I acquired this attractive Canadian in January of 2018 and was considering adding it to my own personal collection. The eBay seller in Fort Myers, Florida, described the Canadian as: “Fantastic Sasieni Family era produced The Kensington” and that it was believed to be a second of Sasieni. I liked the pipe a lot and …
Continue reading Unraveling the Origins of ‘The Kensington’ Made in London England 296B Canadian
The next pipe on the worktable I found on the online auction block in December of 2017. I was drawn to the pipe by its unique shape and deeply carved rustication which could almost pass for an ‘extreme’ blasted surface. As often is the case with online sellers, the pictures don’t always tell everything, and …
Nick is the elder brother of Ellie, who lived with us as an ‘adopted daughter’ while she studied at Sofia University completing her degree in Chinese Language and Culture. Their parents, CC and Svetly, good friends of ours, loved to go to flea markets and poke around to find treasures. I became the benefactor of …
This shapely Sculpted Briar Calabash found its way to me in the first large lot purchase I made. As I began to collect pipes and restore them several years ago, I found pipes in antique shops and bazaars in Sofia, Bulgaria, where we lived. Along with these ‘finds’, I also found pipes here and there …
Continue reading An Amazing Renewal of a Sculpted Briar Calabash
The next pipe on the worktable I acquired in January of 2017 from a seller in Akron, Ohio. I’ve enjoyed working on several Jeantet pipes of Saint Claude, France, in the past, but never one as large as this pipe. It was designated a ‘Jumbo’ in the eBay information. The information also confirmed what the …
The next pipe on the worktable came to me in 2018 when my son, Josiah, contacted me from an antique shop in St. Louis, where he lived and was studying. He found a box of pipes with a price on it, and he texted me in Bulgaria, where we were then, with a question whether …
Continue reading New Life to a French Chapuis-Comoy Sunrise 729 Acrylic Bent Stem Dublin Sitter
The next pipe on the worktable is a what has the feel of a French made pipe, but is simply marked, ‘Bruyere Garantie’. I found this pipe in the summer of 2017 at one of my favorite places and it brings back fun memories. This second hand, antique shop is on the main walking street …
Continue reading Giving Fresh Life to a Classy Bruyere Garantie Horn Stem Billiard
This ‘mobile restoration’ begins on Mother’s Day as my wife and I embark on a trip from Golden, Colorado, to Minnesota to visit family – mainly to see my wife’s father who now lives in an assisted living facility. When we returned to the US from Bulgaria last year, amid all the world pandemic concerns …
When Todd used the word, ‘kapnismology’ to describe taking his French GVG First Quality to the next dimension, I paused to search the dictionary. I had not heard this word before and after searching Websters, Cambridge and Dictionary.com, I discovered that the learned folk who write dictionaries for a living, had not heard of this word either. A general internet search of the word, Kapnismology, renders references and labels, but I found no definition that would definitively describe the ‘next dimension’ Todd envisioned for his pipe. Generally, what I culled was that Kapnismology describes the study of smoke. It is used most often in reference to all things ‘pipe’ – pipe culture, pipe paraphernalia, pipes, pipe smoking, pipe lovers, pipe tobaccos, pipe holder, pipe adds, vintage pipe, pipe….
The iconic ‘Poker’ is a fun shape that always seems to evoke images of why it became known as the ‘Poker’ – engaged in a game of cards or some other worthy board game with friends around a table and joined by one’s trusted and ‘lucky’ pipe ‘parked’ next to the glass holding one’s preferred adult beverage and packed with the familiar, comfortable aroma of one’s favorite blend. THIS is the Poker capturing a picture of the ‘Fellowship of the Briar’ that unites many and diverse men and women around a shared passion. Bill Burney’s great description of the Poker shape is worth repeating here from Pipedia:
The Pipe Steward 