But it remains true that pipe-smoking, of all the vices and addictions I’ve explored, is my favourite. Though I’ve tried to kick it several times, it’s the bad habit that keeps dragging me back. Although the Rhodesian differs only slightly from the Bulldog, it is a very popular shape in its own right.
His words were, “I am an intellectual.” These are words describe the way most pipe smokers saw themselves, back in the day. Smoking pipe tobacco also jeopardizes the health of those around you. Secondhand smoke causes cancer and is especially harmful to pregnant women and children. Children face greater health risks than adults because the exposure is proportionally greater.
Cherrywood pipes are typified by their sitting position, which contrary to the upright Poker, is at an an angle, causing the bowl to lean forward. Its bowl is shaped almost like that of a tree trunk, often cylindrical, but sometimes with a slight to significant outward taper from heel to rim. In recent examples, it is not uncommon to see some asymmetry in the bowl which offers an organic aesthetic befitting of the name Cherrywood. The shank exits the pipe on the lower half of the bowl, and can be made straight or with an upward bend.
Whether you’re risking it all at the poker table or knitting a new pair of baby booties, the Poker tobacco pipe is a perfect companion for those of us who can’t be constrained to one activity. A Nosewarmer, like a Churchwarden, refers not to shape but to proportions and length. Nosewarmers, also sometimes referred to as “Stubby” pipes, are significantly shortened in overall length when compared with their standard counterparts. The bowl will often be shorter than if it were a standard pipe, but the shape of the bowl will not change. More often than not, Nosewarmers are only made as straight pipes, because it is difficult to form a graceful arc with so little length.
This delicacy of shaping necessitates the use of a special drill bit for the tobacco chamber, which tapers even more drastically than a Danish conical bit, and comes to a sharp point at its tip. A special honor is paid to this pipe, in that this type of conical bit is now called the “cutty bit”. Since Churchwardens are defined by the stem length rather than the bowl shape, their bowls can theoretically assume any shape.