Last night we held Smokingpipes' 7th Annual Company Christmas Party. Now if your initial thought is that it's still a bit early in the month for such festivities, or that Wednesday is a poor night to celebrate just about anything except having graduated Monday and Tuesday, then you'd be correct; it was both. However, because Sykes is leaving for Japan as I type this and thus won't be around for any kind of corporate shindig for a couple weeks, we were sort of short on calendar options when planning the dang thing. I suppose we could have thrown the party in a week without him, but that would have been just mean.

And while it was a lot of fun, and while the food was fabulous (as always), and even though I was proud to give out a handful of awards to some of our most dedicated and proven staff, I'm beginning to think I've become too long in the tooth for the kind of debauchery that is staying up until eleven o'clock on a weeknight whilst nursing a single, lonesome, beer. I'm not much of a partier. I'm a pipe smoker, and like many a pipe smoker, I prefer a long, contemplative silence, a good book, or an engaging, heady conversation with another fellow, and a hand of warm briar to the rowdy, raucous, noisy chaos of the multitude. Or maybe that's just me - Adam, after all, does have some pretty hairy tales involving his hanging out with other artisans (especially when Danes were present) at pipe shows.

I do know what all pipe smokers can agree on, nonetheless. Pipe smokers like looking at new pipes. You're in luck this afternoon, as we've got a whole bunch of new pipes that await your perusal. We've got new works from carvers Michael Lindner and Viktor Yashtylov in addition to fresh pipes from Ardor, Ser Jacopo, Mastro de Paja, IMP, Nording, Brebbia, Savinelli, and Peterson. Of course, we've got both smoked and unsmoked estate pipes to add as well, 72 to be exact. Be sure to check out the new Two Cousins pipe racks we begin offering today. And don't forget that from now until the end of the year, any order over $50 qualifies for free UPS ground shipping in the continental United States, you can still pick up a free tin of Peterson tobacco with a new Peterson pipe purchase, and all Lampe Berger and Easy Scent products are on sale (and make great Christmas gifts, btw). Cheers!

Ted Swearingen: Vice President, General Manager