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== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
<center>'''The Pipe of Peace'''</center> | |||
For the everyday smoke what more is there to say than this, that it is, in its essence the Pipe of Peace ? This idea we find embodied in the folklore of simple peoples one example of which is the story taken down by Mr. Torday, the eminent anthropologist, from the lips of Bilumbu, an old Bushongo savage in the remote Congo village of Misumba, and quoted in “The Pipe Book” Of Alfred Dunhill. | |||
According to this tale an adventurous young Bushongo named Lusana Lumunbala had fared forth into the outer World and was lost to his tribe for many years. He returned suddenly and after much feasting he was asked what treaSurc he had found. | |||
The traveller searched in his bag and produced from it some dried leaves of tobacco and a little packet of seeds. | |||
“Men of Bushongo,” he said solemnly, “thank me from the bottom of your hearts, forI have brought you this.” | |||
The elders passed the leaves from hand to hand and shook their heads; one of them said sternly: | |||
“Do you think, Lusana Lumunbala, that this is the time for jesting? What good is this weed to us?” | |||
“I fear” said another mockingly, “that this man has not gained anything by his much-vaunted travels, and that the hardships which they have entailed have made him lose something...” And he tapped his head significantly. | |||
Lusana Lumunbala smiled. “I have not lost my reason, O elders of Misumba, for this weed of which I have brought you a sample is very precious indeed.”<br><br> | |||
“Is it good to eat? ”<br> | |||
“It is not.”<br> | |||
“Is it a remedy for some sickness?”<br> | |||
“It soothes them all. Its smoke, when inhaled, is to the suffering soul as a mother’s caress to an ailing child.”<br> | |||
<br> | |||
Saying so, he took a pipe out of his bag, filled it with a little tobacco, kindled it with some embers, and began to smoke, and as he did so his countenance beamed with happiness. | |||
The elders talked all at once: “Surely our brother has become demented; he now earth fire and drinketh smoke.” | |||
But one of them, more courageous than the others, asked him to let him try this Wonderful weed, and taking the pipe inhaled a big whiff of smoke. He was taken with a violent fit of choking and fell to the ground gasping for breath. When he recovered he abused the traveller, and threatened him with his fist. | |||
“You are,” Lusana Lumunbala rebuked him, “like an infant who chokes at the first mouthful of solid food his mother gives him, and yet, as he grows accustomed to it, becomes a brave companion at the trencher. You we‘re too greedy. Little by little one filleth the basket, as the proverb says. You ought to have tried a little; if you do this you will soon enjoy the magic effect of the smoke as much as I do. For this weed, called Makaya (tobacco), is man’s greatest joy. I have learned its use in the land of Pende, whose inhabitants, the Tupende, have learned it from a strange people coming from beyond the salt water. O Makaya, Makaya, what Wonders you can Work!” And Lusana Lumunbala shut his eyes in ecstasy. “As the fire will soften iron, so Makaya will soften the heart. If one day your brother has wronged you, and the blood rushes to your head in anger, and you reach out for your bow and arrows to slay him - take your pipe and smoke. Your ire will tly leore its fragrance. You will say, ‘Surely I must not slay the son of my mother, him who is of my own blood. I will beat him with a big stick to teach him a lesson.’ But as you rise to fetch your cudgel, take your pipe and drink its smoke. And half-ways you will stop, and smile and say, ‘No, I cannot beat my brother, the companion of my youth. It is more bccmning that I should scold him - lash him with bitter words instead of smiting him with a stick.’ And as you go to do so, smoke, smoke. And with every whiff your heart will become more charitable and forgiving, and as you come up to the trembling culprit you will throw your arms round his neck and say: ‘Brother, brother, let bygones be bygones; come to my hut, and let us drink and eat together and be merry, and love each other.’ ” | |||
“And all of you know,” concluded Bilumbu, “that Lusana Lumunbala spoke the truth; whenever your heart rises in wrath or sinks in sorrow, drink the smoke of Makaya, and peace and happiness will reign in it again.” | |||
'''From "The Pipe Book" - Published by Messrs. A. & C. Black, Ltd.''' | |||
<br> | |||
<center>'''::'''</center> | |||
---- | |||
<br> | |||
While there are many opinions on who makes, or who made the best pipes, few would argue against Dunhill being the most recognized pipe brand, or that the founder, Alfred Dunhill, was not a marketing genius. In the preface to the second reprint of Dunhill's ''About Smoke, An Encyclopedia of Smoking", publisher Gary Schrier states the following: | While there are many opinions on who makes, or who made the best pipes, few would argue against Dunhill being the most recognized pipe brand, or that the founder, Alfred Dunhill, was not a marketing genius. In the preface to the second reprint of Dunhill's ''About Smoke, An Encyclopedia of Smoking", publisher Gary Schrier states the following: | ||
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'''''Is indispensable to the sportsman, the yachtsman, the automobilist, the billiard player. It is, indeed, a boon and comfort to every pipe smoker.'''''</q> | '''''Is indispensable to the sportsman, the yachtsman, the automobilist, the billiard player. It is, indeed, a boon and comfort to every pipe smoker.'''''</q> | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
"(...)hoping to combat some of the difficulties a smoker would face while driving. It was this sort of innovation in response to the customer’s needs that would make Dunhill Pipes the leader in its field. "Smokingpipes.com[http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/dunhill/history.cfm] | "(...)hoping to combat some of the difficulties a smoker would face while driving. It was this sort of innovation in response to the customer’s needs that would make Dunhill Pipes the leader in its field. "Smokingpipes.com[http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/dunhill/history.cfm] | ||
<blockquote>"the initial windshield pipes were not a success. Within a few years, many were recut to a flat top bowl and sold off at a discount." Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote> | <blockquote>"the initial windshield pipes were not a success. Within a few years, many were recut to a flat top bowl and sold off at a discount." Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).</blockquote> | ||
It wasn't a tremendous success but had a catalyst effect on young Alfred. In 1905, Alfred left the automotive business and opened another company for the development of patents, at Argyll Place, N.8 - London. | It wasn't a tremendous success but had a catalyst effect on young Alfred. In 1905, Alfred left the automotive business and opened another company for the development of patents, at Argyll Place, N.8 - London. At the same time, other stores at Dunhill's Motorities have been opened in Edinburgh, Manchester, and the Cecil Hotel in London. | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
<q>He turned his interest in gadgets and marketable ideas into a small but lucrative business. 'Little ideas properly worked bring fortunes' was the slogan in a press advertisement offering the public his opinion on the merits of minor inventions in return for a small cash payment. | <q>He turned his interest in gadgets and marketable ideas into a small but lucrative business. 'Little ideas properly worked bring fortunes' was the slogan in a press advertisement offering the public his opinion on the merits of minor inventions in return for a small cash payment. | ||
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And onto his desk, one day came that all-important pipe with a wind-shield which first turned his thoughts in the directions of the tobacco trade.</q> Dunhill, Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979). | And onto his desk, one day came that all-important pipe with a wind-shield which first turned his thoughts in the directions of the tobacco trade.</q> Dunhill, Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979). | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
[[File:Wspipe.jpg|center| | [[File:Wspipe.jpg|center|460px| Dunhill Shell 4112 - ©Pfeifenkonsulat]] | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
<q>Since his apprenticeship to the family harness-making business, he had already built up and sold his interest in an enterprise called Dunhill's Motorities which had seized upon a market still in its infancy by selling special clothing and accessories to the earliest motorists.</q> Dunhill, Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979). | <q>Since his apprenticeship to the family harness-making business, he had already built up and sold his interest in an enterprise called Dunhill's Motorities which had seized upon a market still in its infancy by selling special clothing and accessories to the earliest motorists.</q> Dunhill, Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979). | ||