I recently saw some comments on Reddit regarding our Dutch Gouda style pipe which was praised by one of our customers, but whose praise was followed by a comment about replicas being something to avoid. Since, apparently, a replica in that person’s mind was not a real pipe. Maybe the taxonomy in our product description is flawed or, at least, less than accurate in depicting the pipe. To be sure, the Dutch Gouda style pipe is not made in Holland, but instead, takes its shape and general features from pipes that were used in the Netherlands and in the Dutch colony along the Hudson River. We have seen pipes that have been pulled from the bottom of the Hudson that very much resemble the Gouda style pipes on our site, except, of course, they are a couple hundred years older and wet to boot. However, just because pipes are labeled “replicas” of the original pipe or period reproductions of the original design does not mean they are less than perfect smoking instruments in their own right. The pipes on our website are currently in production and have been for many years and are indeed fully functional pipes.
We sell one series of pipes that are designed for baking under our novelty pipe section. These, as far as we can tell, can be smoked, but their primary purpose is for use in holiday baking. We did have a minuscule Markus Fohr #30 which could not be smoked by anyone larger than a grasshopper, but we’ve dropped that one from our inventory after we caught Tinkerbell trying to light up.
All of our clay pipes are true tobacco pipes even if the actual molds used to produce them do not date back to the 18th century. Clay pipes may have been overlooked in the past by briar and Meerschaum enthusiasts, but they are getting a justly deserved second glance by experienced pipe smokers who are looking for something new or something to expand their collection without shrinking their wallets.