Family tradition

tim12string

Just wondering how many of us are NOT the first in our family to be pipe smokers? My Dad and my maternal Grandfather smoked pipes. Any others?

PappyJoe

My maternal step-grandfather smoked a pipe. Mainly George Washington until it was no longer available in the early - mid 70s. Then he smoked whatever the local drugstore carried.

Both of our sons are pipes smokers and enjoy an occasional cigar. Neither smoke cigarettes.

ghostsofpompeii

Both of my Grandfather's were heavy cigarette smoker, and if memory serves me right - both smoked Camels. My Grandfather on my Dad's side occasionally smoked a pipe and I vividly recall a big red can sitting on the end table next to his pipe and ashtray. Since the can was red I'm thinking it might have been Velvet. 

Woodsman

My Dad smoked a pipe, don't know about my Grandparents.

pipeman83

I had 2 uncles who smoked a pipe, my closest and favorite uncle smoked Carter Hall, the other, whom I didn't know to well, the only reason I knew he smoked a pipe was I saw a picture of him with a pipe in his mouth.

xDutchx

No pipe smokers in my family that I recall, but I did have a great aunt, that dipped Red Seal snuff. She always had that little streamer running out of the corner of her mouth, mixed in with her red lipstick.

She seemed to really enjoy her snuff. I never had the heart to tell her she was supposed to snort it, for fear of being chastised.

ghostsofpompeii

I recently heard from my niece that several of my sisters kids often refer to the nice smell of Uncle Joe's pipe ... so maybe somewhere down the line I'll end up being the person responsible for starting a family tradition. The Legendary Uncle Joe.

tim12string

ghostsofpompeii 

Simple

I am the first (known) pipe smoker in my family. How did I start then? My Doctor. That's right, when I was little (mind you this was in the 80's) my doctor smoked a pipe while examining his patients. Although I loved the smell when I was young I have never been able to figure out what Tobacco he smoked. I find it odd that it took me 37 years to finally enjoy pipe smoking but luckily I did.

ghostsofpompeii

@Simple That's a great story. I wish the barber my Mom sent me to would have smoked a pipe instead of a cigar.

There was a neighborhood barber shop near where I lived that also doubled as a business where you could get headstones. I know ... what a strange combination. You'd be sitting in the barber's chair getting a haircut from one barber while the other one was getting information from a bereaved family member as to what they wanted carved on a headstone. Well the owner and main barber always smoked a cigar while he cut your hair. And as barbers tend to do he'd be talking throughout the haircut - either to you or someone else in the shop. And invariably ashes would drop from his cigar onto your head or shoulders. He'd simply brush away the ash and continue speaking as though peppering the client with cigar ash was just part of the service. I always left there smelling like a combination of Bay Rum aftershave and a cigar ash tray. I loved the smell of the Bay Rum aftershave, but never could figure why he's rub it on my face because I was just a kid and I didn't get a shave. Maybe it did it to help mask the scent of his cigar.   

Simple

Lol. He probably knew it made you feel like a big guy. I went to a barber once with my father when I was little. The entire place was full of cigarette smoke. To make a long story short I ended up in the tub and my dad ended up with an earful.

... mind you when Father (priest) came for dinner he was free to smoke his unfiltered chesterfields at his leisure. Go figure...

Jdalen

My grandfather smoked cigarettes and cigars but I don't remember him smoking a pipe. My dad and uncle on the other hand smoked pipes. My dad even worked part time at a Tinderbox tobacco shop to support his hobby. I remember as a teenager just really liking the mixed tobacco smells in the store every time I stopped in to visit my dad. He doesn't smoke anymore and I haven't smoked around him but I can tell when I show him my pipes and tobacco that maybe he'd like to pick up the pipe again.

ghostsofpompeii

Well my son left here today with a tin of Molto Dolce and a tin of Out Of Office Gone Fishing ... and he's going to try smoking a pipe as a replacement to cigarettes. He was going to get the pills to get off smoking but said his insurance barely covered it making his co-pay over $50.00. He was contemplating either going on the patch of trying a pipe since he sees how much I enjoy the hobby. So I gave him the two aromatics to sample, hoping to set him on the right path. Wanted to give him one of my pipes but he preferred getting one of his own. (If he actually takes up the hobby I'm sure he'll be hitting up the second hand shops as well ... right now I imagine he's in the same place I was when contemplating using someone's pipe - we'll be hunting Estate pipes together soon enough).So he was heading over to Walgreens to pick up a Dr. Grabow. Besides giving him the tins of tobacco I provided him with the tool of the trade - a Czech tool - and showed him the proper way to pack a pipe, a few tips on the proper way to light, and how to smoke properly (sipping - not puffing like a freight train). Also suggested a few YouTube Pipe Presenters that might offer what-ever tips he needs to make his first experience as pleasant as possible. None of those options were available to me when I first started smoking a pipe (of course I was only 13 and don't think any adult in their right mind would have been showing me pipe smoking techniques). So I learned everything on my own ... and usually did it all wrong. Thankfully I eventually discovered the Pipe Community and learned the proper way to enjoy my smoking experience. I'd like to think I made the transition from cigarettes to a pipe a easy transition for him if a pipe is what he chooses.      

tim12string

ghostsofpompeii 

Watchmaker61

Both my grandfathers where pipe/ cigar smokers, I only knew one briefly.

Saintbubbles

@ghostsofpompeii I was a cigarette smoker for over 20 years and made the transition to the pipe over the last three months. Transition was the key for me. I didn't do it cold turkey. I was a pack and a half a day smoker. Once I started the pipe I went to about five cigarettes a day pretty quick. A couple weeks later I was down to two a day. Three months after making the change I might have a couple cigarettes a week. The only reason that happens is I decide to have a quick smoke with my wife or a coworker. Three months after starting I finally don't crave them. The extra chemicals they put in cigarettes are a bitch to kick. I wish I could get my wife to make the transition but she has no interest. On the good side she does smoke less cigarettes since I started smoking the pipe.

ghostsofpompeii

As a parent I'm somewhat conflicted on recommending smoking of any sort to my son. But were he not already a cigarette smoker and over 40 years of age, and looking for a way to either cut back or quit, I'd feel like an irresponsible parent even making such a suggestion as switching over to a pipe. I suppose I should have made a stronger case for the nicotine patch but the thought of having someone to share my passion as well as an occasional smoke with clouded my judgment somewhat. I still feel switching from cigarettes to a pipe is a much better solution ... but from the perspective of a responsible parent I think I deserve a failing grade and may have performed something of a disservice to my kid in not providing the Fatherly advice needed to push him in the direction of a more healthy alternative.