Brigham Rodate

After years of experience repairing pipes, Roy Brigham opened his own workshop in Toronto in 1906. By 1918, the business had expanded and earned a fine reputation throughout Canada for the excellent quality of its craftsmanship. After repairing pipes from various brands, Roy noticed some recurring complaints from pipe smokers; the most common was known as ‘tongue burn’. This was often attributed to the heat of the smoke. He therefore began producing his own pipes, which were lightweight yet featured a more robust construction, addressing the weaknesses he had observed in the competition. Together with his son, Roy, in 1937 he discovered that this irritation of the tongue was not caused solely by heat, but by a combination of factors, which caused a mild chemical burn on the tongue. Roy and Herb began experimenting with many materials, both common and exotic, in search of the perfect pipe filter. The results varied greatly. Some materials did not work; others even altered the flavour of the tobacco. They managed to find only two materials suitable for their research: bamboo and maple. Of the two, they opted for maple, the most logical choice. They managed to produce a wooden filter made from maple blocks which, when inserted into the specially designed pipe, did not hinder the smoke in the slightest, yet at the same time eliminated many of the impurities that caused irritation to the tongue. The result was a significantly better pipe. Consequently, sales of Brigham pipes rose rapidly and by the 1960s the company had over 40 full-time employees. For over forty years, the company has been the leading pipe manufacturer in Canada, producing more than three-quarters of all pipes made in the country.