U.S.A. Tobacco Pipes

[mso489]

Are U.S. made pipes under-marketed in the U.S.? We all love our Italian, English, Danish,

Irish, French, and other international pipes. And I don't mean to slight the great traditions

of Missouri Meerschuam, Kaywoodie, Dr. Grabow, Yellowbowl, Bentons, and other U.S.

pipes. It just seems to me that you don't see the U.S. pipes much in pipe shops, pipe shows,

or online. Kaywoodie and Grabow are offered online, but the selection is limited. The U.S.

is represented on my pipe rack by artisan pipes, mostly by one carver, and I have my two

MM cobs, of course. (Went to school in Missouri and my wife was born there and we

travel back to see family.) One of the biggest pipe factories in the world is supposed to

be in Western N.C. (Sparta, I think) but I wouldn't know it from pipe stores or pipe sites.

What gives? Do most U.S. pipes go overseas? Are they sold in some other region of the

country? Can anyone shed any light? I think U.S. artisan pipe carvers are doing beautiful

work and are right in there with Europeans (UK and Ireland, etc.). But what about the

high volume makers? I am mystified. It really piques my curiosity.

 

[cigrmaster]

mso, it is probably like many industries where the cost of doing business is much higher here in the US so most pipe mfgs produce their mass marketed pipes in the countries where labor is cheaper. Stanwell recently moved their factory to Italy to save on labor costs.
American artisans on the other hand are doing very well from what I see. They are producing some of the best pipes in the world and are giving the rest of the world's carvers a run for the money. Many US carvers are priced reasonably there are of course some that are too high as seen by the fact their pipes sit on retailers shelves unsold for long periods. The most notable example that I see is Michael Linders pipes. He has well over 35 unsold pipes at different retailers all over the world. This means his prices are simply too high. He has 17 at smokingpipes, 11 at P&C alone. I have heard he makes a great smoking pipe but when I can buy a better looking Rad Davis sandblast for half of what a Linder costs, to me it is a no brainer.

 

[judcole]

Let's face it, there are very few American machine made pipes to compare with the likes of Stanwell, Savinelli, and Peterson. Yello-Bole, Medico, and Dr. Grabow are all low-end pipes. Then, as Harris pointed out, there are many fine American craftsmen doing handmade pipes. But what's in-between? What American made pipes are there between $40 and $150, which is where the Europeans have lots of pipes? Is there anyone but the higher end Kaywoodie?

 

[zonomo]

Well, just try to land a Boswell and that may tell you something about American pipe makers. They're dang hard to get and dang fine pipes.

 

[mso489]

rothnh, I guess you may be right, they just don't make that many pipes in the U.S., other than hand-carved.

I had the impression some of these little shops (and not so little shops) in out-of-the-way places in the

U.S. were making a gazillion pipes but marketing elsewhere. But since they don't even turn up online,

you are probably correct that the production is small.
I think Iwan Ries still features house pipes, stamped Iwan Ries, mostly made by Benton, which I believe

produces pipes in Texas, in which case they uphold that old tradition of using domestic pipes as their

house brand. However, last time my wife ordered a Christmas pipe for me from Iwan Ries, it wasn't

stamped with their name and the only stamp was on the stem and it said Italy.
But I am still imagining all these nice mid-grade pipes being turned out in middle-America and getting

shipped to Indonesia or Idaho, somewhere I don't see them. Incidentally, Benton pipes sold by Iwan

Ries are sweet smokers, Chicago Dunhills I call them, only partly kidding. Some of the smooth finish

cooks off fairly early in their lives, but I like that. A matte finish and a bit of patina are beautiful.

 

[zonomo]

With globalization and the expanding equalization of the quality of life (at least in theory) of the industrialized nations, salaries here will drop here while they rise elsewhere

I think thats the master plan isn't it? Opps, did I say that out loud? Sorry.

 

[mso489]

Wow, do you mean that the IR house pipe I received for Christmas is a Sav? It is a really big bent

billiard and smokes well. If it's a Sav, what a buy!

 

[judcole]

Savinelli used to make "own label" pipes for a lot of pipe shops, as I understand it.

 

[brian64]

What gives? Do most U.S. pipes go overseas? Are they sold in some other region of the

country? Can anyone shed any light?

Manufacturing in the USA is all but gone, but we still have one very significant export: inflation. For every federal reserve note circulated inside the USA, appx 4 are circulated outside the USA. If/when the FRN ceases to be the reserve currency of the world, maybe we’ll have to start manufacturing again...but we’ll have to start from scratch...they’re literally bulldozing Detroit now.

 

[mso489]

It may just be the tobacco talking, but I an see one of these little fading small towns around the country

summoning together a crew including some young folks and patching together a pipe works and getting

into the running. The overhead could be zip in some of the abandoned store fronts or sturdy old houses,

and folks could start in their spare time. I guess I can hallucinate anything, but a few strong personalities

who are also pipe smokers might make it happen. Just a daydream? It's no mistake that some of the big

pipe retail sites are out of the way. Cup O Joes up there near the Adirondacks, and SPC in S.C. No one

can do this paying city rents and salaries.

 

[lonestar]

The return is just not there for the effort. Why would a small shop bust its butt to maintain expensive equipment and train highly skilled workers when they can order the same product cheaper from Italy ?

Why would the highly skilled craftsman stay in a small shop making a bare minimum hourly wage when he could market that talent on his own for substantially higher income ?

Thats the downward spiral I think most of these small shops have faced. The $40-$100 market is one thing alone; volume. Lots and lots and lots of pipes. That equals lots and lots and lots of work. In the end it may be 100% more difficult and 50% less profitable for a tobacco shop to produce its own line of pipes.

 

[mso489]

Lonesstar, ah the voice of reality. I guess the intrepid pipe people become carvers and sell their

work a dozen at a time, more or less, and don't try to organize the locals around a pipe factory.

Still, stranger things have happened. I admit my scenario is a fantasy, but perhaps not an

impossibility. 'Bunch of crazy young kids waiting for their garlic crop to come in and looking

for a project between weeding and chasing the chickens.

 

[aristokles]

Savinelli used to make "own label" pipes for a lot of pipe shops, as I understand it.

They still do. Our local Cigar Express chain just introduced their labeled (and stamped) "Klafter's" line - named for company's owning family, made by Savinelli.

 

[judcole]

Thanks, Ari. I wasn't sure if the practice still continued or not.