Page 14 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013

32
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
A little knowledge about high-profile pipe smokers from the past and
present can make great conversation starters with customers.
Back in the day, famous
personalities smoking a pipe was
a common depiction—in public,
in print media, and even on live TV—and
that endorsed the hobby. Nowadays, pipe
smoking, like all smoking, is much more
hidden.But that doesn’t mean you can’t do
your research and utilize a little trivia about
high-profile pipe smokers as conversation
starters with customers. And I can help
get you started to put “personality” into
your pipe sales.
Because music is as deep a passion
of mine as pipes, it is natural that I first
think of a famous musician known for
smoking pipes—Donald “Duck” Dunn,
who recently passed away; he was one
who smoked on stage and was often
photographed smoking a pipe. He was
the bass player for Booker T. & the MGs.
He was also the house bass player for Stax
Record, and played for Otis Redding,
Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Jerry Lee
Lewis, Neil Young and Eric Clapton.
Perhaps he is best known as the bass
player in The Blues Brothers movie.
One of Sigmund Freud’s famous quotes
was “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,”but,
in actuality—Freud smoked a pipe!
Albert Einstein was often
photographed smoking a pipe and he
attributed it to helping him think and
contemplate.He was quoted as saying “I
believe that pipe-smoking contributes
to a somewhat calm and objective
judgment in all human affairs.”
Norman Rockwell painted several
self-portraits smoking a pipe. Mark
Twain,Walter Cronkite, Carl Sandburg
and Wyatt Earp all smoked pipes. And
who could forget that Hugh Hefner
always had a pipe in his mouth or hand,
whether televised on a TV talk show or
photographed in the pages of Playboy,
typically wearing his trademarked
smoking jacket, no less. General
MacArthur and his oversized corn cob
pipe is another famous pipe-smoking
personality.
As for actors, Bing Crosby and his
pipe were iconic. In fact, Savinelli
makes the Bing Crosby signature
pipe. Clark Gable, Cary Grant and
Dan Aykroyd were also pipe-smoking
actors. Arnold Schwarzenegger not
only smokes pipes, he has an extensive
high-end collection.
In the political world, pipe-smokers
include Davy Crocket (who later became
a U.S. Congressman) and Millicent
Fenwick (who I believe smoked her
pipe on the floor of Congress). A lot of
U.S. presidents didn’t hide the fact that
they smoked a pipe, including President
Andrew Jackson and his first lady, John
Adams, Ulysses S. Grant, William
Harrison, Martin Van Buren and
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Others included
Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. These
have special meaning because today it
is the government trying to shut down
everything tobacco, but when you look
back, it was not that way at all.
And how can we leave out pipe
smokers in the fictional realm? In real
life, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle smoked a
pipe and he gave his character, Sherlock
Holmes, that same passion, too. When I
was growing up, Santa Claus was always
depicted checking his list with a pipe in
his mouth. Popeye used his corn cob pipe,
but more to suck out spinach from a can.
We never saw him light it or smoke it.
Today there are still a lot of famous
people and characters who smoke
pipes—but you may have to do a little
homework on the Internet to uncover
them. Having a little bit of knowledge
of the history of pipes and pipe smokers
will really help tobacco outlet owners start
up a conversation with customers. Pipe
personalities can give you and your pipe
section a stronger personality. TOB
By Bill Doherty,
head of market development,
Daughters & Ryan
Know Some Pipe Personalities