Last night I got caught up washing some dishes before bed. This turned into an impromptu kitchen sprucing which in turn became an off-the-cuff refrigerator purging. The adventure was a little overdue. Leftovers were tossed out indiscriminately. Expiration dates were examined carefully. An empty ketchup bottle was evicted. A small block of cheese that had not been sealed well enough was thrown in the garbage on principle. Nothing in the fridge was spared the passion of my exorcism. In the aftermath of this expunging there was left on our kitchen counter top more than a few glass jars filled with brine and pickle juice. As I stared blankly at the glass jars, curious as to how exactly I would be disposing of them, my mind turned to my pipes and tobacco, as it so often does, and from this turn an idea suddenly sprouted within my imagination.

I spend plenty of cash on mason jars. Of course, this is in addition to the small fortune I spend annually on the cost of pipe tobacco. There is also an expense tied up in a variety of pipe cleaners, cork knockers, briar cleaning solutions, butane, and matches. Like many, I’m a sucker for accessories: leather pipe bags of diverse dimensions, tobacco pouches, fancy tampers, and an assortment of lighters, stands and racks. Also, I like to pick up a new pipe once in a while, just like any committed pipe smoker. I’m giving myself an ulcer just fathoming what I might have sunk last year into my ‘hobby’ but it’s fun and I enjoy it, so whatever. What’s not fun is ponying up for characterless, empty glass jars that are just going to be hidden away with tobacco I can’t smoke for years from now. Maybe it’s fun for you. But I hate it.

So I’m standing at my kitchen sink, eating the last couple of blue cheese and garlic stuffed olives from an empty sixteen ounce jar filled with brine and sediment and it dawns on me that, whereas I could just throw away this perfectly dependable jar, the container could be put to good use for tobacco storage. And now I’m wondering how many empty jars I’ve disposed recently that could have gone into service for my pipe needs. I’m wondering how many bins and basins, bottles and beakers, pots, jugs and tubs I’ve carelessly abandoned over the years that could have been salvaged for the sake of my precious pipe tobacco. Then I realize that it’s one o’ clock in the morning and I’m soaking empty pickle jars in a sink filled with hot soapy water to pacify some tobacco neurosis, agonizing over every jam jar I ever bought, when I really ought to be in bed, sleeping. No wonder it’s been awhile since I cleaned the kitchen.

We’ve got some fantastic new stuff available with this update. For those of you that share my derangement for flashy pipe paraphernalia check out our new Clocktower Brass Tamper. Also, this evening we refresh the site with new pipes from Castello, Radice and Savinelli, as well as Peterson, Vauen, and Brigham.

Ted Swearingen: Sales Manager