September 5, 2011 by brewster
Long gone, but still remembered. We got this letter from Mark B. who recalls the good old days.
Hi
Every now and then I look up something I have not seen or
done for a while and am shocked by how much has changed.
When at school I used to buy clay pipes for 2p each
(about 4c) and smoke one on the way to school. Arriving at the gate I would
smash it up and kick the remains down a drain outside. No point getting into
trouble with a pipe on me. This was in 1974 which is more or less yesterday.
Now clay pipes which should be single use disposable go
for 20->30USD or the GBP equivalent. What a crazy world. Many once valuable items are as cheap as
chips (french fries) now. I expected clay pipes to be a pack of five for about
£1. Seems not.
I used to live in old houses circa 250 years old. Digging in the back yards
would produce victorian blue pottery (rubbish really), old medicine bottles, go
deeper some medieval pottery and very occasionally a small roman coin. All the
time though tons of pieces of clay pipe. The equivalent of discarded cigarette
ends.
I am glad that you are still making them its just a pity
that such a simple item is not still disposable.
Regards
Mark
Thanks Mark. We don’t actually make the pipes – we leave that task to the craftmen of whom there are far too few. Let’s hope the tradition continues for a long time to come.