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art Robert Whitcomb art Robert Whitcomb

An old-fashioned face

northend  "North End Saturday" (photo), by JUDITH MONTMINY, in the "Synergies: New Gallery Artist Expo," at South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Mass.

What a face of weathered wisdom (however misleading it might be)!  Of course, he would be told not to smoke a pipe -- danger of oral cancer.

But pipe-smoking used to be considered a sign of calm, good humor and, yes, a kind of healthiness. A lot of doctors smoked pipes; it went along with their bow ties. But then, they'd do ads for cigarettes, too.  Just look in a big magazine from  the '40s. "Not a cough in a carload!"

 

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