Articles by Chuck Stanion | Smokingpipes Daily Reader

What is Fire and Why Do We Like It

September 23, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

11 Comments

Everyone loves fire. Perhaps not when it's burning down our house or enveloping neighboring forests, but under controlled circumstances, fire is hypnotically soothing. Few activities are more satisfying than gazing at a campfire, and we especially appreciate the way fire ignites our favorite tobaccos. ... Read More

A Tobacco From Beyond

September 17, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

28 Comments

I have learned first-hand that ancient creatures foul and furious lurk beyond our senses, as oblivious to us as we to them, awaiting only the focusing of perceptions for mutual recognition and the horrible consequences thereof. Once we see and are seen in turn, our only response is terror, and it was terror that I recognized in my friend Jeremy Reeves ... Read More

The 2021 Release of Peterson Christmas Pipes

September 10, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

22 Comments

Pipe smoking somehow seems even more enjoyable when combined with Christmas. Many of us select our most cherished pipes for our Christmas celebrations, and reserve our rarest tobacco, like that tin of super-aged, high-sugar Virginia beckoning from the back of the closet, the one that's just too luxurious for everyday life. But when we smoke that tobacco in a favorite pipe on Christmas, ... Read More

J.R.R. Tolkien: Builder of Pipe-Centric Worlds

August 27, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

50 Comments

The influence of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on modern literature, culture, and even pipe smoking, is immeasurable. He supercharged the fantasy genre and made it more accessible to millions. Enormously popular games like Dungeons and Dragons are loosely based on his literary inventiveness. Because of Tolkien, cultural understanding of classically imaginary creatures like elves and ... Read More

P.G. Wodehouse: World-Class Pipe Smoking Humorist

August 20, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

11 Comments

P.G. Wodehouse was a craftsman of the English language, his grasp of humor evident in flawlessly constructed sentences and hilarious, character-driven plots. Perhaps the most admired humorist of the 20th century, he experienced challenging times but brought delight to millions, all while maintaining a childlike glee, his goal always to bring happiness into the lives of his readers. ... Read More

J.B. Priestley: Literary Giant, Enthusiastic Pipe Smoker

August 13, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

17 Comments

A prolific writer, dramatist, poet, novelist, critic, political theorist, and pipe smoker, John Boynton Priestley is among the most highly regarded names in English literature. He wrote 26 novels, 39 plays, and multiple volumes of criticism and essays for a total of almost 200 works. He reinvented himself as a writer ... Read More

Robert Service: Yukon Pipe Smoker and Poet

August 6, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

34 Comments

Poets seldom achieve widespread popularity and wealth, but Robert William Service did. His humorous and accessible poetry reaped a worldwide audience and made him famous — so famous that the Yukon cabin he lived in from 1909-1912 is a tourist attraction and historical site, preserved to this day. Movies and animated films have been made from the yarns he wove throughout his poetry and novels. ... Read More

Johan Wolfgang Dobereiner, Inventor of the First Lighter

August 4, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

7 Comments

The first friction match was invented in 1826. Obviously, matches were a quantum leap in technology for smokers, who before that time used tongs to hold small coals against the tobacco in their pipes, or carried flint and steel, or used "spills," which were shavings of wood specifically used for lighting one's pipe or cigar. So popular were spills that a number of woodworking planes were ... Read More

The Legendary Tom Eltang

July 30, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

7 Comments

A gangly, six-year-old Tom Eltang, all arms and ears, eyes and skinny stick-legs, stood in the rain on a sidewalk in Copenhagen in 1964, peering into a kiosk at a laminated poster displaying photos of pipes — artisan pipes like none he'd seen in his young life. Even at age six, Tom was familiar with pipes. He had carefully examined his father's pipes and figured out how they worked. ... Read More

The Fascinating Development of Sun Bear: Black Locust

July 16, 2021 by Chuck Stanion