Famous Pipe Smokers

David Bowie and Pipes: The Mystery of The Bewlay Brothers

January 6, 2023 by Gabriel Bass

10 Comments

In 1971, David Bowie returned to the studio to begin work on a follow-up to The Man Who Sold the World. While many consider that album to be a classic today, it was a commercial failure on its release, and the pressure was on to produce a hit, or at least something that would make it onto the charts. Hunky Dory's ... Read More

The History of Santa Claus, Pipe Smoker

December 23, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

42 Comments

Many of us enjoy Christmastime, not only because we may find some new tobacco under the tree, but because the rituals of the season stimulate memories of past yuletides. Childhood Christmas magic insinuates itself into the present, enveloping us again in the certainty that miracles do happen. That childhood certainty may fade with ... Read More

In Celebration of Mark Twain's Birthday

December 7, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

7 Comments

One hundred and twelve years ago this week, Mark Twain delivered his 70th birthday speech at Delmonico's in New York. The dinner was held on December 5, 1905, a few days after his November 30 birthday. It's an interesting coincidence that another world-class satirist, Jonathan Swift, shares that birthday with Twain. Swift, sadly, did not smoke a pipe, but Twain smoked enough for both of them and more. ... Read More

Joe Lankford Passes, Blender of Seattle Pipe Club Tobaccos

September 8, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

14 Comments

There are people in our hobby who may seem like ordinary folks but whose quiet contributions provide influential advancements. Joe Lankford was such an individual. He passed away on September 3, leaving behind many appreciative pipe smokers who will continue enjoying the pipe tobaccos that he originated for the Seattle Pipe Club, tobaccos like Plum Pudding and Mississippi River, two particular favorites among pipe smokers. ... Read More

Rhythm, Blues, and Briar: Stevie Ray Vaughan

August 26, 2022 by Gabriel Bass

12 Comments

Stevie Ray Vaughan's life and musical ability are the stuff of legend, as anyone with a passing familiarity with the blues is likely aware. The virtuoso guitarist mastered his instrument while still a teen, honing his skills in the nightclubs of his native Texas before encountering sudden success after his performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival ... Read More

Peterson and Dracula: 125 Years of History

May 24, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

4 Comments

Through the 1890s, two very different Irish artisans worked diligently on what would be their greatest professional accomplishments: Charles Peterson perfected his System patents for Peterson pipes, and Bram Stoker composed his most famous novel, Dracula. ... Read More

Jody Davis: The Rock Star Pipe Maker

March 18, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

6 Comments

Jody Davis is the lead guitarist for The Newsboys, a Christian rock band of enormous popularity. "It's probably the biggest band you've never heard of," he jokes. Jody is a well-grounded individual who has not let his musical fame alter his boyish charm and self-deprecating sense of humor. He says that talent had less to do with his success than chance and good fortune. ... Read More

James Thurber: Celebrated Humorist and Sometimes Pipe Smoker

March 11, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

4 Comments

Widely considered the foremost humorist of the 20th century, James Thurber (1894-1961) often portrayed bemused protagonists clumsily navigating the complexity of modern life through incomprehension, fantasy, and defeated acceptance. Thurber's writings and drawings encapsulate those odd but universal feelings of being out of phase with the rest of humanity, and his ... Read More

Herbert Hoover: Pipe Smoker... and Perhaps Worst President in History

February 18, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

16 Comments

The 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover is popularly remembered as one of the worst presidents in history. That reputation, however, is somewhat undeserved and partially the result of political propaganda advanced by the opposing party and Franklin Roosevelt, who ran against him in 1932 and despite his New Deal being no more effective in resolving the economic downturn than his predecessor. That's not to say it's entirely undeserved. Hoover made mistakes. ... Read More

Carl Gustav Jung: Pipe-Smoking Founder of Analytical Psychology

February 11, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

21 Comments

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were great friends for about five years, from 1907 to 1912. Both were brilliant, and their psychoanalytic work and theories coincided. They fished together, they lectured together, they explored the Arctic on an expedition together, they spent three months touring the U.S. together. Freud ... Read More