MacArthur's corn cob pipe

[hatguy1]

Don't know if this is the best place in The Lounge to post this, but.... Internet search and looking thru the index of "American Caesar" haven't turned up any info, so I'm asking here;

Anyone know how General Douglas MacArthur got started smoking his signature corn cob pipe?

 

[emigran]

I don't know the origin... If you'd like a replica of his pipe it can be had at the Missouri Meershaum Co ...

 

[hatguy1]

Cool. By chance, did they make Mac's pipes?


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[emigran]

Absolutely... it
It's called "The General" oddly enough..(ha) I've many cob pipes that I enjoy and the General is among them... It's a rather large bowled pipe BTW. You can purchase directly from the website...

 

[hatguy1]

Absolutely... it
It's called "The General" oddly enough..(ha) I've many cob pipes that I enjoy and the General is among them... It's a rather large bowled pipe BTW. You can purchase directly from the website...

That's pretty cool that they're still in business after all those years since Mac made their pipes famous.

Anybody have any idea why MacArthur took to these Missouri Meershaum Corn Cob pipes?

 

[Treetopflyer]

This picture was taken at the MacArthur Memorial Museum in Norfolk, VA. I am not sure if it was his actual pipe. Presumably so since it is on display next to his actual hat and sunglasses. It has the label of Wally Franks on it. So, it may be a replacement for his actual pipe.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Corncob pipes were cheap and meant to be thrown away and replaced frequently. It may be that none of MacArthur's pipes survive.

 

[hatguy1]

Good points. I wondered too if they weren't easily made from more readily apparent materials in the Philippines etc when he took up the habit.


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[Stanley Doble]

Corncob pipes were easily made. Many farmers made their own. Back then corncobs were larger than today, corn was picked by hand and was developed to have a small number of large cobs on each stalk. Then automatic harvesting machines came in, which needed a large number of small cobs. Today's corn cobs are too small to make a decent pipe unless you get the heritage variety.

 

[gman41]

I do not think anyone today realizes truly how large they were. Today they sell a small artificial one about one and a half inches tall. I do wonder how the farmers hollowed out the stem where they drew the smoke from.

 

[bowlerman]

Cobs are hands down the best and coolest (literally, temperature) smokers there are. They are cheap and disposable, but don't always have the aesthetic appeal or sophistication of briar or meerschaum. I own several of each, including a large MacArthur by Missouri meerschaum. The cob bowl is 4-5 inches tall!

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[Stanley Doble]

I do not think anyone today realizes truly how large they were. Today they sell a small artificial one about one and a half inches tall. I do wonder how the farmers hollowed out the stem where they drew the smoke from.

It is possible to take a corn cob and hollow it out with a jack knife. For the stem there is a kind of woody weed that has a straight stalk with a soft pith inside. You can hollow one out with a hot wire. A hobo could make a corncob pipe in half an hour. Using only a camp fire, jack knife and a piece of fence wire. A farmer with a few tools could do it better. But if there was a store handy it was hardly worth the bother when you could buy one for 5 or 10 cents. The first ones I bought were 35 cents but that was 50 years ago. The last ones, 10 or 15 years ago, were $5.