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Pipe smokers may be a dying breed, but collectibles are on fire 

The days may be gone when millions of mostly male pipe smokers, and college freshmen everywhere, lit up and puffed away, but now there is a brisk collectibles market for smokers and non-smokers alike.

We're talking $10,000 meerschaum pipes and $1,500 smoking jackets here. You might hold on to old tins of tobacco too. It's simple supply and demand, according to experts.

Chuck Stanion, editor of Pipes & Tobacco magazine, said the decreasing number of pipe users has resulted in less availability of related products, which, in turn, has driven up the price of what is obtainable in the market. "What you have," he said, "is fewer people smoking pipes but enjoying it more--like gourmet tea drinkers."

One example of this passion will be the annual Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobbaciana Show May 13 through 15 at Pheasant Run in St. Charles.

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