Is waxing meerschaum to help pull out color a old codgers tale?
- Thread starter fishmansf
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I used the natural yellow one. But the yellow doesn't show at all.
The pride and joy in watching a Meer color is in smoking it. If someone is so obsessed with coloring, paint the freaking thing. The added benefit to the coloring while smoking is that Meers smoke fantastic. I don't get the instant gratification thing with coloring Meers. Smoke it and watch it color over time. Want it to color faster? Smoke it more.
The only contribution I make to my meers coloring is smoking them.
I’ve always been curious warren, could you share some pics of your meers?
Oh his are some of the best around!
Around the turn of the century they actually made coloring plugs in a range of sizes and you could buy them at your local tobacconist.Here’s an NOS No.7
One thing I have noticed is certain tobaccos do seem to color it darker and faster then others. For example Dark twist in mine which is coloring super fast considering I rarely take it out I can notice a difference in just a few bowls. Yorktown adds a lighter color to the meer and it takes many smokes to make an appreciable difference in color.
I posted one a a while back of my meers in a large ash tray. If I can find it I'll repost.
Everything i learned about meerschaum pipes I learned watching and listening to a silver haired man who looked like Charlie Rich’s twin brother in Springfield Missouri as he sold meerschaums that cost hundreds of dollars to well to do matrons of the beauty shop next door to his shop.
In front of him was a huge thousand dollar grade Beckler carved CAO meerschaum squat volcano colored every hue of the rainbow, which was his personal Beckler.
He would use diamond rings as a reference and claim meerschaum came in several grades and quality levels, and those and the artistry of the carver determined the price of the rare article of of luxury he offered.
The best way to buy a meerschaum was from a trusted seller, exactly as one would buy a diamond ring.
He’d explain the colors were the result of smoke permeating the porous material and being trapped by the wax boiled into the pipe by the carver.
He had a cutaway CAO that showed how thin the coloring was. Sort of like an Oreo cookie.
Behind him was a wall high glass case and he’d turn and remove one priced between two and three hundred dollars for her inspection. He’d then state there were more pipes for her to choose for her gentleman from, and if he ever missed a sale I never saw it happen.
What she really wanted was him to show her gentleman how to dress and speak, but alas he was married, as her friends at the beauty shop knew.
He sold more CAO pipes for years than any other authorized dealer, in the world.
Each came with a lifetime free inspection and free replacement of the plastic tenon as needed, just like a diamond ring.
My mother used to say Charlie Rich himself looked like an imposter, compared to him.
In front of him was a huge thousand dollar grade Beckler carved CAO meerschaum squat volcano colored every hue of the rainbow, which was his personal Beckler.
He would use diamond rings as a reference and claim meerschaum came in several grades and quality levels, and those and the artistry of the carver determined the price of the rare article of of luxury he offered.
The best way to buy a meerschaum was from a trusted seller, exactly as one would buy a diamond ring.
He’d explain the colors were the result of smoke permeating the porous material and being trapped by the wax boiled into the pipe by the carver.
He had a cutaway CAO that showed how thin the coloring was. Sort of like an Oreo cookie.
Behind him was a wall high glass case and he’d turn and remove one priced between two and three hundred dollars for her inspection. He’d then state there were more pipes for her to choose for her gentleman from, and if he ever missed a sale I never saw it happen.
What she really wanted was him to show her gentleman how to dress and speak, but alas he was married, as her friends at the beauty shop knew.
He sold more CAO pipes for years than any other authorized dealer, in the world.
Each came with a lifetime free inspection and free replacement of the plastic tenon as needed, just like a diamond ring.
My mother used to say Charlie Rich himself looked like an imposter, compared to him.
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This kind of makes sense I think. I haven't done any actual testing mind you, but seems plausible.
Some tobaccos, even smoking them wetter, I run a pipe cleaner in even just at the end of the bowl, cleaner comes out wet and a paler yellow/amber. One example I can think of that comes out pale is HH Burley Flake. Others, I get halfway through a bowl, run a cleaner and it comes out wet and dark brown. C&D Steamworks is one that results in a dark brown cleaner.
Whether that translates into coloring darker at a faster rate, I can't say.
That said, I'm not obsessed with getting my meer to color. I smoke it a lot because it's my favorite, the coloring is a bonus, and I do enjoy watching it color. But I'm not going out of my way to try to make it color faster or anything. It'll get there when it gets there... I'm 36, I have at least 375 more years left to color it (I'm assuming technological or genetic advancements increasing the average lifespan... that or becoming a vampire).
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As explained to me by the Charlie Rich looking pipe seller feller, meerschaum comes in several grades. The grade is how basically how porous the pipe is, the more the better for coloring. Different mines produce different grades, and grades differ in the same mine.
So let’s say you have a high grade of meerschaum. That high grade comes in several quality levels, which basically are how free of flaws and pure and white the meerschaum is.
The seller claimed his magnificently colored, enormous Beckler took about a year smoking five times a day, or almost two thousand smokes, to get colored all over.
Then he said CAO offered Beckler a tour of America and when Beckler saw his pipe he warned him he’d best rest it awhile, and slow it down some.
After that he smoked it once a day in his shop.
He’d tell the ladies that ran the beauty shop next door the expected time, so their usually was a crowd, to watch.
If you look at some of my pipes you can see the effect smoking twist or plug. With the exception of an occasional tin of something unusual like 'Richmond' that's all I smoke. It is smoking these Victorian type blends and smoking a pipe 'wet' that results in the 'shit' brown coloring of a lot of my 'cutty' pipes. If desired I can post before and after pictures staggered over a few years if anyone feels it would be instructive.
That is very unusual Fletch. I have found buttons, silver three penny bits and even a steam bolt with an adapted washer once. I have also come across the glazed Victorian half marbles with the veining to allow the smoke and condensates but I have never come across one of those plugs. How did you find that as they are as rare as 'Rocking Horse' shit!
Being a lifelong meerschaum fan, I really enjoyed reading these comments. Steven Books (House of Calabash) once told me that different tobaccos will color a meer differently. He had a blend that he claimed was optimal for coloring meers.
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I acquired a few of them with a large lot of pipe repair parts, bands, bits, bone tenons, etc. It came out of some long defunct tobacco shop. The vast majority of the lot was firmly 1890-1920.
The best way to color your pipe is to smoke it. Some people say aromatics color faster than non-aromatics, but it really just depends on how much you smoke it, and the pipe itself. As not all meerschaum pipes color at the same rate or the same way.
I'm of the belief that waxing helps bring out some color in your pipe. Is it going to magically go from being bright white, to having nice golden browns to dark chocolate areas, no, but it can bring out some colors. I've waxed my pipes several times over the years, and the process has brought out some additional colors. Again, it really depends on that particular piece of meerschaum.
I'm of the belief that waxing helps bring out some color in your pipe. Is it going to magically go from being bright white, to having nice golden browns to dark chocolate areas, no, but it can bring out some colors. I've waxed my pipes several times over the years, and the process has brought out some additional colors. Again, it really depends on that particular piece of meerschaum.
That’s been my best luck. I’ve had great luck with smoking mine 2-3 bowls a day for the first 50 bowls. This is bowl 20 for mine after smoking 2-3 times a day
