In recent years the popularity of pipe smoking has been on the rise. The reason behind this is that many people consider it to be a healthier option compared to the cigarette smoking. There are different types of carcinogens and tars present in commercial rolling tobaccos and cigarette, which is not found in the pipe tobacco. While cigarette smoking is considered to be addictive, pipe smoking is rarely done habitually. Rather its smoking is more ritualistic. Additionally, the collection of pipes can be passed down to the next generation as a valuable family heirloom.
A bowl type design is present in the pipe used for smoking tobacco. The pipe tobacco is placed in this bowl and smoked. Generally the materials used for making these bowls include clay, corncob meerschaum or briar. In the expensive varieties the bowls are crafted using the cherry wood, oak, mesquite, maple, or other rare hardwoods. It is said that a wood having denser grain is going to be the best choice to smoke through this type of tobacco. When pipes are crafted as artistic designs then generally soapstone or catlinite like material is used. Artisans are able to carve these materials into pipe bowls as well as design intricate details. Such pipes are works of art that immediately become the most wanted items for collectors.
Pipe tobacco is available in a wide range of flavors and forms. This allows individuals wanting to smoke it to create blends suitable to their specific tastes. This is why smoking through a pipe is so popular, because one can customize it according to personal preferences. Other than the flavors, pipe tobacco is cut into different shapes and lengths that help the person to have a smooth draw when smoking it. Compared to the cigarettes there is less fine cut in it and the tobacco offers more mellowed flavors. It is recommended that the tobacco should be kept in an airtight and sealed container otherwise it is going to dry very soon. If it dries out then it becomes unpleasant and harsh to the user.
There are a wide number of shapes that can be created by cutting the pipe tobacco. These shapes range from the ribbons to the small flattened cakes that can be further cut so that it fits into the pipe bowl. In one variety it is wound as a tight rope that is further cut into pieces for consumption. Generally, grounding by hand is used for the pipe tobacco. After that it is packed into the bowl in multiple layers. To maximize the airflow many users do such packaging by themselves, while others use a taper or tool to get the job done.
The experience of smoking pipe tobacco can be enjoyable and meditative for people who do so. There are so many flavors and forms of these tobaccos that it is easy for individuals to customize their experience according to personal preferences.
Evidence exists for tobacco pipes shows up first in 5000 BCE in South America. Around 2000 BCE, ancient Egyptian burials sometimes included tobacco and the accompanying pipes near the mummies. They included everything in their burial plot which they would need in the afterlife and apparently some wished to indulge in an afterlife of tobacco pipe smoking. Around 500 BCE, two millennia before any European explorers sailed across the Atlantic, Native Americans performed ritual celebrations with ceremonial tobacco pipes.
Hippocrates, a physician from ancient Greece in the 4th and 5th centuries BCE, utilized tobacco as a cure for female illness. Herodotus mentioned Scythians using tobacco in his 5th century BCE histories. Tobacco pipes spread from Greco-Roman cultures to Germanic, Celtic and Nordic tribes.
Christopher Columbus first mentioned tobacco in his journal in 1492. He says it was given as a gift which was later thrown away. He eventually carried the plant back to Europe, where it gained popularity, especially its medicinal properties. The royal family of France treated their headaches with it and spread its reputation across the country.
Tobacco eventually became used as currency in the New World colonies. Jamestown exported more than a million pounds to England annually. This was an especially useful commodity after John Rolfe figured out how to cure it in the 16th century and therefore kept it from spoiling on its long ocean trip.
In the 16th century, the first recorded tobacco protest took place in Switzerland. A law was established which banned smoking and citizens took vehement offense. Sailors in Norway and Denmark often keelhauled smokers they found on the ship. Capital punishment was administered by the Russians, Turks and Chinese governments when its citizens were discovered smoking. All the relevant countries which were previously against smoking changed their tune once they discovered how much could be made from taxing tobacco rather than fighting it.
Pipes were used before tobacco’s popularity to smoke cannabis in the Middle East and parts of Asia. Opium and tobacco were mixed together and smoked with tobacco pipes and resulted in the Opium Wars of 19th century China.
Early pipes were carved from wood, corncobs and various gourds. Chalk pipes arose around the 16th century. Eventually iron was mass produced for sailors. Meerschaum, a mineral of the Black Sea, became popular for tobacco pipes in the 18th century. The briar pipe came about in France in the 19th century.
Modern pipes of our own times can be manufactured out of a variety of materials or carved by master craftsmen. Antique tobacco pipes are a popular collector’s item and some have reached quite a high price in value. Pipes have many related paraphernalia. Vintage advertisements and tobacco tins are another popular collector’s item.
