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While gathering my final items for my up coming hunting trip to Sourh Africa, I grabbed my most seasoned, and thus tasty pipe, a Jobey Oom Paul bend.
I had periodically wondered about the origin of the name of that pipe bend, but had not previously taken the time to look it up. I decided to tonight in case someone asked me about it around the campfire.
What I discovered was both interesting and coincidental. According to Pipedea (yup - a Wikipedia of information on pipes):
“The long and colorful recorded history of tobacco and smoking has always reprised the story of the Oom Paul—this famous pipe has a memorable place in South Africa's history—and Kruger, but she also made a significant contribution in a much more important event in pipe lore. This small nation was the epicenter and principal exporter of the calabash gourd and its eventual development into an appealing smoking pipe! Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (Oom Paul, Afrikaans for ‘Uncle Paul’) was a statesman, resistance leader against British rule, and the State President of the South African Republic (Transvaal), best remembered as the lion-hearted patriot for facing down the British during the Second Boer War ((1899–1902). “Oom ‘uncle’ Paul Krüger, the legendary old Boer War president, a notorious pipe smoker, was never far from his pipe. A full-bent pipe was custom designed for him, and this particular style continues to be manufactured in various European countries even today, still designated an ‘Oom Paul.’” “His long black pipe is always associated with him in the minds of those who have talked to him.” “His [Kruger’s] dirty wooden pipe was visible, for it stuck out of his breast pocket.”
It appears I instinctively picked the correct pipe for this trip! Now, if I only knew what flavor tobacco he smoked?
I had periodically wondered about the origin of the name of that pipe bend, but had not previously taken the time to look it up. I decided to tonight in case someone asked me about it around the campfire.
What I discovered was both interesting and coincidental. According to Pipedea (yup - a Wikipedia of information on pipes):
“The long and colorful recorded history of tobacco and smoking has always reprised the story of the Oom Paul—this famous pipe has a memorable place in South Africa's history—and Kruger, but she also made a significant contribution in a much more important event in pipe lore. This small nation was the epicenter and principal exporter of the calabash gourd and its eventual development into an appealing smoking pipe! Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (Oom Paul, Afrikaans for ‘Uncle Paul’) was a statesman, resistance leader against British rule, and the State President of the South African Republic (Transvaal), best remembered as the lion-hearted patriot for facing down the British during the Second Boer War ((1899–1902). “Oom ‘uncle’ Paul Krüger, the legendary old Boer War president, a notorious pipe smoker, was never far from his pipe. A full-bent pipe was custom designed for him, and this particular style continues to be manufactured in various European countries even today, still designated an ‘Oom Paul.’” “His long black pipe is always associated with him in the minds of those who have talked to him.” “His [Kruger’s] dirty wooden pipe was visible, for it stuck out of his breast pocket.”
It appears I instinctively picked the correct pipe for this trip! Now, if I only knew what flavor tobacco he smoked?
