Bon Vieux Temps - C

 

 

Since the variances of life took a difficult set of turns for a while, and I had not been able to write all of my adventure in a more timely fashion, I thought it good to repeat a small portion of where I had left off in my Chicago adventure from before.  If you want to read it all again, part A is here, and part B is here.  But in italics below is the last few sentences I had written in "B":

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.

* * * * *

Then I realized he was probably suggesting I take some time in the Lounge.  Unfortunately, though that would have been DELIGHTFUL, I knew I had only a brief time for my visit, perhaps at most ~20-30 minutes at most before I had to head back to the conference work group.  And, $15 dollars to sit in the lounge for 15-20 minutes did not seem wise.

"Well, I would like to, but I only have a little bit of time before I have to head back to my conference.  I would not be able to use the lounge well for just a little while."

He looked at me and said, "No, I meant you could try a bowlful here while you look around some more."

Now I arched my eyebrows even more.

"I didn't think that was possible, with the strict public smoking ban that Chicago has."

He grinned.  "You got your pipe with you?"

I retrieved it from my backpack. He held out his hand in a gesture where I knew he wanted to examine it. I gave it to him.  He looked at it, inspecting the shank for the crooked imprint on its side.

"Nice.  This is a real good looking Comoy’s “second." He then started to walk out from behind the counter and walked over to the side cabinetry and went behind it a bit.  He clicked a switch and I heard a sound... a familiar whirr of a rotary buffing wheel begin its rotational spinning.  

A "second" is the name given to a pipe that a manufacturer produces that has an "imperfection" of some sort... the grain of the briar of the bowl may be a little less fine, detailed, or predictable than desired, or there may be a small imperfection in the grain itself.  Other "seconds" sometimes are where the maker's stamp may be uneven, or poorly formed, or crooked.  "Seconds" can be absolutely wonderful smoking pipes from any good manufacturer, they are just not "perfect".... and their price is reflective of that.  They are sometimes called "basket" pipes, because at least traditionally at a lot of shops, the owners would have a bunch of these "seconds" from all the brands of pipes they carry in a single basket that would be their discounted pipes.  Because I have always been a penny-pinching sort of fellow, most of my pipes are "basket" pipes.  They are all beautiful to me.  

"Doesn't your fellow back home ever work on your stems for you?" he stated as he started to buff out the stem of my pipe.  

It was true, my stem was quite oxidized and rather grayish in color.  "He has. I just haven't asked him to do so in quite a while." I stated, which while accurate, also allowed me to again side-step the notion that I had not smoked my pipes in nearly five years, which I really did not want to mention.

I then added, "He has even buffed the mouthpieces of my bass clarinet for me a few times over the years."

Buffing (polishing on a buffing wheel) of stems is a practice that a lot of folks like for their pipes that have a non-plastic stem.  Vulcanite and other types of hard rubber stems will gradually oxidize and change from their common, deep black color to a hazy grey or beige, or even a slightly green tint from use, and even from just day-to-day exposures to air, light, saliva, etc.  Buffing removes the thin layer of oxidation so that the hard rubber stem is shiny, and a deep, dark, black again.  You usually have to ASK to have this done in the few pipe shops that still have a buffing wheel.  

I have pipes that have plastic stems, but I do tend to prefer the vulcanite and other hard rubber stems more, as they have a little bit of "give" when you grip the stem between your teeth.  Just like with my bass clarinet.... I have a few plastic mouthpieces, but I tend to prefer to play using my older, vulcanite mouthpieces because of this little bit of give (and, whether real or imagined, I think my tone is richer with the rubber mouthpieces as well). 

After polishing the stem, he handed my pipe back to me.  It was indeed beautiful!  The stem was back to its deep, black hue.  The bowl of my pipe was a semi-glossy light oak color and the pipe itself was one of my favored 1/4 bent "Dublin-esque" style pipes. 

"Thank you, I greatly appreciate the polishing.  It looks wonderful, better than it has in a very long time!" I stated.

"Not a problem.  It is one of my favorite parts of the job.  I like to see the transformations, myself, and I do most of the work on the estate pipes and repairs we get. Look at this one...."

He showed me an old Peterson pipe that apparently had been brought in or was an estate acquisition.  It was nearly pristine.  A full-bent, dark walnut-bowled pipe.  He then took out his phone and showed me a "before" photo of the beast.  In that photo, I could see that this pipe had been EXTENSIVELY used but not cleaned much.  Its bowl had quite a bit of excessive cake buildup, and the stem was almost a whitish-grey from oxidation other than where the owner had gripped the stem between his teeth.  

"Wow!  Quite a transformation!" I said.  

"Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.  The fellow who owns it is a regular here, and he brings me a different pipe to work on every two weeks like clockwork. Hadn't seen this one since before the pandemic started."

He then walked out from behind the polishing area back to the tobacco section.

"You want to try a bowlful of the "Three Star"?  

"What about the indoor ban here in Chicago?  I read on your website...."

"Hah!  Yeah, technically, we're supposed to only allow smoking in the Lounge." he said, pausing for a moment. 

Then he grinned again, "But, we don't really pay much attention to that.  Back a dozen or so years ago when the law was enacted, we received one citation.  We used to have a copy of it framed up here for a while.  

He paused again for a moment.  "But that was the only one we ever got, and I think it happened the first week of that ban.  But it was dismissed.  We're the only store on the second floor, so no one really cares.  Hell, we have several of Chicago's Finest who are loyal customers, and they smoke their pipes or cigars here like everyone else."

Reaching up toward the top of the counter, he tipped the glass sampling canister containing the loose "Three Star Blue"  towards me.  "Try a bowlful before you buy."

*****

Running out of time for today. I will try to finish the rest of the adventure as soon as I can.  

• Ran 13.1 miles (~21km) today. 
• PCS = 8
• Worked on a lot of prep work for next semester's classes.

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