I noticed today that I seem to have missed International Pipe Smoking Day a couple of weeks back. I had meant to observe it this year, as an excuse to use the pipe I acquired a few years back, that’s been sitting unused ever since… but I guess I’m just not a pipe type guy (or possibly just not a “remember what I’m meant to do” type guy).
I was really amused by this bit, at the end of that post though:
As for fraternity – dude, you’re smoking a pipe. Unless your fraternity involves steampunk and sly witticisms involving Satre, you’re pretty much on your own.
I’m pretty much prepared to admit that smoking a pipe (at least, as the article contends, in people under 40) is pretty much always an affectation. I mean, that’s why I got a pipe–purely as an affectation. Sadly, I’ve never really had the chance to use it–I kept meaning to bring it out at a poker tournament, where affectations are welcomed and graded, but I never managed to organize it.
Still it is a pretty cool pipe, and I can use this as an excuse to show it to you, especially since that’s probably all the use I’ll ever get out of it.
At the time I decided that I should have the option of affecting a pipe, it seemed clear to me that what I wanted was a meerschaum pipe. I’m not sure what the source or sources of this bit of received wisdom was–I have a sense that I’ve read a number of things over the years that subtly created in me the impression that the pipe connoisseur would want one of them.
Of course I then had to do some research to determine what meerschaum actually is, and where one could get a pipe made of it.
What it is, was relatively easy to resolve: Wikipedia to the rescue.
Meerschaum is a soft white mineral sometimes found floating on the Black Sea, and rather suggestive of sea-foam, whence also the French name for the same substance, écume de mer.
Here you can see a pipe being carved from meerschaum:
That’s happening in Turkey, which apparently has a very-near monopoly on meerschaum; generally the pipes are made near the city of Eskisehir in the plains west of the capital city of Ankara.
My research also lead me to sites that sell the pipes, and which provide sales information about why meerschaum makes a good pipe–all stuff I didn’t find out until I was looking for one already, so my internal notion wasn’t developed from this kind of info. It must have been stuff I picked up from reading fiction.
- Meerschaum is a light-weight stone; this gives you a very light pipe to hold in your mouth or in your hand. The weight difference is noticable when compared to similar sized briar pipes.
- Meerschaum is a porous material; this feature will give you a much cleaner smoke since tars and other undesireable by-products of burning tobacco leaves are absorbed by the stone.
- Meerschaum colors as it is used; as the tars and other byproducts are absorbed by the stone, they are drawn to the surface by the beeswax coating which colors the stone over time.
- Meerschaum imparts no flavor on your tobacco; if you are testing a new tobacco or want to really know what a particular blend tastes like, there is nothing like a Meerschaum pipe to “speak the truth” rather than adding it’s own taste and aroma to the mix like briar or other woods will
- Meerschaum won’t burn; since there is no chance of burning your pipe you don’t need to create a cake of carbon on the inside of the bowl to protect it. This allows you to smoke many types of tobaccos in your pipe without worry about “polluting the cake” and muddling the taste/aroma of your fine tobaccos.
Those reasons all come from the pitch at MeerschaumPipes.com, who also have a pretty good resources page.
I didn’t actually get mine from online–I arranged a private sale when I saw the one I knew was just right for my sense of amusement
That’s the custom case that holds the pipe. Since meerschaum is relatively soft, having a way to protect it when not in use (and in my case that means “all the time”) is pretty important. A custom fitted, protective case is pretty much a must.
Here you can see the pipe in the case. You can see some of the design work on the stem, and how the stone is beginning to colour.
Here you can see the bowl, and start to get a hint of how the bowl end of the pipe is carved.
Here you see the maker’s signature and dating on the bottom. If I hadn’t already told you these were mostly made in Turkey these days, you’d be able to tell from this.
And here you see the front of the bowl, and you know why I had to have this pipe when I saw it. Bacchus seems to me like a very appropriate god for a pipe, and this is a very fun Bacchus.
