Author: Mark Irwin

PSA: Final Call for CPG Dubliner Donegal Tweed Cap (see end of blog)  Ring out the old, ring in the new,    Ring, happy bells, across the snow:    The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. --Tennyson, In Memorium 106* Do you remember that line from the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movie where the little guy says, with justifiable pride, “I’m a collector, you know.  And a collector buys but never sells”? It's in Dressed to Kill (1946), and he's talking about his music boxes but he might be talking about pipes. I know there are  a good number of Pete Geeks who fit this description, and my hat goes off to them. But then there's the rest of us. Badkarma even struck the Great Detective There’s the dedicated collectors. Each of them might tell you he has a small rotation and a larger collection. Then there’s the dedicated smokers. They might say they have a large rotation and a smaller collection alongside it.  For both groups, however, there’s usually an occasional glance at the pipe racks to consider whether it might not be time to let go of a pipe no longer appreciated or no longer smoked, as the case may be. Which to keep? Which to let go? I sent my good friend Charles Mundungus a number of questions on how he handles the issue, from which the following interview has been edited.   Mark: Where would you place yourself as a Pete Geek on the spectrum from “collector” at one end to “smoker” at the other? Charles: That is a rather specious way of looking at things, especially if we recall Bill Unger’s words in The Pipe Collector that if you own one pipe, you’re a pipe smoker and if you own two, you’re a collector. Mark: All right, let’s skip that and go on to my original question. I know you sell off pipes you’re no longer interested in and have done so for years and year. How do you accomplish that? Charles: I imagine the same way everyone else does. I look at them and categorize them as “that’s got to go,” “don’t know about that one” and “I love this pipe.” Mark: Short interview. Thanks so much! Charles: Would you like me to elaborate? Mark: If it’s not too much trouble. Charles: Certainly. Whenever the mood strikes me (which is usually when I’m considering buying a new pipe), I classify my pipes under three headings: Badkarma pipes Blessingway pipes Blurry pipes Let me begin with a quote from Tolkien to frame our quest: “Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.” (The Hobbit, 61). Mark: Your point being? Charles: We’ll begin with pipes…