Stem'd My 1800's Trade Pipe

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organizedmadman

Can't Leave
Nov 8, 2011
313
0
40
Louisville, Ky
I came across some bamboo reeds (sold as tomato stakes) on sale at work. I decided to make a period accurate stem for my 1800's trade clay pipe.

Here it is hollowed out and sealed at the shank with beeswax.




I loaded it with some burley and lit it up for the first time in over 150 years.

Somewhere, I hope the previous owner is smiling down.

 

johnnyreb

Lifer
Aug 21, 2014
1,961
612
Great job! Good on you for firing it up too. I like to have pipes like that to be smoked on special occasions and are usually wall hangers the rest of the time. I call them my ceremonial pipes.

 

organizedmadman

Can't Leave
Nov 8, 2011
313
0
40
Louisville, Ky
It was kind of surreal filling it and lighting. It smoked as clean as any clay, but didn't get as uncomfortably warm as the thinner white ones. I will be displaying it in a place of honor, to smoke only when I have been a good citizen to my fellow man, when I've done something to deserve smoking a pipe owned someone who helped build the world we live in today.

The pipe doesn't look as if it's ever been smoked, but it had to have belonged to someone at one point.

Maybe this gentleman, who knows?
e2da92e2fcfadb9714576c7f7eb95b1b_zps2fcb46c6.jpg


Scrolling down a bit on this page shows more pipes like mine, and some fascinating history behind them.

http://www.ramshornstudio.com/pipe_.htm

I was given this one as a birthday gift by a friend/coworker, but I'd love to dig one up myself one day!
[update] here's something I just found on that page:

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/38942/1/mold_marks.pdf

My pipe looks like figure 'b' and has the + mold mark in the base:
A85E63DE-4C5E-4388-B12F-8C90AB6F4BE8_zpsv9aliuxe.jpg


 

johnnyreb

Lifer
Aug 21, 2014
1,961
612
Great philosophy you have on how & when to smoke it! I like that. I have some ceremonial & family pipes that only get lit once a yr.

 

wardrum

Might Stick Around
Sep 23, 2011
60
0
That's a good idea for a stem. I have a clay pipe my grandfather and I dug up with an Indian Gorget while digging a new sewer line in his backyard (in Ohio). He kept the Gorget and gave me the pipe. I have never smoked it because it doesn't have a stem.

 

johnnyreb

Lifer
Aug 21, 2014
1,961
612
"Did the beeswax melt or soften considerably when you smoked it?"
Not to answer for the OP, but if beeswax gets hot enough to soften or melt when it cools it somewhat re solidifies and gets sticky. That's been my experience with the sticks of pure beeswax you can buy anywhere they sell canning supplies.

 

buster

Lifer
Sep 1, 2011
1,305
3
For those interested this site has similar pipes for $12. I have been meaning to order a few, but I have been buying some estates on ebay. So I have not yet placed an order.
Check them out.
http://shop.pipeshoppe.com/product/antique-pamplin-clay-bowl-reed-stem/

 
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