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- #701
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
The Codger Cabin
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- #702
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
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- #703
A little teaser for next week at the Coffee Table.
Back in the day, there were two times of year when a hard-working family codger would not have to buy his own tobacco. The kids or someone else would shower him with gifts of his favorites. Often, in mass quantities. And maybe even something to put the tobacco into. Christmas ... and Father’s Day.
And the tobacco blenders and pipe makers always made sure to remind the family not to forget dear old Dad when those times approached. Others offered indirect reminders that Dad often smoked a pipe. That was mighty thoughtful of them!
A week from today is Father’s Day. So don’t touch that dial.
Back in the day, there were two times of year when a hard-working family codger would not have to buy his own tobacco. The kids or someone else would shower him with gifts of his favorites. Often, in mass quantities. And maybe even something to put the tobacco into. Christmas ... and Father’s Day.
And the tobacco blenders and pipe makers always made sure to remind the family not to forget dear old Dad when those times approached. Others offered indirect reminders that Dad often smoked a pipe. That was mighty thoughtful of them!
A week from today is Father’s Day. So don’t touch that dial.
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- #704
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
The amazing thing to me is not so much the price offer -- though it's quite a starter kit -- as the mention of COD payment, or that you could pay the .50 by coin or with stamps! I remember seeing that in magazine ads when I was a kid, much later than this.
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- #706
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
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- #707
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
Even the purveyors of alcohol back in the day had morals and would rather you not 'drink' if you couldn't handle the responsibility. Stirring advertisement and an example of a different time...
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- #709
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
They were only a few years removed from repeal of Prohibition, so there may have been some sensitivity to that in their advertising.
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- #711
Yes. Sensitivity, and more. We are on the threshold of more booze ads. And I had prepared a commentary on those ads for this era (having seen them all in preparing this), as there were some key distinctions from today. Some that people today may not appreciate. And we should reach that comment in about a week or so.
Edit: Now that you have mentioned it, I will likely move that comment forward to the next entry. Which is a delightful full-color, full-page, booze ad.
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Amazing, too, that nearly every pipe shown in ads to date has been a straight and, I think, a billiard. Was it some kind of subliminal message that if you smoked a straight, you were a Regular Guy or a Clean-Cut All-American?
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
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A short commentary about these 1930s and early 1940s booze ads, as we’ll be seeing some proudly-advertised two to four year olds. And that may confound some people nowadays.
It’s easy to snobbishly deride a two or four year old whisky today. But we’re spoiled compared to what the old codgers had available to them. Prohibition had only been lifted in 1933. And people forget that almost immediately before prohibition, production of alcohol for public consumption was reduced during WWI. By 1933, pre-prohibition domestic reserves were a distant memory.
So a four year old domestic spirit in 1937 or 1938 would have been about as well-aged as could have been legally possible at that time.
In an earlier Seagrams blended whisky ad, some may have noticed that various high percentages of clear grain were added (up to 75% in Five Crowns). That’s because production of domestic spirits was still recovering. At least the 25% whiskey portion was a five year old (and likely imported).
And the window for finer aged domestic spirits during this era was unfortunately a short one. By 1942, we will see all industrial alcohol production diverted to the War effort. ‘Pre-War’ domestic reserves then meant mainly the spirits that were distilled during this short 1933-1942 period.
There will be plenty of beer available, even through the War years. But unless a pre-prohibition or foreign blending reserve was occasionally stumbled on, our old codger forefathers struggled to get longer-aged, finer domestic spirits from 1920 until well after the Second World War. A full quarter-century.
So a two to four year old domestic spirit during that era was actually a genuinely premium product under the circumstances.
Similarly, any straight whiskey or blend of straight spirits (undiluted by neutral grain), no matter the age, was considered somewhat luxurious at this time.
And they should be appreciated as such.
And that’s also why some ‘grand pops’ in the decades ahead were perfectly content drinking what we might think ‘lower end’ booze. Because it’s what they grew up on … and we were (and are) spoiled when it comes to spirits today.
It’s easy to snobbishly deride a two or four year old whisky today. But we’re spoiled compared to what the old codgers had available to them. Prohibition had only been lifted in 1933. And people forget that almost immediately before prohibition, production of alcohol for public consumption was reduced during WWI. By 1933, pre-prohibition domestic reserves were a distant memory.
So a four year old domestic spirit in 1937 or 1938 would have been about as well-aged as could have been legally possible at that time.
In an earlier Seagrams blended whisky ad, some may have noticed that various high percentages of clear grain were added (up to 75% in Five Crowns). That’s because production of domestic spirits was still recovering. At least the 25% whiskey portion was a five year old (and likely imported).
And the window for finer aged domestic spirits during this era was unfortunately a short one. By 1942, we will see all industrial alcohol production diverted to the War effort. ‘Pre-War’ domestic reserves then meant mainly the spirits that were distilled during this short 1933-1942 period.
There will be plenty of beer available, even through the War years. But unless a pre-prohibition or foreign blending reserve was occasionally stumbled on, our old codger forefathers struggled to get longer-aged, finer domestic spirits from 1920 until well after the Second World War. A full quarter-century.
So a two to four year old domestic spirit during that era was actually a genuinely premium product under the circumstances.
Similarly, any straight whiskey or blend of straight spirits (undiluted by neutral grain), no matter the age, was considered somewhat luxurious at this time.
And they should be appreciated as such.
And that’s also why some ‘grand pops’ in the decades ahead were perfectly content drinking what we might think ‘lower end’ booze. Because it’s what they grew up on … and we were (and are) spoiled when it comes to spirits today.
Or maybe they're just easier to draw
. Plus the straight is perhaps "jauntier", kind of like FDR's cigarette holder.- Thread starter
- #716
Or maybe they're just easier to draw
From a performance and maintenance standpoint, a straight is tops. Nothing betters a straight-line airway. But they can get monotonous for some. Most of mine are straights or very slight bents.
Looking at my pipe racks, it appears I strongly prefer the mid century straight pipes. Your description of the smokers of those pipes fits me to a tee. I am an absolutely wonderful person as well. Just don’t ask my wife for confirmation
.My reaction to straight pipes years ago was that they were dull, and awkward to deal with when you went out to a bar or coffee shop. Now, since I no longer can do those things, I look at a straight as sending the message: "Yeah. I smoke a pipe. What's it to you?"Looking at my pipe racks, it appears I strongly prefer the mid century straight pipes. Your description of the smokers of those pipes fits me to a tee. I am an absolutely wonderful person as well. Just don’t ask my wife for confirmation
I suppose I’m not snobbish because I drank and relished the whiskey my son made in our garage after only six weeks aged in a plastic five gallon pail with charred oak flooring board. It really was quite good.
That's a very very interesting take, one I had never considered. My grandfather's came out of the Great Depression and to their dying days would never waste a dollar. I remember my mother's father and his brothers laughing fondly at poaching deer, pheasant, and stripped bass to keep food on mama's table. Stealing crops from farms and going back to leave a pie or some trout.
I've never asked, but always assumed that stemmed from growing up in a time when you wondered where your next meal was coming from, and when. The house pour takes you to the same place as the top shelf. I never thought about a time where 2 years in oak was all there was.
I've never asked, but always assumed that stemmed from growing up in a time when you wondered where your next meal was coming from, and when. The house pour takes you to the same place as the top shelf. I never thought about a time where 2 years in oak was all there was.
