by William Serad I am a perfectionist. I freely admit this, though you may not be able to tell from my writing. In some facets of life perfectionism is a good thing. In others, bad. The economic law of marginal utility says that each added unit is worth less than the previous. But recall the […]
by William Serad I’m sure many of you have had the experience of rummaging around in your collection of cellared tobacco and unexpectedly finding something misplaced, lost or forgotten. I was looking for ancient tins to support the resurrection efforts of Standard Tobacco of Pennsylvania (to no avail; I gave what I was looking for […]
by William Serad I received a number of emails related to the several subjects discussed in the last issue. From Steve Hersey in the U.K.: “I received the magazine in this morning’s post. As usual, a great read, and I was particularly aware of your mention of Sam Gawith’s Cabbie’s Mixture and John Cotton 1 […]
I have received a great deal of correspondence over the past several months. It has been on a variety of subjects touched upon in Pipefuls and elsewhere in P&T, but I will try to put it into a cogent order. I heard back from Stan Nigro regarding Dan Mendelow’s comments on re-engineering pipes: “I enjoyed […]
Standard Tobacco of Pennsylvania is doing interesting work by William Serad There are many who think we are in the Golden Age of pipe tobacco blending, a notion supported by a great deal of objective evidence. But some of us, aged to a ripe maturity yet still in possession of our mental and sensory faculties, […]
by William Serad I had expected an avalanche of response to Stanley Nigro’s letter about making required adjustments and modifications to pipes. I know there are people out there hard at work with their rat-tail files and 5/32” drills, having at pipes with poor draw. They just don’t seem inclined to admit it. Proving that […]
by William Serad I was quite surprised to get no response to Mr. Stanley Nigro’s letter regarding re-engineering pipes to work properly. I thought he threw down the gauntlet. And I was surprised because I do it when required. I am sure there are others who do, but no one wrote a ring- ing affirmation, […]
There are many follow-up topics from previous columns. I would like to start off by mentioning that Orlik has reintroduced Dark Strong Kentucky, a blend that provoked many favorable comments from readers. I heard from a reliable source that we may credit Russ Ouellette of PipesandCigars for encouraging this change in heart, and I, for […]
Fiction by William Serad A priest, a rabbi and a minister went into a bar, as they had every week for years. “Is this a joke?” the bartender asked, as he always did, and laughed, as he always did. “Would you like the usual?” he asked as they went to their usual table. They nodded […]
by William Serad The fellowship of the pipe transcends time and place. It knows nothing of race, politics or gender and is unbounded by barriers of language. Pipe smoking’s outward simplicity disguises a microcosm of complexity in perception and preference. As a study, it encompasses agriculture, physics, chemistry and more. Pipemakers range from lone artists […]
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