Coolidge, Dawes, and the Lyon Pipe in the 1924 Campaign

[seacaptain]

I'm reading a biography of Calvin Coolidge, U.S. President from 1923-1929, and an interesting pipe related story was mentioned in reference to his 1924 running mate, Charles Dawes.
Dawes was an interesting man, accomplished in many fields. He was a businessman, diplomat, politician (known for his integrity), composer, and Nobel laureate. He was a colorful character once known as "Hell and Maria Charlie Dawes", and a bit of an eccentric who smoked a Lyon pipe.

I had never heard of a Lyon pipe before (also known as a Dawes pipe due to his fame), but sure enough, here it is in Pipedia: https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_Lyon_Pipe
It's similar to a Calabash pipe but appears to be "upside down" when smoking it, which I suppose appealed to Dawes' colorful nature.

I love discovering unexpected gems like this in historical narratives and hope you find it as interesting as I did.

 

[mso489]

Today he might enjoy a recumbent bicycle. I think it was in his first run for Congress, LBJ made political points mocking his opponent for his ruminative puffing of a pipe, though the opponent was actually a colorful kind of heroic cowboy figure in Texas history. LBJ would borrow a pipe from the crowd and imitate the guy seeming to think too much and too long.

 

[aldecaker]

Well, LBJ was not a nice man.

 

[papipeguy]

Dawes also wrote the melody for "All In The Game". Quite a talented guy.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I have two WDC Campaign pipes in my collection. It’s essentially a calabash and smokes well. They were well-made. The main downside to these pipes is the Bakelite orofic stem, which makes clenching just about impossible.
My first one was a challenging restoration. I expected that the bowl unscrewed, but it wouldn’t budge and I began to wonder if it was glued. On a hunch that it was glued by tar, I used fishing monofilament to essentially cut through the tar and freed the bowl. Inside was a horror show of tar, but it cleaned up beautifully.

 

[craiginthecorn]

Actually, it’s not quite an orific stem, but it is quite chunky. Here are a few photos of one of them.

 

[exbenedict]

That's a pretty nice looking pipe. I'd definitely smoke that if I owned one. I like the historical bent as well.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Ah, clever! I know what you're talking about Mike. :mrgreen:

 

[jpmcwjr]

What's the insert made of?

 

[npod]

Great post!

 

[mikethompson]

That is an interesting piece of history there. What an odd shaped pipe too.

LBJ would borrow a pipe from the crowd and imitate the guy seeming to think too much and too long

imagine a crowd of people today and finding a pipe to borrow

 

[craiginthecorn]

The insert is briar, AFAICT.
This article from rebornpipes.com does a great job of showing the pipe and consolidating the online articles.
One thing I noticed in the article is that the stem was definitely vulcanite. If mine are, they had shockingly little oxidation, if my memory serves me correctly. They had not been restored. Incidentally, my other pipe is more like the one in the article. Nickel band. Nicer grain. Stamp on the bowl.
Finally, the original patent called for a removable plug in the bottom of the pipe. I don't think a pipe like that was ever mass-produced.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Great info, and thanks, Craig.