The San Francisco call., 1910-02-14
CALABASH PIPES MADE
FROM LARGE GOURDS
Department of Agriculture Is
sues Descriptive Pamphlet

mysterious looking pipe, shaped
something like an ear trumpet, is now
attracting "a good deal of attention in
the windows of cigar stores, says the
Boston Herald. 1t is known as the
"calabash pipe" and has come so much
into use that the department of agri-
culture Washington deems it worthy
of descriptive pamphlet.
The information given traces the new
smokers fayorite" to South Africa.
Calabash pipes are made from the
crooked necks of a large gourd be :
longing to the well known group of
plants which includes the cucumber
the melons and the squashes. They
have for some time been the fashion in
England, and are now coming into
vogue in the United States. Pipes made
from the imported gourds are eNpen-
slVe, American dealers usually charging
IS and sometimes S12 apiece for them
Ihey are the lightest pipes made for
their size, are graceful in shape, color
like meerschaums, and are said to be
delightful smokers
Unlike the cheap pipes turned out by
machinery, no two of these calabash
pipes are alike. The crook of the Gala
bash varies so much that each mouth
piece must be made to fit it, and each
lining of meerschaum or plaster of
paris must be specially adapted to the
calabash in this country is due, not
only to the eXpensiveness of the hand
labor. but also to the fact. that until
recently, the gourds forming the bowls
of the pipes had to be imported from
South Africa
1T has been found that the gourds
grow well in this country The raising
of the gourds on a large scale in the
expecta tion of a commercial demand
however, is not advised by the depart
ment of agriculture; but light and at
tractive pipes may be made by any one
from the gourds at nominal cost. To
make pipe the neck end of the gourd
should be cut off and all pth carefully
removed from the inside. The thin
outside cuticle should be scraped off
with sharp knife before it dries: at
least it comes off easier then, and if
left on will form food for molds
The making of the pipe should be
postponed until the gourds have be-
come well seasoned The necessary
accessories are rubber mouthpiece a
bowl and some thin cork strips. the
cost of which should not exceed so
cents.
The large trumpetlike end of the
gourd neck is cut with a fine saw at
the proper angle and low enough so
that regular cheap meerschaum bowl
Will fit into it, having its rim flush
with the outside of the gourd. A few
teaspoonfuls Of plaster of paris mixed
with water 10 form stiff paste is
spread as thick layer for half an inch
inside the rim of the gourd neck. The
meerschaum bowl is first CREASED and
then forced into place against the fresh
plaster and left just long enough to
allow the plaster to set slightly. not
over three minutes at most, otherwise
it will stick fast.
When push stem is used the bowl
can be made entirely of plaster of paris
and the cost of the pipe still further
reduced. A thin piece of cardboard
with central perforation is fitted into
the gourd Just below the point where
the bottom of the bowl is to come
thin mixture of plaster of paris is then
poured INTO the gourd to form a layer
ABOUT quarter of an inch thick on the
pasteboard disk. Any smooth, cylin- |
drical objeet, suitable for the inside of
boWl, is well creased and placed up
right In the end of the gourd to form
core and the plaster of paris
poured in.