New Jersey?
Dear friends and " pipe shop days "
Well.. . Maybe Newark, Paterson, Trenton or Camden.. The rest of New Jersey is actually nice. Sussex County is beautiful. South Jersey has some of the best beaches and fishing in the world although Atlantic City is a shit hole.. Can I say shit hole here?
“If you can't send money, send tobacco.” GEN George Washington
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Ruffinogold
- The Mayor
- Posts: 9055
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:48 pm
- Location: Mineral Bluff , Georgia
I lived in Sussex and Warren counties . They were both great and I hope they still are
Yes , shit hole is ok
" I believe adventure is nothing but a romantic name for trouble " L.L.
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Ruffinogold
- The Mayor
- Posts: 9055
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:48 pm
- Location: Mineral Bluff , Georgia
Thats cool ! Some of the best people Ive ever met were in Sussex , as you well know being you married one
" I believe adventure is nothing but a romantic name for trouble " L.L.
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Wildcat
- Codger in Training
- Posts: 4173
- Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:14 am
- Location: South Glens Falls NY
My quip was aimed at @Bruyere_Royale ! Just poking the Jersey Bear as it were.
The first love of my life came from Linden NJ. Don't know or care what Linden is all about, she was a sweetheart. I was 15, she was 14 and I think of her on and off still. What a sweet, sweet girl...
For what it's worth, I've only ever had two loves. I married the second one. We met when I was 17 and she was 18.
I wonder if "blame Wildcat" will become a theme here? - Fr_Tom
Keep them North and everything is just fine.I'm from Elizabeth, next town over. Yep, Linden has declined.Wildcat wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 6:20 pmMy quip was aimed at @Bruyere_Royale ! Just poking the Jersey Bear as it were.
The first love of my life came from Linden NJ. Don't know or care what Linden is all about, she was a sweetheart. I was 15, she was 14 and I think of her on and off still. What a sweet, sweet girl...
For what it's worth, I've only ever had two loves. I married the second one. We met when I was 17 and she was 18.
The Troll Whisperer
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Ruffinogold
- The Mayor
- Posts: 9055
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:48 pm
- Location: Mineral Bluff , Georgia
-
Ruffinogold
- The Mayor
- Posts: 9055
- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2018 4:48 pm
- Location: Mineral Bluff , Georgia
Because you asked @mrpipster
So much time from then till now ... 26 years ? Hell , I cant even remember which year I sold the shop . For me to remember , I have to think about my morning ritual and that helps things to pop up
I believe I opened the shop at 10 am and it kinda closed whenever it closed . See, my place wasnt like the " cigar only " joints of today and it wasnt a high end bougie doing . It was more a decent place that was more " neighborhoodish " . I had a Christian college about three or so blocks away and was located in a not very accessible location at the 2nd busiest intersection in Tampa / Temple Trerrace [ 56st and Busch blvd. ] . Apparently the building is no longer there , which is a shame because it was one of the oldest commercial buildings in Temple Terrace Fl , home of Santo Trafficante ... a good ole boy . Prior to opening , I usually drove down to Villazon [ Punch/Hoyo ] , JC newman [ Cuesta Rey / A. Fuente ] , FGT [ a wholesaler and maker of Edwards stuff ] , all of which are head quartered out of Tampa , though most everything Lane offered but they were out of town so Id use the local wholesalers to fill in the gaps
Tell ya the one thing I did damn near every day making my rounds before opening . At that time I didnt do the cob with SWR . I didnt even smoke cobs back then . I smoked a Hoyo de Monterrey Cuban Largo !! I still have an empty box that I wish was full . I loved that cigar . It , with an espresso , carried me through to just when I opened , in which case Id light a pipe and do the stuff ya do before you open , which I wont bore you with . The Cuban Largo was a Lonsdale width , thereabouts , and maybe a touch longer than a Lonsdale . So , basically the time it takes to smoke a Lonsdale , I was able to get whatever I might need for the upcoming day . Ybor City [ where all the companies have their office/wharehoue , located within Tampa ] was a 15 min ride max
I ordered pipes from Wholesalers , in gereral , but I hand selected a good amount as well . I hand selected all the Wiley pipes and had stuff that no one had or would ever get ... period . As an example , I had Wileys 7 day set briefly . Theres an article in one of the early P&T magazines that talks about it and quotes me a bit . It would be better to read that than for me to recall it . But the set was so amazing .. truly . I wish I could have sold it that day but didnt . Honestly , I hope Randy just kept it , lol .
Also , and I forget his name , some Danish guy who spoke good english .. he owned Bajorn [ spelling ? ] pipes and he came around once a year , so I hand selected those . The RTDA show , I snagged pipes . The first Year Ardor hit the USA , they were selling super cheap and I bought a good number . I actually kept a monster Ardor Uranus Horn for a few years for myself before I sold off my Italian collection
I think it was Holco Rhorr that I ordered Petersons from . I also got English Oriental Supreme from them , which was my biggest selling English blend by far , followed by 965 They carried all kinds of great stuff , such as Peter Stokkebye Cigars which were off the chart . A good wholesaler they were but all the way in California I believe . .
The largerst selling pipe blend was one that I blended that I called Signature . I got so damn lucky on that one , let me tell ya . The cool thing was , being close to Busch Gardens , Id get " out of towners " coming in a bit and I was lucky enough to send the Signature blend overseas even , lol , I swear .
From what I remember , and I dont have my " blend recipe book " because I included it in the sale of the shop , it consisted of Lane BCA , RLP6 , another bulk Lane , Lane BLWB and .... the kicker .... Erinmore Mixture . I dont remember the amounts because I made it in 1 and 5 lb batches , but there was 1 tin of Erinmore Mixture per a pound of the other blends combined . It was a stellar aromatic and if I could reproduce it I would . For my website , TheTobacconist.com , I had Chuck Stanion write up a humorous review of the blend ... something about we wont be responcible for all the other tobacco blends you spent money on but wont care about ... that type thing . The website didnt do much business because , unfortuanately , I was way early on tobacco sales on the internet . No one was on yet and it didnt seem like it was going anywhere [ tobacco sales ] .. go figure . In time look what happened , In hindsight , that was the biggest ball drop Ive done . But trust me ... there wasnt hardly anyone online yet
The biggest selling cigar was the Hoyo de Monterrey Rothchild [ EMS and Maduro ] . I mean , every cigar smoker bought these . I carried most alll of the Hoyo and Punch lines , all the Fuente products [ three long shelves ] and a few of their bundle brands , Like Montesino and Don Jose . some La Aurora products as well as their Leon Jimenez , which was an exceptional cigar .
I had a really good relationship with Lane Limited . I was being asked to Rep for them during the 90's but declined . See , I picked things up from FGT and other wholesalers but the bulk of the shop stuff , I purchased from Lane Limited . They had everything and made it worth your while and provided excellent customer service . This is back when Lane Limited was the Big Guy and nothing was even close .
Tooting my horn here , but I talked them into blowing off bringing cigars to the RTDA show during the cigar boom . I told them to do what I was doing , which was selling pipes and pipe tobacco to " cigar smokers " . Cigars were selling themselves so why waste time pushing them . It was working very well for my shop and they ended up selling so many pipes and pipe related stuff ... its when their manager asked me to come work for them . They were the distributor for Dunhill and many others at the time . Poul Winslow wanted to buy an Ancient Stanwell off me that year . It was a really super rare one ... but I wouldnt sell it cause I liked it . When I got bored with it a couple years later , I just traded it off for whatever . I wish I would have kept it because Im FB friends with him and I would be able to trade it with him now .. his hand mades are really something . Hes the most under rated Nordic pipe maker dude there is . Hes a Master
I could go on and I will again . But for now ..
So much time from then till now ... 26 years ? Hell , I cant even remember which year I sold the shop . For me to remember , I have to think about my morning ritual and that helps things to pop up
I believe I opened the shop at 10 am and it kinda closed whenever it closed . See, my place wasnt like the " cigar only " joints of today and it wasnt a high end bougie doing . It was more a decent place that was more " neighborhoodish " . I had a Christian college about three or so blocks away and was located in a not very accessible location at the 2nd busiest intersection in Tampa / Temple Trerrace [ 56st and Busch blvd. ] . Apparently the building is no longer there , which is a shame because it was one of the oldest commercial buildings in Temple Terrace Fl , home of Santo Trafficante ... a good ole boy . Prior to opening , I usually drove down to Villazon [ Punch/Hoyo ] , JC newman [ Cuesta Rey / A. Fuente ] , FGT [ a wholesaler and maker of Edwards stuff ] , all of which are head quartered out of Tampa , though most everything Lane offered but they were out of town so Id use the local wholesalers to fill in the gaps
Tell ya the one thing I did damn near every day making my rounds before opening . At that time I didnt do the cob with SWR . I didnt even smoke cobs back then . I smoked a Hoyo de Monterrey Cuban Largo !! I still have an empty box that I wish was full . I loved that cigar . It , with an espresso , carried me through to just when I opened , in which case Id light a pipe and do the stuff ya do before you open , which I wont bore you with . The Cuban Largo was a Lonsdale width , thereabouts , and maybe a touch longer than a Lonsdale . So , basically the time it takes to smoke a Lonsdale , I was able to get whatever I might need for the upcoming day . Ybor City [ where all the companies have their office/wharehoue , located within Tampa ] was a 15 min ride max
I ordered pipes from Wholesalers , in gereral , but I hand selected a good amount as well . I hand selected all the Wiley pipes and had stuff that no one had or would ever get ... period . As an example , I had Wileys 7 day set briefly . Theres an article in one of the early P&T magazines that talks about it and quotes me a bit . It would be better to read that than for me to recall it . But the set was so amazing .. truly . I wish I could have sold it that day but didnt . Honestly , I hope Randy just kept it , lol .
Also , and I forget his name , some Danish guy who spoke good english .. he owned Bajorn [ spelling ? ] pipes and he came around once a year , so I hand selected those . The RTDA show , I snagged pipes . The first Year Ardor hit the USA , they were selling super cheap and I bought a good number . I actually kept a monster Ardor Uranus Horn for a few years for myself before I sold off my Italian collection
I think it was Holco Rhorr that I ordered Petersons from . I also got English Oriental Supreme from them , which was my biggest selling English blend by far , followed by 965 They carried all kinds of great stuff , such as Peter Stokkebye Cigars which were off the chart . A good wholesaler they were but all the way in California I believe . .
The largerst selling pipe blend was one that I blended that I called Signature . I got so damn lucky on that one , let me tell ya . The cool thing was , being close to Busch Gardens , Id get " out of towners " coming in a bit and I was lucky enough to send the Signature blend overseas even , lol , I swear .
From what I remember , and I dont have my " blend recipe book " because I included it in the sale of the shop , it consisted of Lane BCA , RLP6 , another bulk Lane , Lane BLWB and .... the kicker .... Erinmore Mixture . I dont remember the amounts because I made it in 1 and 5 lb batches , but there was 1 tin of Erinmore Mixture per a pound of the other blends combined . It was a stellar aromatic and if I could reproduce it I would . For my website , TheTobacconist.com , I had Chuck Stanion write up a humorous review of the blend ... something about we wont be responcible for all the other tobacco blends you spent money on but wont care about ... that type thing . The website didnt do much business because , unfortuanately , I was way early on tobacco sales on the internet . No one was on yet and it didnt seem like it was going anywhere [ tobacco sales ] .. go figure . In time look what happened , In hindsight , that was the biggest ball drop Ive done . But trust me ... there wasnt hardly anyone online yet
The biggest selling cigar was the Hoyo de Monterrey Rothchild [ EMS and Maduro ] . I mean , every cigar smoker bought these . I carried most alll of the Hoyo and Punch lines , all the Fuente products [ three long shelves ] and a few of their bundle brands , Like Montesino and Don Jose . some La Aurora products as well as their Leon Jimenez , which was an exceptional cigar .
I had a really good relationship with Lane Limited . I was being asked to Rep for them during the 90's but declined . See , I picked things up from FGT and other wholesalers but the bulk of the shop stuff , I purchased from Lane Limited . They had everything and made it worth your while and provided excellent customer service . This is back when Lane Limited was the Big Guy and nothing was even close .
Tooting my horn here , but I talked them into blowing off bringing cigars to the RTDA show during the cigar boom . I told them to do what I was doing , which was selling pipes and pipe tobacco to " cigar smokers " . Cigars were selling themselves so why waste time pushing them . It was working very well for my shop and they ended up selling so many pipes and pipe related stuff ... its when their manager asked me to come work for them . They were the distributor for Dunhill and many others at the time . Poul Winslow wanted to buy an Ancient Stanwell off me that year . It was a really super rare one ... but I wouldnt sell it cause I liked it . When I got bored with it a couple years later , I just traded it off for whatever . I wish I would have kept it because Im FB friends with him and I would be able to trade it with him now .. his hand mades are really something . Hes the most under rated Nordic pipe maker dude there is . Hes a Master
I could go on and I will again . But for now ..
" I believe adventure is nothing but a romantic name for trouble " L.L.