Christina Lehr adds textures to wooden stems at the Missouri Meerschaum Co. in Washington. These stems will be used in one of the company’s 35 varieties of pipes.
Eli Krewson walks through the Missouri Meerschaum Company’s third floor cob storage on Sept. 10 in Washington. Cobs are stored for roughly 2 years before they are dried out enough to be made into pipes.
More than 2,000 pipes are sold nearly evey day. All of these Apple Diplomat Corn Cob Pipes were made in September.
Christina Lehr adds textures to wooden stems at the Missouri Meerschaum Co. in Washington. These stems will be used in one of the company’s 35 varieties of pipes.
Eli Krewson walks through the Missouri Meerschaum Company’s third floor cob storage on Sept. 10 in Washington. Cobs are stored for roughly 2 years before they are dried out enough to be made into pipes.
More than 2,000 pipes are sold nearly evey day. All of these Apple Diplomat Corn Cob Pipes were made in September.
The Missouri Meerschaum Co. started making corn cob pipes in 1869, just four years after the end of the Civil War.
This niche business in Washington, Missouri, is the original and largest producer of corn cob pipes, and, as the legend goes, it may have invented them as well.
The company most definitely patented its method of producing corn cob pipes. For more than 150 years, it has used the same process to make durable, quality corn cob pipes.
Over the years, with ownership changes, the development of hybridized corn and the absorption of other corn cob pipe businesses, the Missouri Meerschaum Co. became the last producer of corn cob pipes in the world.
This may come as a surprise, but the company still sells roughly 2,000 pipes a day. About 30% are exported to countries around the world, including Germany, New Zealand, China, Indonesia and others.
“For all intents and purposes, we are the only corn cob pipe manufacturer in the entire world now,” said Phil Morgan, the general manager.
“We were the first, and now we’re the last.”
The Missouri Meerschaum Co. harvests and grows its own special kind of corn. Created with the help of MU researchers, the corn is bred to produce cobs that are larger and sturdier.
Morgan became general manager 12 years ago, during a period of uncertainty for the company. A bad harvest had rendered many of the cobs unsuitable for production.
The cobs were too short, too thin, hollow or otherwise not up to company standards, Morgan said. So just as he started his job, he had to deal with a sudden shortage of corn cobs.
“It was almost a five-year process to find out why the corn wasn’t right,” Morgan said. “We honestly didn’t know if we were going to be in business or not.”
Within those five years, two varieties of corn that were normally present in the hybrid variety were rebred and reintroduced. That restored the quality of the corn crop and allowed the company to gear up for a full harvest of cobs to turn into pipes.
But the aftereffects of this crisis have continued; the cobs must now dry for two years before they are ready to be shaped into pipes.
The process starts by shelling the corn in vintage machinery because newer machines are designed to break up the cobs rather than preserve them. The grain harvested during this shelling process is used to make whiskey and bourbon at the Pinckney Bend Distillery in New Haven.
Once the corn is shelled, the cobs are stored on the third floor of the factory for the two-year drying period. After that, they are cut and hollowed to make the bowl of the pipe. Each cob has the potential to make between one and three pipes, depending on the style of pipe and the cob itself.
Before the pipe is stemmed, the cob is reinforced with Tibbe’s 1878 patented “plaster of Paris” mixture. This coats the cob and seals the outer pores, which is the reason corn cob pipes last as long as they do.
The full construction process depends on the style of pipe being made. Certain machines can quickly and seamlessly prep a cob, but some pipes must be handmade on a lathe.
And with over 40 styles of pipes, the company has proved to be much more than a one-trick pony.
“There is an infinite variety of pipe tobacco and an almost infinite variety of pipes available,” Morgan said.
Sales were good prior to the pandemic, Morgan said, but they have since improved. Morgan attributed this to a robust website and the singularity of the product.
The primary setback during the pandemic has been the lack of available workers.
“Sales are really good, which means we need employees to keep going,” Morgan said.
Looking ahead, the company wants to develop luxury acrylic stems, Morgan said. Currently, many of its luxury pipes rely on stems imported from Italy, which has limited the number of pipes the company can produce.
Eli Krewson, manager of the company museum, said the mission is to reshape the public’s notion of a corn cob pipe. The Missouri Meerschaum Co. produces affordable handmade pipes that are easily on par with their non-corn cousins, he said.
“A pipe will last as long as you take care of it,” Krewson said. “People don’t realize the quality of corn cob pipes, and that’s something we’re trying to change.”
What: The Missouri Meerschaum Co.
Who: Phil Morgan, general manager
Where: 400 W. Front St., Washington, MO 63090
Contact information: 636-239-2109; pipes@corncobpipe.com
Details: Corn cob pipes in a variety of styles
The company offers a variety of pies from sweet to savory, including fruit pies, quiches and pot pies.
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