Churchwardens are very long on account of stems that reach nine inches in length or more. The smoke must travel this great distance, and so it has more time and surface area in which to cool, resulting in what many consider to be a more pleasurable smoke. Churchwardens are notoriously inconvenient to carry around, and their small bowls only allow for a brief smoke.
They consist of a downward curve that ends with an upcurve where the bowl sits. Beneath the bowl is an air chamber which serves to cool, dry, and mellow the smoke. These typically do not have an air chamber and are so named only because of their external shape. The Prince was originally fashioned for Prince Albert who would later ascend to the British throne as King Edward VII. An English dandy if ever there was one, the prince demanded elegance not offered by any shape in existence at the time. Pipe maker Emil Loewe, founder of London’s Loewe and Co., designed the shape for Prince Albert, and in doing so created an instant classic.
Those even passingly familiar with bourbon have heard of Pappy Van Winkle. In the Scotch whisky world, Brora, Rosebank, and other closed distilleries have an intense following for liquor that is getting older and rarer every year. Cigar connoisseurs chase after vintage Cubans, Opus Xs, and Padron Millenniums.
This peculiar and seemingly nonsensical irregularity is what gives the Hawkbill its uniqueness, and not the shaping of its bowl. The Hawkbill’s bowl is usually shaped like a Brandy, Tomato, Author, or something Fashion tobacco pipe in between. It can be made in a variety of finishes, and is usually accompanied by a short round tapered stem. Once significantly more popular than it is today, the Hawkbill has fallen from the limelight, but there are still some who nurture an admiration for the odd.
The Blowfish takes the appearance of a squished Fashion tobacco pipe ball, having a wide, bulging profile, and a more narrow face. The carver orients the Blowfish so that the cross grain exits on the broad-sided profile of the pipe, resulting in a stunning manifestation of birdseye on one or both sides. Naturally, straight or flame grain will then flow across the narrower width of the pipe. The shank of a Blowfish should exit fluidly at the bottom of the bowl, having no interrupted or abrupt lines. The stem then exits the shank in a similar fashion, but bends gently in the opposite direction.
The slogan, “A clever chap only smokes the original Dr. Perl,” is a German re-incarnation of the better known brand’s catchphrase. That nearly all pipes made in Germany today are influenced by the 9mm filter tradition. I dropped it due to lack of training, until my father who was also a pipe smoker told me the “secrets” after I turned 21. Kept the habit on and on for ten years, and then quit tobacco altogether. Aware that it is an offensive habit, I try to keep on the low side of one pipe a week but sometimes I binge. Also, according to Alfred Dunhill, Africans had a long tradition of pipe smoking asserting that by 1884, the King of the Baluka tribe of the Congo had established a hemp-smoking cult in place of fetish worship.
Between then, the duo would earn medals at six World’s Fairs, five of them gold. Vauen’s history of innovation and imagination quickly spread, and their quality tobacco pipes became very popular. Pipe smoking requires thought, dedication and patience for loading the pipe, lighting and tamping to produce a wonderful experience. Others find it much easier to take a quick trip to the convenience store to pick up a pack of cigarettes. During my young adult and college years, there were large numbers of pipe smokers. An article by Marcus Jones titled “Why Don’t People Smoke Pipes Any More,” appeared in the June 19, 2014 EA Carey (Europe) Ltd newsletter and provided some insight into pipe smoking back then and its decline today.
Unusual pipe materials include gourds (as in the famous calabash pipe) and pyrolytic graphite. Metal and glass, seldom used for tobacco pipes, are common for pipes intended for other substances, such as cannabis. Inside the bowl is an inner chamber (2) space holding tobacco pressed into it. This draught hole (3), is for air flow where air has travelled through the tobacco in the chamber, taking the smoke with it, up the shank (4). According to popular legend, A local farmer contacted Tibbe to improve on his handmade corn cob pipe.
With easy-flowing lines and elegant proportions, the Brandy has been aesthetically groomed over the course of many decades to resemble its namesake, the brandy glass. While the shape of the bowl can vary considerably, Brandys are recognizable by their wide, rounded base, which tapers sharply to meet the comparatively narrow mouth of the chamber. More often than not, you’ll find them in a smooth finish since the shape flaunts the straight grain of a briar block extremely well. Acorns are usually made with round shanks to compliment their natural bowls, and shanks can be bent or straight, though bent shanks are the mode. It has been used since the 17th century and, with clay pipes, represented the most common medium for pipes before the introduction of briar as the material of choice in the 19th century.
What differentiates the Lumberman from other pipes in the Canadian family is that the Lumberman has an oval shank with an oval saddle stem. As with other members of the Canadian family, a slender shank graces the bowl carrying about twice the length of the bowl’s height to its end. With its slim and simple profile, it would hardly look at home in a massive calloused hand. Perhaps Canadian lumbermen are slender and gentle, and we’ve had the wrong idea all this time. Matches, or separately lit slivers of wood are often considered preferable to lighters because of lower burning temperature.