Almost four years into retirement in a northern NJ suburb, and I have never once seen another person smoking a pipe, except one time, when I had a day visitor from NYC in my home.
I live in Gary, Indiana but travel throughout most of the surrounding areas ... cites and counties ... and have yet to bump into another pipe smoker once in probably 7 years. Or at least since The Tinder Box closed down in out local Mall. That was the only time I'd see another pipe smoker ... and that's because he or she was actually buying tobacco for their pipe. And now that I think about it ... it might even be longer, because about two or three years before the place closed it's doors the Mall instituted the no smoking policy everywhere in the Mall restricting the Tinder Box from allowing customers to sample blends in the store. So it was only during that period of time when samples were smoked in the store that I saw another piper. There is a smoking establishment in the town of Merriville called Karma Cigar Bar, but you'd be hard pressed to find a pipe smoker in there either ... just cigar smokers. They don't even bother to carry OTC blends let alone quality pipe tobacco products.
I'm in the wonderfully progressive state of California, Northern CA to be more specific. The pipe scene in my neck of the woods is virtually non-existent. I've searched for pipe clubs and found that most of them in the Sacramento area are no longer gathering. The others are too far away. I've done searches in my local area and come up empty. I even posted in community forums here and there and received no feedback or interest in starting one. So, I am a lone piper.
I think that CA is feeling the pressure from local, state and federal government. They passed a law (prop 56) that put a very large tax on tobacco. It was aimed at cigarettes but the 'splash-damage' of this horribly executed law also hit pipe tobacco and cigars. Local tobacconist's prices surged and put just about all of the pipe tobacco pricing out-of-reach. I won't pay $20 for a tin that I can get from P&C or Smoking Pipes for $12.00.
Just keep a good thought about the online pipe and pipe tobacco trade, which right now is in the Golden Age. But there's always a light at the end of the tunnel and this time the light is the Deeming Regulations Express. I'm taking a wait and see attitude and anticipating a greatly diminished online community/presence/marketplace, paralleling your B&M experience. No one's around? Merchants pack up their tents. I have one B&M nearby and he caters to the cigar community. Oh, yes, he'll special order anything I want, but at an inflated price over, say, P&C or SmokingPipes. The next closest real pipe shop is 45 minutes to an hour away, barring traffic, in one direction, and requiring a visit to the amusement park known as NYC, in the other . So, I'm an online kinda guy.
I noticed @WaltCannoy is also from Lakeland, FL. Walt if you are still using TPL. I go to Edward's. It would be great to get a pipe club going in Lakeland again.
Here in Baton Rouge Louisiana it seems my fellow pipe smokers enjoy the comfort of their homes rather than socializing. I see them at the local B&Ms, but they rarely stick around for longer than it takes to see if anything new has arrived and purchase a few items. I would love to get a club going.
@NathanCampbell - forgot to mention, the New Orleans Pipe Club meets the 3rd Thursday of each month in Metairie. Our next meeting is on June 22 if you are in our neck of the world.
I live in Central Connecticut where we have a small pipe community. It's rare to see anyone smoking in public, however, we have a pipe club called the Hartford Reading Society which meets once a month. Average attendance is around a dozen or so, sometimes more, sometimes less. The HRS is my beacon of hope that the community both exists and has a chance to survive in these PC times we live in. New Haven also seems to have a hint of a community. The Owl Shop has been around since the 1930's. It primarily sells cigars, however, I believe they also sell pipes and I've been there often enough to see more than one pipe smoker during each of my visits.
Note to @LizSTGLaneLTD and @CharleneSTGLaneLTD: I requested that the Hartford Reading Society pipe club in Connecticut be added to the the directory of pipe clubs months ago, yet it still is not listed. Anything you can do would be appreciated.
Amarillo, TX. I really don't know of any other pipe smokers around here. I go to a shop that's about 85-90% cigars and the rest is pipes. They've got a decent but small selection of both pipes and baccy. Really nice people though. Talking to one of the girls that works there, and she said most of the pipe smokers are the "buy and fly" type. Its usually just the cigar smokers that hang out. I'd love to see a pipe club start up here in the Texas Panhandle. Maybe I need to quit wishing and do something about it.
I have just added to the pipe scene in my neighborhood. I bought a metal patio bench with a seat cushion and placed it and a small metal table under the red maple tree in my front yard. Past few afternoons, I have sat there and enjoyed a pipe and cold beverage.
Philadelphia, PA - Mostly cigars some pipes. Holt's Cigars and the Ashton Cigar Lounge are popular places to smoke when in town. There are other smaller lounges such as Harry's Cigar Shop and Liberty Smokes. There is the Christopher Morley Pipe Club which meets every third Wednesday or Thursday of the month at The Pen & Pencil Club.
In central Montana, the pipe scene is near nonexistent. I have managed to get a few buddies, that I smoked cigars with, to occasionally enjoy a pipe with me also by gifting them a cob and a tin of tobacco. The nearest B&M, that isn't going to try to sell you a glass pipe instead of a briar, is at least 200 Miles away (online tobacconists are my friend). The laws in Montana have become very anti-tobacco smoking. I literally get excited if I see someone, I do not know, smoking a pipe around here.
In Escondido California and most of the B&M have closed shop; nearest Tinder Box is 80 miles North. (but a nice shop) Liberty Tobacco is probably the nearest tobacco shop; which like the others mainly caters to cigar smokers. I've been to one pipe event there and enjoyed it. Been hit or miss (mostly miss) since then. Escondido Cigar does a pretty good job of carrying a variety of tobacco. Old town has a nice tobacconist, but that is a fairly long drive for me. Just don't see pipe smokers out and about. Went on a campout recently with a group of 50 plus; and I was the only tobacco pipe smoker. Online pipe smokers (mainly YouTube) has been my main interaction. - Bud
I keep coming back to this page to see if there are any major changes in attitudes towards pipe smoking, but the discussions are pretty much unchanged. Which explains why there isn't more fervor in the Government over the impending Deeming Regulations. There really aren't enough of us to make an effective push ... and because of that the Congressmen & Woman and Senators really don't see much upside in pushing an agenda without enough of a voter base to benefit them in their upcoming re-election. I was really hopeful when Trump and Company began striking down several regulations that our cause might be one of them.
I have created a pipe scene in my front yard. Got a metal bench, a metal rocking chair and two metal tables sitting under a red maple in the front yard. I sit there every afternoon as soon as it cools down enough and smoke a pipe. The house next door is for sale and sometimes the potential buyers or the real estate agents will come over and talk to me. No one has made negative comments and a few men and one woman has expressed interest in pipe smoking.
I used to just sit under the two oak trees in the backyard but our oldest daughter and her husband moved back in with us and their 3 dogs are in the backyard. Wouldn't mind it so much except dog crap draws flies and the dogs won't leave me alone.
I'm going to attend my first ever real-life Pipe Club meeting on Saturday outside Atlanta. If it is 1/2 as fun and informative as the forums here, I'll be hooked
It's at a place that sells beer, mixed drinks, etc.. and it is open to cigar smokers too.
Disappointed to update. Our local B&M closed this month. After 48 years in business, the increase in taxes made it impossible to continue. Article from our local paper here:
The good news. A bunch of the younger guys have picked up the mantel and we get together monthly out at a friends property for good BBQ, great drinks, cards and pipes/cigars.
@PappyJoe is onto something. Sometimes you have to build community! Set up an extra chair and invite a friend or two over!
The hard part in States like NJ is there's no place to smoke. My town has 3 large parks with a couple of miles of trails that I can't smoke at. I can smoke in my car in the parking lots.
Pipes are not popular here at all. There is one club in Raleigh I will try to attend to see the vib. Smoking is frowned upon in most places around here.
Comments
I'm in the wonderfully progressive state of California, Northern CA to be more specific. The pipe scene in my neck of the woods is virtually non-existent. I've searched for pipe clubs and found that most of them in the Sacramento area are no longer gathering. The others are too far away. I've done searches in my local area and come up empty. I even posted in community forums here and there and received no feedback or interest in starting one. So, I am a lone piper.
I think that CA is feeling the pressure from local, state and federal government. They passed a law (prop 56) that put a very large tax on tobacco. It was aimed at cigarettes but the 'splash-damage' of this horribly executed law also hit pipe tobacco and cigars. Local tobacconist's prices surged and put just about all of the pipe tobacco pricing out-of-reach. I won't pay $20 for a tin that I can get from P&C or Smoking Pipes for $12.00.
Amarillo, TX. I really don't know of any other pipe smokers around here. I go to a shop that's about 85-90% cigars and the rest is pipes. They've got a decent but small selection of both pipes and baccy. Really nice people though. Talking to one of the girls that works there, and she said most of the pipe smokers are the "buy and fly" type. Its usually just the cigar smokers that hang out. I'd love to see a pipe club start up here in the Texas Panhandle. Maybe I need to quit wishing and do something about it.
I keep coming back to this page to see if there are any major changes in attitudes towards pipe smoking, but the discussions are pretty much unchanged. Which explains why there isn't more fervor in the Government over the impending Deeming Regulations. There really aren't enough of us to make an effective push ... and because of that the Congressmen & Woman and Senators really don't see much upside in pushing an agenda without enough of a voter base to benefit them in their upcoming re-election. I was really hopeful when Trump and Company began striking down several regulations that our cause might be one of them.
"rara avis"