80s 1500BC

Pipes

There was a time, way back, when it seemed that everyone’s favourite uncle smoked a pipe; it went well with his tweed jacket and greying hair. Statistics suggest that in the USA in the ‘60s, 14% of men were pipe-smokers, but by 1991 the figure was a mere 2%.

Pipe-smoking has a long history, however. The first smoking pipes were discovered in 2,000-year-old Egyptian tombs, although it is not known whether they were part of religious rituals or for recreational use. The famous Ancient Greek doctor, Hippocrates, recommended herbs smoked in a pipe for female illnesses. Native Americans seem to have smoked pipes from around 1500 BC, often to mark a peace agreement between warring tribes - the ‘peace pipe’. Christopher Columbus carried home pipes, and the leaves smoked in them, and by the 16th century AD, pipe smoking was popular in Europe – introduced to France by one Jean Nicot from whose name the word ‘nicotine’ is derived. Early European pipes were made of chalk or clay.

In the early 18th century the ‘meerschaum’ – with its artistic carvings – became fashionable, although the bowl of a meerschaum pipe became too hot to hold if the user wasn’t careful. Many other styles followed, including the Churchwarden, Sitter, Billiard and the ‘Calabash’, popularised by Sherlock Holmes. Bach and Beethoven were pipe-smokers, as in our own day were astronaut Buzz Aldrin, politician Tony Benn and entertainer Eric Morecambe. Pipes were part of popular culture and the British Pipesmokers Council announced a ‘Pipesmoker of the Year’ award every year until 2014. More awareness of the health risks of smoking meant that fewer than ever men smoke pipes today, in Britain at least, although, apparently, 25% of Swedish men are still holding on to their pipes…

Back in the ‘80s tennis fans thrilled to the rivalry between Germany’s Boris Becker and the blond Swedish star, Stefan Edberg. The pair contested three Wimbledon singles finals, with Edberg winning the first, Becker the second and Edberg triumphing again in the third. Between 1985 and 1996 he won six Grand Slam singles titles, three Grand Slam doubles titles and was ranked World Number One for a total of 72 weeks. After retiring from competition, he coached the great Roger Federer for a time and the pair became lifelong friends. However, Edberg has maintained a low profile after his retirement, saying only that he “wanted to try a few different things”. With his wife and two children, he lives in Växjö, a town in Southern Sweden, and has become as successful – and wealthy – a businessman as he was as a tennis star, heading a finance company which manages equity portfolios. “I wanted to take control of my own money and my own life,” he has said. However, he retains an interest in sport, being a keen fan of the local ice-hockey team as he was an ice hockey player as a child before he took up tennis. He is also a soccer fan with Britain’s Leeds United being his team. He has happy memories of his years living in London where he says British tennis fans always made him feel welcome.