Bent or Straight: Which came first and when?

[writingraav]

Does anyone happen to know whether briar pipes were first made as straight or bent? I thought I heard that straight came first. If so, when did bent pipes appear?

Thanks

 

[olkofri]

Hard to say. I read that the first briar pipe was made in St Claude as a replacement for a broken Meerschaum pipe. But the story doesn't say what shape it was.

 

[bnichols23]

Dunno, but logic would seem to think straights were first due to simpler to carve. I should pull out the Ehwa book & see if it says.