Tobacco Leaves: Being a Book of Facts for SmokersBrennan, William Augustine
HistoryChristian
Tobacco Leaves: Being a Book of Facts for Smokers
Brennan, William Augustine
Tobacco
The Indian pipes were principally of clay and this material was used in
England for the first pipes made there and continued in sole use for about
250 years. From England it came to New England, with the first colonists.
The Spaniards of South America did not generally use pipes. Meerschaum as
a pipe making material was not known in Europe till 1723. It came about in
this way: There was then in Pesth (Austria-Hungary) an honest old
shoemaker, Karl Kowates, who, when he was not making or mending shoes,
made pipes. Count Andrassy was one of his pipe patrons. The Count while on
a mission to Turkey in 1723 was presented with a lump of meerschaum. The
lightness and porosity of the material suggested to him that it would be a
very suitable substance for a pipe bowl and on his return to Pesth he
handed the lump to Karl to make a pipe of it. It seems Karl made two, one
for the Count and one for himself. But Karl did more than that. The nature
of his shoe work made his hands waxy and he noticed that wherever the pipe
was waxed by his hands it turned into spots of clear brown color. He thus
discovered the coloring qualities of meerschaum. Karl's first pipe is
still preserved (it is said) at Pesth.
The new material became very popular and it spread from Austria all over
pipe-smoking Europe.
Wooden pipes do not appear to have come into use till the early part of
the 19th Century.
There is a good deal of interesting lore concerning early clay pipes into
which it is not proposed to enter here. It will be interesting, however,
to note that in William Penn's land transactions with the Indians, 300
clay pipes (probably English make) were one of the articles of barter.
The earliest clay pipe stems were about 9 inches long. The long stem pipes
with glazed ends were introduced about the year 1700 and were known as
"Aldermen." The pipe known as the "Churchwarden" with a very long, thin,
curved stem which was typical of a leisurable smoke did not come into use
till about 1819. In those days smokers did not commonly carry pipes around
with them. When a man arrived at an inn or tavern he ordered a pipe and
tobacco, just as he ordered his dinner. The "Cutty" or "Aberdeen" with the
short stem was, however, used by those who needed a pocket pipe.
It is very surprising how little changes the pipe has undergone. The
original pipe was a simple bowl and stem, and the best pipe today is a
plain bowl and stem; for although hundreds of devices and all kinds of
patents have been tried, the true smoker prefers the simple plain pipe
which offers no obstacle to the clear drawing of the smoke from the
burning tobacco.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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