The CPCC Doctor and Master of Pipes Awards: They’re Not Forever Programs: Difference between revisions

In 2020, I learned of an impressive distinction for someone I have known for years, Don Duco, the curator of the Pijpenkabinet, the Amsterdam Pipe Museum that houses some 30,000 pipes and related utensils. “For his long-term study of and commitment to the history of the pipe and the culture of pipe smoking, Don Duco has been granted the prestigious European Heritage Award, or Europa Nostra Award. This is the highest honour in Europe for projects and individuals committed to heritage.” (“Mr. Don Duco,” europeanheritageawards.eu). European Heritage awards are granted on behalf of the European Commission. In another unusual gesture from outside the industry, Al Pascia, an Italian pipe retailer founded in 1906, received an award from both the Lombardy Regional Authority and Milan City Council for being an historic establishment. It’s evident that in certain quarters in Europe, tobacco people are rewarded, not ridiculed or reviled. I can’t recall another person associated with tobacco in any who has received such a prestigious award from an organization or institution outside the industry as had Duco. I don’t believe that the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Historical Association, or any other U.S. organization would recognize an American of equal stature and dedication.