An American Freehand

 

The above pipe is an Aaron Beck Smooth Freehand pipe.  I stumbled on this pipe on the Smoking Pipes website.  Since I seem to be on a NYC theme lately, after reading about the pipe and it's maker, I thought I'd write about it.  Some freehand pipes are machine made, but this one is not.  The price of the above estate pipe is $125.  It is almost out of my $100 range, but at $125, I thought I'd include it here.

Let me just say that I find some Spirituality in a handmade made pipe, particularly if the maker is deceased.  I could suggest his spirit lives on in this pipe.  I had to do some reading about Aaron Beck, but didn't get much info on him.  He began making pipes in his Queens,NY shop in the 50's. He began to make free hand in the 60's which at the time had become popular from Denmark.  He made pipes for 30 years and died in 1984 shorty after he retired and sold his shop.  

I tried to find out about how many pipes he made and whether his pioes were of good quality.  If this pipe were new today, I'm guessing it would be priced at around $400 if new.  I'm fascinated by hand crafted pipes because they each tell a story especially if the maker is deceased, much like my Gettysburg pipe.  I'm not sure this pipe tells much of a story, but the photo says everything one needs to know.  

But why do I feel a Spiritual connection to some pipes?  I asked myself this question, especially if an owner is deceased.  I am fascinated by the tales previous lives have told.  Sometimes I have visited graves and some tombstone holds a fascination for me.  Someone else knew that person.  It might be a name, a date, or something a tombstone says.  I often wonder what a person's funeral was like or who knew this or that person.  

All I am given here is a name and where his shoo was located.  Here is an example of his work.  Does his spirit surround this pipe? Who was the owner of this pipe? Is that person too deceased? Just too many questions I can't answer.  It is said a used pipes carries on the thought and conversations of the previous owner that person had while smoking it.  Sometimes an old pipe is just a pipe, but sometimes a new owner will think these things while smoking it.

It is said of NYC that it just might be one of the most Haunted places in the world.  One might not think of NYC that way, but stories abound.  This pipe just might be another story, but maybe known just to Aaron Beck who made it, and might become known to its new owner.  One never knows.  Today it is my Viking pipe with some Old Professor pipe tobacco and a cup of hot black Nicaraguan coffee.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave