A Little Trip Down Memory Lane

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agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,332
3,413
In the sticks in Mississippi
I recently came across this pipe, which is probably a basket pipe, but was taken by the stamping. The first "good" pipe I got was in1983 and came from a small tobacco shop in Long Beach CA, called Hiland's Tobacco Locker. It was a fun place and I got most of my early pipe education from them. The pipe I got was a Savinelli shape 904. That put me on the path of PAD, and it just went from there. I remember I bought a brand new Micoli from them too, but a rather mild version compared to some. My wife got her favorite pipe there, a Stanwell that she still has.
So I see this pipe stamped Hiland's Passport, Made in London England. Super cheap so I had to have it just for the memory of that place. I can't seem to find any info on the store anymore as we moved in 1989. I did find another one called Highland's Tobacco Locker (spelled differently) and located in a different place in Long Beach. It too has closed. Anyway, getting this pipe which admittedly has no real value except to me, was fun and it cleaned up rather nicely, only has a couple of tiny flaws, but it brought back some wonderful memories.
Ok, story time over...puffy

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agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,332
3,413
In the sticks in Mississippi
Long Beach is a pipe and pipe tobacco wasteland. Two years ago I combed the city looking for tobacco. A few convenience stores had large bags of crumbs. I found one cigar store. The owner had three tins of tobacco and nothing else (other than cigars, of course).
I know, it's quite sad. There used to be a number of tobacco shops in the Long Beach area, and in SoCal in general. My wife and I had a great time traveling to them and learning more and more about pipes and tobacco.
 
Mar 3, 2021
4
3
Idaho
I know, it's quite sad. There used to be a number of tobacco shops in the Long Beach area, and in SoCal in general. My wife and I had a great time traveling to them and learning more and more about pipes and tobacco.
I used to shop at their Ports O' Call locations. I have a couple of HTL marked pipes and they all are very good. I did notice that there is a Hiland's Cigar in Scottsdale, and they also have pipes. It is possible that this would be the same owner. Spelling is the same.
 
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agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,332
3,413
In the sticks in Mississippi
I used to shop at their Ports O' Call locations. I have a couple of HTL marked pipes and they all are very good. I did notice that there is a Hiland's Cigar in Scottsdale, and they also have pipes. It is possible that this would be the same owner. Spelling is the same.
I'm not familiar with the Ports O' Call. Was that down near the QM? I do remember they advertised themselves as the tobacconist for the Queen Mary. I found this picture of one of their matchbooks.

fullsizeoutput_2bdb.jpeg
 
Mar 3, 2021
4
3
Idaho
I recognize the logo so it must be the same company, but maybe not the one in Scottsdale, AZ.
Ports O'Call was a tourist shopping center in San Pedro. It was directly across the harbor from QM. It had about 70 shops, a couple of fine restaurants, a grocery store that had foods from around the world. Hiland had two locations there, one at either end of the center. One was located next door to the grocery. Micoli had space in that store where he made his pipes. I have a few of them, most undated, from the late 60's and early 70's. All exceptional. It was one of the best pipes shops around. The only others that I think were as good was Lawrence Pipe shop in Orange, CA. and one at Sea Port Village in San Diego. I miss those shops. Where I live now, there are no pipe stores at all within at least 400 miles. Most are now cigar shops. I have to do my shopping online. I was at Ports O'Call about 5 years ago. All that was there was an ethnic food store and 70 empty shops. Very sad.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,435
The mention of Long Beach makes a wave of memory wash over me. After joining my Navy ship in Subic Bay, PI, and heading immediately to coastal Vietnam, after about a year of patrols, we wended our way back to home port in Long Beach. We moored at the MinePac pier at the Naval base and spent some time in Todd's Shipyard, and I'd ride into town on the bus, eat a burger at a sit-down restaurant, hike the beach, and have a beer, go to a show, and once to a Moody Blues concert, a totally different world than the ship. That whole base is now a commercial port mostly for freight to and from China.
 
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Reactions: edger
Mar 3, 2021
4
3
Idaho
Zack, sorry to hear about Captain Hunts. As I recall, he was not only incredibly knowledgable about pipes and tobacco, he seemed to be a genuinely nice person.
 

Zack Miller

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 13, 2020
643
1,948
Fort Worth, Texas
Zack, sorry to hear about Captain Hunts. As I recall, he was not only incredibly knowledgable about pipes and tobacco, he seemed to be a genuinely nice person.
It was strange. I started smoking again in 1990, having quit around 1975. I was sent to San Diego where I found Captain Hunt. Quit again in 1995, but started again about five years ago. I was in San Diego a few years ago and he was still there. Fortunately there is a place in Old Town.
 

PlaneGuy

Lurker
Dec 30, 2021
3
0
I used to shop at their Ports O' Call locations. I have a couple of HTL marked pipes and they all are very good. I did notice that there is a Hiland's Cigar in Scottsdale, and they also have pipes. It is possible that this would be the same owner. Spelling is the same.
Hiland's tobacco is owned by Jerry and Gisele Hiland, and their son, Scott. They're good people

I worked for them part time for a couple of years after I was laid off, and was finishing m Bachelor's Degree. I was usually at the Ontario and Huntington Beach stores... sometimes Long Beach, San Bernardino and San Diego (Oceanside, I think).

Jerry and Scott wanted to hire me full time to run the Scottsdale store. Although I appreciate having the work, and the offer, retail really isn't my cup of tea. Plus, I wanted more money than they could afford... after finishing my degree I had a job paying triple what they offered, plus it got me out of California.

Scott Hiland took over the Scottsdale store when I turned down the assignment... I call him "Scott of Scottsdale" now (but we haven't spoken for a wile, so I doubt he'd remember)
 

PlaneGuy

Lurker
Dec 30, 2021
3
0
I recently came across this pipe, which is probably a basket pipe, but was taken by the stamping. The first "good" pipe I got was in1983 and came from a small tobacco shop in Long Beach CA, called Hiland's Tobacco Locker. It was a fun place and I got most of my early pipe education from them. The pipe I got was a Savinelli shape 904. That put me on the path of PAD, and it just went from there. I remember I bought a brand new Micoli from them too, but a rather mild version compared to some. My wife got her favorite pipe there, a Stanwell that she still has.
So I see this pipe stamped Hiland's Passport, Made in London England. Super cheap so I had to have it just for the memory of that place. I can't seem to find any info on the store anymore as we moved in 1989. I did find another one called Highland's Tobacco Locker (spelled differently) and located in a different place in Long Beach. It too has closed. Anyway, getting this pipe which admittedly has no real value except to me, was fun and it cleaned up rather nicely, only has a couple of tiny flaws, but it brought back some wonderful memories.
Ok, story time over...puffy

View attachment 63298
View attachment 63299
Have you ever tried Hi-Time in Costa Mesa? I left CA 13 years ago, and they had the best selection in town. Maxamar in Orange was good too
 

PlaneGuy

Lurker
Dec 30, 2021
3
0
Additionally, the Long Beach Hiland's shop was sold to a g aguy named Ben (forgot the last name)... he was the Regional Manager/Rep for JM Cigars. I believe it is "Taylors"... very upscale It appears to still be open

I also liked Red Cloud in Fullerton, and Churchills in Long Beach, but I heard they are closed