Cob Pipes and the Class Thing

mso489 · Jul 30, 2018

People complain obliquely or directly about not liking to smoke corncob pipes because they look too lower class or rustic or whatever. I don't live in a class bubble, I don't think. I was an enlisted guy (lower level worker bee) in the Navy. After separation, when I got to grad school, wearing my denim jacket, a little old couple on the porch of a plain little house shouted at me, "Poor white trash!" Maybe they just didn't like denim? Still, I don't have any compunctions about smoking corncob pipes. They're colorful, folksy (yes), and their down-home aspect is a plus to me rather than an embarrassment. My dad who worked on LaSalle Street (Chicago's Wall Street) bounced back and forth between his suit and fedora and, on his weekends, a lumberjack shirt and sometimes a corncob pipe. How do you feel about smoking a cob in front of others? What's your perception of others smoking cobs? I like the aura of cobs enough that I'd have no problem smoking one in a suit or tux. It seems sort of flamboyant in a good way. What's your take?

techie · Jul 30, 2018

I'm a bit of an eccentric guy and have gone through some "interesting" phases in my life, and never cared too much what others think of me. I've gotten along with folks both low and high and can appreciate their tastes and preferences. I don't mind the look of a cob, though I don't think I'd get one for myself.
I doubt anyone would have criticized Gen. MacArthur - at least to his face.

brooklynpiper · Jul 30, 2018

Back home there's less presumption about that or any kind of thing, though I do know some Northerners (Michigan, Rhode Island, and New York, if we're doing the census) who said they'd never be caught dead smoking a cob.

brooklynpiper · Jul 30, 2018

If I had a friend wanting to try pipe smoking, I'd one hundred percent load them a bowl in my cobbit

The cobs are required reading along the journey if ya ask me

autumnfog · Jul 30, 2018

It depends on the setting.

On one hand corn cobs makes me think of Mark Twain, General MacArthur, Mississippi wilderness, Popeye, farmers resting after a day of hard work etc and those associations are appealing.
On the other they are sometimes seen passed around amongst hippie types.

At least in my country they are often regarded as pot smoking devices, and that gets to me.

I'm strongly opposed to cannabis and everything around and about it.

jaytex1969 · Jul 30, 2018

It was good enough for Samuel Clemens!
It fits my proletariat disposition quite well, although I do smoke mostly briar.

techie · Jul 30, 2018

Being new to all of this, when I first saw a cob it was the aesthetics I didn't care for, until I saw some of the MM ones with the blackened exterior and nicer bent stem. I would gladly smoke one of those, only because I like the way they look. After more reading I get the impression that a cob can add a touch of "flavor" to whatever you're smoking, so that tends to now give me pause.

Chasing Embers · Jul 30, 2018

No issue with them here. I smoke them for all ocassions.

homewaters · Jul 30, 2018

I have a few higher end pipes in my collection but cobs are always in the regular rotation. I like the way they smoke certain blends. As far as what others think if they see me smoke a cob, I couldn’t care less! Also, like briars, I find they don’t all smoke the same. I have one in particular that gets smoked very often while some others stay on the rack. One thing I did that greatly improved the way they smoke (in my opinion) is I raised the bottom using pipe mud and shaped the chamber nice and round to line up perfectly with the draft hole.

aldecaker · Jul 30, 2018

I smoke my cobs everywhere that I feel comfortable smoking a pipe at all. Being perfectly honest, my classism rests in what I think is the middle of the spectrum, where the solid, hard-working, blue-collar types reside.
By the way, that "poor white trash" comment goes to show even a cute little elderly couple might deserve a punch in the throat from time to time. :rofl:

sablebrush52 · Jul 30, 2018

I smoke cobs from time to time, and take them with me when traveling. They do a good enough job with most of my blends and if one should meet with an untimely travel related accident, it's a minimal loss. I usually take a cob or two with me to the WCPS. They're not a replacement for a briar, nor a meer, but on their own, they're quite capable smokers.
Classism runs in many directions and it's a sign of intellectual and/or emotional deficiency on the part of its practitioners. Use and enjoy whatever works.
Think I'll go smoke some Haddo's in a cob.

warren · Jul 30, 2018

Some only use the pipe as an affectation and worry only about how they look to others. And, some here judge other members by what they smoke, pipes and/or blend, even what lighter they use or how they maintain their smoking tools. It's the mix that makes the board interesting. Some are judgmental of others, others fret about their own appearance and some just smoke their pipes not giving a whit about opinion or biases in others. It's the company of the later I prefer. So, bring on the cobs, apple wood, briar, etc.

aldecaker · Jul 30, 2018

"Classism runs in many directions and it's a sign of intellectual and/or emotional deficiency on the part of its practitioners. Use and enjoy whatever works."
Yep. There's two groups out there. People who practice instinctual classism to one degree or another, and blatant liars.

Chasing Embers · Jul 30, 2018

This thread inspired today's choice for work. HH Burley Flake in a 2015 reverse calabash.

3rdguy · Jul 30, 2018

Cobs and meer are my main smokers. Just great smokers. In my opinion they top briar in both function and being affordable.If all pipe smokers were blind would cobs be the top dog?
Yet briar pipes draw people into the hobby not a damn cob! They look better most would agree. You can get a lot more shapes, colors and fancy names! Briar is marketing 101. I own and will be buying more briar but honestly they are for looks and I will baby them the best I can.

olkofri · Jul 30, 2018

Being someone who prefers class market over mass market, I do believe they look rustic. I would mind smoking one whilst wearing a suit (though I've done that once, but I was alone in my car). I have a number of them and they're part of my rotation, but in terms of class I prefer briar.

jaytex1969 · Jul 30, 2018

I judge people based on their pipe cleaners...

seldom · Jul 30, 2018

When I was too young to smoke, I smoked a corncob pipe and some convenience store tobacco that a slightly older (and old looking for his age) friend would buy from the foreign owner. It was a naughty thing to do, wading through streams fishing in cut-off jeans, barefoot or in old tennis shoes/sneakers, while smoking a pipe alone in the woods. For me there is a bit of nostalgia in a corncob pipe.

Almost all of my smoking is done alone (well, alone with the dogs) and I really don't give a hoot what anyone thinks of it because people rarely see me. I like the buzz and I like the taste and I like that it slows me down a bit to enjoy the aesthetics of my surroundings. And corncobs are certainly a bit of Americana.

On the other they are sometimes seen passed around amongst hippie types.

At least in my country they are often regarded as pot smoking devices, and that gets to me.

I find that odd. I don't associate corncob pipes with marijuana smoking at all. I think corncob would be ill suited for that purpose. Marijuana pipes tend to be glass or metal. I think a corncob would burn out pretty fast using it to smoke pot.

hoosierpipeguy · Jul 30, 2018

I smoke whatever I want and it is based on my own likes. I think cobs smoke fine but not great. I seriously doubt most people care what anyone smokes and the whole deal of class or snobbery is, by and large fantasy, not reality.

olkofri · Jul 30, 2018

I find that odd. I don't associate corncob pipes with marijuana smoking at all. I think corncob would be ill suited for that purpose. Marijuana pipes tend to be glass or metal. I think a corncob would burn out pretty fast using it to smoke pot.

Perceptions vary regionally; and people who don't know anything about smoking in general might be more easily influenced by perceptions/misconceptions. Even my local tobacconist said that my Vauen Quixx looked like a pot pipe, even though he obviously knows it ain't. I can only imagine what the ignorami think when they see me smoking it and can't get the whiff of the leaf burning in it.
Heck, for a certain portion of the population, nowadays, hearing the word 'pipe' gets them thinking of dope. I once mentioned to a classmate, as we were working on a project in the lab, that it sucked that I couldn't smoke my pipe in the lab. He immediately started talking about pot (respectfully, you know, this Canadian thing about being nice); I immediately disabused him with an unapologetic "I don't touch that shit! I smoke only brown leaf!"

Cob Pipes and the Class Thing

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