Blog by Dal Stanton

I’ve been eyeing this pipe on my side desk for some time.  It has been calling to me and I decided today to respond.  It came to me as a gift from dear Bulgarian friends, CC and Svetly.  CC, is a nickname for Svilena. CC came into our lives as a translator in the context of our work here in Bulgaria with the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  She translated various manuals and training modules from English into Bulgarian which were used in a recovery program for women who were seeking a new life.  In time, our relationship with CC expanded as she helped us with translating for various teams who had come to Bulgaria to learn more about our work.  Eventually, her husband, Svetly came into our relationship sphere as well.  Truly, a renaissance man of…

Blog by Dal Stanton

The Beldor Studio on my worktable now came to me from what I call the French Lot of 50.  I was tipped off by a fellow pipe man friend in Romania who acquired a L. J. Peretti Oom Paul from me.  He saw 5 different lots of pipes on the French eBay auction block and sent me a note. My thinking is that one of the Lots might be a good addition to my online collection, For “Pipe Dreamers” Only!, where pipes may be commissioned by those who can see the potential of unrestored pipes.  The different lots were from the same seller in Paris and his approach to selling these lots was like throwing bloody chum in shark infested waters!  Each lot was in a pile of pipes with different angles of the pile pictured in the lot’s listing.  Studying each of the piles…

Blog by Dal Stanton

This Kaywoodie “500” is the final of three pipes Joe sent.  It belonged to Paw, Joe’s wife’s great grandfather.  I’ve enjoyed learning about Paw, or ‘2-Page Sam’, the name given to him by his fellow workers of Brown & Williamson Tobacco, Corp, founded in the 1800s in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In the restoration of the first of three, a Medico Apollo Brylon (See: Another Legacy Pipe of a Great-Grandfather: Challenges Working with ‘Brylon’ on a Medico Apollo) an article in the B&W Tobacco, Co.’s company magazine, Pipeline, Sam’s 43-year career was showcased and it described how he became known as ‘2-Page Sam’.  As a salesman for the tobacco company, Sam’s daily goal was to secure enough orders from clients he would visit, ‘Ma & Pa’ establishments mostly, to reach page two of the order book for the day.  This company-wide work ethic, along with…

Blog by Dal Stanton

This is the second of 3 of Paw’s pipes that Joe sent to me from Athens, Greece, where he and his wife, Hannah, live and work.  Paw is Hannah’s great grandfather who left behind several pipes that Joe has asked me to restore for the family.  Paw, also known as, ‘2-Page Sam’ by those who knew him as a salesman of over 40 years of the tobacco giant, Brown & Williamson Tobacco, Corp, has a fascinating story that was described in an article in B&W’s company magazine that I included in the write up of Paw’s Medico Apollo Brylon, which I just completed that turned out well (See: Another Legacy Pipe of a Great-Grandfather: Challenges Working with ‘Brylon’ on a Medico Apollo).  Next, two Kaywoodies remain to be restored – a Kaywoodie “500” and the one on my worktable now, a Kaywoodie Natural Burl 33. …

Blog by Dal Stanton

It gave me a great sense of satisfaction when I received Joe’s response to reading and seeing the results of restoring the first of Paw’s pipes entrusted to me.   Joe and his wife, Hannah, who live in Athens, Greece, and are colleagues working in our organization, last year sent me a Kaywoodie “500” that I restored (See Link: Reclaiming Paw’s Kaywoodie “500” 04 Long Stem Billiard – A Great-Grandfather’s Legacy) as a gift for Hannah’s father, Ben, ‘Paw’s’ grandson.  The Kaywoodie was a special gift for Ben’s birthday.  Later, Joe wrote this letter:

Hello Dal,

My in-laws came to Athens to visit Hannah and I last month. I gave Ben the pipe. I showed him everything you wrote and documented about it. He absolutely LOVED how the pipe looked, and he was also deeply touched by the love, care, and respect you showed not just…

Blog by Dal Stanton

As I begin this restoration, my mind is replaying the plethora of experiences that were shaped and riveted into my memory of my visit last year to India.  Not many ‘good’ experiences in life can be described as ‘life changing’.  These kinds of changes are usually reserved for the difficult times – like now, as the world is navigating a pandemic that creates confusion and uncertainty about life and the future.  Yet, Paresh’s invitation to me, along with the rebornpipes’ trust, Steve and Jeff Laug, to visit his home and family was an experience that was life changing for me.  It wasn’t just the sights and sounds of a different cultural context or the different foods the pallet experienced tasting Indian cuisine.  What was so profoundly and wonderfully life changing was the depth of loving hospitality Paresh and his wife, Abha, provided to us during the…

Blog by Dal Stanton

This is the second commissioning project for the pipe man, clam man, Jon, from South Florida.  His first commissioning (see: A Striking Savinelli Fiammata 2 Briar Calabash for a Clam Man Pipe Man) turned out to be a diamond in the rough!  He had commissioned this pipe not from the usual perusal of my online ‘Help Me!’ baskets in the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection, but he had visited us here in Sofia, Bulgaria, along with a team of folks from his church.  During this visit, Jon went through the boxes and baskets of the inventory and found the Savinelli Fiammata and pulled him aside to commission.  During this visit, Jon also saw my personal collection of Churchwardens and offered to give one of them a new home!  In the end, Jon also commissioned a CW project which also benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria