DixieTexian
Member
What about osage orange? There are a few pipe makers out there using it to make their pipes.
Period Pipes for Black Powder Shooters
- Thread starter DixieTexian
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DixieTexian
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G.L. Pease...just discovered that stuff.
Loyalist Dave
Member
NAVY FLAKE, or any other aromatic flake are correct blends and styles for as far back as the Revolution.
You can always carve what you like. Cherry, rosewood, whatever, but most folks used the plain, clay pipe with a long stem as they were very cheap, and the harshness of the tobacco was eased by the cooling distance afforded by the length of the stem.
Check with your local tobacconist, especially if they blend tobacco on site, and ask for straight Virginia, as it's used in many blends...., but often not sold alone. It is an American tobacco without adulterants.
LD
You can always carve what you like. Cherry, rosewood, whatever, but most folks used the plain, clay pipe with a long stem as they were very cheap, and the harshness of the tobacco was eased by the cooling distance afforded by the length of the stem.
Check with your local tobacconist, especially if they blend tobacco on site, and ask for straight Virginia, as it's used in many blends...., but often not sold alone. It is an American tobacco without adulterants.
LD
armoredman
Member
.38 Special, I live in a small town where the only place that has semi-decent tobacco is Safeway. the two "smoke shops" in this town are actually head shops, and thier pipe tobacco selection is pathetic, cheap garbage.
But I do love Cornell and Deihl 972 with a good beer.
But I do love Cornell and Deihl 972 with a good beer.
Clays are pretty fragile. I just looked at those pictures and recall that the last time I smoked a clay church warden, it was cheap. Not anymore.
They advertised them as coming from Devonshire england where the clay was particularly suited for them.
the corncobs I had were fairly unsatisfactory. Maybe I was doing something wrong but the literature suggested they would burn up or go bad after a few smokes.
st james perique was usualy used in small quantities to mix with virginia. Pretty strong stuff. I don't know how long latikea has been around but it's considered a winter smoke. Its cured over cedar fires and smells just like a brush fire. It generally draws a lot of complaints from the peanut gallery.
I had heard that in england it is illegal for some reason or another to flavor the tobaccos. when I was there, I found out that everybody was smoking Irish tobacco that was so heavily purfumed that it tended to get wet and go out. I let a local try out some raleigh aromatic that I brought with me and he considered it way too mild.
They advertised them as coming from Devonshire england where the clay was particularly suited for them.
the corncobs I had were fairly unsatisfactory. Maybe I was doing something wrong but the literature suggested they would burn up or go bad after a few smokes.
st james perique was usualy used in small quantities to mix with virginia. Pretty strong stuff. I don't know how long latikea has been around but it's considered a winter smoke. Its cured over cedar fires and smells just like a brush fire. It generally draws a lot of complaints from the peanut gallery.
I had heard that in england it is illegal for some reason or another to flavor the tobaccos. when I was there, I found out that everybody was smoking Irish tobacco that was so heavily purfumed that it tended to get wet and go out. I let a local try out some raleigh aromatic that I brought with me and he considered it way too mild.
sundance44s
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The Clay pipe I ordered from Dixie ..came in a wooden crate type box ..well protected from breakage ...I`ve never thought about givin it a smoke ...maybe I`ll give it a try ...seems like it wasn`t really too expencive ..I think around 12 bucks .
kBob
Member
Call me silly, but I just last night went through a collection of Mathew Bradey American Civil War photos in a book some one gave me.
I oonly found a few pictures of Union soldiers with pipes, 3 or 4, the phot quality being 1860's feild stuff make it hard to make out many details. Very thick cigars seemed about as common in those photos.
I did not see what appeared to be a long stemed clay pipe in any picture. One was a short pipe that looked modern and another seemed to be something like one might see in an old Sherlock Holmes movie.
I followed one of the links on this thread and the site spoke of pipes in late medievel times. What was smoked in those pipes?
My understanding is that tobacco is a new world plant and tobacco before 1492 in Europe would be found right next to the Tomato paste and baked potatos.
As I find other works I have with period photos in them I will keep looking at pipes as this topic is interesting. Perhaps books with studio portrates in them might have some decent photos of men showing off a favorite pipe as well as their military finery.
-Bob Hollingsworth
I oonly found a few pictures of Union soldiers with pipes, 3 or 4, the phot quality being 1860's feild stuff make it hard to make out many details. Very thick cigars seemed about as common in those photos.
I did not see what appeared to be a long stemed clay pipe in any picture. One was a short pipe that looked modern and another seemed to be something like one might see in an old Sherlock Holmes movie.
I followed one of the links on this thread and the site spoke of pipes in late medievel times. What was smoked in those pipes?
My understanding is that tobacco is a new world plant and tobacco before 1492 in Europe would be found right next to the Tomato paste and baked potatos.
As I find other works I have with period photos in them I will keep looking at pipes as this topic is interesting. Perhaps books with studio portrates in them might have some decent photos of men showing off a favorite pipe as well as their military finery.
-Bob Hollingsworth
sundance44s
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Corn cob and wood pipes are super easy to make. A section of cob or stick with a hole about 1/2" in diameter drilled longitudinally into it about 3/4 of the way through. Another smaller hole of about 1/4" dia. drilled in at a right angle to intercept the larger hole at its bottom. Find an old stick of whatever length you like and work the pith out with a wire. Shape ends into a mouthpiece and the other into a taper to fit the bowl. Once a char is setup on the inside of the bowl they should last for years.
marsofold
Member
Clay or home-made wood pipes expose the owner to the risk of being busted for suspected drug paraphernalia should they ever be seen by police. Keeping one in a car glove compartment would be the height of folly. A stop for speeding could turn into a nightmare. Not a chance worth taking.
armoredman
Member
Even with my modern well made pipes I get weird looks from co-workers, and the occaisional smirk, about "wacky tobacky", etc. Irritating.
They're far more enjoyable and cheaper than smoking cigarettes.
They're far more enjoyable and cheaper than smoking cigarettes.
We had a pipe smoking deputy here. He was the drug dog guy at the sheriffs department here and kept quite a bit of weed around the house for training purposes. He also liked to smoke it and would mix it with aromatic tobacco so he could do so in public without being detected.
The down side of all this was that the combination of the harsh smoke and the need to actualy enhale it gave him COPD.
He and the drug dog retired together to a rural acreage. One day a former deputy co-worker came by to visit and naturally, their conversation had the word "dope" in it quite frequently. Every time one of them said "dope", the retired drug dog's ears would fly up. Finally, the dog trotted off into the other room and came back proudly carrying a bag of dope.
The visiting deputy said " Dang it! I'm not going to do anything but you need to teach him some new commands."
The down side of all this was that the combination of the harsh smoke and the need to actualy enhale it gave him COPD.
He and the drug dog retired together to a rural acreage. One day a former deputy co-worker came by to visit and naturally, their conversation had the word "dope" in it quite frequently. Every time one of them said "dope", the retired drug dog's ears would fly up. Finally, the dog trotted off into the other room and came back proudly carrying a bag of dope.
The visiting deputy said " Dang it! I'm not going to do anything but you need to teach him some new commands."
kBob
Member
Last night I thumbed through "Uniforms of the Civil War" By Robin Smith & Ron Field from Lyon Press 2004 (Paperback) and found a photo of a pair of Union Boys smoking pipes on page 128. Of course there is no way to tell the material of the pipes from the photo, but they are slightly different one having a straight sided bowl and the other a rounded belly on the bowl. Both are of what apears to be a dark material with the begining of the stem the same color, what appears to be a metal band (lighter color) and then a darker stem/ mouth piece. The men are holding the pipes with their mouths and not hands.
THere is a photo on page 187 showing a group of Georgian Corn-fed-erates several of whom are smoking pipes, but between the smoke and the long exposure time/movement the pipes are hard to discribe. One appears straight stimmed and another a bow stem. The picture was ttaken in Macon Ga 10 May 1861.
Before anyone asks, No I do not post pictures from copyrighted material and you will have to look them up yourselves.
If the long stemmed clay pipes from colonial times were more common than more modern pipes in the ACW it seems odd that the few pictures I am finding are of more substantual pipes. On the other hand having a likeness made was a pretty big deal, an event where one might want to impress folks, so a more valuable pipe might be more likely to be seen than a common clay one. The field photos might be somewhat the same as they are almost uniformily staged.
Perhaps some one seeking a Master in history might choose to do an original paper on pipes of the War of Northern Aggression.
It seems that folks I have seen with a recognizable cigar tend to be officers. As pre rolled cigars would be fragile compared to a poke of 'baccy I would imagine them to be a good deal more expensive in the field. One pictured Confederate Company grade officer had a tightly rolled cigar not much greater in diameter than his finger. I wonder if the pictures of Union Field grade officers with very thick stogies might be a result ofthe cigar moving during the takeing of the photo. Or they could be that thick and just a tobacco pacifier, as I call the cigar my Brother in law is chewing on, un lit at any moment.
As a kid I worked in the Shade tobacco business, that is the type of tobacco used to make cigar wrappers before paper made from trash tobacco became common. The smell of an un lit cigar or pipe tobacco is still appealing to me though I do not smoke or chew or dip, or sniff, and don't care fro the smell of burning tobacco.
-Bob Hollingsworth
THere is a photo on page 187 showing a group of Georgian Corn-fed-erates several of whom are smoking pipes, but between the smoke and the long exposure time/movement the pipes are hard to discribe. One appears straight stimmed and another a bow stem. The picture was ttaken in Macon Ga 10 May 1861.
Before anyone asks, No I do not post pictures from copyrighted material and you will have to look them up yourselves.
If the long stemmed clay pipes from colonial times were more common than more modern pipes in the ACW it seems odd that the few pictures I am finding are of more substantual pipes. On the other hand having a likeness made was a pretty big deal, an event where one might want to impress folks, so a more valuable pipe might be more likely to be seen than a common clay one. The field photos might be somewhat the same as they are almost uniformily staged.
Perhaps some one seeking a Master in history might choose to do an original paper on pipes of the War of Northern Aggression.
It seems that folks I have seen with a recognizable cigar tend to be officers. As pre rolled cigars would be fragile compared to a poke of 'baccy I would imagine them to be a good deal more expensive in the field. One pictured Confederate Company grade officer had a tightly rolled cigar not much greater in diameter than his finger. I wonder if the pictures of Union Field grade officers with very thick stogies might be a result ofthe cigar moving during the takeing of the photo. Or they could be that thick and just a tobacco pacifier, as I call the cigar my Brother in law is chewing on, un lit at any moment.
As a kid I worked in the Shade tobacco business, that is the type of tobacco used to make cigar wrappers before paper made from trash tobacco became common. The smell of an un lit cigar or pipe tobacco is still appealing to me though I do not smoke or chew or dip, or sniff, and don't care fro the smell of burning tobacco.
-Bob Hollingsworth
theotherwaldo
Member
I've made clay pipes as a sideline when making pottery. Most were renfair dummies with unreeded stems that could not be smoked, but a few that I made for friends were reportedly good smokes.
I researched them a bit and found that the long-stemmed churchwardens were mostly found in inns, taverns, and eating places. They were loaners, allowing travelers to have a smoke with a meal or a drink, then the end was broken off when the pipe was used next. Some poor folks used the short remaining stub as their regular pipes but most used something else.
Churchwardens were reportedly still used in Civil War times by taverns and retailers but they weren't the carry pipes of field soldiers.
I researched them a bit and found that the long-stemmed churchwardens were mostly found in inns, taverns, and eating places. They were loaners, allowing travelers to have a smoke with a meal or a drink, then the end was broken off when the pipe was used next. Some poor folks used the short remaining stub as their regular pipes but most used something else.
Churchwardens were reportedly still used in Civil War times by taverns and retailers but they weren't the carry pipes of field soldiers.
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Many early-modern pipes (1830sish on) were of a military type. A military pipe was a two piece construction. The bowl was one piece and the stem another. The stem had a tapered metal shank that was press fit into the bowl. This allowed the pipe to be broken down for easy transport and there was less chance of snapping off the stem during field manuevers.
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