The Reason Old Men Never Cleaned Their Pipes?

[SmokeRingsPipeDreams]

Good topic, I've thought about this many times. Everyone probably knows how obsessive I am about my pipes, but part of that is just my personality, I'm kind of obsessive about everything. I think part of it comes from being raised around guns. Dad teaches you to very meticulous about caring for the firearms. But even I get tired of having to clean my pipes after every smoke. I've thought about just having a "knock around pipe" that I kind of abuse until I just toss it away.

Cheers,

Kel

[eikles]

I heard somewhere that back then pipes were often thought of more as a tool to be used and abused and discarded when no longer smokeable rather that works of art to be cared for. Maybe that's why they didn't clean them, they just tossed em. But I think you're right about more expensive pipes used by gentlemen were most likely better cared for than the ones we keep in our trucks.

[iahthegreat]

I defiantly agree with the "back in the day" motto of pipes, there was craft put in them but not as much per say as a nice Stanwell or Bjarne (my preferred) that gentlemen did not care as much about properly taking care of them. I always find much joy in purchasing a estate freehand but will not smoke out of it until i cure it with the professors method and a good swivel of a whiskey soaked Ream n Clean.

[jediokie]

Surely lack of knowledge has to play into it as well. Most smokers of that era smoked because dad did, and smoked just like dad did. Pipes came from general stores and tobaccos were ordered in bulk. Some city dwellers had the convince of a tobacconist but urbanites often stayed within their local neighborhoods so if it wasn't on your corner you got it from the drug store. If you carry on out into the country it becomes more isolated and the habit (or lack there of) would to grow exponentially.

[DailyPuffer]

I think that pipes will smoke better with little cleaning than with obsessive maintenance that may prevent them from acquiring a proper cake and flavor. However, the ideal lies, as usual, in the middle.

My view is that if you're a pipe smoker, you need to save those all important two minutes every day: even if just to brush the pipe and remove the dottle. We owe it to the pipe in return for what it has provided us. If we don't do it, we're only two steps away from becoming deadbeats.

[joffrethegiant]

@DailyPuffer Sad...pipe smoking deadbeats...

[dubinthedam]

Great topic, I suspect wasting money on pipe cleaners was a factor, I bet their pipes tasted pretty rough though.

[TheBaccyButcher]

I think you're right. In addition, Pipe crafters are getting upwards of $1000 and beyond for pipes now, wheras "back in the day" a pipe was a smoking machine. I don't think the old men cared about grain, or even what the hell they were smoking. If the pipe went sour, they bought a new one and started over. Nowadays, we collect these instruments, and have put a high value on them, hence why we take care of them and clean them..well..not me. I don;t clean mine because I'm lazy

[joffrethegiant]

@TheBaccyButcher Great point about the value of pipes. Although even there there must be a class distinction. I'm sure many bought more expensive pipes, but they would've been more white collar or academic, surely.

[theduke0000]

My grandfather had an old Orlik Deluxe pipe that he smoked until it got so caked up, that it simply got unsmokable.. And then he gave up on pipesmoking! I tried to salvage it some time ago, but it was a lost cause...

[GuiseppePipes]

I like to view ALbert Einstein as a chill dude who never cleaned his pipe, never wore socks, and figured that time is relative. My kind of dude.

[dradeel]

Haven spoken with some who have survived their pipe smoking husbands/dads from long ago, one such smoker actually being a professor, what repeats itself is that they'd never have many pipes. They would have only one or two pipes that they smoked all the time until it became unsmokable for whatever reason, and they'd pick up a new one. As GothamCitySmoker notes, pipes were more affordable, so perhaps the idea of vigorously maintaining a pipe never occurred to that many? It just wasn't "an issue"?

[GothamCitySmoker]

Also, pipes were much more common place back in the day. You could pick up a good pipe at an affordable price in almost any town center - with briar that would be considered high grade today. That meant you could afford to let some pipes go sour and never look back. Replacement was not a big deal. Times have changed on that front. Cheers.

[Vindersla]

I made a video response to this :) take care

[piperevival]

Great topic. I think you are right. You do what you can and you can get used to a lot. But even so, we all basically prefer sweet pipes.

[SimonLeduc77]

I am taking the reflex to pass a pipe cleaner after all my smoke and before it. That way, i take off the humidity and the sour liquid in the stem and I am sure that the bowl is completely clean! I think it is just a question of habitude. Also, maybe once or twice in the year I clean all my pipes with a pipe cleaner full of scotch (most of the time a cheap whisky) and then with a dry pipe cleaner.

This is the royal treatment!

Salut bin!

Simon

[RequiemPipes]

I hear your kids have been playing soccer, right? That doesn't seem fair to the other kids who have no brazilian (or at least latin) blood. ;)

Cheers

G.

[joffrethegiant]

@RequiemPipes It's true that if they inherit my frame they will be perfectly suited to the jogo bonito.

[cmasailor]

Timing is perfect, I just spent a week on a dry cranberry bog wrenching on equipment and dragging burlap sacks of berries with the same pipe all week, and contemplated this very subject lastnight after the gf complained about the sour(to say the least) smell of my pipe after returning home...I hadn't noticed.

[joffrethegiant]

@cmasailor There you go. Next time bring two pipes and a wee bit of whiskey! :-)

[Texaspipester]

You definitely hit the nail on the head....pun intended. I travel up to 4 hours a day for my job, and usually have at least 3 pipes dedicated to my work truck. Sometimes they will stay in there for months before I rotate them out. As a matter of fact, I came across 2 pipes that had made their way behind the front seat. These have been in there for at least 6 months.

[joffrethegiant]

@Texaspipester There you go.

[truckpipe]

I thin you may have stumbled on a lost fact of the pipe smoking life. the working pipe out in the world and not in a "hobbyists" rack. Hm good thought.

[joffrethegiant]

@truckpipe Yeah, I think it makes some sense.

[bluepipesmoker]

For how long have pipe cleaners been around?

I agree that they just got used to the taste and smell of the pipe. It probably was just one pipe. If it was a corn cob, that got changed possibly once every 2-3 months anyway.

Andreas

[patrickthepipe]

daft question, but what does a sour pipe taste like?

[joffrethegiant]

@patrickthepipe Hm...dark and sour?

[curiosidadesextrano]

They didn't clean their pipes because they were waiting for their wives to do it :) actually the wives probably never went near the pipes...I think like you said they were busy working or it didn't seem necessary at the time as something you needed to do.