Sunday 13 February 2011

A Piping Hot Pictorial Preamble

A day into the semi conversion to pipe smoking & far too early for a contemplative perspective. Suffice to say it's going swimmingly! 


I hated tobacco. I could have almost lent my support to any institution that had for its object the putting of tobacco smokers to death...I now feel that smoking in moderation is a comfortable and laudable practice, and is productive of good. There is no more harm in a pipe than in a cup of tea. You may poison yourself by drinking too much green tea, and kill yourself by eating too many beefsteaks. For my part, I consider that tobacco, in moderation, is a sweetener and equalizer of the temper.

~Thomas Henry Huxley~



There is no composing draught like the draught through the tube of a pipe."

~Captain Frederick Marryat~















"It is not enough to fill a pipe and put it to the mouth and set fire to it, for even the country bumpkin knows as much. It is only correct to hold it with the left hand, have the right hand provided with the stopper, impress the onlookers with majestic mien, sit in the proper attitude on the chair, and finally, to take enough time for each pipe and not treat with hasty irreverence this heavenly food."
-Peter Burmann on pipe etiquette, c. 1710



“Second-hand smoke is claimed to cause many deaths and is the basis for tyrannical curbs on offices and pubs. This figure is arrived at by guesswork, inspired by hysteria, and masquerades as scientific ‘proof’ – a process which characterises our age.”



"Nothing helps scenery like ham and eggs. Ham and eggs, and after these a pipe -- an old, rank, delicious pipe -- ham and eggs and scenery, a 'down grade,' a flying coach, a fragrant pipe and a contented heart--these make happiness. It is what all the ages have struggled for."
-- Mark Twain, Chapter XVII of "Roughing It"



I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs."  Albert Einstein, 1950





Smoke your pipe and be silent; there’s only wind and smoke in the world



"Pipe smoking is the most protracted of all forms of tobacco consumption. it may explain why pipe smokers are generally regarded as patient men--and philosophers."
-Jerome E. Brooks, from The Mighty Leaf, Tobacco Through the Centuries

 


"I have some friends, some honest friends, and honest friends are few;
My pipe of briar, my open fire, A book that's not too new."
-Robert Service

 



 
"The fact is, squire, the moment a man takes to a pipe, he becomes a philosopher. It's the poor man's friend; it calms the mind, soothes the temper, and makes a man patient under difficulties. It has made more good men, good husbands, kind masters, indulgent fathers, than any other blessed thing on this universal earth."
-"Sam Slick, the clockmaker"

 

Now put that in your pipe . . . . .

Sunday 6 February 2011

Valentines For Him . . . . . Gent's Boxes . . . . . .

I've loved well made boxes for as long as I can remember. From my teenage years when I first really starting taking pride in my desk & it's tidiness as homework became more important so the more time I would spend there. Well  that was the plan,  pretty much straight  away I was just as concerned with what my belongings & stationary were housed in rather than actually what I was supposedly meant to be using them for.

It then grew into a love for creating an environment that was ideal for me to get dressed in & decide what type of day, that day, was going to be for me. As an avid collector of men's accessories, a chap does have to have a place to put these things, all in order of course, season by season.

Now some blokes may scoff at the idea of  A Man's Jewellery Box in public, but that doesn't mean at all that they would be displeased if presented  with one with which to house their rings,cases, cuffs, wallets, keys, glasses and so on. Trust me.

A man's Valet Box, as the American's call it, is I believe one of the best presents any man could get this Valentines Day. And he WILL find things to fill it up with! Online you can find these start around the £25.00 and go up  to £2,500.




Having had the same one for 3 years or so, picking it up for a couple of hundred pounds, it's sure to last me the rest of my lifetime & it's contets shall of course change & evolve but always be with me. 





 I can think of the beginning of the film "Amelie", her dad loves tipping out his tool box, cleaning it & placing everything back in again perfectly in place. And me too, only not my tool box. Cuffs & cases for me.



With desk organisers fairly hard to come by though, or ridiculously opulent at £13,500 below by T.Anthony, that's one item I'm thinkng of  actually making myself.


So I will need my proper tool box. Wanting a deep reddish brown croc effect leather I shall be starting on it this week hopefully! So these "Valets" though do come in a range of sizes  and of course prices.







 And of course aviailable are Vintage/Antique Gentleman's travelling cases.



Contemporary versions & the most exsqusite of all though are those made by Smythson. http://www.smythson.com/SmythsonSite/product/wp-1004355.htm


Above "Gentleman's Accessory Box" £1,195
                                  
Below, my own personal box after a Sunday's sort out!






Lighters filled, watches wound. All set for Monday!



                                       Ladies all we want are boxes, nice ones!

                                                           Dandy Love.