50
TOBACCO BUSINESS
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013
The world’s oldest
corncob pipe
manufacturer is back
in growth mode.
By Jennifer Gelfand
I
magine this: you’re a happily
retired
Certified
Public
Accountant with an on-again,
off-again penchant for pipe smoking.
One night, while you’re reading the
newspaper, you spot an ad for a general
manager position leading the most
prominent business in your area—the
Missouri Meerschaum Company. You
aren’t seeking work, but this particular
job intrigues you.
That, in a nutshell, is how Phil
Morgan found himself charged with
running the Missouri Meerschaum
Company, the famed Washington,
Missouri manufacturer of tobacco-
smoking pipes.“I wasn’t actively looking
for work, but this was a 144-year-old
company with a great heritage as the
world’s oldest and largest manufacturer
of corncob pipes,” he says. “It was very
attractive.”
Building on a Legacy
Morgan joined Meerschaum in 2008
at a pivotal time in the company’s long
Missouri Meerschaum:
Keeper of the Corn
