Bon Vieux Temps - B

 

The "Pre-Holiday Rodent Crisis" I spoke of yesterday was the result of a U Administrative change in our Purchasing Department.  In the middle of this semester, our process of purchasing moved to a supposedly "better" and "improved" fully paperless process.  It has been somewhat of a nightmare to learn.  Fortunately, I only infrequently have to deal with this new system as most items in our Department are ordered by our Stockroom/Laboratory Technician.  He, however, has grown considerably more bald as a result of pulling more of the limited hair he as out from frustration with this "improved" process.  He has, however, gotten comfortable enough with the process to be confident in it.  

Unfortunately, though, it would be anticipated that the INSTIGATORS of this new ordering system WOULD be damn near experts in their own self-developed process... prior to foisting it upon the rest of the U at-large.  This apparently was not the case.  An order for rodent food that was placed nearly four weeks ago never showed up, and yesterday the animal caretakers came and told us there was no  more rodent food!  Our Stockroom/Laboratory Technician was visibly flustered but began to investigate.  It turned out that this "improved" paperless order had navigated through all the appropriate channels (about eight different bureaucratic signatures are needed to buy damn near anything) and the order WAS approved and sitting in the queue at the U's Purchasing Department.... and had been sitting there.... not acted upon.... for THREE weeks!  Somehow, the Purchasing Department did not know how to identify and access their own damn paperwork.  And, with the Holidays nearly upon us, it was unclear when/if the rodent food would now arrive before the Receiving Department would nearly shut down to a skeletal crew for the Holiday Season or not until well into the start of the new year.   

But hungry rodents NEED food!  So, I ended up spending a sizable chunk of time yesterday driving my trusty steed to the opposite end of the county to the nearest "Tractor Supply Co." store.  There I bought two 50 pound (~23 kg) bags of cattle feed.  Yes... CATTLE feed.  The relative composition of these cattle feed pellets is nearly the same as our rodent chow in terms of protein, fiber, carbohydrates, etc.  It also was the only suitable feed that was shaped in large-sized pellets that were similar in size to our rodent chow (other feeds were much smaller in pellet size).   And, unlike dry dog food, it was fully herbivorous like our rodent chow is as well.  I paid for both bags, and then hoisted each up into the bed of my truck, and proceeded back to the U.  

Crisis averted.  Now the rodents will stop squeaking and will instead be saying "Moo!"

* * * * *

Now back to my Chicago journey:

From what I could gather looking at the map, Iwan Ries was approximately a little over a one mile walk or so with only a few turns.... from the hotel... this was of course presuming I did not get lost, which is not always a safe assumption on my part when walking around in a larger city.  

It was a pleasantly sunny day.  Although cold, my hat and gloves (and long underwear) all made the navigating around very comfortable.  And, it was not nearly as windy as it was the day before, so that too was pleasant.  

I was able to navigate well, and I then saw the "Iwan Ries" sign hanging from the side of an older, rather non-descript,  multi-story building.  I kept moving forward.  A small "sandwich board" type sign  on the sidewalk outside of the building had a sign on it that stated, "Iwan Ries" is on the SECOND FLOOR.  This seemed a little odd to me, for I never recalled ANY pipe tobacco shop in Chicago (or elsewhere for that matter) that was not located on the ground floor. I had been to a few pipe shops over the years that were large enough to HAVE a second floor, but they had always had their entry on the ground floor.  

So, I enter the building and look around a bit before I see an elevator.  I did not see any readily apparent stairs, although they must have been around somewhere.  So I boarded the elevator to the second floor.  Upon exiting the elevator, I could detect the very pleasant aromas of tins and tubs of various pipe tobaccos and I could also detect a very slight aroma of some pipe tobaccos and cigars that were being indulged in as well.  I presumed the smoking lounge was nearby the elevator, as the City of Chicago ordinance was very strict not allowing ANY indoor smoking except in very specific circumstances (like in the Lounge).  

I walked down a dimly lit, dark wood paneled hallway for quite a ways with a few twists and turns until I saw the entrance to Iwan Ries.  No other businesses appeared to be located on the second floor, although there were a small number of unmarked doors, which I presumed one or two likely lead to the various Lounge rooms. Since I regrettably did not have sufficient time to have the Lounge experience, I paid minimal attention to these doors. 

Upon entry into the pleasantly large room that was Iwan Ries, I glanced around.  Three of the four walls were adorned with pipes and pipe tobaccos for sale, and the fourth wall had a glass wall and door in front of it, as it was an area housing cigars in a humidity controlled environment.  Chest high cabinets containing other pipes, pipe racks, lighters, tobaccos, etc stood in a complete circumference two all four walls (one set of cabinets was actually in front of the glass walled cigar humidor).  The Iwan Ries workers could easily navigate around in the isles between the cabinets and walls.  

On one walls cabinet tops there were displayed ~100-125 Dunhill pipes, all resting on their individual velvet carrying pouch.  It happened to be that my visit coincided with a yearly event where the Dunhill Pipes distributor would have a "White Dot" sale at Iwan Ries.  "White Dot" refers to the distinctive small, white dot that is on the shank of the stem of a Dunhill pipe and is a sort-of "logo" of the brand.  

I glanced through these "specials" a bit.  I have at least three Dunhill pipes and I like them a great deal.  Yet, in this "White Dot" event... the lion's share of the pipes were rusticated, tankard shaped pipes.  I am not really a fan of rusticated pipes (these are pipes with a purposely rough and bumpy texture to the surface of their bowl).  And, tankard shaped bowls also are not my favorite.  I much prefer the bowls of my pipes with a traditional smooth surface, and a globular or rounded bottom.  

But, on the three walls, there were MANY very beautiful pipes of the more traditional shapes and natural colors and traditional stains that I did like (virtually all the Dunhills were finished in black).  I kept looking at and admiring these various pipes on the walls.  

In the central area of the room there was a large expanse of shorter cabinets (roughly about kitchen counter height).  It encircled all four walls as well, and then had a smaller central area for a worker or two.  There was a floor to ceiling panel display in the center area that displayed more beautiful items, but had enough space so folks (workers) could navigate around all the cabinetry on all four sides.

A couple of individuals were chatting quietly over by the entrance to the cigar humidor area.  I had no real interest in cigars or the cigar humidor for this visit, so I began to examine some of the pipes, and pipe accoutrements displayed on and in these shorter, central cabinets.  From around the other side of the ceiling panel area, the sole worker out on the floor came around to talk with me.  

He was a fellow about my age, give or take a couple of years.  He had a large, heavy, grey beard and mustache like my own, except his was straight in texture, not wiry and bushy like my own.  He had an unlit cigar clamped between his teeth, and his mustache was deeply amber in color as is typical of folks very fond of cigars (pipe smokers, because of the different etiology of pipe smoking (the stem) tend to only acquire a gentle amber coloration or sometimes even minimal to no amber coloration of their mustache).  He was bald and was also rather short, probably at most 5'1" (~154 cm) and this gave him (to me anyhow) a bit of a gnome-like or elf-like appearance. 

"How may I help you?" he asked in a kind sounding voice.  

I told him my story about having been able to travel to Chicago for a conference, and that I wanted to be sure to visit Iwan Ries while here so I could see and experience the place.  

I also asked him if he was one of the lineage of the Ries family.  Members of the Ries family had worked at and owned the store since the 1850s.  It is the oldest continually owned and operated pipe shop in North America.  

"No, I'm not part of the blood line.  But, I am an "adoptee" as I have been working here for over 30 years."   

We chatted a bit more, and he told me about the "White Dot" sale, which I had wondered about.  He then asked me, "Anything specific you would like to see?"

I told him that my typical pattern when visiting new (to me) pipe shops was to look especially at the house blends of pipe tobacco, and I asked him to show me some of these blends and asked him which blends were the most popular.  

"Well, it depends, what do you like to smoke?"

I was NOT going to tell him, "Well, I stopped smoking my pipes around 5 years ago."  That would have felt extremely odd and embarrassing to say while perusing a pipe shop.  Instead, I told him that while I enjoyed all pipe tobaccos, I tended to especially enjoy "burley forward blends".  

He then asked, "What is your take on aromatics?"

I told him that I have smoked a lot of aromatics, and while I like them for their more pleasant "room note" for others around me, I tend to prefer the robust, burley flavor unadorned.  

He raised his eyebrows a bit and grinned, "I think, I know what you will really like, then."  He proceeded to focus my attention to two different blends.  "Of these two, the 'Three Star Blue' is the one I think you will especially enjoy. It is actually our best seller.  Its considered an aromatic because it does smell pleasant to other folks, but it has a nice, heavier tobacco flavor that is not disguised."

I looked at the label.  It read, "Iwan Ries' original, world-famous blend, Three Star Blue features toasted Burley and Bright Virginias, with just a touch of Black Cavendish, Perique, and Latakia. Topped with Ries' one-of-a-kind aroma, Three Star Blue has been one of the blender's best sellers since its inception — a pleasure to smoke and pleasing to those around you."

He proceeded to open a small jar which had an ounce or two of Three Star Blue, and let me smell its aroma.

It was truly beautiful in aroma.  "That DOES seem exactly like something I would like." I stated.  I then reached on the shelf and took down one of the smaller cans (7 oz).  "I will get this then."

"Sounds good..... you want to try a bowl?"

Now, MY eyebrows arched.

[I am being rather long winded, and will continue tomorrow.]

PipeTobacco