European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse 8m3%&&�isaswsg3ijij&i% in pipes ready to be dipped in Wax and buffed final Steps in pipe making process. A glorious fantastic pipe1 stories and photos by Floyd Harrington staff writer n 1723 Carol Kozatos a Shoemaker from Buda pest picked up a piece of hydrated magnesium Sili Cate and carved from it a glorious fantastic pipe that cools the Tongue mellows the tobacco and heightens the tobacco s Aroma says Joaquin ver Daguer in his Book the Art of pipe that fantastic material Verdaguer wrote about is better known to pipe smokers As Meerschaum a German word meaning sea foam. It s an appropriate word. Meerschaum is the White lightweight and fragile fossilized remains of minute sea creatures which have been compressed into kidney shaped blocks. Commercial Meerschaum is found in mostly in one place in the world beneath the ground near Eskisehir Turkey. Eskisehir about 150 Miles West of Ankara also is where most of the Meerschaum pipes sold through out the world Are manufactured. While some of the simple pipe shapes Are Cut on crude lathes the intricate designs which make Meerschaum sought after Are carved by hand. There Are 30 to 40 Pip making shops in Eskisehir. Most Are Small two or three room shops which employ less than a dozen turkish craftsmen. The shops Are usually run on an Assembly line the pieces of Meerschaum Are hand Cut to roughly resemble a pipe s bowl and Shank. The piece is then buffed to determine which of the 12 grades of Meer Schaum it Falls into. Only the whitest unblemished bowls Are used for top Quality pipes. The piece then goes to a craftsman who carves the bowls into whatever shape Best fits that particular piece of Meerschaum. It might be a Standard shape or take on the likeness of a prancing horse sir Walter Raleigh s head or a Skull and crossbones. The figure is usually roughed out in deep Relief by one Carver and the fancy engraving and detail work is completed by another. No jigs Are used to steady the bowl it is simply braced against the craftsmen s knee while he works. The final Steps vary from one shop to another. In the better shops the completed carving is dipped in beeswax buffed to a High Luster and the Hole in the bowl and Shank Are bored and the Stem fitted. The beeswax is used to help strengthen the fragile Meerschaum and make the pipe More durable. The pipes depending on their Quality size style and where they Are purchased can Cost up to several Hun dred dollars. But pipe smokers who live in Turkey or travel there will find they Are about four times less expensive there than elsewhere. However there Are a few things prospective buyers should be aware of before buying according to capt Robert Whelan a pipe collector and authority on Meer Schaum who is stationed at Ankara Turkey. Part of the problem with buying pipes Here is that they ship most of the Good stuff out of the coun try he said. Of those left he estimates Only one of 25 Are Good Quality pipes. The rest Are just Whelan said it takes experience to Tell a Good from a bad Meerschaum pipe but there Are obvious defects to watch for. The pipe he said should have a smooth flawless sur face with no cracks inside or out. If the bowl has been carved he said look carefully at the Quality of work Manship. A Good craftsman usually won t put his Best Effort into a bad piece of next he looks at the pipe s Stem and the Hole in the bowl of the pipe. He said the Stem often is put on the bowl crooked. If it does t meet the bowl at right angles it won t fit Well. The Hole in the pipe is critical he continued. It should intersect precisely at the Bottom of the bowl. If it intersects off to one Side or the other the tobacco will Burn the method by which the pipes Are dipped in bees Wax also affects their Quality according to Whelan. He said some pipe makers dip the pipe after the Hole in the bowl is carved out. The beeswax gets inside and that tastes bad when you smoke Good pipe makers dip the pipe for 30-45 seconds. Others dip them for longer or Shorter times and that causes problems. Whelan said that if a pipe is dipped for to Short a time it will be Overly Light in weight. It seers to float and will color much too its ability to change color is one of the unique characteristics of a Meerschaum pipe. Because it is a very porous material it absorbs the tobacco juices and turns an Overall Golden Brown usually from the Bottom of the bowl up. Conversely said Whelan if the pipe is dipped tooling there will be a very translucent uneven mottling effect and the pipe will not color properly. It also will be too heavy. It should weigh a Little less than a Briar pipe of equal size he said. Caring for a Meerschaum pipe is almost As complicated As buying one. Although it needs no breaking in to smoke properly some experienced pipe smokers Are careful not to touch the bowl when it s hot until it has completely changed color. They hold it Between a Chamois or soft cloth when they smoke it because Finger oils can affect the beeswax and the pipe won t color evenly said Whelan. Meerschaum also is sensitive to changes in temperature. Whelan said a hot pipe placed on a cold surface or taken outside in cold weather May crack. If dropped on the floor hot or cold it s gone he added. And finally As with All pipes a Meerschaum should be rested after use. To dry out properly said Whelan takes at least a Day. But the More humid the weather the longer it needs to craftsmen in Eskisehir begin with chunk of Meerschaum Center and carve it into a Standard or ornate pipe. A capt. Robert Whelan with part of his pipe collection. Walk into capt. Robert Whelan s Home i Ankara and you know he has a thing for smoking Walls of his foyer Are covered with pipes. Pipes made from Corn cobs Clay Glass porcelain Briar Calabash and Meerschaum. And they represent just part of the 500 pipes he has collected and smoked for the past 14 years. I can t display any of my freehand pipes because they can t be put on the Wall easily. I keep them in the Back room said Whelan who is assigned to nato s Central treaty organization Cento Here. While packing and lighting one of his pipes an intricately carved Meerschaum the 32-year-old air Force offi cer said it was difficult to estimate the value of his collection. But after the pipe was burning to his satisfaction he explained i have several pipes that i bought about 10 years ago for $10 each. Since then the company that made them went out of business and their value has gone up to about $150 he paused to take another puff from his pipe and then continued i d guess the collection is Worth Between $6,000 and $10,000."during his first assignment to Turkey in 1972 the Lin Coln neb., native became interested in Meerschaum pipes. The pipes Are made in Eskisehir a few hours drive from Ankara. Eskisehir is the Only place in the world where they mine White Meerschaum said Whelan. There is a dirty Meerschaum which comes from Tanzania in Africa but it s vastly inferior to the turkish he has visited the mine which he described As a pit without showings that goes Down about 30 feet and then goes he said the Meerschaum is dug out with Small shovels 03913000by turks who Wear candles on their Heads for Light and added when the place either Peters out or looks like it s going to fall in they dig a Hole somewhere Whelan now has nearly 100 Meerschaum pipes several custom made and is still looking for those that Are unique and picking up a pipe with its bowl carved in the shape of Winston Churchill s head he said anytime i can find something like this i buy several of his pipes Are now considered classics he said. There s a turned lady s head with a big silly hat a Skull in a hand a Sultan s head an egg in a lady s hand sir Walter Raleigh and Bacchus. These Are now Stan Dards Whelan also has a collection of smoking advertise ments and posters on his Walls and doors. And he has dozens of old tobacco tins. There s a Good Market for them the Captain said. He also likes lighters and other related smoking paraphernalia. Whelan is a connoisseur of tobacco too. He May fill his pipe from one of the several commercial blends which he has found to have character or much like a gourmet Cook he May concoct his own adding to a base of mild Virginia tobacco a touch of Xanthi tobacco from Turkey for sweetness a Pinch of spicy Latakia from Syria and maybe a dash of Izmir tobacco for Aroma. To further the enjoyment of pipe smoking Whelan has formed clubs for pipe smokers at several of the bases where he was assigned. In Ankara the club is called the turkish american fraternal pipe of the club s activities is to see which member can smoke two Grams of tobacco the longest. There Are no prizes said Whelan Only the satisfaction the Winner has of knowing he is a better pipe smoker than his fellow he staved lit the airmen Steve Frye right and Everett Berry examine a $40 pipe in an Eskisehir shop. By Warren Talbot United press International he air was Cloudy and the Competition fierce although you would never know it to look at the contestants puffing placidly on their pipes and sipping port wine and one by one they dropped out of the running until Only one Man was left. He had trained on and off for nearly 10 years for his moment of glory and when that moment came he accepted the laurels of Victory quietly and with great dignity. Henry Fahey 43, a Bank analyst from Dedham mass., had become the United states Champion pipe 119 minutes and 45 seconds Fahey calmly puffed away on his Briar pipe during the second annual David p. Ehrlich pipe smoking contest held recently in Boston. The idea of the contest was to keep just four Grams of tobacco burning without interruption. The rules were those used by the pipe smoking club of Britain. Concentration. It took concentration and it helped to be relaxed Fahey said upon smashing last year s record of 103 minutes and 47 seconds held by Joseph Zaneski 39, of Boston. I have no secrets. There were 70 of us who started out this evening and we All knew it depended on How we packed our pipes and on relaxation and concentration said the bearded Champion. The Winner was awarded four connoisseur pipes from the Ehrlich collection and his name was engraved on a plaque Hung in the David p. Ehrlich pipe and tobacco store in downtown Boston. Each of the contestants was supplied with one new Briar pipe four Grams of tobacco a tamper two pipe cleaners and a Box of matches. They were required from time to time to produce tobacco smoke upon demand by contest stewards. Those who could t graciously dropped out. I am going to retire a Winner said Fahey who has been smoking a pipe for 10 years. I will not come Back next year. Let a younger Man know How it feels to reach this height this Pinnacle attained by so four women entered the contest this year. The one who lasted the longest was Cameron Sawzin a cellist from Boston who has been smoking a pipe for several years and lasted 41 minutes and 30 seconds. When asked Why she took it up Sawzin said Pablo Casals smoked a pipe and i can Walter Nickerson 37, of Boston who with his White Beard looks As if he could play the part of Anold whaling Captain was runner up in the Competition with a time of 98 minutes and 45 seconds. I be been smoking a pipe since i was 14 years old. Look there s a Hole burned right through the bowl of the pipe. That thing is hot and my Mouth is dry Nickerson said. I just kept on puffing he said. It was important to draw on the pipe evenly and to make sure you weren t erratic. I hardly took my eyes off the bowl of the i lost touch with the people around Page 14 the stars and stripes saturday tember 2, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 15
