Description

Small straight stem clay smoking pipe with classic period design and bowl. The small sized pipe was a popular item for the soldier on campaign. Easy to carry and not as prone to breakage, the smaller bowl, easy to pack and quick to light, allowed for a short invigorating smoke when a brief marching break was taken – without the loss of any precious tobacco between smokes when any excess fell out of the larger bowl. These were often marketed to soldiers along with the diminutive liquor flasks also sometimes know in the soldier’s vernacular as “last rites flasks”. The stem and bowl are made to look like an unrefined piece of a tree with knobs here and there made to look like cut off branches. A simple and common mass produced design made to appeal to the rustic manly image, still a step above the plain or non descript. Overall length is 3 1/2″. Each piece bears the period label of S. Rosenfeld & Sons, Baltimore, a documented dealer in such goods. (unused original pipes we have examined, like many other period items, have born a such a pasted dealer/seller label as opposed to the actual maker) These pipes are made in Germany by a family firm who relatively recently discovered the original molds for the pipes which have been in the family, some for over two centuries. The kiln fired pipes are made on the original molds utilizing the original rolled clay process. These are not the more fragile poured slip mold pipes, much more cheaply produced and most often seen on the market today. They are made of rolled clay pressed into the molds and the result is considered a better, cooler smoking pipe with a longer life. They are distinctly identifiable as the surface of the pipe is not quite as smooth as the slip pipes with occasional surface imperfections. The black pipes are also made with a traditional process which takes the white clay pipe through an additional step giving it the black color. The white ones were sometimes hand painted to personalize or add detail we leave that to you.