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Show The Daily Utah Chronicle Openings Page ThirtvTwo 1978 another more than drag just Pipes: known to smoke as many as 32 pipefuls of tobacco each night; Sir Isaac Newton, English philosopher and mathematician; Sir Walter Raleigh, English navigator and historian; and Sir Winston Churchill, British prime minister, who credited "the goddess of nicotine" with his sweet temper and agreeable companionship." Would a "sir" smoke a cigarette? Well, maybe, but a pipe is certainly more fitting. "If you stand behind the counter in the Tinder Box for about 20 minutes, someone will come in and want cigarettes," Cvar said. Although he does sell scores of different cigarette brands from scores of different countries, Cvar is aware of the difference in the customers who smoke them. "If you say to that person, Til be with you in a minute and continue serving another customer, that cigarette smoker is going to go crazy pacing around, picking things up he by BARBARA RATTLE Chronicle staff THE MAKER OF GOOD MEN "The fact is, squire, the moment a man takes a good pipe, he becomes a philosopher; it's the poor man's best friend, it calms the mind, soothes the temper and makes a man patient under troubles. It has made more good men, good husbands, kind masters, indulgent fathers and honest fellows than any blessed thing on this universal earth." The above slogan is emblazoned on a wall plaque that hangs in The Tinder Box, probably the state's most complete and attractive pipe and tobacco shop, located in the Fashion Place Mall. Also in the shop, but not necessarily on the wall, is Fred Cvar. owner of the Tinder Box, pipe smoker and tobacconist. And Cvar agrees with the philosophy on the plaque. ' fT) 1 , 1 1 Any idiot can suck on a cigarette. They have no...stye with a pipe conjures certain pipe in the mouth of a man lends him an air of graceful maturity and wisdom. wants his nicotine now. Whereas a pipe smoker who wants his tobacco but has to wait will just look around. There's no problem. He's calm and collected. They're a different sort of individual." At the mention of the word "nicotine," I immediately reach for a cigarette, thinking of the sole woman pipe smoker in The Book of Lists, Mrs. Zachary Taylor, wife of the 12th U.S. President. Apparently the first lady clandestinely puffed a bowl in the White House. "Only a few women smoke pipes," Cvar said, not particularly happy about the idea. "A woman's pipe is very long with a little porcelain bowl and it smokes very hot. We encourage women to smoke regular pipes. But a woman won't normally want to smoke a large bowl. It doesn't look good; it's as simple as that. We don't have many ladies' A man images. A A pipe transforms contemplative, a man into a type g easy-goin- a "thinker" in the eyes of others, and perhaps in his own eyes as well. Pipe smoking is certainly more of an art or a developed hobbytaste than cigarettes or cigars. The work involved in selecting a suitable pipe and tobacco; breaking the pipe in properly; cleaning and caring for the instrument; loading the tobacco into the bowl; tamping; scraping; inserting cleaning rods into the stem as if the pipe were a prized weapon; then properly lighting and smoking the pipe, requires knowledge and practice. Any idiot can suck on a cigarette. They have no . . .style. "With a cigarette, you have to drag the smoke into your lungs," Cvar said. "With a pipe, you can do the same thing, but ordinarily pipe tobaccos are much stronger and you don't inhale it. You savor the taste a lot more than with cigarettes. Cigarettes are bland. When you're smoking a pipe, you're not pulling the stuff down into your lungs. Consequently, you're not doing any damage. There's no danger of cancer lip cancer, palate cancer unless the pipe is used immoderately." Cvar quotes a study made by an eastern university wherein the lifespans of cigarette smokers, pipe smokers and were compared. It was found that pipe smokers tended to live a year longer than people who did not smoke at all. "You can't say that pipe smoking caused that statistic, but pipe smokers as a group are mellow folks, they really are," Cvar said. But are pipe smokers mellow by nature or mellow because they smoke a pipe? "It's hard to tell; I think it's a combination," Cvar said. "You have to slowdown when you're smoking a pipe because you have things to do with it. It makes you think a little bit more; you're more contemplative. Your mind isn't on your worries. It's more on the matter at hand which is smoking your pipe." Indeed, smoking a pipe spells leisure and reflection. The Book of Lists names several non-smoke- illustrious 2T Women smoke pipes to a greater extent in other states, Cvar said. He has seen only one woman with a pipe, strolling in the mall and obviously relishing her unorthodox behavior. Converting from cigarettes to a pipe is a common occurrence, Cvar said. "The gratification of smoking cigarettes can be achieved with a pipe, to the detriment of cigarettes. If you can talk someone into slowing down and taking a pipe in the evening instead of cigarettes, when he's able to sit down and relax, his consumption of cigarettes will go down drastically." Which illustrates a rather interesting rs psychological observation The key to the relaxation, the instrument for purging the pipe can cost anywhere from under $5 to astronomical amounts of money for rarities and antiques. The most expensive pipe in the Tinder Box costs 5475, and it looks pretty boring to the untrained eye. A more experienced observer will note the almost flawless grain in the wood, and the prestigious name of W.O. Larsen on the case. In the showcase at the shop, one will also find several antique treasures which are not for sale. The making of a pipe is a long, arduous process, dependent on both luck and skill. "You start with a block of wood," Cvar explained. "You can use any wood you want, but most will burn while you're smoking them, which obviously won't work out very well because it will burn a hole right through the pipe. It's been found that cherrywood, rosewood and briar are the best woods for smoking pipes. I'd say 95 percent are made from briarwood." "The wood itself has an effect on the smoke," Cvar said, pulling out a beautiful briar and lighting it. "What has happened with this piece of wood is this. Before it was even cut, they heated the wood and boiled it in an acid-typ- e solution to draw out all the natural moisture from the wood. It's a process that takes a long time. A lot of pieces of wood are put inside hot sand and cooked for months on end. Some pipe makers put the wood up in the rafters where the warm air will continue to dry it out. A very dry piece will sop up a lot of resins and oils and make the pipe taste sweeter. Briar wood is a very hard wood and it's very hard to work with. Consequently, it is cut by very sharp tools or with a file or rasp. Later, it's polished with hard grits of paper, down to the finest grit, so that it's completely cigarette Cvar compares pipe smoking to meditation. "What you're doing with meditation, basically, is purging the mind. That's what you can do with pipe smoking if you want to. Just sit back and enjoy the taste. Enjoy feeling it and touching it. That's something that really does relax if you let it." you " 1 """" " O j? Haass """" g O Pip , v I A hand-carve- double-bow- l d ih vlt meerschaum pipe (left) shown at approximately actual size, and a unique pipe (right). v'asif ff Fred Cvar, owner of the Tinder Box, Salt Lake's premiere pipe and tobacco shop. "Pipes are much more than just hand warmers." smokers (I write from experience) tend to reach for their smokes in times of strain and The tobacco industry does pressure. excellent business during finals week, inventory and taxtime. But the pipe smoker will normally reach for his pipe only in times of relaxation, when he has the leisure time to fix full attention on enjoying his smoke. pipe smokers, including , rff pipes." Frederick William, king of Prussia, who was . - i smooth. "A cheap pipe is going to be very green; the makers will not have taken all the trouble to dry it out and cure the wood. As the pipes get more expensive, they will have been treated to insure the dryness. Beyond that, there's the aesthetics of it. If the grain of the wood is straight up and down on the bowl, and if there are no flaws like pits or cracks, then it's a very special thing and more money will be charged for it. "Going down in price to about $30, you'll find hand-carve- d pipes, where a man has actually taken the block and sanded it off to see how the grain runs, and then he has designed a pipe to fit the grain. Each one is different and therefore aesthetically more pleasing." Cvar said a hand-carve- d pipe will not smoke any better than one cut by a machine. But cosmetics are important to the pipe smoker, and rightly so. Cigars and cigarettes are quickly discarded after they are smoked. Pipes are permanent and collectible. They are often showpieces and investments. Cvar sees pipes in the same light as he would see an article of clothing. In his store, the equivalent of everything from blue jeans to mink lie in showcases or rest in racks. For the weird at heart there is a large pipe with one stem and two bowls, offering the smoker the advantage of mixing and matching tobacco flavors. There are white, hand-carve- d pipes made of a substance called meerschaum, a German word meaning "sea foam." Meerschaum is a mineral made up of the fossilized shells of tiny sea creatures that fell to the sea floor over 50 million years ago. The substance is carved into amazingly detailed faces, serpents, eagles and phantasmagorical scenes. Along with the pipes and tobaccos there are, of course, the vast array of extras. "You can get into unbelievable paraphernalia, but all you really need is a 35 cent tamper and a 49 cent box of cleaners," Cvar said. "We have fine silver and gold instruments, each designed for a specific use, for those that want them. Most people realize it's not needed, but there are some individuals who enjoy it. You can get into pipe smoking very inexpensively, or you can go hog wild." One such luxury item is a small pewter tobacco jar bearing the name of Dunhill, probably the most prestigious name in smoking. The jar costs about S40 and its only purpose is to hold tobacco. "A lot of young folks are picking up pipe smoking," Cvar said, hardly old himself in his early 30s. "There's an attitude of taking care of the body. 'Spaceship Body' it's the only one I have, so I might as well take care of it. But smoking is really an enjoyable experience. A lot of people are doing it and realizing that they could be destroying their bodies. Pip? smoking is kind of in the middle. You're not destroying yourself, but you're still getting the enjoyment." Cvar notices that the younger customers are willing to pay more for quality, to go the extra mile to get something special. And the time is ripe; statistics show that most people don't have a great interest in pipes during the months of May through August. Cold weather is apparently linked to pipe smoking. "There's a warm, cheery feeling about a pipe," Cvar said. "It's much more than just a hand warmer." |
