Missouri Meerschaum

The beginning Missouri has long been known as the "corn cob pipe capital of the world". The Missouri Meerschaum Company is the oldest and largest manufacturer of fresh, sweet-smoking corn cob pipes in the world. Their story began in 1869, when a Dutch immigrant carpenter named Henry Tibbe first began producing corn cob pipes. Legend has it that a local farmer carved a pipe from a corn cob and liked it so much that he asked Henry Tibbe to try turning one on his lathe. As the farmer was very pleased with the results, Henry made and sold more in his carpentry shop. Tibbe's pipes proved to be such a fast-selling item that he soon devoted more time to making pipes for customers than to woodworking, and began full-time production of corn cob pipes. In 1907, H. Tibbe & Son Co. became the Missouri Meerschaum Company. The word "meerschaum" comes from a German word meaning "sea foam." Meerschaum is a Turkish clay used in high-quality pipes. Tibbe compared his light, porous pipes and their cool smoke to those of more expensive sea foam pipes and coined the name "Missouri Meerschaum" for his pipes. Tibbe and a chemist friend devised an innovative system for applying a chalk-based substance to the outside of corn cob bowls. In 1878, Tibbe patented this process. Today, Missouri Meerschaum is the first and only surviving piece of this living history, even though in 1925 there were a dozen other companies producing similar pipes.