From: Peter Melchior <???????????????????????????>
Subject: Re: Pipes Digest #258 --

Steve Masticola wrote:

[Administrativa deleted. -S.]

A little about me (52, married, 2 daughters)

About 20 years ago I was a regular pipe-smoker, but gradually I
changed the pipe for cigars and sigarettes. At that time I smoked 
about 10-15 bowls a day. 

About a year ago I got fed up with those cigarettes, and quitted smoking
from one day to the other.
After a while, when I was taking a look at my (modest abt 45) 
pipe collection, I decided to take up the pipe-smoking hobby again, not
in a habitual way, but in a more conscius manner.
So I won't smoke in my car, office, work; only 2-3 bowls around dinner
time and evening.

I had a little trouble to figure out what my favorit tobacco was going
to be, because my old favorit, Mc Baren Plumcake, didn't taste good
anymore. After some experiments I came out with the following:

1) Mc Baren Black Ambrosia, and
2) Avalon Mixture by A&C Petersen, Also from Denmark.

I can't choose between them, but Avalon is gaining.

About my pipes: 

As (I guess) any pipesmoker, there are pipes rarely smoked, and the
"top 5" which in my case are:

1) A very cheap quarterbent Bullseye, by Bimalt (London)
2) A even cheaper Bullseye, also by Bimalt
3) A Chacom
4) A Petersons Meerschaum
5) The "Lindberg" Rodesian, of which I emailed you before.

These are my first 5 favorites. There is a "second 5" but I wont bother 
you with de descriptions; they are all "Big Bens", Dutch made, and one 
Butz Choquin.

In the past year I only bought one pipe, at a tobacconist in a small
village.
He has a rather large pipe-collection, which is laying there for I guess
about 30 years, never having the price-tags changed. You'll won't find 
a Dunhill I Guess ;-(
After Christmas sales, when it is a little more slow in his shop,
I'm gonna pay him a visit, and examine all the stuff he has, and take
out 
every pipe I like. Not to ripp him off, but he's going to be a pensioner
pretty soon. And I hate to see those pipes vanish.

I live in The Netherlands, where pipe-smoking isn't very popular.
If I look into my DBASE-Rolodex, I find only one pipesmoker in a 
400+ Database. Pipesmoking countries in Europe are, as far as I know,
Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Great Brittain, and France, not in that
order.

I enjoy reading the PD. I read other mailinglists as well, but PD is
my favorite, because the moderate amount of traffic. All messages are
on- 
topic, with very little pollution. This one thing very important to 
keep a list "readable", and you really do a great job.

If you think this message adds something worthwhile to PD, feel free.

Peacefull Puffing from The Netherlands,

Peter Melchior,
????????????????


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