The Codger Cabin

[Kilroy6644]

I see P.A. went from calling them "makin's" to "roll-your-own." I wonder why. Or maybe it's just this one ad.

 

[steveclarkus]

I've been enjoying some codger American English blends this week - Barking Dog (my favorite, it's the most Lat-forward), Country Doctor, and Revelation. They are all Sutliff match blends of bygone mixtures. I have some Milan Tobacconists' Walnut match to try also. I'm thinking of cellering a pound or so of Barking Dog while it's cheap.

Have you tried Walnut yet? It is a very good one. It is a mixture of seven tobaccos including Latakia.

 

[steveclarkus]

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):


America is now fully at war. And in early 1942, it looked grim. Terrible losses in the Philippines. The Germans were sinking ships just off New Jersey. Many homes had blue stars in the windows. Some sadly had gold ones. Cars, radios, and appliances had to last the duration. Rationing. War-essential travel and telephone only. Victory Gardens in places you wouldn’t believe. And there were endless material and war bond drives. People made do with as little as possible. And anyone who was able to, worked. America was one gigantic industrial beehive. All-out war production, everywhere.

While tobacco still remained available at home for morale, enormous production is going overseas for the effort. Including for the boys’ smoking needs. Pipes, too, are now harder to get. And more importantly, no new imported briar is coming in ... all that’s left are what manufacturers were able to stockpile pre-war. While briar and cob pipes could still be purchased, supplies were tighter, and some alternatives arose to cover shortages.

Enter Breezewood. Made of domestic Mountain Laurel, the Breezewood was reportedly a good smoker. But some wartime pipe makers turning to Mountain Laurel resorted to accelerated curing methods to meet demand. And the resulting inferior smoking performance (and some possible safety concerns) quickly soured this wood’s reputation with pipe smokers. Once traditional pipe materials became available again, Mountain Laurel quickly disappeared from the industry. It is today only a historical footnote, with few examples remaining. Several different Breezewood models will cross the coffee table before that exit.

During this same time, Kaywoodie and several other makers also began developing domestically-grown “Mission Briar” sources in California to supplement their depleting Mediterranean reserves. While Kaywoodie abandoned its foray into Mission Briar, others did not. We will eventually see some of them cross the coffee table, too.

Most of these substitute wood materials faded away after the War, as their smoking qualities and durability were no match for good quality Mediterranean briar.

Nevertheless, in 1942, a Breezewood or other substitute material pipe was a very trivial sacrifice under the circumstances.

We’ll now see the wartime effort dominate these coffee table years, as it should have.



View attachment 1358809

My father was a clerk stationed in
Manila for the last year of the war. His roommate was a Mormon who neither drank nor smoked. Dad got his beer ration and tobacco ration. He was able to get both cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Also, they lived in the baseball stadium so there was some entertainment.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Have you tried Walnut yet? It is a very good one. It is a mixture of seven tobaccos including Latakia.

I did get to the Walnut match by Milan. I'd had the Sutliff take on Walnut earlier, can't decide which one I prefer. Still, Barking Dog is the OTC Lat clone that I always return to. I have a pound jarred up and another pound on the way from P&C.

 

[SteelSchaben]

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):


Chubbins goes through a ‘Marilyn Monroe’ phase for a few episodes …


View attachment 1360418

Magnesium was used more for incendiary bombs than plane manufacture during WW2. Your typical incendiary device uses Aluminum powder and Iron Oxide (Known as Thermite.). Since Aluminum and Iron were critical metals for war time manufacture, that left Magnesium as the major component in incendiary bombs with just enough Aluminum and Iron Oxide to start the reaction.

The fire storms at Dresden and Tokyo are a vivid examples of the sheer amount of energy that is released by burning Magnesium...

Night time Arial Flares, Thermite grenades, were made of this lethal mixture as well.

 

[Columbo]

Magnesium was used more for incendiary bombs than plane manufacture during WW2. Your typical incendiary device uses Aluminum powder and Iron Oxide (Known as Thermite.). Since Aluminum and Iron were critical metals for war time manufacture, that left Magnesium as the major component in incendiary bombs with just enough Aluminum and Iron Oxide to start the reaction.

The fire storms at Dresden and Tokyo are a vivid examples of the sheer amount of energy that is released by burning Magnesium...

Night time Arial Flares, Thermite grenades, were made of this lethal mixture as well.

This. And it explodes, too.

We had a neighbor with an early 80s Chrysler minivan that caught on fire in their driveway. All the magnesium in the vehicle eventually exploded, burning a three foot deep hole in their driveway, blowing fragments through their garage door, and embedding in the far interior garage wall. The fire marshal told them the only thing that saved their home was the asbestos cement shingles on it.

They received a signed letter of apology from Lee Iacocca, and a brand new TOTL minivan.

 

[steveclarkus]

I did get to the Walnut match by Milan. I'd had the Sutliff take on Walnut earlier, can't decide which one I prefer. Still, Barking Dog is the OTC Lat clone that I always return to. I have a pound jarred up and another pound on the way from P&C.

I’ll have to give it a try. I need to order another 1/2 lb. of Mature Red VA and Victoria to cover shipping on pipe cleaners actually so I’ll throw in a couple of ounces of Barking Dog. I guess I should check on the Walnut stock as well. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):


I’ve really liked this one from the first moment I saw it. Something about it is particularly endearing … a gentle kindness. I could easily share a pipe with this gentleman. But the gravity of the deeper message still resonates: “for your country”.

 

[Benzadmiral]

The Texaco guy looks a bit like actor Luther Adler. At first glance I did not realize he was holding the doll's broken leg -- I thought it was a huge yellowed meerschaum with a very long black stem. But his pipes (2?) are in a rack next to his chair. And he's a matchbook guy; see the open book on the chairside table. The upholstery on his armchair cushion is interesting and very colorful too.

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Benzadmiral]

On my next order of leaf, I think I'll toss in an ounce or two of Match Briggs. The codger burley blends have become my favorites of everything I've tried (though that's not much) in the last 10 months.

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[Columbo]

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):

 

[JCinPA]

Mmmmmm. Aqua Velva. Still a favorite.