Details from
the August Meeting
We
almost didn't have an August meeting because when we got to the
meeting place, no one was there to let us in. Our president and
treasurer were both out of town and the Sportsman's Club was not
an option. So Neil made a few phone calls while the rest of us
lit our pipes and sat on the curbside like the social outcasts
we're accused of being.
We had another small turn out this month but it was packed with
lots of interesting conversation and plenty of new tobaccos to
sample. Now that summer is over we hope to see many of you back
for your monthly visit.
Tim called us from North Carolina to tell us about his visits
to SmokingPipes.com. He said he'll send us a write up about his
visit for an upcoming newsletter. We took a group photo saying
hello and sent it to him.
Sutliff Tobacco
We read a letter we received from Paul Creasy, president of Sutliff
Tobacco letting us know of a number of new promotions they
plan to offer to pipe clubs like goody bags for new and renewing
members. They also plan to do more at pipe shows including People's
Choice Awards for new tobacco blends, contest prizes and silent
auction items.
Paul Creasy, the President of Sutliff
Tobacco has been around the tobacco business for many
years and not only knows tobacco; he also has his finger on the
pulse of what's happening in the tobacco industry. If you haven't
heard Paul's interviews on the Pipes
Magazine Radio Show I urge you to take some time and listen
to them. You can listen on your smart phone on you're way to work,
from your computer while enjoying your favorite blend, or download
them to your favorite podcatching app. Of all of the interviews
Pipes Magazine Radio Show has had, these are 2 of the most informative
(IMHO).
First
Interview | Second
Interview
Finding Your Perfect Tobacco
Sutliff Tobacco also offers those of us in search of the perfect
tobacco blend a way to narrow the field a bit. Visit their website
and click on the link on the left hand side that says "Want
To Find Your Perfect Blend?" Fill out the questionnaire
and see what blend they find for you. When I did it the result
was Fox and Hound but they also thought I would like Sutliff's
No 5 Blend which I do. Some of the questions are a little hard
to answer definitively so try taking the test a couple of times
with some slightly different answers and see what happens.
If you're not a big Sutliff fan, the test may still give you some
clues to other blends you might like in a similar category or
make you think about how you taste a little differently.
Click
here to get started.
Once Upon A Time.........by
Richard Frederics
I
want to tell you about a trip I took not so long ago. The place
was Canton, Illinois – a small town about 200 miles south
of Chicago.
This was the town where my wife was born and we had had gone
back for a visit. Not to see family, because sadly, they have
all passed on. But rather to see the house where she was raised
- where I stayed when visiting; paying respect to family members
and to also see places we use to visit when we were dating; just
to reconnect to the town. And one of those places was Lewis’s
Pharmacy. But it was more than a pharmacy; it was an old fashioned
ice cream/soda shop with the stools and the marble counter top
– the only place to get a true Cherry Coke or old fashioned
Lime Rickey.
It was also a tobacco shop where popular tobaccos of the past
were sold – Half and Half, Sir Walter Raleigh, Prince Albert
and Borkum Riff to name a few. But what made this store special
was it represented pipe smokers of the past.
A lot of us would not recognize many of the items that were for
sale. Many of us probably wouldn't even want to smoke those tobaccos.
Is there any interest in a pipe holder for your car – with
a magnet on the base; a leather pipe holder for your car’s
visor; a plastic tobacco pouch with a trigger loader? Maybe you
just had to have a Dr. Grabow, a Yello-Bole or a Corn Cob –
not in plastic packaging but on an original advertising card.
How about Falcon Replacement bowls?
The counters were beautifully polished wood – glass fronts
and glass counter tops – where the items were located for
sale. There was a display of Dills pipe cleaners – made
in the U.S.A. (they are certainly not made in this country anymore).
It was fun to go back and reminisce. It wasn’t a store for
pipe collectors, it was meant to be a store for pipe smokers.
I did buy some of the old items – I think at the original
prices when the items first came out.
Mr. Lewis, the proprietor was there sitting in one of the old
wooden booths. He had a pipe in his mouth, though I don’t
remember if it was lit; might have been. Besides there wasn’t
anybody who would have said anything to the 88 year old man who
spent his entire life in Canton running his business. Mr. Lewis
has since died and the Pharmacy as I knew it is gone. But the
memories are still there for me, and I bet for many others.
If you have a comment or a story you
would like to contribute, send
us an email and we may post it in am upcoming newsletter.