Calabash Pipes
Calabash pipes are very special tobacco pipes: if you ask any smoker what shape he or she has always wanted to try, chances are he or she will tell you just the Calabash.
We have admired it in Sherlock Holmes films and it still retains a timeless appeal today.
Interesting how these tobacco pipes have a removable stove and a condensation chamber underneath, which makes the smoke very dry and cool when it reaches the mouth.
In this article we will discover the characteristics of Calabash pipes and their curious story.
Calabash pipes: characteristics
Calabash pipes are considered mixed tobacco pipes because they are composed of two materials. While the outer stove is made of gourd (more specifically particular yellow African gourd), the cup, that is, the wider end, is made of meerschaum.
But how is a Calabash pipe born?
During the growth of the gourd, the grower causes it to take on the classic curved shape of Calabash. To do this, he uses a board equipped with small pegs that hold the gourd's neck in a certain position, forcing the plant to develop into the desired shape.
Once the gourd is ripe, it is ready to be cut, drained, cleaned and, finally, dried.
As for the meerschaum cup, it has a very wide, flared rim, which is attached to the neck of the gourd by a cork seal.
Generally, Calabash pipes have a yellow methacrylate or black ebonite mouthpiece, always curved in shape.
Another feature of Calabash pipes is the considerable width inside them, which forms a condensation chamber and cools the smoke, making it cooler and sweeter to the palate.
Finally, this is a rather fragile tobacco pipe, especially the meerschaum cup, so it is advisable to smoke it only indoors.
The History of Calabash Pipes
Gourds have been used for millennia as natural containers for both solid and liquid materials, while gourd smoking originated in Africa many centuries ago.
We have to go back to 1652, when the Dutch founded Cape Town, leading to a fusion of cultures between Europeans and natives.
Hemp smoking was widespread in those days, while tobacco gained popularity a little later.
The aroma of hemp, being rather strong, led the natives to prefer water pipes, which were very popular at the time. These pipes were partly, or completely, made of gourd.
The fruit contained the water, the neck had the function of a shank, and the end (the one attached to the plant) was used for suction. The natives, therefore, simply cleaned the gourd and let it dry to make it smokable.
H.L. Blatter was the first man to export the Calabash pipe to Europe from South Africa. It appears that the prototype originated in the southern tip of Africa, achieving some popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s centuries, most notably during the Boer War.
Before this war, the Calabash was unknown outside Africa, but soldiers who fought in this conflict brought specimens home.
Although it was an unusual pipe, giving cool and pleasant smokes, the Calabash was not immediately appreciated by European smokers.
As the war ended, there was a tobacco pipe boom that convinced Blatter to return to his homeland of England to create a market for his Calabash.
The English companies of the time, however, considered them bizarre and destined to be merely a passing fad. So Blatter decided to return to South Africa and leave all the unsold pipes in England, abandoning his project.
It seemed that the Calabash were destined to be a flop in the European market, but Blatter had to wait only a year to return to London and witness a great success of his pipes, going so far as to sell all the unsold stock and receive numerous orders.