pipe tobacco

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Tavern Pipe

...you probably wouldn't have seen too many white folk with one. A major flaw in reproduction pipes is that they are not glazed. If anyone knows a potter, I am not sure if the process can be applied after one baking, or if it must be done before baking...the original is smoother and glossier.

The pipes pictured above are not the same style, the one on the left is finished Buckingham stoneware and the one on the right is bisque fired red earthenware; two entirely different clays, styles and periods.

Single fired clay isn't a reproduction flaw; unless several excavated examples in our type collection are also flawed. Earthenware and white kaolin* pipes were seldom if ever glazed.

Pipes come in hundreds of varieties, bisque fired and finished, glazed and unglazed, stoneware and earthenware (soft paste, terra cotta fall there) and Kaolin. They were made by the millions in America, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Great Britain. The list is endless, the topic is complex and one could devote an entire career and dozens of fora to the topic.

...and the old "snap the stem" thing is a myth.

...and please tell me what makes a pipe a "white folks pipe"?

* * * * *

*White kaolin pipes are vital tools in dating many historic sites.

[Rob Weaver]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Reed pipes are way under-represented and I'd recommend you go in that direction. (In fact, when I used to use one, I had several respected people ask me if it was period.) I'm with the camp the says the bowl need not be glazed. Originals don't seem to be, as neither are the clay pipes common to the 18th and 19th centuries. I think the long-stemmed "tavern" pipe was mildly old-fashioned by the 1860s. I don't think you'd see a young man of military age smoking one. The "break the end off so the next smoker can have a clean smoke" thing is a twentieth century story. The impurities don't collect in the soft clay at the end of the stem, as the story goes, and they simply weren't that interested in personal hygeine back then. The reason for the long stem is a better smoke. Burley and bright tobaccos burn hot and bite your tongue. Also, they leave an unpleasant taste in a short pipe. The longer stem cools the smoke a bit, making it a better smoke. Leave the reed on your reed pipe kinda long and you'll see what I mean. Smoking was a pastime in the 19th century, not something you did while doing other things, so a long stem isn't an annoyance. (I carry a "tavern pipe" when I do Revolutionary War. They are very fragile. I've had long pipes that became short pipes within 2 days of their purchase. They carried them in wooden cases, some of which are quite attractive. I carry mine in a reinforced box, but it takes up a long straight space in my knapsack, and I expect it to be broken soon as well. Just a little food for thought.)

[redleggeddevil]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Just to stir the pot further, there is some archaeological evidence that long-stemmed clay pipes were sometimes[U]intentionally[U] shortened, as the long stems show no bite marks. It seems to have been a class-based thing, with working men snapping their pipes off short for easier transport.

Washington Irving refers to this (jokingly, I admit) in his "Knickerbocker's History of New York", contrasting the "short-pipes" (artisans and tradesmen) and the "long-pipes" (upper-class gentlemen).

[mtvernon]

Re: Tavern Pipe

I have been accustomed to packing a clay pipe to each event, and in the three years I've done this, I've gone through three pipes. It seems to me that even though there is plenty of evidence that these pipes were used, their lack of durability seems to point to a lack of utility for campaigning both then and now. On the other hand, I still have the clay pipe I started with. While unwieldy and far from my best-smoking pipe, it still gets the job done, and I have to think that the average soldier would be more interested in the pipe that would survive the vagaries of wartime than one that could pass muster. I enjoyed this thread for sort of drawing that question into sharper focus.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Just to stir the pot further, there is some archaeological evidence that long-stemmed clay pipes were sometimes[U]intentionally[U] shortened, as the long stems show no bite marks. It seems to have been a class-based thing, with working men snapping their pipes off short for easier transport.

Do you mind sharing this evidence with me? I work within the archaeological record hourly and I have never seen a class distinctive pipe stem. Any of you stem-snapping theorists ever seen a lip tool? If a stem was broken and the pipe was still being used the lip was "re-rounded" with a little gadget to make it more palatable.

Washington Irving refers to this (jokingly, I admit) in his "Knickerbocker's History of New York", contrasting the "short-pipes" (artisans and tradesmen) and the "long-pipes" (upper-class gentlemen).

A vague literary note does not define class. If you or Irving want to contrast clay with burl and mineral then affordability can be addressed. Clay pipes were cheap as dirt, regardless of stem length, the setting they were smoked in and the century they were used. The tobacco itself held class rank but that was a two hundred years before our period of focus.

[redleggeddevil]

Re: Tavern Pipe

The reference to deliberately broken pipe stems comes from, if I recall correctly, a study cited in "The Battle For Christmas" by Stephen Nissenbaum (I'm at work and cannot access my library).

As for the reference from Irving, I believe his intent was to suggest that working class men smoked pipes with shorter stems (more convenient for use in their daily pursuits) while upper class men had the luxury of smoking longer pipes. This doesn't mean the pipes themselves were materially different, but that different classes of people adapted them to their needs.

[theknapsack]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Check out this long stemmed pipe from the LOC. I'd load the TIFF image but my computer can't handle that right now.

[Petersburg, Va. Group of Company B, U.S. Engineer Battalion; wagons in background].

CREATED/PUBLISHED
1864 August.

SUMMARY
Photograph from the main eastern theater of war, the siege of Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865.

NOTES
Reference: Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 / compiled by Hirst D. Milhollen and Donald H. Mugridge, Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1977. No. 0381

Title from Milhollen and Mugridge.

Forms part of Selected Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 (Library of Congress)

MEDIUM
1 negative : glass, wet collodion.

CALL NUMBER
LC-B817- 7647

REPRODUCTION NUMBER
LC-DIG-cwpb-04104 DLC (digital file from original neg.)
LC-B8171-7647 DLC (b&w film neg.)

SPECIAL TERMS OF USE
No known restrictions on publication.

PART OF
Selected Civil War photographs, 1861-1865 (Library of Congress)

REPOSITORY
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

[FlatLandFed]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Nice collection of blouses/coats in that photo, too ... thanks for sharing.
Paul Hadley

[PanzerJager]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Here’s an enlargement of the man with the long pipe stem.

Regards,

[crabby]

Re: Tavern Pipe

You know several of the "Approved" vendors also carry clay pipes, they even deal in 19th century items vs. 18th century items.

We do carry a limited supply of clay pipes, at reasonable prices, check our web page for some of the selections.

[Slouch]

Re: Tavern Pipe

very cool picture posted above. I'll note that is a very long stem, but it is not a tavern pipe. That is a reed stem in a clay pipe similar to the ones pictured in the previous post.

Mike

[John-Owen Kline]

Re: Tavern Pipe

I hope Garrison chimes back in here, I'll bet that long reed is in fact a willow stem.

I'm not sure if Nissenbaum's text or references can be considered an archaeological source.

[woodreb]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Hi,
The pipe the engineer is smoking is a meerschaum, with a long cherry-wood(most common) stem, probably a horn bit.

Regards,
Randolph Ubben
CVG, Co. B

[Slouch]

Re: Tavern Pipe

allow me to correct myself. It is not a clay stem, but one made out of a woody plant material:wink_smil

[27thNCdrummer]

Re: Tavern Pipe

Mr.Crabb.
Do you have any of the reed stemmed clay pipes? I only saw all clay pipes on your site.