THE SONG OF THE PIPE
When the night air is shading 'round you,
And the lake is lying still;
When you hear the evening tuning,
Of the lonely whippoorwill;
When the woods are big and silent,
And the world seems all at rest;
And the cheerful fire is blazing,
Then your good old pipe is best.
When you are tired out from tramping,
Through the winding forest ways;
And you've had your trout and coffee,
And you dream of future days;
When you sit close to the fire,
Then the time is surely ripe;
With the owl's bark resounding,
To fill up the good old pipe.
When the dreary rain is falling,
And the world is wet and gray;
When the loon's long, dismal holler,
Rolls out clear and dies away;
When the woods are all adripping,
From the alder to the oak;
Then just lay back in your chair,
And hit good old pipe, and smoke.
-Earle P. Stafford
THE MEERSCHAUM
Scorn not the meerschaum. Housewives, you have croaked
in ignorance of its charms.
Through this small reed,
Did Milton, now and then,
consume the weed;
The poet Tennyson hath oft invoked
The Muse with his glowing pipe, and Thackeray joked
And wrote and sang in nicotinian mood;
Hawthorne with this hath cheered his solitude;
A thousand times this pipe hath Lowell smoked;
Full oft hath Aldrich, Taylor, Stoddard, Cranch,
And many more whose verses float about,
Puffed the Virginian or Havana leaf;
And when the poet's or the artist's branch
Drops no sustaining fruit, how sweet to pout
Consolatory whiffs--alas, too brief!
-Harper's magazine
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A SMOKE
There's nothing like a smoke,
To that I'll firmly stick;
Give me a pipe for comfort,
Whether, lads, I'm well or sick.
Take anything away you like,
But that'll be a joke;
But leave me still by blessed pipe,
Oh, there's nothing like a smoke.
One's fancy, it knows change,
In friendship and in love;
But to 'bacca is constant,
For it's love and friends above.
Take my lass or take my glass,
Their loss will be a joke;
While you leave me still my blessed pipe,
Oh, there's nothing like a smoke.
Whatever is the weather,
In calm or breeze or storm;
Wherever you may sail or walk,
Let your clime be cold or warm;
Whether you be crossed or happy,
You can treat all as a joke,
While in your lips you hold a pipe.
Oh, there's nothing like a smoke.
They say some whey-faced landsmen
At 'bacca make a fuss,
It may hurt such as they are,
but it's meat and drink to us.
Weak stomachs may kick at it,
But that's to us a joke,
We leave all that to landsmen;
Oh, there's nothing like a smoke.
-W.C. Bennett |
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Hi Everyone,
I'd like to start by thanking my Pipe Maker of the Month, Larry Greengard. Larry is a fairly new pipe maker with wonderful creative ideas. I just love that purple pipe. You can contact Larry by email at: larscreations@aol.com Our congratulations goes to Dave Wolff of Walker Briar Works for winning the Rainer Barbi pipe give away. We wish Dave many enjoyable smoking hours with his new pipe.
As you can see I'm back from my remarkable Italy adventure. I wish to thank each of you for your patience and understanding in my absence. Julie did a great job of keeping things flowing nicely, while I was gone.
Since my return, I have been working on a slide show of our Briar tour in Italy, for our web site. I show pictures of this facinating little plant "Erica Arborea" that grows wild in the hills of Italy and tell of the many processes it goes through before the pipe maker begins to carve it into a wonderful smoking instrument.
With the help of Briar expert Rainer Barbi and the buying power of Elbert Gubbles of Big Ben Pipes I will soon be able to supply you, our customers, with some of the best quality Briar Italy has to offer with the best pricing possible. I will keep you informed of its arrival and when our shelves are stocked.
This trip was not only a tremendous learning experience for me, as Manager of Pipe Makers Emporium, it was also a fabulous vacation. Half of my time there was spent as a tourist checking out all the interesting places along the way. Here are a few pictures of the most intriguing places we visited:
The world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and a statue of angels in Tuscany, Italy.
 Pallazzo Vecchio meaning " Old Palace " is the town hall of Florence. It is home to a Gallery of Statues.
In Pallazzo Vecchio is a copy of the most famous statue " David " completed by Michelangelo in 1504, it is one of the most renowned works of the Renaissance.
 Next to the David is the huge statue of Neptune called the white giant. When it was erected, the Florentines didn't like it very much, they called out: "Amanato (the first name of the sculptor), Amanato, look at all the marble you've wasted!"
Perseus, with a curved sword, a gift of Mercury, wears winged sandals and a helmet with wings like Mercury's. He holds the severed head of Medusa, a decapitation that was intended as a warning to enemies of Cosimo I. We visited the island of Bella which is located in Lake Maggiore. This is in the most northern part of Italy. The lake borders Switzerland on the north shore.
This is a shot of a Switzerland Village on the north side of the lake. In the far background are the Alps.
We stayed in the lake side city of Arona, there I found the famous Sancarlone, a giant statue of St. Charles Borromeo. As you can tell I was facinated by all the statue I saw, they were every where we went.
 Here is a shot from the lake side town of Stresa. It was my favorite place to visit.
In Stresa, were more statues. Statues everywhere! I found all kinds of statues and my facination with them continued.
 I appreciated this one, it was made of copper.
 If you look really close, you'll see him holding a pipe.
When we returned to Milano we visited Sforza Castle, it is one of the symbols of Milan together with the Madonnina and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Built within ten years between 1358 and 1368 under Galeazzo II Visconti.
In the Castle courtyard I found the most unique statue of a Pipe Maker.
In the taxi on the way to the airport in Milano, I managed to snap off one more shot of a statue. I boarded the plane and bid farewell to Italy, the statues and my wonderful adventure. To my surprise before even reaching Phoenix, I saw a glims of the greatest statue of all, as my plane landed in New York City, USA.
 I knew I was home.
Our "Novice" Pipe Making Contest is still on through Aug. 1st " You still have time to participate, here are the rules and details:
1- "Novice" is defined (by us) as a pipe maker who does not make a living on selling pipes. (No, we will not send the Novice Police to your shop ... we expect you to be honorable).
2- You must buy a "kit" from PME consisting of a block of wood and 2 vulcanite straight stems, both of our choosing. Cost = $20.00
.
3- Your carved pipe will be a straight "Billiard" (see photo below).
For the sake of this contest, we will use the following description for a straight billiard:
"A straight shanked pipe with the height of the bowl approximately equal to the length of the shank, where the shank meets the bowl to the top of the bowl and is equal to the point where the shank meets the stem. The attached diagram shows X = Y. The centerline of the bowl (top to bottom) tilts slightly forward at a 3-5 degree angle with the top of the bowl at a right angle to the centerline. Remember, the top is not perpendicular to the shank because of the 3-5 degree cant. Also, the bowl should be slightly wider at the center of the bowl. The straight stem must taper evenly from the shank to lip of the stem's button and is slightly longer than the shank by about ½" - ¾".
We will not judge flaws but will judge accuracy of drills, finish, alignment of stem to shank (no daylight), mortise and tenon fit and proper length of tenon. It may be smooth, blasted or rusticated but must be unsmoked.
To enter your pipe, mail a picture of your pipe at some point in its early creation and also send a picture of your finished pipe. Photos must be postmarked (or email dated) before August 1, 2010 and sent to Paul@pipemakers.org or Pipe Makers Emporium, 21423 N 11th Ave, Phoenix, Arizona 85027.
Using your photos, we will choose the finalists and request these finalists to send their pipes to us for final judging. (All pipes will be returned.)
The winner will be awarded a $50.00 gift certificate at Pipe Makers Emporium. Second Prize will be a $25.00 gift certificate to Pipe Makers Emporium and Third Prize will be a $10.00 certificate to Pipe Makers Emporium. (The certificates will be good for 1 year)
Of course, we will have plenty of pictures in a future PME newsletter, highlighting the winner!
Happy carving!! 
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SUMMER SAVINGS
Starts June 1st thru June 30thRod Sale
CUMBERLAND 22mm
Only $42.00 ea. Reg. price $47.00
( Save $5.00 )
EBONITE 22mm
Only $40.00 ea. Reg. Price $44.00
( Save $4.00 )
LUCITE ROD'S
( These colors only )
Rootbeer Swirl
Exotic Zebra
Fire w/Swirl
Rose w/Swirl
Blue w/SwirlOnly $11.00 ea. Reg. Price $14.00
( Save $3.00) |
Updates: 1. In the next couple months we will open a new link on the PME's web site for selling our customers pipes and other products. If you are interested in our help selling your products please contact me for more details. My main goal and focus will be to reach the European market with American made pipes and products. My contacts are in place and I believe this will be a win, win venture for all. 2. Our new Red Tortoise rods are in stock now and available. Take care, until next time,
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Your "Smokin" Good News
