Pipe for Sale: Paul Becker

SOLD!

This is obviously a new feature on the blog, but the staff at Romeo's wants to start offering some of their pipes online. This is the first.

What we have up for sale is a beautiful pipe by the German carver Paul Becker. It was lightly smoked (and not in the exaggerated eBay sense) and well cared for. It is being sold in clean, ready-to-smoke condition.

Taking the party online

I'll admit that I spend way too much time at Romeo's pipe shop. (And no, contrary to popular belief, I'm not associated with the shop, let alone the owner.) It's my second home, and maybe my third. My wife thinks I spend too much time there, but she also recognizes that I come home much happier than when I left. And while hanging out during business hours can bring you in contact with lots of enjoyable people, while you clear your tampers and pipe cleaners off the seat to make room.
It's still no comparison to the pipe club meetings, where you pack the room or fill a table or pile around an ash tray with people you look forward to seeing all month long. But you can't hang out all the time, can you?

Retort from a Bulldog

"I'm a What? Hey! Who are you calling a "FAT PUPPY?!"

Confessions of a Billiard

Written by Jeff Neisler
"I really just need to get this off my chest and the only good reason is some psycho babble I once heard about confession bringing about healing … bla …. bla…bla. Anyway I’ve began to be completely annoyed by my owner’s constant need to bring new pipes into the rack.

The Never-Ending Journey

The great thing about the pipe smoking hobby is you can take it as far as you want. Most of us probably go too far but thats part of the fun. Some pipers get into the search for the "perfect pipe", others journey for a lifetime in search of the perfect tobacco, then there are the tamper collectors, and the pipe puffer who needs the perfect lighter for every occasion.

With the emphasis on brotherhood

There's not a whole lot of value to a pipe club, right? I mean, you show up and do nothing but smoke and shoot the bull for a few hours. The city's problems don't get solved, let alone the world's. You swap stories and try new blends, but that doesn't help you live a long, happy life despite regular use of a life-shortening leaf.
Or does it?

Tobacco tratement

During our last club meeting many topics were touched upon, one of them was the the preservation of ones favorite blend, and what happens in those wonderful little tins over time. I'm no tobacco aficionado, but if it passed the sniff test it gets loaded. However, since joining the club I've learned a lot, tried a bunch of blends, started collecting pipes , and most importantly piqued my curiosity of the world of tobacco (especially the curing and aging).
Heeding Tom's raffling lure of some premo tobacco and trying to answer some of the questions raised, I did some research and here is the short story:

The benefits of contributing

At Thursday's meeting, I announced an incentive to encourage my brothers and sisters of the briar to contribute to this humble blog. Between now and the next meeting of The Ozark Pipe Smokers, contributors will be entered into a drawing for an unopened pouch of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed.

In case you missed it ...

Smokers packed into the lounge at Romeo's Downtown Pipe & Tobacco Co., a nice mix of old friends and new. And amidst the talk of failed tobacco taxes and advanced fly fishing techniques, there was a lengthy conversation about cellaring and aging. While we understand our questions more clearly, we definitely didn't find any answers.

A change in habit

Many men and women have turned to the pipe to escape the grasp of cigarettes. The path from one to the other, however, is long and windy and often doubles back on itself.

Pipe Club Preview

So once again we're preparing to gather, choosing the right pipes, the right tobacco, the right anecdotes. We are rapidly approaching the time each month we set aside time to meet to share leaf and lies with good smoke and better friends. And it seems like a lot has happened since the last time we met.