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.
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 tobacco pipe Bulldog, it is a very popular shape in its own right.
It is reported that he often sold his own proprietary blend of pipe tobacco. Several United States presidents such as Gerald Ford, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover were also avid pipe smokers. Other notables such as Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Hugh Hefner, Burl Ives, Albert King, Douglas MacArthur, Joseph Stalin and Mark Twain were often shown smoking pipes. These were are all men, however, there were a handful of females that smoked pipes in the past.
This probably won’t be news to you but what you may not have considered before is that your smoking style can make some pipes a bad buy and others tobacco pipe a really good investment. Let’s take the fast smoker as an example, before moving on to some other common types of pipe smoker. There is no denying the resemblance that the Cutty bears to the clay tavern pipes of a bygone age. Delicately shaped, Cutty’s typically have not an ounce of excess briar left in place.
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.