If you ever get to Wichita, visit Hatman Jack. You can buy online, but the service is so good in the store it is worth stopping if you are ever in the area. He does customizations also
@bbrown626 Thanks for the link. They have some good prices and I will consider them the next time I'm in the market for a hat.
There are two good hatters in New Orleans (about 30 miles from where I live). Goorin Brothers is part of a chain and Meyers The Hatter. Meyers has been in business since 1894 and is the largest hat store in the south.
A Leading Stoker nicknamed "Popeye", with 21 years of service, on board the battleship HMS Rodney, one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid 1920s. Photo taken in Sep. 1940
Man I wish I was not balding and could grow a long head of hair like I use to have. Long hair with a bald dome just don’t cut it🙁. I always seem to get the “short straw”.
Right off the bat, I noticed some pipes are in "stem down" storage. It's either a very old rack, or an add on... Back in the 30s and 40s, stem down wasn't unheard of...
<<I've seen it both ways. Personally, I prefer stem up because I'd rather that moisture go down and dry up in the bowl. I just find it does less to the taste of my pipe then when it dries out in the stem itself. I also leave the pipe cleaner in mine for days after I smoke it- so maybe I'm just weird. YMMV>>
<< I often wondered if we weren't doing it wrong, stem down moisture would run into stem where a fluffy pipe cleaner could easily get it out , stem up moisture in bowl, a no no, now I know it's not a lot of moisture but it defies common sense, if you have a good rifle you should stand it barrel down so oils won"t screw up stock, what do you fella think? The old cajun>>
<<I store mine stem up because that is how my pipe rack is designed. Every rack I have ever seen has this feature so it makes sense. I clean my pipes very well before putting them up so there is no moisture in them. I think storing them stem down was old school because people did not clean their pipes very well.>>
<< was told that many European racks are designed to hang them stem down and that the bowl down approach is largely a North American thing. I'm not sure it makes a real difference, assuming you are taking care of them properly. Mine are hidden in a drawer because my youngest mutt is rather interested in my pipes. She's rough on the stems.>>
I put a pipe in my pocket years ago with the stem down and everything drained to the tip. I put it in my mouth and got the worst tasting stuff on my tongue. I never did that again. The taste could make you gag.
I think stem down may be just easier to construct racks for? Mine are swabbed out after every smoke and then left on a stand for a day or so to air out. Then it goes back in the pouch or rack bowl down if I have it in a rack. I don’t leave a pipe cleaner in the stem, it seems to me it would block most of the airflow and propagate mold/bacteria in the moist environment of the pipe cleaner=“sponge”. I guess it would keep bugs and spiders out though🤔
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Thanks for the link. They have some good prices and I will consider them the next time I'm in the market for a hat.
There are two good hatters in New Orleans (about 30 miles from where I live). Goorin Brothers is part of a chain and Meyers The Hatter. Meyers has been in business since 1894 and is the largest hat store in the south.
I think Jim Lilly the "Sandpiper" would have been a great guy to meet. Sadly he was "called away" shortly after I got into this hobby.
A Leading Stoker nicknamed "Popeye", with 21 years of service, on board the battleship HMS Rodney, one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid 1920s. Photo taken in Sep. 1940
Great photo! I love it when there is a story attached.
It's either a very old rack, or an add on... Back in the 30s and 40s, stem down wasn't unheard of...
<< I often wondered if we weren't doing it wrong, stem down moisture would run into stem where a fluffy pipe cleaner could easily get it out , stem up moisture in bowl, a no no, now I know it's not a lot of moisture but it defies common sense, if you have a good rifle you should stand it barrel down so oils won"t screw up stock, what do you fella think? The old cajun>>
<<I store mine stem up because that is how my pipe rack is designed. Every rack I have ever seen has this feature so it makes sense. I clean my pipes very well before putting them up so there is no moisture in them. I think storing them stem down was old school because people did not clean their pipes very well.>>
<< was told that many European racks are designed to hang them stem down and that the bowl down approach is largely a North American thing. I'm not sure it makes a real difference, assuming you are taking care of them properly. Mine are hidden in a drawer because my youngest mutt is rather interested in my pipes. She's rough on the stems.>>
Me too! The question is, is it learned or is it in the DNA of the female of the species?