to be around those who think they have to drink every drink in the house (I can instantly recognize the character trait, because I once was one).

Now for a few Twain quotes to end today’s lesson:

·        As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself, it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep and never to refrain when awake.
- 70th birthday speech

·        I am quite sure now that often, very often, in matters concerning religion and politics a man’s reasoning powers are not above the monkey’s.
- Mark Twain in Eruption

·        A half-educated physician is not valuable. He thinks he can cure everything.
- Mark Twain’s Notebook

·        All good things arrive unto them that wait–and don’t die in the meantime.
- Letter to Orion and Jane Clemens, 4/3/1889 (in reference to the Paige typesetter)

Selah

Ok, here it is. Just so you know I’m not making this up, I’m posting this just as it came in from Reuters, the worldwide news agency wireservice:

PARIS, France (Reuters) — France will ban smoking in most public places from January 1, 2007, the France Soir newspaper said, and in bars, restaurants and hotels a year later.

The paper said Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was preparing to announce the two-stage ban soon. The prime minister’s office said he told reporters he would make a statement on the subject in “a few days.”

In a report, a parliamentary committee recommended a total ban from September 1, 2007, at the latest.

In the report, the parliamentarians said that each year between 2,500 and 5,800 people died from “passive smoking.” Some 66,000 smokers die each year in France.

Polls regularly show that a majority of French people support a ban on smoking in public places.

I’m just not believing this.

If any of you, unlike me, have a good memory, you will recall that I wrote about seeing no smoking signs in Paris windows and in Caen, France, during my trip last year to Normandy.

I mean, if smoking is halted in France, the epicenter of modern philosophcal thought, berets, strong coffee and strong conversation in retaurants with smoke delicately rising skyward, then there is no hope for the rest of the world. Well, maybe Asia will hang tough. Or, perhaps, Germany and some of the Slavic and Baltic nations, if they aren’t fighting one another.

I can see a huge wave of anti-tobacco protests sweeping our way now. We are already banned from buildings; restaurants; cafes, public transportation and some public sporting events, such as golfing in California. Look for the Goofy State to ban smoking, period, soon.

Next will be the home, once known as a man’s castle, soon to be his prison.

It is so strange to me to know that in the South, where tobacco was our cash crop for so long, a crop that we exported at good prices to Europe, is now on the endangered list.

Tobacco, you will recall, was the crop that small family farmers counted on to buy their kids shoes for school, school supplies, maybe a new truck, or a piece of needed farm equipment. No wonder the family farmer is gone the way of the Dodo Bird and our croplands are sprouting houses instead of agriculture. Do you know where your food comes from?

This will drive tobacconists deeper to more foreign nations, like Malawi, which can and will increase prices without impuinity, which is precisely what  the Tobacco Police want. Take a look at oil if you need an economic lesson is foreign trade prices.

Rising prices will eventually force smokers to make hard choices. Instead of buying that really nice leaf of English blend, I might now be coerced to return to drugstore tobaccos, although, I must say that some of those burleys were awful good at the time.

But then, I educated my palate and now those blends, for me, are not much of a match against today’s tobacco offerings. Some of the modern-day burleys are just phenomenal. I point you to Cornell & Diehl  in Morganton, N.C., if you are lost in the English Blend swamps and want to try some spectacular burley blends.

I have no stock in C&D, to take care of the conflict of interest message. I wrote that sentence and I approve it, as they say in political advertising land.

Let me know what you think about France’s Tobacco Police action, and I will post your responses in Pipe Dreams. All comers are welcome, pro and con.

Until then, smoke on, while you can.

Selah

Found all the places where the hackers had added “marquee” stuff and deleted it all.  Looks like we got the place all nicely cleaned up again.

We’ve also upgraded the software.  This version is much more secure.  Hopefully we won’t have any more problems.  (And fortunately they weren’t any more severe than strange looking scrolling stuff in the header.)

Best,

John

I am going retro. Honest. I am moving back toward some tobaccos that I smoked when I was in college. Maybe the reason I’m retroing is a weak attempt in trying to recapture a youth that has dropped out of sight, just like my stomach and other things.

Anyway, here are a few thoughts on some “new” old tobaccos:

Sir Walter Raleigh: Bought a 14oz. can for $13 at JRs Cigars. It smoked just like I remembered, only now I notice the topping more. All my professors in college smoked this, so I thought then, and think now, that if it was good enough for them, it is good enough for me.

Well, there was one exception. Dr. Neil Whitelaw, physics. He was pals with Einstein (that’s right, the E-man). Now, physics was not my cup of tea and Dr. Whitelaw quickly discovered that I was not only deficient, but clueless. He smoked Barking Dog, Revelation (just like his buddy the E) and some other House of Windsor tobaccos.

In some reviews I’ve read recently, SWR is said to get worse toward the bottom of the bowl. Well, duhh, stop smoking it that far down.

I usually smoke it until it reaches that bitter taste and then stop. From the match to that point, SWR is really a great pipe smoke. It is cubed burley, cavendish and some black cavendish. I’m not certain what the top dressing is, but it is pleasant, and has had years in the perfecting.

Old-timers smoked this quite a lot, because it was cheap. It is cheap now, as well, and can make you an all-day smoke. It is perfect, won’t goop the pipe, because I’m not discussing the SWR Aromatic. That stuff will peel paint at 20 paces.

I have also returned to Barking Dog and Revelation (two “drug store” tobaccos I smoked then to make me smarter. It didn’t work).

BD is cubed cut burley and latakia. There is some sort of flavoring, but it is mild and pleasant. This is truly an old American blend, and will make a convert of you almost instantly, if you enjoy burley and latakia, which I do.

BD is smooth, and lives up to its billing of “It Never Bites.” It doesn’t bite, even if you puff many bowls during the day. I really like this tobacco and recommend it.

Revelation is, I think, and acquired taste. I have smoked a ton of it, in hopes that I would become another Einstein. This was his only tobacco, and as William Seward has said, “that Einstein was a smart man.” Truly, and his tobacco deserves a try in this day of rising tobacco prices.

I can say without reservation that Revelation will not only surprise you, but might even make you brilliant for choosing to put it in your rotation of tobaccos.

This is composed of burley, Virginia, latakia and perique. There is some flavoring, but again, I’m not sure. Revelation is a very old House of Windsor blend and it is quite worth a try.

I will have more on toabbos in a future posting, but I was just wondering if anyone else has “retro” fitted their tastes? Let me know.

Let me know some of your tastes. I hope to begin a “tasting” here soon. You can join and and I’ll mention some of your favorite tobaccos.

Until then, smoke what you enjoy and enjoy what you smoke!

Selah

April 13, 2006

Well, dad Jim, I spoke a little too soon. A politician would say, “I misspoke,” when he really means he screwed up and wasn’t connecting brain to mouth. That’s sort of what I did yesterday.

I’m back today to straighten things out. The Tobacco Police were hard at work while I wasn’t watching and my brain was out playing in the traffic. I fell asleep at the switch, and believe me, some switching went on. You know how it is when you turn a bunch of politicians loose in Nashville. They get to thinking they are important to the progress of mankind.

Shoveling manure is progress.

Don’t know if you saw this or not, but the Associated Press had a story Wednesday out of Nashville about a new bill that will ban just about all smoking inside any kind sort of building of any description at any time day or night.

The author of this thing is Sen. Jim Tracy, a Republican from Shelbyville, Tenn. The AP story says the bill is patterned after one that passed the Georgia Legislature sometime last year. See, Georgia doesn’t care for its tobacco farmers, either, even though that is the crop that once saved that state from economic destruction. That was back during the Great Depression, dear children. My mama used to tell me that her father made moonshine and grew tobacco to put food on the table and shoes on their feet.

The Dad Jim Jim bill “would ban smoking in all buildings owned and operated by the state, indoor public places and enclosed areas of employment,” says AP.

You can bet some sort of shenanigans went on where you couldn’t see it. No transparency here (I love the way politicians use that word, “transparency.” The only thing transparent about a pol is his hand. It’s always in your pocket.) Where was I. Oh, yes, the shenanigans.

Here is sort of how it went down, according to AP. Ol’ Dad Jim Tracy, being a Republican and everything, said he was willing to let the bill die off this year. But in comes State Sen. Jeff Miller, a Republican from Cleveland. He is on the State Local Government Committee. In the past, Ol’ Dad Jim Jeff has been all opposed to smoking bans.

Guess what? Dad Jim Jeff changed his alleged mind and told his fellow members of the committee that they should vote for the bill. Hmmmm.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not accusing Dad Jim Jeff and Dad Jim Jim of anything other than transparency. Actually Dad Jim Jeff isn’t running for re-election. He is sneaking out the back door, just as he pushed through this bill. Now, that’s transparency for you.

Anyway, the bill suddenly zips through that local government committee, five votes to two votes.

Miller says the Tracy bill will make it easier to breathe in restaurants, what with all that smoke no longer around.

Yeah, right, Dad Jim Jeff. You are only about half right. You should not forget all those grease molecules floating about. They are, honest, really dangerous for the veins and brains.

And, then, there is the music thing.

I just love going into a restaurant and hearing all that loud so-called music that makes you swallow your food whole, so the waiter can get you in, get you fed, and get you out in about 15-20 minutes, tops. That’s what the music is for, doncha see.

It ain’t for your listening enjoyment, children. It is to make you eat faster, swallow faster, drink faster, and move on so that the next group can come in and pig out at record speed as well, caring nothing about what swallowing whole portions does to the stomach.

How do I associate music with smoking?

I’m glad you asked, Dad Jim Jeff. See, I think eating fast is not all that good for the digestive system. Now, we know that second-hand smoke will kill you deader than a doorknob, even a whiff. Right?

So, that’s why we parted ways a long time ago in restaurants. We sent the smokers off to a corner, banned and banished, and told them not to smoke a pipe or cigar, either in their little corner.

All the while, the restaurant owners are playing this loud rock music that makes the emotional system think it is on steroids and forces you to eat to the rhythm of the beat. You hog down your food while all the smokers over there have tried to enjoy their meal, and light up afterwards.

I hate cigarette smoking. Loathe it. Think it is the worst invention of mankind. But, I dearly love my pipe and an occasional cigar. I can’t smoke either one now in most restaurants. And now, I won’t even bother. Dad Jim Jeff and Dad Jim Jim have taken care of that for me.

I also happen not to enjoy loud, crashing, bashing music when I eat. I prefer nothing but conversation, Dad Jim Jim. Why not try banning music in restaurants?

Now, there is a transparent idea. The restaurant lobby would probably eat you for lunch if you were to propose a bill banning music where we eat.

Gobbling down your food, if you remember what your grandmother taught you, is not good for you. Where are you on that subject, Dad Jim Jeff and Dad Jim Jim?

Probably not to be found.

Ok. Here is my reasoning in all this: If we are banned from most buildings in Tennessee from smoking (most pipes and cigars are already outlawed), you cig smokers will find yourselves on the outside looking in, grabbing a quick smoke over the blaring music. End of your natural born rights Constitutional rights to privacy and freedom of speech and expression.

But, hey, you won’t have to worry now about making a quick decision as you walk in to any restaurant and face the ever-present: “Smoking or Non.”

I love that. Only in America would we shorten an incomplete sentence down to one incomplete word.

And just for the record, I seem to recall that in days past, Shelbyville and Cleveland were somewhat fair producers of tobacco crops. See Georgia example, above.

Guess those farmers have all the money they need and no longer have to rely on tobacco crops.

The Dad Jim Jim and Dad Jim Jeff no-smoking bill will still allow you to light up in bars and restaurants “under certain conditions.” You need to read the fine print here and understand what those “certain conditions are.”

The bill has not made it through the State House of Representatives. . . . yet. Just give it time, however. Your right to smoke is all but kaput in the Volunteer State, once a large producer of tobacco.

That’s it for today, boys and girls. It’s up to you to read more about this issue and to get yourself informed. That causes transparency.

Soon, as I have preached here before, there won’t be any transparency, and there won’t be any smoking outside a bricks-and-mortar smoke shop. And, maybe, not even there. All that smoke, you know, can curl beneath door frames and windows and snake its way to the outside and drop whole populations dead in their tracks.

But, not to worry your little head about all the trans-fats you are getting in the restaurants. Dad Jim Jeff and Dad Jim Jim aren’t the least worried about your health, ladies and germs, or they would do something about the bad-nutrition you are inhaling at the fast-food joints and most restaurants.

At least, the smoke shop where I visit, they don’t play music, just the infernal TV, which should be ripped from the wall and thrown into the street.

Whatever happened to conversation with a fellow human being?

Selah!

First, some thoughts on smoking and other human forms of entertainment. Then we’ll move on to other worthwhile pipe dreams from your host. Of course, like they say on Car Talk, you will have just wasted another worthwhile few minutes of your precious time.

Not much current in the way of tobacco Gestapo news. The Tobacco Police, however, continue to whittle away at your rights. I think the day is coming in which you won’t even be able to smoke outside your own home, let alone inside it.

My smoking area is the garage.

Here is my take on smoking: You got ‘em, light ‘em.

Excuse me, that’s an old Army term. But I do believe that smoking is an individual right. You are grown, or I sure hope you are if you are reading this, half way intelligent, and can make decisions on your own. You can read the reports and understand what you are  doing.

I believe that we pipe smokers should be rather philosophical about our hobby: all things in moderation. I stole that line, but just the same, you get the idea.

As I have said before, if you smoke 15-20 bowls a day (and believe me, I have done that), then you are headed for trouble.

But if you prefer to enjoy our hobby, smoke moderately, collect pipes, and try various blends of tobacco in the process, then it is my belief that you then have to put faith in your gene pool.

You got good genes, then you are probably going to live a long, long while. I cite Sir Winston Churchill as evidence.

The great British Prime Minister smoked 10 to 20 cigars a day, drank a ton of Johnny Walker Red and lived to be in his 90s. He might have gone a little longer had he smoked and drank more, is my way of looking at it.

Need more evidence: my great and late friend, Shelby Foote, noted author and Southern Gentleman. He smoked his pipe constantly, and died a year ago. He was up into his 80s. And never stopped smoking, until the last.

There are thousands of other examples. And just as many on the other side. I have a doctor friend, a pipe and cigar enthusiast, who tells me it is his belief that cancer and many other diseases are environmental, and connected to just how good your genes are at fighting all that off.

I also had another doctor friend, a fellow who studies the immune system, tell me that if you do not have a good immune system, there are things out there big as dragons that will take you out in a heart beat.

So, some of this gets down to who was your daddy and mama, plus the grandparents on both sides, and then on back to your family’s very beginnings.

Let me just say this again: I think if you smoke like a smokestack, you are asking for trouble. If you drink nothing but water all day, you will die of over hydration. If you eat nothing but sweets, your kidneys will fall out, or something.

You get the drift. Too much fun is not good for you. Moderate. Moderate. Moderate.

And for all you Tobacco Police out there reading this, don’t come around me blowing your breath my way. I have no idea what you’ve been eating! It is probably toxic.

And if your wife complains about your smoking, as mine does, let her go outside to spray her hair. I don’t enjoy breathing second-hand hair spray, since I’m not certain what’s in the stuff. And, I am not certain that fumes from all that facial makeup removal is good for me, either.

Ok, gang, time to move on. Rant is over.

Today’s lesson, children, is how to load a pipe and make it work for you, instead of against you.

I have just tried a new way of loading up. Here is how it works: You either drizzle in the tobacco from your pouch, or you can sort of scoop it up in the bowl and let gravity do its thing. Gently bounce the pipe in the tobacco pouch, or in the palm of your hand, to help lightly pack. Do not, repeat, do not pack the tobacco with your fingers, thumbs, toes, or anything else.

Once the tobacco is up to the top of the bowl, hold your pipe in one hand (left hand if you are right-handed and right hand if you are left-handed). Pop up a thumb just above the rim of the pipe. If you can’t figure which thumb, then we are in serious trouble here.

Now, with the other hand call for help.

No, I’m just kidding. Reach into the tobacco pouch and pick up a clump. You want the clump wider at the bottom than at the top. Think of an upside down V. Put this on top of the pipe, holding the clump in place with the above mentioned free thumb.

Now, gently (I said, gently) pull up the other thumb and begin to roll the tobacco, as if you were trying to move a cork stopper from side to side. Easy, gently, men, gently.

Continue this process until the tobacco has worked its way down to just below the rim of the bowl. Believe me, it will work.

Now, if you must, you can gently lay the pad of your thumb on top of the bowl (just the pad, nothing else, and no pressure) to sort of collect things about.

This process was discovered by a couple of Germans. I have modified it a bit to suit my tastes. But, once you get this down, let me tell you, you won’t go back to your old way. It really does let the taste of the tobacco come through.

One match does it, as well. You won’t be re-lighting all the time, which is also the signal of (1) bad packing (2) bad packing (3) bad packing or (4) wet tobacco.

Now, note for all you speed freaks out there: I did not say this was a fast and furious process. It is slow and deliberate. But, isn’t that what we pipe smokers are supposed to be about? You speedo guys need to find another sport.

Once you get the tobacco packed in through this process, you can pull some of the loose stuff away from over the top or around the sides of the tobacco. At first, until you get the hang of this, you might want to fill your pipe over a piece of paper. I did, because I found I was losing too much of my precious weed.

Now, I have become proficient at it, and I don’t need the paper to scoop up the scraps.

I have one other packing note for you. In case the above method is too slow for you, try this: Turn your pipe up, with the stem up and the bowl in the tobacco pouch.

Pull in the tobacco with the pipe remaining in this position. Once it is filled, it will be loosely filled and will light right away. Tamp and then re-light. It will be close to the other method, but not quite as good.

For those of you who are challenged by these methods, might I suggest you practice.

Try not to lose your fingers in the process.

Now, boys, I have not been getting any email. Let me repeat my email for you just in case you lost your way the last effort: you can get me at thetennbard@yahoo.com or fred.tnbard@gmail.com

You can also send me email at the Knoxvilleareapipesmokers.com

Let me hear from you, gripes and all. I take on all comers, even the Tobacco Police.

Until next time, pack it right, smoke what you enjoy, and enjoy what you smoke.

Selah

Well, now, there’s some fresh news you need to know. It is the latest gestapo tactics from the Tobacco Police. I’d also like to refer you to some notes of interest.

First, let’s go to the Cato Institute and its analysis of Prohibition, a time in America when social workers, religious organizations and Congress decided that alcohol was bad for Americans. Here’s just a few lines of how the Institute opens its web site analysis:

National prohibition of alcohol (1920-33)–the “noble experiment”–was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. The results of that experiment clearly indicate that it was a miserable failure on all counts. The evidence affirms sound economic theory, which predicts that prohibition of mutually beneficial exchanges is doomed to failure

The lessons of Prohibition remain important today. They apply not only to the debate over the war on drugs but also to the mounting efforts to drastically reduce access to alcohol and tobacco and to such issues as censorship and bans on insider trading, abortion, and gambling.

The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato’s Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.

Allrighty, then, let’s move on. I don’t know if you are a regular reader of The New York Times, but I am. Being a journalist, of course, the Times is in my estimation the greatest newspaper of them all. I know opinions differ, but we won’t go into that here.

Last Sunday, the Times had a very intriguing story. The headline said: “Smoking Ban Takes Effect, Indoors and Out.” The place, naturally enough, was California, zooland.

The dateline was Calabasas, Calif. The lead paragraph said this: “One of the toughest antismoking laws in the nation took effect here Friday, the same day that a satirical move about a reptilian tobacco lobbyist, ‘Thank You for Smoking,’ opened across the country.”

Later this, “The smoking ordinance, which was unanimously passed by the five-member Calabasas City Council last month, prohibits smoking in all public places, indoor or outdoor, where anyone might be exposed to second-hand smoke. The ban includes outdoor cafes, bus stops, soccer fields, condominium pool decks, parks and sidewalks. Smoking in one’s car is allowed, unless the windows are open and someone nearby might be affected.”

And so you thought you own the air you breathe, right?

They aren’t kidding about fines. Offenders of the smoking bans can be fined up to $500.

And just this past Wednesday in Nashville, the Tennessee House voted to put aside a bill that would permit cities and towns to enact their own anti-smoking laws, especially in restaurants.

That’s for now. It will come up again, rest assured, later this year.

So, when I say that you should be stockpiling your tins and bulk tobaccos, it might be a good idea to listen to your Ol’ Unca Fred.

The Bans will get us all sooner or later. I look to the day that we won’t be able to drop by our local tobacconist and pick up a tin of our favorite tobacco. Nor will we be able to order it Online. Those days, I fear, are being narrowed and numbered, even as I write this.

Already, a tobacconist who has an Online presence and wants to sell to an out-of-state customer must have a tax arrangement with a bricks-and-mortar tobacconist in the state from which the order was sent in the first place.

In other words, the Online store must have a deal with a real store in the state in which the Online store wants to send products to. If that makes sense.

It makes no sense to me. It is a sham, and an outrage, and is just a way for the politicians to pander to the Smoking and Tobacco Police. It is also a source of revenue for the pols.

And we all know what pols do with new money, right? It matters little if it is tobacco money, alcohol money, or money from a Jack Abramoff. It goes into the pol pot.

From the Pipe Notebook:

More sad news to report. Joyce White, who has owned Royal Cigar for so many years that I’m sure she won’t say, has hung up her business. Royal Cigar Store in Atlanta, my first place to hang out when I was a college student, is gone.

I wrote Joyce the other day asking about a particular brand of tobacco tin from Germany: Bulldog Curly. It is wonderful stuff, but expensive to get here. It is made by Dan Pipe Tobacco.

Anyway, Joyce sent me an email saying she had closed her store but was still in the mail order business. The Atlanta Pipe Club met there once a month. I wonder what they will do now? If anyone knows, let me know and I’ll post it here on Pipe Dreams.

I for one will miss Royal Cigar. I have a couple of their basket pipes from the 1960s. One is a Charatan Second. As a poor and ragged college student, I could barely afford tobacco, let alone a pipe like a Dunhill or Sasieni, Barling, Charatan, etc. So, I bought some seconds from those illustrious names. They didn’t carry the stamp of the great pipe companies, but they were made, nonetheless, by their craftsmen. The seconds possessed pits, or some other malfeasance. However, they smoked like the named pipes.

There was always someone in Royal Cigar to advise me, show me some tinned tobaccos and tell me to save my money for one of the Dunhills or Barlings, selling back then for maybe $60-$70. Some were cheaper.

Joyce White became a friend over time. I often called her, or sent her an email seeking a particular tin of tobacco. Royal Cigar then and now has always possessed a great selection of tobaccos.

You can still find Joyce on the web at: http://www.tobaccomkt.com. You will discover her to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the tobacco business. She possess an encyclopedic mind when it comes to pipes and tobaccos, and she is an excellent dispenser of advice.

I recommend her highly to rookie and veteran alike.

From the Tobacco Bowl:

I just ordered (ouch!) a tin of Bulldog Curly Cut from Dan Pipe in Hamburg, Germany. It is excellent, but the price of the tobacco (more than $10 for 50g tin) and the shipping (up to $30) is just too much. I asked Joyce if she could encourage CAO, which is the importer for Dan tobaccos, to import the tins. She said she doubted that CAO would do that.

Too bad. It is excellent Virginia.

In the meantime, I have been trying some Wessex Campaign and Wessex Sovereign. Both are quite good Virginias. I’ll give a fuller report soon on what I really think of some of the Wessex blends.

Final Bowl:

Don’t know if you saw this or not, but Tom Dunn, the fellow who began The Pipe Smoker’s Ephemeris in 1964, died Dec. 11, 2005. Ben Rapaport wrote an outstanding article on him in the 10th Anniversary Spring Issue of Pipes and Tobaccos Magazine. The Pipe Smoker’s Ephemeris was a source of pure enjoyment, and it will be sorely missed by all pipe smokers.

Also, in this issue of P&T, Chuck Stanion, Editor, has changed the publication’s insides a bit. It will take a little getting accustomed to, but I like what I have seen.

Let me know what you think of P&T’s new look.

Until next time, keep the dottle to a minimum, and smoke what you enjoy, and enjoy what you smoke.

Pipe Dreams can be reached at tnbard@gmail.com