| Author | Message | ||
     Gary Shank Member Username: Gary_shank Post Number: 5 Registered: 10-2005 |
On-line auctions are a resource that I am sure many of us have used. They are also the source of a great deal of humor.-I have lost count of the number of times that I have seen a bent pipe with the stem rotated 180 degrees; I guess the idea is that, in addition to enjoying a bowl of our favorite, we can also watch it burn.-I wouldn't recommend this while driving. There is a "Vanilli" pipe listed. Perhaps the concept here is that one merely holds the pipe in their mouth, while someone else actually smokes. In a recent listing that contained the common "I know nothing about pipes" disclaimer, the seller describes a pipe made of, or perhaps by, "Genuine Brain". I prob'ly won't be bidding on that one. Do any of you have any favorites in this vein that you wish to share? Gary | ||
| Dave Crehore Member Username: Briarbrain Post Number: 322 Registered: 11-2004 |
My favorite is the misspelling of "bowl" as "bowel", as in "The bowel is 2 inches high", or "this pipe has a very large bowel." I've seen it once, maybe twice. Every now and then you run into a seller who is trying to salvage stuff from a junk box. Straight stems will be fitted into bent pipes, and vice versa. You'd need to stand on a ladder to smoke some of those combinations. Some descriptions are just pathetically sad: "These were my Grandpa's pipes. They appear to be made of some kind of wood..." | ||
| Mark Allen Member Username: Mark Post Number: 161 Registered: 11-2004 |
Dave, in addition to the statement, "They appear to be made of some kind of wood," there are others who try to be more specific. Some sellers have stated, "the wood appears to be maple or possibly walnut." | ||
| Gary Shank Member Username: Gary_shank Post Number: 6 Registered: 10-2005 |
An inordinately high number of estate pipes are said to come from a no-smoking environment. | ||
| ADan Member Username: Adan Post Number: 154 Registered: 02-2004 |
I once bought a pipe rack via an online auction. In the description, the seller observed that the previous owner had "let his pipes cool before storing them", as the rack had no burn marks. Which makes me wonder: how hot would one have to get one's pipe to leave scorch marks on the pipe rack? What would such a pipester's mouth look like? | ||
| Dave Crehore Member Username: Briarbrain Post Number: 324 Registered: 11-2004 |
Gary: I've seen that "from a smoke-free home" statement on a couple of auctions, at least one featuring a pipe, but also on items that could not be affected by smoke, like pewter tankards. It must be a standard sentence they drop into all item descriptions. It's an illustration of how far the anti-tobacco movement has gone: To some people, any contact with tobacco, no matter how fleeting and inoccuous, is anathema, and so they assume that customers will be more likely to bid on a tobacco-free item. | ||
| Alan Poulton Member Username: Alan Post Number: 217 Registered: 06-2004 |
Coming "from a smoke-free home" could mean a lot to some people. The smoke might not affect some items, like pewter, but it would affect the packaging. We've received Christmas gifts from out of town family, who are heavy smokers, and the box, wrapping paper, and even the gift inside (sealed in the factory plastic bag) reeks of cigarette smoke. We have to leave the gift in the other room for a couple days to let it air out. I live in a mostly smoke-free home. I'm the only smoker, and my wife would prefer if I smoked my pipe outside, but sometimes if it's cold outside, I can get away with smoking it beside the patio door. Alan | ||
| Gary Shank Member Username: Gary_shank Post Number: 7 Registered: 10-2005 |
I agree that the "smoke-free" environment may be important to some people. But we are talking about used pipes! I'm sure that Dave is correct when he says that this is standard auction language that gets dropped into every ad that this seller uses. And I also have no doubt that the filthy, vile, SMOKING instruments inhabit a non-smoking home for the time that it takes for them to metamorphose into beautiful, vintage estate pipes as they eventually get represented. I just wish that the sellers would drop the statement for these items-or, better yet, show some integrity and pass them by at the garage sale where they got them. Maybe I'll find 'em, and cut out the middle man. Gary |