Pipe Heritage

Jayhawk422

As I had my weekend morning smoke, in my HIS pipe, I was smoking Eileen’s Dream. I got to thinking, as I was playing fetch with the dogs, I’m smoking an Italian pipe, but having “Irish” inspired blend. Going further down the rabbit hole, I started thinking about my own pipes.

My collection is a mix of Irish, Danish, English, Italian, and American pipes.  But, the bulk of my collection are Italian pipes. I happen to be a 2nd generation Italian on my dad’s side and a 3rd generation (barley since my grandpa was a first and my grandma a first generation) on my mom’s side. My dad was the first one born here in his family in the late 50’s. My Italian heritage came from the Reggio region of Calabria and grew up speaking the regional language and dialect in home.

To further my rambling I prefer the Italian makers followed by Irish. I got to thinking, subconsciously has this always swayed my pipe preferences? Or do I just prefer the Italian esthetics over everything else? I would be curious of hearing from other members, has anyone else thought this?  Or is it just my mind wandering due to my ADD and too much coffee?

Kmhartle

I'm a Czech who prefers Danish style pipes. Ironically, many of which are made in Italy. 

Jayhawk422

I have a friend who I got into pipe smoking who is Irish. He loves Pete’s, and I told him I love smoking British tobacco in my Irish pipes to  rile him up .

jfreedy

I love Peterson’s and Savinelli’s and I’m neither Irish nor Italian. However, based on the logic of this discussion I’m sure I’d LOVE German Pipes! 

xDutchx

I could try to name a particular style or country that I prefer, but I really just browse pipes, until I spot one that catches my eye for whatever reason. Of course, at that point I want to know who carved it, to get an idea of the quality of the pipe. There are several makers that I am drawn to, but more times than not, I may not like the looks or style of a pipe, no matter who made it.

Jayhawk422

I was just curious myself. It was my pipe deep thoughts as of this morning.

PappyJoe

I own more Italian pipes than any others. 

Woodsman

I like them all, Some of my favorites are Peterson and Butz Choquin, but my Wally Franks were made in multiple Countries. My favorites are all my pipes.

Mangoandy

Thanks to Ancestery.com I now know the percentages. If I followed the math, 65% of my pipes should be Sicilian and 20% should be from the West Midlands of Great Britain (Nottinghamshire). As it turns out, I have an equal number of British, Irish and Italian pipes in my collection (plus several corncob pipes - maybe those point to my own American melting pot birth). 
I am hand carving pipes as a gift for each of my kids (that will be their heritage pipe!)

Jayhawk422

@Mangoandy that is amazing that you are doing that. I wish I had the skills at wood working to make my own pipes. Now that is what I call pipe heritage.

thebadgerpiper

I'm mostly German/Czech, but I have a wee bit of Scotch Irish in me, which may explain my affinity towards Peterson pipes. While I don't own any German pipes, I never smoke a pipe without my Czech tool, haha.

ghostsofpompeii

I'm part Sicilian - part Slovak but my pipe collection seems to be multi-national with pipes from all over the world.