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By Dock J. Perry
The show started winding down around 4:00 pm and Andy and I made
our way to the car and North to home. It was a fantastic show and
I'm happy to report to you that the rest of the NY Shows this year
will go on as planned as the organizers and hotel management have
come to a tenative agreement....
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Well,the
first fun filled New York pipe show of the new year has come and
gone. Andy Camire and I met up at the famous Rein's Deli in CT and
were in NY by early Friday afternoon. There were already quite a
few sellers and collectors loitering in the Ramada's lobby. I quickly
met up with Sam Barnett and Rich Esserman. Rich and I headed up
to "Mr.Castello" Chuck Rios room for a little show and tell. Rich
had at least twently Castello "Great lines" many of which were collection
grade and ultra, ultra high grade fiamatta's. Dr. Fred Hana was
also there and purchased Rich's last Charatan, a supreme with gorgeous
straight grain which was all the more stunning on the cup and holder
designed pipe. I had read many of Fred's articles both online and
in the Pipe Smoker's Ephemeris and he was every bit the gentleman
in person that I knew he'd be. From Chuck's room I headed back to
my own for a little "down time" before the pre show rooms opened
later that afternoon. Pipemaker Joe Skoda's (next door) was
the first to open and he and I had an interesting chat on pipes
and pricing from a carver's point of view. Joe told me that the
pricing of a pipe was the hardest part of being a pipemaker! His
new creations were so beautiful that I 
just
had to take one home with me. From Joe's I headed down to to Jay
& Louise's of Hermit Tobacco Works room. Jay brought with him some
nice Jess Chonowitsch's for me to see but I was much more taken
with a Tom Eltang "Star grade" bent with wonderful contrast staining
and a bamboo shank extention. I passed on the pipe then but slept
on it and it ultimately came home with me the following day. I heard
from them that they had purchased a majority of the pipes and ephemera
from Tom Dunn's estate and will be listing them on Ebay within the
month. They said that they will also be bringing quite a few of
the less expensive items to the Chicago pipe show so that everone
can have a chance to own something of Tom's. After leaving the Jones'
I ran into Neil Flancbaum and he had the ultimate pipe bag I ordered
waiting for me. The prices for Neal's bags are quite high, but the
quality is truly amazing. Neal is every bit as talented as a pipe
carver and the hours of time that go into his creations is clearly
visible. Before I left we struck up a deal for a Warner Mummert,
a brand which I always wanted to try. It's a
combination of a canadian and a volacano. By early evening the rest
of the SHPC gang showed up and we proceeded to visit the opened
rooms including Mel Feldman who came down with Paul Bonaquisti and
Cornell & Diehl's tobacco who were running an excellent deal of
$7.00 per tin for GLP, C&D and Two Friends tobaccos. The fella representing
C&D had a few of his own pipes for sale and I purchased a John Eells
and a Paul Bonaquisti XL bent which were both TOO reasonably priced
to leave behind! We then visited the room of Danish pipe maker
Kurt Balleby who was making his first vist to the NY Pipe Show
. The graining on his pipes were so unbelievably perfect that
it looked as though it had been painted on! Prices for sandblasts
started around $500.00 and the prices for smooths were around $1000.00
with some close to $2000.00. Later that evening we wound up in the
hotel's bar and met up with Mr.Balleby again and had some great
conversations with him on his theorys of pipe making. 
It
had been a long day for me and I shuffled slowly off to bed eagerly
awaiting the doors to open to the show at 10:00 am the following
morning. After a restless night of sleep I awoke and joined the
rest of the SHPC guys in the Hotel's restaurant for breakfast. The
food's always good all-be-it pricey....four bucks for an orange
juice? After breakfast we made our way into the line for the show.
Pipes & Tobaccos magazine was set up outside and had quite a
few items for sale including P&T shirts, hats, mugs and even tampers.
It was hard to beat the prices and I ended up with a hat and a denim
shirt. The doors were opened promtly by 10:00 a.m. and we all proceeded
in to the room of pipe filled tables. Old english wood dominated
the sale and you could barely go a foot without seeing an old Charatan
or Dunhill. Also well represented were danish pipes along with American
contemporaries like Jody Davis and Todd Johnson. My issue with the
majority of these were just how small they were. Most were group
3's or 4's in bowl size and short in length as well. I had to do
it and finally "pulled the trigger" on a polish made BAC Art pipe
in a shell design. The pipe is reminicent of an old GBD unique in
style as well as size. From Matt Hayes Tobacconist I picked up a
colossal Savinelli Autograph with bamboo and an old JHW pot which
closely resembles a Charatan "After Hours". I was lucky enough to
get all of the new "vintage blend" tobacco XV3 that Hermit Tobacco
Works brought with them. These are always a limited run of not more
than 200 tins. From friend Andy Camire I picked up a large and gorgeous
Amorelli Busbee which had belonged to famous pipe collector Jimmy
Booth. 
It
was quite nice to see Dr.Bob Keiss (Grabow) and Dante
(Quincy) at the show, two of our members who sadly moved away from
the Boston area last year. Dr. Bob and I agreed on a deal and he
bought from me a gorgeous Castello Sea Rock GG and an XL Dunhill
Collector with a great blast and a plateau top. 
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