PAD Score

Back in early April, I had the wonderful chance to score a lot of pipes from a private collection.

 

Bootleg Restoration

Not long ago, I posted a link to a couple of pipes I worked on restoring/cleaning up. Well, I’ve done several now and have some up for sale on my family’s Etsy site. I’ve had a lot of fun working with these pipes and they came out wonderfully.

I hope you like.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7657282&section_id=6259945

 

It’s An Etsy Thing

In the past, I would post items for sale on ebay.com and had thought about posting pipes I’ve restored, cleaned up, or carved on Ebay. But then came my wife’s idea of a better place. You see, several of us in our family has different hobbies. I like pipes and pipe related things. Cyndi, my wife, enjoys all kinds of crafts, modifying computer components, and art projects. My sister-in-law (Cyndi’s sister) has found a passion for jewelry making, and Bob, their brother, has done several rock carvings and other interesting crafts that take a ton of time to do.
Since we each have our creative side flaring, Cyndi decided to rope us all into providing store content on Etsy.com. Sounds like fun to me. Besides, it’s easier to post a new item on Etsy.

Hence, the creation of the Ballew Family Artisans. You can grab the link there, or always find it on the top in the sidebar. I have a lot of pipes to work on, so hopefully those will go up real soon.

 

If A Pipe Could Tell Tales

From the day I received my first pipe, I have had little money to spend on new pipes. Most of my pipes have been gifts. Also, most of them are estate pipes. For those who don’t know still, an estate pipe is like a pre-owned car. Whether it was used or not, doesn’t make a difference, someone owned it before.

Some of the pipes I have, I’ve had the pleasure of buying myself. I sometimes sit and study the pipe as if I’m trying to get an answer, or a clue to what kind of life it had with the original owner. Take for example, a pipe I found at an antique store close to the Appahalacian mountains in the northern state of Georgia. This pipe, I think, has potential to come back to it’s glory. It’s an EA Carey, magic inch billiard. The stem at the mouth piece is broken and so is the tenon. After doing some research, I found that many of these little guys were sent to soldiers in WWII. Does this pipe have that kind of history? What kinds of things did it’s smoker experience throughout life? War tragedies, children being born or growing, graduations, or possibly weddings?

Unfortunately, these things are usually lost just like the person’s life who would sit and smoke this wonderful piece of art, contemplating life. There is something that a trained eye and a trained nose can find out, though. That is the type of tobacco used. Aromatics vs. an English blend and so on. You can sort of tell how the pipe was valued by how well it was cared for. I have found a couple of older Savinelli pipes where you can tell that the owner appreciated the briar they would smoke from. The stampings are almost rubbed off from cleaning and buffing. The cake isn’t overwhelming, but to a nice consistency.

Then, after thinking about all of this, I then wonder about the life of the gentleman who would smoke this pipe and what his life had been like.  If I have any notion to this, though, I will probably find the person patient, intelligent, and a warm spirit. I can imagine him being either the type with many stories, or the type who would prefer to sit and enjoy a good smoke in peace and quiet. Letting the day roll past, slowing down a small portion of our busy lives.

 

Young And A Pipe Smoker

If you browse around The Bootleg Bon Vivant, you might notice some comments regarding being a young pipe smoker. If you’ve read anything about me, you’ve probably found out that I’m 29 years old and tattooed. While the average pipe smoker tends to be upwards in their 40′s-50′s. With people my age and younger, pipe smoking just isn’t what friends would consider “cool”. Teens and college students are still faced with peer pressure to stick with cigarettes or nothing, and we all know about the chemicals that are now being put into cigarettes. Some people may actually venture to smoking a cigar from time to time. Picking out a good cigar can leave one a little frustrated. Especially to a young person who doesn’t have any experience with them. Why? Because everyone has an opinion as to what is good. This same thing applies to pipe smoking.

 

Savinelli – Estella

That’s right, this might be my newest pipe, but it’s taken forever for me to finally get it cleaned up and a picture posted.

 

Wikipedia + Everything Pipes = Pipedia.org

That’s right, there is now a wikipedia for just about everything related to pipes and collecting. This site was brought to the attention of a community of pipe smokers, collectors, carvers, and enthusiasts. I just felt if it was there, why not add it here. *shrugs*

So, without further delay, here’s Pipedia.org.

  It’s an awesome idea, and I hope it becomes a huge resource of information for beginners and seasoned smokers alike. I know that once I gain more than a few seconds of time and a bit of motivation, I’ll check it out myself.

 Happy puffin’!