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How to Identify a Tobacco Pipe

Pipes for smoking tobacco became popular soon after the arrival of tobacco in Europe. Made out of clay, early pipes were fragile but inexpensive. As the art of pipe-making grew, construction materials and styles changed, but all pipes contained three basic parts; the bowl, where the tobacco is burned, the mouthpiece, where the smoker inhales the tobacco, and the shank, which connects the two. Modern tobacco pipes can be made out of a wide range of materials from wood to corncobs. Identifying tobacco pipes requires understanding the mechanisms required for pipe smoking, such as an identifiable bowl, shank and stem.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the pipe. Identify what the pipe is made of. Many tobacco pipes are made out of a dark, heat-resistant wood called briar that is grown along the Mediterranean coasts of Italy and France. Some are made out of meerschaum, an off-white soft stone mined in Turkey that turns yellow with use. In the United States, many pipe smokers will occasionally use pipes made out of corn cobs as a cheap pipe. Other pipe smokers prefer glass or steel pipes because they do not hold any flavor from previous tobaccos.
- 2
  Smell the pipe bowl. If the pipe has been used it will probably retain some scent of the tobacco smoked in it. While there are many types of tobacco available in many flavors, burned tobacco will leave a distinctive smell in the pipe bowl. However, not all pipe materials may absorb the tobacco smell. For example, glass and steel pipes are much less likely to smell of tobacco than a corncob pipe.
- 3
  Identify the parts of the pipe. Check if the pipe contains a bowl, stem and shank. On some pipes the bowl and shank are made out of the same material, or carved out of a single block of wood. Other pipes, like clay and glass pipes, may be one solid piece. Check the pipe bowl for leftover tobacco. As they are used, briar and other wooden pipes will develop a layer of charcoal in the bowl of the pipe. This layer is important in wooden pipes as it will help insulate the pipe from the burning tobacco. The layer may also hold some smaller pieces of unburnt tobacco when the bowl is tapped out after a smoker is finished with it.

Cigar Collecting