Over the course of the years I have gone through my pipes several times trying to decide which are really keepers, and which I could part with. Of course there are some foregone conclusions. Some were gifts from friends; my wife gave others to me, and some, which I bought to mark a special occasion, have meaning only to me. A good number of my pipes were ones that belonged to my father, and came to me with his passing.
Among those of my fathers, is an old no name Oom Paul. There has always been something different about this pipe. I could never put my finger on it, but it seemed special in some way. The stem is oxidized, the briar has lost its shine, but in the no name category, this pipe is the one I reach for most often. The air hole is drilled a tiny bit off center and being such a severe bend, it can be a chore to get a cleaner to pass through when it starts to gurgle. The walls are a bit thin and the pipe seems to be hot to the touch no matter how careful I am.
I have no specific memories of my father and this particular pipe. There were many others he smoked regularly, but I don't recall ever seeing him with this pipe. Still, he kept it many years so it meant something to him. The walls of our home have several photographs of my parents. In most of them, my father has a favored briar at hand. He was seldom seen without a pipe, the exception being this pipe.
I was at the point a couple of months ago of giving the Oom Paul away to make room for a new Peterson or Don Carlos I had been eyeing at the pipe shop. My youngest daughter was looking through some old photo albums at the dining room table, and came across an old, somewhat faded photo of my parents on one of their many fishing trips. There was my dad, in the photo dated 1938, the Oom Paul firmly clenched in his teeth!
I have several "high end" pipes including a couple of meers, and a Don Carlos three note. As pleasing as they are to the eye, and so enjoyable to smoke, they simply no longer compare to the Oom Paul. The old no name beater of a pipe is now a treasure. I will continue to smoke it, but when it does retire it will go in a shadow box with the old faded photo of a young couple on a fishing trip in 1938.
©copyright 2002, Perry S. Fuller
