Are Expensive Cobs Better?

[bullet08]

I grew up being able to see Big Tussle (Home of the Clampett family before Jed struck oil) from my bedroom window.

Vance Randolf and Walkin’ Preacher of the Ozarks Guy Howard and Laura Engels Wilder’s daughter visited my grandmother and I can remember them.

The business of profiting from hillbilly culture I’ve been exposed to all my life.

The real deal, bona fide, actual old time hillbillies of sixty or so years ago DID NOT SMOKE CORN COB PIPES where others could see them look like hillbillies.

I have never seen a man in public smoke a corn cob pipe on the street. Not ever one time.

When I was at college, I was leaving to go home to Humansville one Friday afternoon smoking a cob (for effect) and a well meaning, cheerful kid from St Louis saw me and said

Are yew a goin’ home to Hooterville with your corn cob pipe with your hillbillies?

And some girls he was with laughed

God forgive me, I grabbed that boy by his collar and said

My mother has supper waiting for me

Or I would mop this floor with you

And tears came in his eyes, he meant no harm, and I felt bad about embarrassing him

After that I only smoke a cob around other hillbillies like me, you know?

My redneck friends don't use tobacco at all. Something about health.

 

[OzPiper]

Yeah, I wasn't considering other brands of corn cobs, I think MM is great.
Was just wondering if it makes sense to pay say $35 for a higher tier corn cob vs a CG which can be had for $16.

Oh I can just picture this conversation repeated in 3 months time when you discover briars !

“Is a Dunhill at $Xxxx better than a basket pipe costing $20 from my local B&M ?”

Prices reflect the quality of materials and time&effort going into the product
And the looks, as well as the scarcity/demand for that maker’s pipes
But does not necessarily translate into smokeability

It comes down to what you are looking for in a pipe.
Are you just after a tobacco burning device ?
Or one that also looks decorative ?

And how much you are prepared to pay ?

 

[didimauw]

Those were always my favorite.

Yup!!

 

[newbroom]

I tend to chew those plastic stems, but I'm glad they're soft. I walk with my pipe in my mouth about 3 miles a day and I clench when I am computing.
There are a few details offered from model to model that are considerable. Pith or hardwood bottom? Acrylic or plastic stem. Natural or 'finished' stummel? and of course, size and weight. Also filtered or non.
The best starter pipe there is. The most reliable stablemate too.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

My fave mm pipes have always been their cheapest unplastered ones—the Eaton, the Missouri pride, and the unfinished Morgan. The one exception is the mini, which I don’t use except for fine strong shag cuts.

 

[ziv]

When I visited every worker in the factory except the head office secretary was paid minimum wage, and zero benefits.

This is sad. I've never thought of what it might mean for the workers, the fact that the company is able to sell their product for cheap. Thanks for the perspective!

 

[ziv]

Oh I can just picture this conversation repeated in 3 months time when you discover briars !

“Is a Dunhill at $Xxxx better than a basket pipe costing $20 from my local B&M ?”

Oh, 100%! This is the reason why I haven't purchased a briar pipe yet - I don't think my inner equipment junkie would be able to resist the temptation for too long. I think it's called the PAD in the pipe smoking community.

Prices reflect the quality of materials and time&effort going into the product
And the looks, as well as the scarcity/demand for that maker’s pipes
But does not necessarily translate into smokeability

It comes down to what you are looking for in a pipe.
Are you just after a tobacco burning device ?
Or one that also looks decorative ?

And how much you are prepared to pay ?

For now, pipe is just a tool for me - I don't care about how it looks. This might change in the future, of course.
And since it's a tool, the less expensive, the better, as long as it does the job?

 

[Briar Lee]

This is sad. I've never thought of what it might mean for the workers, the fact that the company is able to sell their product for cheap. Thanks for the perspective!

Although MM enjoys a total worldwide monopoly on quality corn cob pipes, the higher the price the fewer they sell.

There is no way they can mechanize the process any more than their great grandfathers figured out.

No way to reduce the price of cobs, which is negligible. Ordinarily the cobs are ground up and scattered on the fields using modern combines.

They don’t advertise much.

That leaves labor as the greatest cost of the product.

And the average industrial wage in St Louis is twice the minimum wage, plus there’s benefits in St Louis jobs.

 

[Searock Fan]

Are expensive cobbs better? Better than what?

 

[woodsroad]

Back when MM sold "seconds", I picked up two bags of ten. Cost me all of $1 each. They smoke just fine, and I don't get flustered if I misplace a few of them.

 

[woodsroad]

there’s benefits in St Louis jobs.

Jobs with benefits?
Like getting f*&#ked by the boss?
I guess that depends on who the boss is.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Better than what?

Your spelling?

 

[Copperhead]

Back when MM sold "seconds", I picked up two bags of ten. Cost me all of $1 each. They smoke just fine, and I don't get flustered if I misplace a few of them.

Yep, same here.

Some of them were iffy, but most were just fine. Overall, it was always a good deal.

 

[Copperhead]

I’ve visited the MM factory and personally seen the aged two years cobs funneled down a chute to the factory floor, where my fellow Missourians using ancient machines make each usable cob into a pipe.

The man who can’t be proud of Missouri after touring the factory at Washington might as well become an Arkansawyer or Jayhawker and leave!.

I lived about 30 minutes south of St. Louis, in Imperial.....I wish I would have visited the factory, I never realized how close it was.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I lived about 30 minutes south of St. Louis, in Imperial.....I wish I would have visited the factory, I never realized how close it was.

Please put your location in your Profile!
Why: It will save time for others when you mention local stores, weather, tobacco prices, availability, regulations, location of photos, wildfires, air quality, etc.
How: Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down.

 

[woodsroad]

Yep, same here.

Some of them were iffy, but most were just fine. Overall, it was always a good deal.

Yeah, the iffyness was mostly cosmetic. A few had chips out of them, uneven varnish, but I can’t see how buying something prettier would make for a better smoke.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yeah, the iffyness was mostly cosmetic. A few had chips out of them, uneven varnish, but I can’t see how buying something prettier would make for a better smoke.

Yes, indeed. And it comes down to what the individual thinks is
"better".

I get a better experience with my Ken Barnes hand made pipes than I do with with my Savenellis, Barlings, and Dunhills, etc. ..... but the smoke coming through the stem is the same.

 

[woodsroad]

Yes, indeed. And it comes down to what the individual thinks is
"better".

I get a better experience with my Ken Barnes hand made pipes than I do with with my Savenellis, Barlings, and Dunhills, etc. ..... but the smoke coming through the stem is the same.

That’s why I’ve shifted over completely to aluminum foil and beer can pipes.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Cost and brand affect the smoking experience less for me than hand feel and tobacco capacity of the pipe. Had MM not gone headshop, I'd consider their unfinished freehand one of the greatest pipes ever made.

 

[ziv]

Cost and brand affect the smoking experience less for me than hand feel and tobacco capacity of the pipe. Had MM not gone headshop, I'd consider their unfinished freehand one of the greatest pipes ever made.

I guess that's where the money is today?