Page 17 - TOB Magazine Jan/Feb 2013

38
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013
Pipes made of briarwood are not the only pipes
in town—or in your ideal material mix.
The vast majority of smoking pipes
are made of briarwood, so here’s
a little bit of knowledge about
them: briar pipes are what everyone
thinks of as the typical wooden smoking
pipe and they come from the tree heath
(the root ball of the tree), not the trunk.
But briar pipes are not the only pipes in
town, and as a pipe purveyor, you’d be wise
to consider expanding your knowledge
base—and your pipe mix—to cover those
made of more than just briar.
So what else is out there? In the wood
department, there are some carvers that
craft smoking pipes from cherry or tulip
wood, to name a couple, but they’re not
usually available commercially; you would
have to buy them from a custom pipe
carver.
So here’s a quick coverage of what’s
more commonly available:
Clay Pipe—Often seen in movies from
Colonial times, a clay pipe is one that
Ben Franklin would have smoked. At the
time, it was the only mass-produced pipe
a person could get. It features an unglazed
porcelain slip and is made through a
pouredmoldmuch like a porcelain teacup.
Clay pipes are known for the pure tobacco
flavor they allow to come through; they
do not impart any other flavor. They are
fun to smoke but have two drawbacks—
one, they are very fragile, and two, because
porcelain conducts heat very efficiently,
the bowl burns very hot. So you have to
hold a clay pipe by the stem, not the bowl.
Meerschaum Pipe—Made of a
mineral that is mined from the ground,
namely, hydrated magnesium silicate, a
meerschaum pipe is typically white with
an amber-colored stem, and usually with
intricate carvings because it is a very
easy-to-carve material. Meerschaum
pipes are quite popular and can range
in price from very affordable up to very
expensive—it usually depends on how
intricate the carvings are. If you want to
carry meerschaum, you need to look for
“block”meerschaum, which means it’s the
actual mineral as dug up from the ground.
Beware of very inexpensive meerschaum
pipes, which can be made from mineral
scraps, ground into a powder, and then
molded.These won’t be as sturdy and they
won’t smoke as well.
Corncob Pipe—People who smoke a
corncob pipe swear by them; they’re very
inexpensive, but they smoke very well
which makes them a very good value.
They actually are made from corncobs, the
cobs are dried for two years before they
are cut and made into a bowl. I would
strongly recommend any pipe retailer
have corncobs on hand,they are very good
sellers.
Calabash Pipe—Made from a gourd,
a calabash pipe always has a lining,
typically of meerschaum but sometimes
of porcelain.These pipes tend to be large
in size and can be expensive; they are
upper-end pipes. Because they have a
lining and are very large, calabash pipes
smoke very cool. The temperature of the
smoke has a chance to cool down due
to the air pocket between the lining and
the gourd. The calabash pipe is most
identified with Sherlock Holmes, but in
Sir Arthur ConanDoyle’s books,the well-
known character smoked a briar pipe.The
calabash pipe stuck with the identity of
the character after he was portrayed with
a calabash pipe in one of the first Sherlock
Holmes movies.
Metal Pipe—Actually, the stem is the
only metal part of a metal pipe. The bit
is acrylic and the bowl is usually made of
briar. The aluminum stem, available in a
variety of shapes, has a series of fins down
its length; they act as cooling fins. That’s
the whole idea of a metal stem. Another
plus is that the briar bowl is removable
if you burn through it and the bit can
be replaced if you break it. Metal pipes
are reasonably affordable and are perfect
for the everyday smoker. People that use
them love them.
Now you know a bit about pipe
materials and options beyond the most-
popular briar.These other pipes have large
followings and can be very affordable. It’s
always good to have a variety to offer pipe
customers. At the very least, a tobacco
store should have a selection of corncobs
and meerschaums in addition to its briar
patch. TOB
By Bill Doherty,
head of market development,
Daughters & Ryan
The Material World—Beyond Briar