From: Todd Pytel <?????????????????????????>
Subject: Pipes Digest Submission

Greetings!

   As a new subscriber to this fine publication, I wanted
both to introduce myself and suggest a shop for inclusion
in the Resource Guide.
   My name is Todd Pytel, I am eighteen and have been
smoking pipes for two years. My favorite pipes are
a beautiful Stanwell Rhodesian I bought used and a fairly
inexpensive meerschaum I recently purchased. I still
haven't settled on a "favorite" tobacco, but generally
tend towards English/Oriental blends. Does anybody know
anybody my age who smokes a pipe? I've read several 
remarks by people in their twenties commenting on the
looks they gather from passers-by but quite sure they're
nothing compared to the ones I've received.
   As for the Resource Guide, I'd like to suggest the 
Oakbrook Tobacco Company in the Oakbrook Center Shopping
Mall. Most of their cigars and pipe tobacco are blended
on the premises by the owner. Sadly, I haven't yet had
the chance to test the pipe tobacco, but the cigars are
excellent, priced at about $3.25 and outclassing many more
expensive ones. Besides their own, they carry a small 
selection of lesser known brands, but avoid the larger
makers. As I moved through the shop in a Christmas 
shopping rush last year, I only caught a brief glimpse of
their briar selection, but it seemed extensive and I'm sure
it will satisfy one's needs. Their real strength lies in 
their selection of carved meerschaums. There are probably
seventy or eighty pipes, most of them busts of famous 
personages, and all absolutely beautiful pieces. The 
collection belongs to the owner, and while they are for
sale, he doesn't really want to see them go. Thus, they 
are bit expensive (starting around $400). The shop also
carries a full selection of cigarettes, lighters, and
humidors. The shopping center is in a northwest suburb of
Chicago and is probably the best one in Chicagoland (if a
little pricey). The shop's address is...

Oak Brook Tobacco Company
at the Oak Brook Shopping Center
Oak Brook, IL  60521
(708) TOBACCO
     (862-2226)

                         Cheers!
                           Todd
                     (?????????????????????????)


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