It’s Never Too Late For McMann & Tate

When I was in Richmond this year at the CORPS show a friend of mine asked me why I don’t advertise more for Ming-Kahuna and KazeTamp.  I had to scratch my head on that one for a bit as I had never really considered the issue.  While marketing is important, I have always felt that the best thing that one can do is his best work, provide kind, courteous and efficient service, and contribute generously to the hobby with one’s time, donations, and support.  With the question raised I had to consider whether my friend might be right, that there is more that I should be doing.

Of course a nice big ad in Pipes & Tobacco magazine would be nice, but sadly that isn’t currently in the budget due to huge investments into Ming and Kaze so far this year.  Further, ads in newsgroups and moderated boards are of limited value. While the return from such activities is immediate, especially for the newer artisan, that fades with time as the dynamics of such groups favors flavor of the month mentality.  For an artisan in it for the long term that honeymoon period accomplishes surprisingly little.

So once again it comes back to doing my very best work, making the acquisition process a fun and easy one, and letting my reputation speak for itself, spread by word of mouth by those who know firsthand.  For the most part that is exactly what I have done the past eight years,  and is what I will continue to do.  Believe me, it is from the bottom of my heart that I thank those of you who have supported my work by making your thoughts and opinions about it known to others. You have no idea how much I depend upon that. 

So, to answer my friend’s question, I guess I’ll just continue on my way as I have in the past doing my very best with the hopes that folks will continue to support my work with their kind consideration, an occasional acquisition if they have a mind to, while passing the word on to others as they see fit.  Besides, all of my annual production seems to find its way to new homes, so what more do I need to do? 

Darren, Larry, you can take the day off.

Taking Care of Business

Over the past eight years, as an artisan who offers his work to the pipe world, I have been privileged to get to know some of the finest people on the planet.  Some are other artisans, blenders, dealers, collectors, smokers, and distributors, and yet others are my customers.  And on occasion I have been honored to get to know their families, which is icing on the cake.  Saying that this association has enriched my life would be an understatement, to say the least.  And if you were to ask my wife and daughter I’m sure that they would tell you that they have enjoyed their time spent with the pipe world as they have attended shows and had visitors in our home over the years.  Without exception people have been kind and gentlemanly exhibiting a sense of honor that some would claim to have died long ago. Sometimes I’m a bit protective of what I have come to hold dear, and that will not be changing any time soon.

 

The world can be a cold hard place.  As an attorney I have seen it at its very worst.  I have been locked alone in an interview holding cell with a man who one day, out of the clear blue, decided to put a .357 magnum up to his wife’s forehead and pull the trigger.  I’ve seen and dealt with even worse than that.  I have seen the underbelly of society. I’ve had a front row seat to the rock bottom of society and the bleak streets of wasted lives. I’ve watched drugs and alcohol ravage lives and families, and have dealt with the results.  And even where the addresses are far more desirous and the front lawns are trimmed neat with two cars in the garage and a barbeque in the back by the pool, I’ve also seen people at their worst.  The weaknesses of the human spirit are not always born out of poverty: affluence  fathers its fair share.  It’s rarely a .357 to the forehead, but in the end the results can be just the same, just a slower more subtle decline.  I’m not complaining, sometimes it’s my job, but it can be rough.

 

On the other hand, over the past eight years as an artisan, I’ve experienced the exact opposite.  My refuge into my craft and the pipe world has provided an oasis amidst the insanity that so often grips life in the early 21^st Century. The honor amongst pipe folks, seemingly a throwback to another time, has provided a nice cozy warm corner insulated from the coarseness of the world.  It’s a place where folks are good to their word, where checks don’t need to clear before shipping, and where the discourse is civil such as might be welcome in one’s own home.  It’s a place where the merits of one thing are never defined by tearing down another, and competition breeds excellence rather than contempt.  It is a place that has exhibited the finer aspects of the human spirit while quietly and respectfully dealing with those less fine.  It has become almost like a family, something that most anyone who frequents pipe shows has felt.  To me it is something that must be protected while it is carefully nurtured.  Change is inevitable, but it must be carefully and thoughtfully considered.

 

So, that is why when I hear some, mostly new to the hobby/business, say that we should be more like some other business, I shudder.  Invariably they find the pipe world, the way that it is, to be too old fashioned and ineffective, requiring great change.  Well, I partially agree, some change and an ongoing evolution is healthy and necessary for survival, especially in these times,  but before they go and try and drastically change things I would invite them to first come and spend some time to see and understand what it actually is that they are trying to change.  That way the aspects that should undeniably be protected can be preserved, and change consistent with those aspects can be considered.  It’s much easier to throw out the baby with the bathwater if one isn’t aware that there is a baby.

 

Finally, I would submit that after actually spending some time at pipe shows, or at a pipe club, those folks so desirous of change may well come to better understand what some of us hold dear, and may find themselves drawn to it, if not protective of it.