(Not Quite) All about Pipes
Tobacco pipes have been with us for centuries. The
Romans and Greeks copied the hashish pipes from Asia and the Middle
East. But the clay pipes in the early 16th century in Europe
were the first evidence of pipes made on a large scale for everyday use.
Smokers experimented with a vast assortment of materials indigenous to
their areas to make their pipes. Tobacco was native to South America,
but spread into North America long before the Europeans arrived, and
Native Americans smoked it in pipes ceremonially.
In the United States, materials that have evolved
into being the most common for making pipes are briar wood, meerschaum,
corncobs and clay. Briar, by far the most common, is cut from the root
burl of the heath tree native to the Mediterranean region. Briar is
resistant to fire, absorbs moisture, a byproduct of combustion, and has
a beautiful grain.
Meerschaum is a mineral found in small deposits near
the city of Eskisehir, Turkey. It is prized for the plasticity that
allows it to be carved into decorative and figural shapes. Meerschaum is
very porous and absorbs the tobacco color, which makes a well-smoked
golden colored pipe into a prized possession. Purchasers of used
meerschaum pipes should try to determine if it was carved from a block
of product, or merely made from the dust collected from carvings, then
mixed with an emulsifier and pressed into a pipe shape.
Corncobs are aged two years, hollowed out, dipped in
a plaster-based substance and then varnished after which pine shanks are
inserted into the bowl to make the finished product. These pipes are
inexpensive, but some pipe aficionados consider them uncouth as well.
Because they require no break-in period beginners often use pipes made
from corncobs, and some experienced smokers use corncobs for sampling
new blends of tobacco so flavors don’t taint a favorite pipe. Probably
the most recognized image of a corncob pipe is the one held by General
Douglas MacArthur (or Popeye or Frosty, depending on your frame of
reference).
Clay pipes are generally categorized into two
qualities. The low – made in a similar fashion as slip porcelain
poured into a mold - are porous and impart unwanted flavors to a smoke.
High quality clays are labor intensive, requiring beating all the air
out of the clay, hand rolling it before pouring it into the mold,
piercing it with a fine wire, and then carefully firing it. Most clay
pipes are unglazed. Clay pipes burn very hot in comparison to other
pipes, and are therefore difficult for many pipe smokers to use.
Another familiar style of pipe is the calabash, the
one that Sherlock Holmes is typically portrayed holding. That pipe is
made from a calabash gourd, and if the gourd is being grown specifically
for use in a pipe, the grower will hand-train the gourd by bending its
neck until it has nearly formed a semicircle. Calabash gourds generally
come from South Africa. Meerschaum bowls usually line the calabash
gourd. Because they are labor intensive to manufacture, calabashes have
become very expensive. To lower the cost many are made with exterior
wood like mahogany or briar, but are still called calabashes.
In reality Sherlock Holmes preferred harsh tobacco,
and would probably not have enjoyed the smoothness that the air chamber
beneath the bowl of a calabash created. Sherlock Holmes with a calabash
was merely a theatrical invention.
Tobacco used for smoking in pipes is carefully
treated and blended to achieve flavors not available in other tobacco
products. Many of them are blends of variously cured Burley and Virginia
tobaccos enhanced with spiced and/or fire-cured plants from Syria, the
Orient, or the Balkans. US blends are made of American Burley with
sweeteners and flavors that make them aromatic. English blends are
usually natural Virginia tobaccos enhanced with Oriental and other
miscellaneous tobaccos. |