![Adventures with Sherlock Holmes TD Gallery Jan 5-Mar 10, 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Adventures_with_Sherlock_Holmes_TD_Gallery_Jan_5-Mar_10%2C_2012.jpg)
A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
. It comprises a chamber (the
bowl
A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom forming a seamless curve. This makes ...
) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simple machine-made briar models to highly prized hand-made artisanal implements made by renowned pipemakers, which are often very expensive
collector's item
A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...
s. Pipe smoking is the oldest known traditional form of tobacco smoking.
History
![Inlayed Pipe Bowl with Two Faces, early 19th century,50](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Inlayed_Pipe_Bowl_with_Two_Faces%2C_early_19th_century%2C50.67.104.jpg)
Some cultures of the
indigenous peoples of the Americas
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
smoke tobacco in
ceremonial pipe
A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremony, to make a ceremonial ...
s, and have done so since long before the arrival of Europeans. For instance the
Lakota people use a ceremonial pipe called
čhaŋnúŋpa. Other cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas smoke tobacco socially. The tobacco plant is native to South America but spread into North America long before Europeans arrived. Tobacco was introduced to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century and spread around the world rapidly.
As
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
was not introduced to the
Old World
The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
until the 16th century, the older pipes outside of the Americas were usually used to smoke various other substances, including
hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
, a rare and expensive substance outside areas of the Middle East, Central Asia and India, where it was then produced.
Workings of a tobacco pipe
Principle
A pipe's fundamental function is to provide a relatively safe, manipulable volume in which to incompletely combust a smokable substance. Typically this is accomplished by connecting a refractory 'bowl' to some sort of 'stem' which extends and may also cool the smoke mixture drawn through the combusting organic mass (see below).
Parts
![Tobacco pipe parts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Tobacco_pipe_parts.svg)
The broad anatomy of a pipe typically comprises mainly the bowl and the stem. The ''bowl'' (1) which is the cup-like outer shell, the part hand-held while packing, holding and smoking a pipe, is also the part "knocked" top-down to loosen and release impacted spent tobacco. On being sucked, the general stem delivers the smoke from the bowl to the user's mouth.
Inside the bowl is an inner ''chamber'' (2) space holding tobacco pressed into it. This ''draught hole'' (3), is for air flow where air has travelled through the tobacco in the chamber, taking the smoke with it, up the ''shank'' (4). At the end of the shank, the pipe's ''mortise'' (5) and ''tenon'' (6) join is an air-tight, simple connection of two detachable parts where the
mortise is a hole met by the tenon, a tight-fitting "tongue" at the start of the ''stem'' (7). Known as the ''bore'' (10), the inner shaft of this second section stays uniform throughout while the outer stem tapers down to the mouthpiece or ''bit'' (8) held in the smoker's teeth, and finally ends in the "lip" (9), attenuated for comfort.
Materials
The bowls of tobacco pipes are commonly made of
briar wood,
meerschaum
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for ...
,
corncob
A corncob, also called corn cob, cob of corn or corn on the cob, is the central core of an ear of corn (also known as maize). It is the part of the ear on which the kernels grow. The ear is also considered a "cob" or "pole" but it is not fully ...
, pear-wood, rose-wood or
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
. Less common materials include other dense-grained woods such as
cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...
,
olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
,
maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...
,
mesquite
Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas.
They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...
,
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
, and
bog-wood
Bog-wood (also spelled bogwood or bog wood), also known as abonos and, especially amongst pipe smokers, as morta, is a material from trees that have been buried in peat bogs and preserved from decay by the acidic and anaerobic bog conditions, some ...
. Minerals such as
catlinite
Catlinite, also called pipestone, is a type of argillite (metamorphosed mudstone), usually brownish-red in color, which occurs in a matrix of Sioux Quartzite. Because it is fine-grained and easily worked, it is prized by Native Americans, prim ...
and
soapstone
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...
have also been used. Pipe bowls are sometimes decorated by carving, and moulded clay pipes often had simple decoration in the mould.
Unusual pipe materials include gourds (as in the famous
calabash
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...
pipe) and
pyrolytic graphite. Metal and glass, seldom used for tobacco pipes, are common for pipes intended for
other substances, such as
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
.
![Smoking bamboo pipe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Smoking_bamboo_pipe.jpg)
The stem needs a long channel of constant position and diameter running through it for a proper draw, although filter pipes have varying diameters and can be successfully smoked even without filters or adapters. Because it is molded rather than carved, clay may make up the entire pipe or just the bowl; pipes made of most other materials have stems constructed separately and detachable. Stems and bits of tobacco pipes are usually made of moldable materials like
Ebonite
Ebonite is a brand name for a material generically known as hard rubber, and is obtained via vulcanizing natural rubber for prolonged periods. Ebonite may contain from 25% to 80% sulfur and linseed oil. Its name comes from its intended use as an ...
,
Lucite
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...
,
Bakelite
Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...
, or soft
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
. Less common are stems made of
reeds,
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
, or hollowed-out pieces of wood. Expensive pipes once had stems made of
amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
, though this is rare now.
Types
Pipe shapes
* Apple. Subtypes: Apple, Author, Diplomat, Egg, Hawkbill, Prince, Tomatoe (Ball).
* Billiard. Subtypes: Billiard, Brandy, Chimney, Panel, Oom Paul, Pot, Nose Warmer.
* Bulldog. Subtypes: Bulldog, Bull Moose, Bullcap, Rhodesian, Ukulele.
* Calabash. Subtypes: Calabash, Reverse Calabash.
* Canadian. Subtypes: Canadian, Liverpool, Lovat, Lumberman.
* Cavalier. Subtypes: Cavalier, Pseudo-cavalier.
* Churchwarden (Reading pipe). – Pipe with a long stem.
* Dublin. Subtypes: Dublin, Acorn (Pear), Cutty, Devil Anse, Zulu.
* Freehand. Subtypes: Freehand, Blowfish, Horn, Nautilus, Tomahawk, Volcano.
* Sitter. Subtypes: Sitter, Cherrywood, Duke (Don), (Stand Up) Poker, Tankard.
* Tyrolean pipe.
* Vest Pocket.
File:Smoking pipe billard.jpg, Billiard
File:Smoking pipe bent.jpg, Bent (Billiard)
File:Smoking pipe sitter.jpg, Sitter
File:Smoking pipe pot.jpg, Pot
File:Smoking pipe prince.jpg, Prince
File:Smoking pipe churchwarden.jpg, Churchwarden
File:Smoking pipe tyrolean.jpg, Tyrolean
File:Smoking pipe cavalier.jpg, Cavalier
File:Smoking pipe vest pocket.jpg, Vest Pocket
File:Smoking pipe macarthur.jpg, MacArthur
Calabash
Calabash
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...
gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...
s (usually with
meerschaum
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for ...
or
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
bowls set inside them) have long made prized pipes, but they are labour-intensive and, today, quite expensive. Because of this expense, pipes with bodies made of wood (usually
mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
) instead of gourd, but with the same classic shape, are sold as calabashes. Both wood and gourd pipes are functionally the same (with the important exception that the dried gourd, usually being noticeably lighter, sits more comfortably in the mouth). They consist of a downward curve that ends with an upcurve where the bowl sits. Beneath the bowl is an air chamber which serves to cool, dry, and mellow the smoke. There are also briar pipes being sold as calabashes. These typically do not have an air chamber and are so named only because of their external shape.
A calabash pipe is rather large and easy to recognize as a pipe when used on a stage in dramatic productions. Although a British newspaper cartoon of the early 1900s depicts the British actor
H. A. Saintsbury
Harry Arthur Saintsbury, usually called H. A. Saintsbury (18 December 1869 – 19 June 1939), was an English actor and playwright. A leading man, he became well known for his stage interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, was an early mentor of Charli ...
as the Great Detective smoking what may be a calabash pipe, its now-stereotypical identification with
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
remains a mystery.
Some commentators have erroneously associated the calabash with
William Gillette
William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...
, the first actor to become universally recognized as the embodiment of the detective. Gillette actually introduced the curving or bent pipe for use by Holmes, but his pipe was an ornate briar. Gillette chose a bent pipe, more easily clenched in the teeth when delivering lines.
While there are promotional stills of
Basil Rathbone
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...
smoking calabash pipes as Holmes for other projects, most notably his radio show, in his first two outings as Holmes produced by
20th Century-Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
as taking place in the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
, Rathbone smoked an apple-bowled, black briar with a half bend, made by Dunhill, the company known for making the best pipes at that time. In the next dozen films, the series produced by
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
, with Holmes and Watson updated to the 1940s, Rathbone smokes a much less expensive Peterson half bend with a billiard-shaped bowl. A calabash is introduced in ''
The Spider Woman
''The Spider Woman'' (alternatively titled ''Sherlock Holmes and the Spider Woman'' and ''Spider Woman'') is a 1943 mystery film starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson, the seventh of fourteen such films the pa ...
'' but Holmes does not smoke it.
In the original chronicles, such as "
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the last of the twelve collected in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in ''The Strand Magazine' ...
", Sherlock Holmes is described as smoking a long-stemmed cherrywood, which he favored "when in a disputatious, rather than a meditative mood." Holmes smokes an old briar-root pipe on occasion, for example in ''
The Sign of the Four
''The Sign of the Four'' (1890), also called ''The Sign of Four'', is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective.
Plot ...
'', and an "unsavory" and "disreputable" black and oily clay pipe in several stories, notably in "The Red-Headed League". Dr Watson declares it to be the detective's preferred pipe: "It was to him as a counsellor" (''
A Case of Identity
"A Case of Identity" is one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is the third story in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It first appeared in ''The Strand Magazine'' in September 1891.
Plot summa ...
''), the "companion of his deepest meditations" (''
The Valley of Fear
''The Valley of Fear'' is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. It is loosely based on the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the ''Strand Magazine' ...
'')..
Pipes with removable bowl
File:Smoking pipe falcon 1.jpg, Falcon pipe.
File:Smoking pipe falcon 2.jpg, Falcon pipe with bowl detached.
File:Falcon-pipe.jpg, Falcon pipe.
Bowls are made of varying shapes and materials to allow the smoker to try different characteristics or to dedicate particular bowls for particular tobaccos. Bowls are not interchangeable between manufacturers.
Hookahs
![Hookah 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Hookah_2.jpg)
A ''hookah'', ''ghelyan'', or ''narghile'', is a Middle Eastern water pipe that cools the smoke by filtering it through a water chamber. Often ice, cough-drops, milk, or fruit juice is added to the water. Traditionally, the tobacco is mixed with a sweetener, such as honey or
molasses
Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...
. Fruit flavors have also become popular. Modern hookah smokers, especially in the US, smoke "me'assel", "moassel", "molasses" or "shisha", all names for the same wet mixture of tobacco, molasses/honey, glycerine, and often, flavoring. This style of tobacco is smoked in a bowl with foil or a screen (metal or glass) on top of the bowl. More traditional tobaccos are "tombiek" (a dry unflavored tobacco, which the user moistens in water, squeezes out the extra liquid, and places coals directly on top) or "jarak" (more of a paste of tobacco with fruit to flavor the smoke).
Bowl materials
North American natives along the East coast traditionally made their tobacco pipes from clay or from a type of pot-stone (''
lapis ollaris
Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...
''), or else
serpentine stone. In the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
they made use of the red pipestone or
catlinite
Catlinite, also called pipestone, is a type of argillite (metamorphosed mudstone), usually brownish-red in color, which occurs in a matrix of Sioux Quartzite. Because it is fine-grained and easily worked, it is prized by Native Americans, prim ...
for the same,
a fine-grained easily worked stone of a rich red color of the
Coteau des Prairies
The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width (320 by 160 km), rising from the prairie flatlands in eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa in the United States. ...
. Today, other construction materials used for the bowl may include any of the following:
* Briar – root of ''Erica arborea'', prevalent material.
* Meerschaum – mineral sepiolite called "sea foam".
* Gourd
* Porcelain
* Synthetics
* Ebony ("Zappi")
* Cherry wood
* Beechwood
* Corn cob
* Metal – used by Japanese
kiseru
A is a Japanese smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, traditionally used for smoking ''kizami'', a finely shredded tobacco product resembling hair.
History
The word ''kiseru'' is said to have originated from the Cambodian word ''khsier'' aroun ...
and Arabian
midwakh
A midwakh' ( ar, مدواخ, also spelled medwakh) is a small smoking pipe of Arabian origin, in which dokha (), a sifted Iranian tobacco product mixed with aromatic leaf and bark herbs, is smoked. The bowl of a midwakh pipe is typically smal ...
.
File:Smoking pipe billard 2.jpg, Briar
File:Smoking pipe meerschaum.jpg, Meerschaum
File:Smoking pipe clay.jpg, Clay
File:Cherry wood smoking pipe.jpg, Cherry wood
File:Smoking pipe beechwood.jpg, Beechwood
File:Smoking pipe corn cobl.jpg, Corn cob
File:Smoking pipe tyrolean 2.jpg, Porcelain
Briar
![A-Peterson-pipe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/A-Peterson-pipe.jpg)
The majority of pipes sold today, whether handmade or machine-made, are fashioned from
briar (french: bruyère). Briar is a particularly well suited wood for pipe making for a number of reasons. The first and most important characteristic is its natural resistance to fire. The second is its inherent ability to absorb moisture. The
burl
A burl (American English) or burr (British English) is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from do ...
absorbs water in nature to supply the tree in the dry times and likewise will absorb the moisture that is a byproduct of combustion. Briar is cut from the root burl of the
tree heath
''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an or ...
(''Erica arborea''), which is native to the rocky and sandy soils of the
Mediterranean region
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and wa ...
. Briar burls are cut into two types of blocks; ebauchon and plateaux. Ebauchon is taken from the heart of the burl while plateaux is taken from the outer part of the burl. While both types of blocks can produce pipes of the highest quality, most artisan pipemakers prefer to use plateaux because of their superior graining.
Clay
Ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
pipes, made of moulded and then fired
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, were used almost universally by Europeans between the introduction of tobacco in the 16th century, and the introduction of cheap cigarettes at the end of the nineteenth.
The material is not very strong and the early varieties had long thin stems, so they frequently broke, but were cheap to replace. It has been claimed that this fragility was somewhat intentional as it was utilized by Colonial American tavern keepers, for example, in renting the clay pipes to patrons. When the patron was done smoking the pipe and returned it to the keeper, the end of the stem was simply broken off so as to be ready for the next patron. However, there is no documentary evidence for this practice; it is known that communal pipes used in taverns were cleansed by being heated in an oven on special iron racks.
Forming the pipe involved making them in moulds with the bore created by pushing an oiled wire inside the stem. The preferred material was
pipeclay or "tobacco pipe clay", which fires to a white colour and is found in only certain locations. In North America, many clay pipes were historically made from more typical
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
-coloured clays. According to one British writer in 1869, the French preferred old pipes and the English new, the middle class preferred long stems and the working class preferred short. Short stemmed pipes, sometimes called ''cuttys'' or ''nose warmers'' in England, were preferred by manual laborers as they could be gripped between the teeth, leaving both of the smoker's hands free.
Later low-quality clay pipes were made by
slip casting
Slip casting, or slipcasting, is a ceramic forming technique for pottery and other ceramics, especially for shapes not easily made on a wheel. In this method, a liquid clay body slip (usually mixed in a blunger) is poured into plaster mo ...
in a mould. Higher quality pipes are made in a labour-intensive hand shaping process. Traditionally, clay pipes are unglazed. Clays burn "hot" in comparison to other types of pipes, so they are often difficult for most pipe-smokers to use. Their proponents claim that, unlike other materials, a well-made clay pipe gives a "pure" smoke with no flavour addition from the pipe bowl. In addition to aficionados, reproductions of historical clay styles are used by some
historical re-enactors
Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or ...
. Clay pipes were once very popular in Ireland, where they were called
''dudeens''.
Broken fragments of clay pipe can be useful as dating evidence for archaeologists. In the 1950s, the American archaeologist
J. C. Harrington noted that the bore of pipe stems decreased over time, so a late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries pipe would have a stem bore diameter of around , but a late eighteenth century pipe would have a bore diameter of around . The size of bowls also increased over time as tobacco became a cheaper commodity, and later pipes tend to be more decorated.
Corncob
![Corncob-pipe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Corncob-pipe.jpg)
The uniquely American pipes made from
corncob
A corncob, also called corn cob, cob of corn or corn on the cob, is the central core of an ear of corn (also known as maize). It is the part of the ear on which the kernels grow. The ear is also considered a "cob" or "pole" but it is not fully ...
s are cheap and effective, although regarded by some as inelegant. After being dried for two years, the cobs are hollowed out to form a bowl shape, then either dipped in a
plaster
Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...
-based mixture or
varnish
Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...
ed or
lacquer
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Asian lacquerware, which may be ca ...
ed on the outside. Shanks made from
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
wood are then inserted into the bowls.
The world's oldest and largest manufacturer of corncob pipes is
Missouri Meerschaum, located in
Washington, Missouri
Washington is a city on the south banks of the Missouri River, 50 miles west of St. Louis, Missouri, and the largest in Franklin County, Missouri, United States. The estimated population in July 2021 was 14,916, an increase of 7% since the 2010 ...
, where the company has produced the pipes since 1869.
General
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
and
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
were perhaps the most famous historical smokers of corncob pipes, as well as fictional cartoon characters
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.[Frosty the Snowman
"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular Christmas song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950 and later recorded by Jimmy Durante. It was written after the success o ...](_blank)
.
Corncob pipes remain popular because they are inexpensive and require no "break-in" period like briar pipes. Owing to these factors, corncob pipes are often recommended as a "beginner's pipe". Additionally, pipesmokers who wish to sample different tobaccos and blends might keep a stock of corncobs on hand to permit them to try new flavors without "carryover" from an already-used pipe, or to prevent a potentially bad-tasting tobacco from adding its flavor to a more expensive or favored pipe.
Meerschaum
Meerschaum
Sepiolite, also known in English by the German name meerschaum ( , ; ; meaning "sea foam"), is a soft white clay mineral, often used to make tobacco pipes (known as meerschaum pipes). A complex magnesium silicate, a typical chemical formula for ...
(hydrated magnesium silicate), a
mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
found in small shallow deposits mainly around the city of
Eskişehir
Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...
in central Turkey, is prized for the properties which allow it to be carved into finely detailed decorative and figural shapes. It has been used since the 17th century and, with clay pipes, represented the most common medium for pipes before the introduction of briar as the material of choice in the 19th century. The word "meerschaum" means "sea foam" in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, alluding to its natural white color and its surprisingly low weight. Meerschaum is a very porous mineral that absorbs elements of the tobacco during the smoking process, and gradually changes color to a golden brown. Old, well-smoked meerschaum pipes are valued by collectors for their distinctive coloring.
Meerschaum pipes can either be carved from a block of meerschaum, or made from meerschaum dust collected after carving and mixed with a binder then pressed into a pipe shape. The latter are far less absorbent, color in blotches, and lack the smoking quality of the block carved pipe.
Synthetics
![VenturiPipeGreen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/VenturiPipeGreen.jpg)
A variety of other materials may also be used for pipes. The Redmanol corporation manufactured pipes with translucent stems in the 1920s and a series of pipes were manufactured and distributed by the Tar Gard (later Venturi) Corporation of San Francisco from 1965 to 1975. Marketed under names such as "the pipe", "The Smoke" and "Venturi", they used materials such as
pyrolytic graphite
Pyrolytic carbon is a material similar to graphite, but with some covalent bonding between its graphene sheets as a result of imperfections in its production.
Pyrolytic carbon is man-made and is thought not to be found in nature.Ratner, Buddy D. ...
,
phenolic resin
Phenol formaldehyde resins (PF) or phenolic resins (also infrequently called phenoplasts) are synthetic polymers obtained by the reaction of phenol or substituted phenol with formaldehyde. Used as the basis for Bakelite, PFs were the first commerc ...
,
nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petro ...
,
Bakelite
Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...
and other synthetics, allowing for higher temperatures in the bowl, reduced tar, and aesthetic variations of color and style.
After Venturi stopped making pipes, several companies continue to make pipes from Brylon, a composite of nylon and
wood flour
Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling, planing, and routing. It is composed of small chippings of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, ...
, as a cheaper substitute for briar.
Types and shapes of pipe parts
Briar bowl finish types
* Brushed
* Carved
* Rustic
* Sandblast
* Smooth
Corn cob bowl finish types
* Natural
* Stained
* Varnished (Polished)
Chamber types
* Important is size – diameter and depth.
* Chamber can be lined with other material, usually meerschaum or metal.
Tenon shapes
* Army – Enables the pipe smoker to remove the stem from the shank while hot without fear of warping. Is often seen with a metal band around the shank.
* Screw – Also allows for the immediate removal of the stem from the shank for cleaning while still hot. Often seen on pipes with stingers, allowing the pipe smoker to clean the stinger while still hot, making the task much easier.
* Standard
Filter types
* None
* Cooler (Stinger)
* 6 mm
* 9 mm
* Other, e.g. Falcon dry ring.
Stem materials
* Acrylic
* Amber
* Bakelite
* Cumberland (Brindle)
* Ebonite
* Horn (Keratin)
* Plastic
* Metal, e.g. Aluminium. Metal stem serves as a
heat sink
A heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink) is a passive heat exchanger that transfers the heat generated by an electronic or a mechanical device to a fluid medium, often air or a liquid coolant, where it is dissipated away from the device, th ...
.
Stem shapes
* Combination
* Saddle
* Tapered
Stem curvatures
* Straight
* Slightly bent (semi-straight, half bent)
* Bent
Bit shapes
* Denture
* Fishtail
* P-lip
* Standard
Bit sizes
* Regular (single bore)
* Double bore
* Wide comfort
* Double comfort
Accessories
Filters
Used to absorb moisture, tar and nicotine. Made of:
* Paper
* Balsa wood
* Meerschaum
* Charcoal (activated carbon)
* Other, e.g. Falcon dry ring or Denicool filter crystals.
Filters can be single- or double-sided. Double-sided filter has both ends ceramic that can withstand hot smoke. Single-sided filter has ceramic end to the bowl and plastic end to the stem.
File:tobacco_pipe_filters_01.jpg, Smoking pipe filters. Left to right: 6 mm paper. 6 mm charcoal. 9 mm paper. 9 mm charcoal one-sided. 9 mm meerschaum. 9 mm balsa wood. Falcon dry ring.
File:Tobacco_pipe_filters_02.jpg, Smoking pipe filters.
File:Tobacco_pipe_filters_08.jpg, Disassembled smoking pipe filter. 9 mm paper.
File:Tobacco_pipe_filters_06.jpg, Disassembled smoking pipe filter. 9 mm charcoal. One-sided.
File:Tobacco_pipe_filters_07.jpg, Disassembled smoking pipe filter. 9 mm meerschaum.
File:Tobacco_pipe_filters_09.jpg, Smoking pipe filter crystals.
Use
Smoking a pipe requires more apparatus and technique than cigarette or even cigar smoking. In addition to the pipe itself and
matches
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
or a pipe
lighter
A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or c ...
, smokers usually require a
pipe tool
A pipe tool is a small gadget designed to aid in packing, tobacco smoking, smoking, and emptying a tobacco smoking pipe (tobacco), pipe.
There are three principal pipe tools: the tamper, the reamer, and the pick:
*The ''tamper'' is a blunt instr ...
for packing, adjusting, and emptying the tobacco in the bowl, and a regular supply of
pipe cleaner
A pipe cleaner or chenille stem is a type of brush originally intended for removing moisture and residue from smoking pipes. They can also be used for any application that calls for cleaning out small bores or tight places. Special pipe cleaner ...
s. In 18th-century North American material culture, tobacco was pressed down into the chamber of the bowl by way of a "tobacco-stopper" and which often consisted of a bone extracted from the male parts of a
raccoon
The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...
.
Tobacco
![DunhillEarlyMorningPipeMurrays](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/DunhillEarlyMorningPipeMurrays.jpg)
Tobaccos for smoking in pipes are often carefully treated and blended to achieve flavour nuances not available in other tobacco products. Many of these are blends using staple ingredients of variously cured Burley and Virginia tobaccos which are enhanced by spice tobaccos, among them many Oriental or Balkan varietals,
Latakia
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, geocode ...
(a fire-cured spice tobacco of Syrian origin, but now made in other regions, such as, Cyprus and Lebanon ),
Perique
Perique is a type of tobacco from Saint James Parish, Louisiana, known for its strong, powerful, and fruity aroma. When the Acadians made their way into this region in 1776, the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes were cultivating a variety of tobacco ...
(uniquely grown in
St. James Parish, Louisiana) which is also an old method of fermentation, or blends of Virginia and
Burley tobaccos of African, Indian, or South American origins. Traditionally, many U.S. blends are made of American Burley with sweeteners and flavorings added to create an "aromatic" flavor, whereas "English" blends are based on natural Virginia tobaccos enhanced with Oriental and other natural tobaccos. There is a growing tendency towards "natural" tobaccos which derive their aromas from artful blending with selected spice tobaccos only and careful, often historically-based, curing processes.
Pipe tobacco can be purchased in several forms, which vary both in flavour (leading to many blends and opportunities for smokers to blend their own tobaccos) and in the physical shape and size to which the tobacco has been reduced. Most pipe tobaccos are less mild than cigarette tobacco, substantially more moist and cut much more coarsely. Too finely cut tobacco does not allow enough air to flow through the pipe, and overly dry tobacco burns too quickly with little flavour. Pipe tobacco must be kept in an airtight container, such as a canning jar or sealed tin, to keep from drying out.
Some pipe tobaccos are cut into long narrow ribbons. Some are pressed into flat plugs which are sliced into flakes. Others are tightly wound into long ropes, then sliced into discs. Plug tobacco is maintained in its pressed block form and sold in small blocks. The plug will be sliced into thin flakes by the smoker and then prepared in a similar fashion to flake tobacco. It is considered that plug tobacco holds its flavor better than rubbed or flake tobacco. Flake tobacco (sliced cakes or ropes) may be prepared in several ways. Generally it is rubbed out with the fingers and palms until it is loose enough to pack. It can also be crumbled or simply folded and stuffed into a pipe. Some people also prefer to dice up very coarse tobaccos before using them, making them easier to pack.
Packing
In the most common method of packing, tobacco is added to the bowl of the pipe in several batches, each one pressed down until the mixture has a uniform density that optimizes airflow (something that it is difficult to gauge without practice). This can be done with a
finger
A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...
or
thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...
, but if the tobacco needs to be repacked later, while it is burning, the tamper on a
pipe tool
A pipe tool is a small gadget designed to aid in packing, tobacco smoking, smoking, and emptying a tobacco smoking pipe (tobacco), pipe.
There are three principal pipe tools: the tamper, the reamer, and the pick:
*The ''tamper'' is a blunt instr ...
is sometimes used. If it needs to be loosened, the reamer, or any similar long pin can be used. A traditional way of packing the pipe is to fill the bowl and then pack gently to about full, fill again and pack slightly more firmly to about full, and then pack more firmly still to the top.
An alternative packing technique called the
Frank method The Frank Method is a method for packing tobacco into a smoking pipe initially developed by Achim Frank for use in pipe smoking competitions.
The Frank method involves compacting the tobacco from the sides without compressing the top. This proces ...
involves lightly dropping tobacco in the pipe, after which a large plug is gingerly pushed into the bowl all at once.
Lighting
Matches
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
, or separately lit slivers of wood are often considered preferable to lighters because of lower burning temperature.
Butane lighters
Butane () or ''n''-butane is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Butane is a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas that quickly vaporizes at room temperature. The name bu ...
made specifically for pipes
emit flame sideways or at an angle to make it easier to direct flame into the bowl. Torch-style lighters should never be used to light a pipe because their flames are too hot and can char the rim of the pipe bowl. Matches should be allowed to burn for several seconds to allow the
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
from the tip to burn away and the match to produce a full flame. A
naphtha
Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ''n ...
fueled lighter should also be allowed to burn a few seconds to get rid of stray naphtha vapors that could give a foul taste to the smoke. When a flame has been produced, it is then moved in circles above the rim of the bowl while the smoker puffs to draw the flame down and light the tobacco. Packing method and humidity can affect how often a pipe must be relit.
Burning prevention
With care, a briar pipe can last a very long time without burning out. However, due to aggressive (hot) smoking or imperfections in the wood, a hole can be burned in the tobacco chamber of the pipe. There are several methods used to help prevent a wood pipe from burning out. These generally involve coating the chamber with any of a variety of substances, or by gently smoking a new pipe to build up a cake (a mixture of ash, unburned tobacco, oils, sugars, and other residue) on the walls.
These coatings may include honey and water; powdered sugar and water; cigar ash and water; and
sour cream
Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, wh ...
,
buttermilk
Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mod ...
, and
activated charcoal
"Activated" is a song by English singer Cher Lloyd. It was released on 22 July 2016 through Vixen Records. The song was made available to stream exclusively on ''Rolling Stone'' a day before to release (on 21 July 2016).
Background
In an interv ...
among many others.
Many modern briar pipes are pre-treated by the manufacturer to resist burning. If smoked correctly, the cake will build up properly on its own. Another technique is to alternate a half-bowl and a full-bowl the first several times the pipe is used to build an even cake.
Burley is often recommended to help a new pipe build cake.
The caked layer that helps prevent burning through the bottom or sides of a briar wood pipe may damage other pipes, such as meerschaum or clay. As the cake layer heats up, it expands and may cause cracks or breaks in non-briar pipes.
Smoking
Pipe smoke, like cigar smoke, is usually not inhaled. It is merely brought into the mouth, pumped around oral and nasal cavities to permit absorption of nicotine toward the brain through the mucous membranes, and released. It is normal to have to relight a pipe periodically. If it is smoked too slowly, this will happen more often. If it is smoked too quickly, it can produce excess moisture causing a gurgling sound in the pipe and an uncomfortable sensation on the tongue (referred to as "pipe tongue", or more commonly, "tongue bite").
A pipe cleaner can be used to dry out the bowl and, wetted with alcohol, the inner channel. The bowl of the pipe can also become uncomfortably hot, depending on the material and the rate of smoking. For this reason, clay pipes in particular are often held by the stem. Meerschaum pipes are held in a square of
chamois leather
Chamois leather () is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra''), a type of European mountain goat, but today made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin.
United Kingdom
The Brit ...
, with gloves, or else by the stem in order to prevent uneven coloring of the material.
Cleaning
![Hút thuốc lào, bát điếu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/H%C3%BAt_thu%E1%BB%91c_l%C3%A0o%2C_b%C3%A1t_%C4%91i%E1%BA%BFu.JPG)
The ash and the last bits of unburned tobacco, known as
dottle
Dottle is the remaining plug of unburnt tobacco and ashes left in the bottom of a tobacco pipe
A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco fro ...
, should be cleaned out with a suitable
pipe tool
A pipe tool is a small gadget designed to aid in packing, tobacco smoking, smoking, and emptying a tobacco smoking pipe (tobacco), pipe.
There are three principal pipe tools: the tamper, the reamer, and the pick:
*The ''tamper'' is a blunt instr ...
. A soft or bristle
pipe cleaner
A pipe cleaner or chenille stem is a type of brush originally intended for removing moisture and residue from smoking pipes. They can also be used for any application that calls for cleaning out small bores or tight places. Special pipe cleaner ...
, which may be moistened with strong
spirits
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
, is then run through the airways of the stem and shank to remove any moisture, ash, and other residue before the pipe is allowed to dry. A pipe should be allowed to cool before removing the stem to avoid the possibility of warping it.
A cake of ash eventually develops inside the bowl. This is generally considered desirable for controlling overall heat. However, if it becomes too thick, it may expand faster than the bowl of the pipe itself when heated, cracking the bowl. Before reaching this point, it needs to be scraped down with a reamer. It is generally recommended to keep the cake at approximately the thickness of a U.S.
dime (about 1/20 of an inch or 1.5 mm), though sometimes the cake is removed entirely as part of efforts to eliminate flavors or aromas.
Cake is considered undesirable in meerschaum pipes because it can easily crack the bowl or interfere with the mineral's natural porosity. Meerschaum also softens when heated so it is recommended to allow meerschaum pipes to cool before cleaning as people have been known to push pipe cleaners through the walls of heated pipes.
Regardless whether a pipe is cleaned after every smoke, over time there is a buildup of cake in the bowl and tars in the internals of a smoking pipe. The cake can be controlled by gentle reaming, but a buildup of tars in the shank and airway of a pipe is more difficult to deal with. This may require the services of a professional pipe restorer to properly clean and sanitize the pipe.
Sweetening
When tobacco is burned, oils from adjoining not yet ignited particles vaporize and condense into the existing cake on the walls of the bowl and shank. Over time, these oils can oxidize and turn rancid, causing the pipe to give a sour or bitter smoke. A purported countermeasure involves filling the bowl with
kosher salt and carefully wetting it with strong spirits. It is important to not use iodized salt, as the iodine and other additives may impart an unpleasant flavor. Regularly wiping out the bowl with spirits such as vodka or rum is helpful in preventing souring. Commercial pipe-sweetening products are also available.
See also
*
Bubble pipe
A bubble pipe is a toy shaped like a tobacco pipe, intended to be used for blowing soap bubbles.
Design
Bubble pipes are one of the original bubble toys, Most bubble pipes are made of plastic and therefore cannot be used for actual smoking. ...
*
Ceremonial pipe
A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremony, to make a ceremonial ...
*
Churchwarden pipe
A churchwarden pipe is a tobacco pipe with a long stem. The history of the pipe style is traced to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Some churchwarden pipes can be as long as 16 inches (40 cm). In German the style is ref ...
*
Kiseru
A is a Japanese smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, traditionally used for smoking ''kizami'', a finely shredded tobacco product resembling hair.
History
The word ''kiseru'' is said to have originated from the Cambodian word ''khsier'' aroun ...
*
List of notable pipe smokers
*
Pipe Smoker of the Year
Pipe Smoker of the Year was an award given out annually by the British Pipesmokers' Council, to honour a famous pipe-smoking individual. Initiated in 1965 as Pipeman of the Year by the Briar Pipe Trade Association, it was presented at a lunch in ...
*
Pipe tool
A pipe tool is a small gadget designed to aid in packing, tobacco smoking, smoking, and emptying a tobacco smoking pipe (tobacco), pipe.
There are three principal pipe tools: the tamper, the reamer, and the pick:
*The ''tamper'' is a blunt instr ...
References
Further reading
*
*
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.
External links
Pipedia: Comprehensive Online Pipe & Pipemakers EncyclopediaHungarian clay tobacco pipes
Tobacco Pipes
a
A History of Central Florida Podcast
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobacco Pipe
Pipe smoking