Clan Cob Unite!
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If I were being perfectly honest with myself I would never smoke anything but Cobs, the standard Missouri Meerschaum 80 cent plastic stems have the best internal air channel design of any pipe at any price (equal to the best custom made stems), and using Briar for the smoking chamber doesn't improve on the functionality of a pipe in any meaningful way over smoking a Cob.
I do like the look of a good sandblast though.
I do like the look of a good sandblast though.
Missouri Meerschaum has always made some of the biggest pipes imaginable: MacArthur Classic Natural Bent Corn Cob Pipe - CornCobPipe.com - https://corncobpipe.com/product/macarthur-classic-natural-bent-corn-cob-pipe/
I own a MacAurthur, and I wonder if Dugout Dave actually smoked his or just used as a prop.
The bowl is very tall to actually use, without a lot of tamping.
My favorite type of MacAurthur is the General. It’s nearly half the price and the same diameter, with a more useable chamber height.
Again, at the Missouri Meerschaum museum they have a wonderful exhibit on the MacAurthur model. Always a publicity seeking prima donna, Mac discovered one of his staff was from Washington Missouri and his trademark long cob pipe was developed specially for him, through his adjutant working with the folks back home at MM.
It was, and remains a good seller.
MacAurthur’s nemesis was the Man From Independence, a stern non smoking Baptist, the opposite of the flamboyant general. But Harry was quite popular in Missouri, especially after he ended the Second World War without having to invade Japan.
My grandmother Ma Agee loved Harry as much as she hated FDR, and that was quite a bit. You might too, if you had sons waiting to invade the Japanese home islands, who came home instead.
But Harry never had a cob pipe made in his honor,
Visit MM if you can. It’s worth the trip.
The bowl is very tall to actually use, without a lot of tamping.
My favorite type of MacAurthur is the General. It’s nearly half the price and the same diameter, with a more useable chamber height.
Again, at the Missouri Meerschaum museum they have a wonderful exhibit on the MacAurthur model. Always a publicity seeking prima donna, Mac discovered one of his staff was from Washington Missouri and his trademark long cob pipe was developed specially for him, through his adjutant working with the folks back home at MM.
It was, and remains a good seller.
MacAurthur’s nemesis was the Man From Independence, a stern non smoking Baptist, the opposite of the flamboyant general. But Harry was quite popular in Missouri, especially after he ended the Second World War without having to invade Japan.
My grandmother Ma Agee loved Harry as much as she hated FDR, and that was quite a bit. You might too, if you had sons waiting to invade the Japanese home islands, who came home instead.
But Harry never had a cob pipe made in his honor,
Visit MM if you can. It’s worth the trip.
F
fMf Piper
Guest
I am a new pipe smoker, and so far I have only smoked cobs. My first pipe was a MM Diplomat 5th Ave, and I liked it so much, I ordered a Mark Twain and a Country Gentleman to add to my now growing collection. I appreciate the beauty of Briar pipes, and I am not ruling out that I will own one, or more, someday. However, for now, I really like my simple, inexpensive, unpretentious cobs.
I love them. This is the one of mine that saw the most use, perhaps of all of my pipes in general (although mine just have the normal black plastic stems):
I’m not a big LOTR fan, or anything, but it just seemed to have the perfect bowl for my style of smoking, and I was finishing a BS (online) while I was smoking a lot, so it was down and out of the way of my view of the computer screen. Kinda grew on me and became the daily.
I’m not a big LOTR fan, or anything, but it just seemed to have the perfect bowl for my style of smoking, and I was finishing a BS (online) while I was smoking a lot, so it was down and out of the way of my view of the computer screen. Kinda grew on me and became the daily.
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You can also make your cobs pretentious if you buy an expensive stem for it (which IMO ruins the best feature of the Missouri Meerschaum smoking pipe, the injection molded plastic stems are brilliantly designed).I am a new pipe smoker, and so far I have only smoked cobs. My first pipe was a MM Diplomat 5th Ave, and I liked it so much, I ordered a Mark Twain and a Country Gentleman to add to my now growing collection. I appreciate the beauty of Briar pipes, and I am not ruling out that I will own one, or more, someday. However, for now, I really like my simple, inexpensive, unpretentious cobs.
F
fMf Piper
Guest
Yes. In 1950 Dr. Marcus S. Zuber, an agronomist from the University of Missouri, developed a hybrid called Pipe Corn No. 14. According to Richard Carleton Hacker, in his The Ultimate Pipe Book, "The hybrid cob is larger, longer and stronger than your standard garden variety vegetable, and its fibers are so high in wood content that it takes a carbide-tipped saw to cut through them. The hybrid cob is grown by selected farmers in the rich, fertile lowlands that surround the town of Washington. The corn is grown strictly for the cobs they will produce and the small white kernels of the hybrids are regarded as a by-product (they are routinely sold off to companies who grind them up into cornmeal for tortillas). It is the thick, sturdy corncobs which provide the real income for this area. Each fall they are harvested and trucked to the same old red brick building that has been the home of Missouri Meerschaum since 1872. Once inside, the cobs are "de-kerneled" and piled in a ventilated storage area where they are aged for about two years, a curing process that gradually gives them the density of fine grained hardwood. At the end of this period, the cobs are taken from the storage bins and sliced into various lengths for pipe bowls. An average cob will yield two standard sized pipes..."
Just got signed up to the Cob Clan courtesy of Dave (@Ahi Ka ) who generously sent me this.
Alcohol soak overnight.
Ready to be loaded up this afternoon
Alcohol soak overnight.
Ready to be loaded up this afternoon
I smoked them almost exclusively my first year of pipe smoking. I still smoke them but very rarely. After purchasing a couple of Savinellis and meerschaums they fell out of favor on my rack. Nothing wrong with a cob though they smoke well enough.
F
fMf Piper
Guest
They do still make them. Patriot Corn Cob Pipe – Missouri Meerschaum Company - https://corncobpipe.com/product/patriot-corn-cob-pipe/
I have been considering getting one to add to my growing collection.
I hope you meant you soaked yourself in alcohol overnight mate
fMf Piper wrote:
Thank-you for the link. Unfortunately, this pipe has an angled stem, whereas mine have straight stems, which I prefer.
Thank-you for the link. Unfortunately, this pipe has an angled stem, whereas mine have straight stems, which I prefer.
Here in the UK, you rarely see anyone smoking a pipe. Being in central London, I probably see more than most (I saw one today, and before that two weeks ago in St Albans, London's nearest other city). There was a time though, when one would see pipe smokers much more regularly. But what I have never seen, is someone smoking a corn cob. Briars, always and only. Are corn cobs something you guys would see people smoking in America? Like, what are the chances of a pipe smoker, smoking a cob? Did dads, uncles, grandads, smoke cobs?
Smoking is becoming less and less public in the USA, so the social aspect has very much dwindled and vanity is almost absent from it in the daily execution. Either go hide in the back alley and get your fix, or wait to enjoy your pipe at home. That being said, I know three other people that smoke cobs... however, it was me who gave each of them their first one. From other smokers, the reaction is usually as follows,
"Is that an actual corn cob? I didn't know that was a real thing?"
Most people think of them as props for snowmen and nothing more these days. My personal mission is to educate them otherwise
I really enjoy my Country Gentleman MM, ordered a few more from MM of different types but now I just want more Country Gentleman. Cool Smoke, easy to clean, pretty lightweight and I think it looks great. I do enjoy briar pipes as well and have no experience with meer or clays still relatively new pipe smoker (1 year). I like the idea of loaner cobs for my cigarette smoker friends who come over and let them borrow one for the night, send it home with 'em if they really like it.
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better then a rich hillbilly. They're the scary ones.