College Class Pipes

College Class Pipes
A brief treatise by avid collector, Brian Robertson 
“Arthur held a heavy buldog Yale class pipe in his hand, the pipe had a large 'Y' on the front, flanked on each side by numerals,,,,,1907” -- from Eugene O'Neill's play, Ah, Wilderness!
=== Introduction and Origins of The Class Pipe Tradition ===
thumb|Short home movie video clip of a Circa 1948-49 Princeton Class Day clay pipe ceremony (no sound), courtesy Brian MeierAround 1900 and slightly earlier, pipe smoking on college campuses, by faculty and students, seems to have been the tobacco implement of choice. From the 1890's until at least the early 1940's , the pipe was the "big man on campus". My research indicates that several Eastern colleges in the late 1800's had a single "class pipe" that was smoked during a school ceremony, marking the end of a school year. Emulating early western movie scenes, the pipe was passed among faculty and chosen ranking students, not unlike the native American "peace pipe" shown in those same films. Some colleges even had a pipe annually used in a ritual, not a "class pipe", but literally referred to as "the peace pipe". This "peace pipe” was smoked by the warring "tribes" of the senior and junior classes, symbolically ending their conflict as the seniors graduated. 
During a period when pipe smoking registered among the principle pastimes cultivated by students, a yet to be credited marketing genius came up with the idea to place a silver letter on the outward facing bowl of a pipe . Young men couldn't wait to have someone remark "oh, you must be a Yale man", or Princeton, or Harvard, etc.. Then around 1900, Mr. Lew L. Stoddard came up with an idea that would change the fad into a tradition. He put a student’s class year on the pipe, along with the school initial. Student class pride and rivalries were fierce, so this was an excellent way of displaying "class pride". In a 1908 ad, Mr. Stoddard claims to be "the originator of numerals on the class pipe". In a recently found earlier ad Mr. Stoddard claims to be the originator of the "class pipe", and he may well be. Yale university may have been the first college to adopt the "student class pipe". In a 1900 newspaper article it is reported that Yale students would adopt a class pipe instead of their usual class cane, which I have to assume was the current tradition of the period. It appears this was not done as a substitute for the original single class pipe, used in the year end ritual, but the beginning of a new tradition for students.
Although not a class pipe, the pipe to the right and below is a thick branch of the family tree. The class day pipe ceremony began at Yale in 1859. The purpose of the rite was to have senior students gather, smoke a single bowl of tobacco, and afterwards smash the pipe on the ground. This was intended to signify the students' end of days at Yale. This tradition was performed for over 100 years and revived in 2018. The pipe pictured is an 1898 Princeton Class Day Ceremony pipe. Unlike Yale, that crushed Class Day pipes underfoot. Princeton grads, hurled their clay pipes at a partially buried cannon, referred to as "The Great Totem", with intent of striking and breaking the pipes against it.Signaling the end of their days, at Princeton University. (see the Princeton ceremony photo) The rarity of this pipe cannot be overstated. The combination of fragility, age, and that its purpose was to be destroyed upon a single use, should have created a "perfect storm" of destruction. Regarding the pipe itself, the Princeton insignia , appears to have been hand painted, and the numerals are "raised". Although the pipe has not been smoked, the exterior has not been cleaned. The display stand is a deserved recent addition.
1898PrincetonClassDayClay2.jpg
1898PrincetonClassDayClay3.jpg
As the popularity of the class pipe grew, more local pipe shops and tobacconists added class pipe offerings to students. In many cases campuses elected students to "class pipe committees" to seek out new designs for each year. The samples would then be voted on, and students would place orders on the winning design. In a 1912 article this process was mentioned as taking place at Purdue University in Indiana. Ads for class pipes from around the same period have been seen as far west as Idaho University. I recall reading a mention of a West Point class pipe (circa 1907), that had raised letters and numerals upon a silver shield. The cadet would need a strong jaw, and perhaps wear a glove to protect his hand from being burned after a couple of bowls had been smoked in such a design. 
Many pipe shops offered "class pipes" across the country. They would charge a fee for the school letter, and an additional fee for each numeral. The famous Yale University Owl Shop was one of these shops, and the venerable J. Middleton shop of Philadelphia was a nationwide source for class pipes.
File:1908MiddletonClassPipeAd.jpg
SchryversAd.jpg
StoddardsAd2.jpg
1907ClassYaleMeerscuam.jpg
1907ClassYaleMeerscuam2.jpg
1907ClassYaleMeerscuam3.jpg
=== Clues to Matching a particular pipe to its College or University ===
There are several clues that can be used to provide a degree of provenance in matching a class pipe with its corresponding college or university. An excellent method of determining a class pipe’s identity is researching college and university student newspapers. Many of the eastern college student newspapers have archives that can be viewed. For instance, if you have a pipe emblazoned with a "C" and a year, and you guess that it is a "Cornell" pipe, upon visiting newspaper archive you can search "class pipe (plus the year") or "class pipe committee (plus the year) ". The result in some cases will be an article actually describing the design of the chosen silver letters, and numerals. The article may even declare the brand of pipe, and its corresponding shape (straight or bent). This method is not always fruitful and oftentimes requires slogging through a long list of articles. It is heaven for the research geek. When I purchase a pipe at an estate sale, I simply ask to whom the pipe belongs. Usually I am told that it was their father's or grandfather's. I then ask, "did he go to college and which one?" I learned the hard way, you ask these questions after you have paid, and the pipe is in your pocket. Another clue is the source of the pipe. The Owl Shop has supplied, almost exclusively, the "Yale" pipes. The 1917 Brown University pipe was branded by a tobacconist that was practically on the campus. With others, a lucky google search of the tobacconist name on the pipes will sometimes turn up the store's location.
I bought a class pipe in Ann Arbor, Michigan at a garage sale that had numerous University of Michigan items. I asked where they all came from and was told by the seller that her husband's grandfather graduated from Michigan and the pipe had been his. Surprisingly, even eBay sellers have been helpful. After purchase, and tracking showing the pipe had shipped, I simply ask the seller, if they knew, or could find out any provenance regarding the purchased pipe. Several were selling for friends and provided school provenance.. A pipe that is pre 1910 can safely be assumed to have come from a large eastern college as it took some time for the "fad" to move west.
=== The Class Pipe Committee Process ===
The "class pipe committee" that was either appointed or elected were in charge of selecting or creating a new design annually. The committee would seek out several pipe shops and present their design. The pipe shops would look over the designs, suggest a current popular brand pipe and offer a discounted price on the pipe itself and a separate price for the design and numeral application. This "bargain arrangement" was contingent on a predetermined number of students ordering the class pipe. In several articles the number of required student orders seems to have been100. This appears to have been the general process from the early 1900's through the twenties. Around 1930, with the financial devastation of the Great Depression, class pipe references are scarce during this decade. I even ran across a class pipe selection being a Sasieni "sub-brand". Formerly, only top of the line pipes were selected. The tradition returned in the 1940's, but without previous earlier years interest. 
=== The Waning of the Once Thriving Tradition === 
In my opinion the interest in the class pipe tradition slowly disappeared as a result of diminished pipe smoking on campuses, with the increased popularity of cigarette smoking following World War II. Simply put, in the 50's and 60's , the majority of young college men felt they had a "cooler" image while smoking a cigarette. By the early to mid 1960's, the class pipe tradition had essentially, vanished. 
=== Author's Note: === 
I apologize for not saving my many google search sources for this information. At the time, I did not consider the countless hours I spent poking around on google would lead to documenting my hobby of collecting Class Pipes. I feel, while perhaps not worthy of a dedicated chapter in Pipe History, Class Pipes are at least worthy of a footnote. Brian Robertson
=== The Collection ===
Dunhill-1927LoyolaClass(1925PAT).jpg
Dunhill-1927LoyolaClass(1925PAT)2.jpg
Dunhill-1927LoyolaClass(1925PAT)3b.jpg
Dunhill-1927LoyolaClass(1925PAT)4.jpg
Dunhill-1927LoyolaClass(1925PAT)5.jpg
1926Dunhill-LehighLoyola.jpg
1926Dunhill-LehighLoyola2.jpg
1926Dunhill-LehighLoyola3.jpg 
Brown1937ClassPipe.jpg
Brown1937ClassPipe2.jpg
Brown1937ClassPipe-Widnall2.jpg|Douglas Windall, suited up for track.
File:Brown1937ClassPipe-Widnall.jpg|Mr. and Mrs. Widnall
Brown1937ClassPipe-Widnall3.jpg|Brown University Track Team
File:Brown1937ClassPipe-Widnall4.jpg|Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, Brown University
WDC-1906Cornell.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell2.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell3Cased.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell4Cased.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell5.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell6.jpg
1909BBB-Glokar-EmeryU.jpg
1909BBB-Glokar-EmeryU2.jpg
1909BBB-Glokar-EmeryU3.jpg
1909Harvard-SOSurgeryMiddelton.jpg
1909Harvard-SOSurgeryMiddelton2.jpg
1909Harvard-SOSurgeryMiddelton3.jpg
1909Harvard-SOSurgeryMiddelton4.jpg
1947MiddletonCornel.jpg
1947MiddletonCornel2.jpg
1947MiddletonCornel3.jpg
1925HarvardWDCStratford.jpg
1925HarvardWDCStratford2.jpg
1925HarvardWDCStratford3.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell1b.jpg
WDC-1906Cornell2b.jpg
File:WDC-1906Cornell3.jpg
File:WDC-1906Cornell4.jpg
VMI1921-WDC-ABC-class-pipe-1.jpg
VMI1921-WDC-ABC-class-pipe-2.jpg
VMI1921-WDC-ABC-class-pipe-3.jpg
VMI1921-WDC-ABC-class-pipe-4.jpg
1913UofMichigan-1912Glokar.jpg
1913UofMichigan-1912Glokar2.jpg
1913UofMichigan-1912Glokar3.jpg
1913UofMichigan-1912Glokar4.jpg
1934BrownUniversityMiddletonSelbur.jpg
1934BrownUniversityMiddletonSelbur2.jpg
1934BrownUniversityMiddletonSelbur3.jpg
File:W&M1949Briarcraft4.jpg
File:W&M1949Briarcraft3.jpg
File:W&M1949Briarcraft2.jpg
File:W&M1949Briarcraft.jpg 
File:WDC-Stratford-Navard-University1925ClassPipe.jpg|WDC Stratford, 1925 Harvard Class Pipe
File:WDC-Milano-1925AmherstClassPipe.jpg|WDC Milano, 1925 Amherst College Class Pipe
WDC-Hesson-Milano-1925Patent-1930UrsinusCollegeClassPipe.jpg
WDC-Hesson-Milano-1925Patent-1930UrsinusCollegeClassPipe2.jpg
WDC-Hesson-Milano-1925Patent-1930UrsinusCollegeClassPipe3.jpg
 
File:Middleon-UOP-Class1917-4.jpg
File:Middleon-UOP-Class1917-2.jpg
File:Middleon-UOP-Class1917-3.jpg
File:Middleon-UOP-Class1917.jpg
Yorktown1951ClassOwlShop.jpg
Yorktown1951ClassOwlShop2.jpg
Yorktown1951ClassOwlShop3.jpg
Yorktown1951ClassOwlShop4.jpg
File:CPF-Cornell1905-3.jpg
File:CPF-Cornell1905-4.jpg
File:CPF-Cornell1905-2.jpg
File:CPF-Cornell1905.jpg
File:CPC-Cornell1907-3.jpg
File:CPC-Cornell1907-2.jpg
File:CPC-Cornell1907.jpg
1925WDC-Milano-AmherstClassPipe2.jpg
1925WDC-Milano-AmherstClassPipe3.jpg
1918-CornellClassPipe-BBB.jpg
1918-CornellClassPipe-BBB2.jpg
1918-CornellClassPipe-BBB3.jpg
1918-CornellClassPipe-BBB4.jpg
1911UofMichiganGlokar2.jpg
1911UofMichiganGlokar3.jpg
1911UofMichiganGlokar4.jpg
1917BrownUniversityClassPipe.jpg
1917BrownUniversityClassPipe2.jpg
1917BrownUniversityClassPipe3.jpg
 
1915PrincetonClassPipe2.jpg
1915PrincetonClassPipe3.jpg
1915PrincetonClassPipe4.jpg
1915PrincetonClassPipe5.jpg
 
1919YaleComoyPoker2.jpg
1919YaleComoyPoker3.jpg
1919YaleComoyPoker4.jpg
1919YaleClassPipeStill.jpg
LHS-Sterncraft1954YaleUniversityClassPipe2.jpg
LHS-Sterncraft1954YaleUniversityClassPipe3.jpg
thumb|Ad for Class and Monograms in a 1920's Kaufman Bros. & Bondy (KB&B) catalog, courtesy Gene Umberger (via Brian Robertson). 
1940BrownUniversityKaywoodiedDrinklessClassPipe.jpg
1940BrownUniversityKaywoodiedDrinklessClassPipe2.jpg
1940BrownUniversityKaywoodiedDrinklessClassPipe3.jpg 
1926Cornell-Percolator(1919Patent).jpg|Cornell Football Team Photo--A remote possibility someone in this photo may have owned this pipe!
1926Cornell-Percolator(1919Patent)2.jpg
1926Cornell-Percolator(1919Patent)3.jpg
1926Cornell-Percolator(1919Patent)4.jpg
Note: We have been unable to find any information about the Percolator pipe. It appears to have room in the shank and stem for a very large filter, or perhaps a sponge. 
1949YaleClassPipe-OwlShopJeffersonian2.jpg
1949YaleClassPipe-OwlShopJeffersonian3.jpg
1949YaleClassPipe-OwlShopJeffersonian.jpg
1912Dartmouth-Hub_CarvedClassPipe.jpg
1912Dartmouth-Hub_CarvedClassPipe2.jpg
1912Dartmouth-Hub_CarvedClassPipe3.jpg
1912Dartmouth-Hub_CarvedClassPipe4.jpg
Note: Carved Class Pipes were elected in the 1890's and seldom seen in the 1900's. Due to the inferior quality of the example above, it may be an unofficial one off.
Circa1950Brown-BostonClassPipe.jpg
Circa1950Brown-BostonClassPipe2.jpg
Circa1950Brown-BostonClassPipe3.jpg
UniversityOfNorthCarolinaAlmaMaterClassPipe.jpg
UniversityOfNorthCarolinaAlmaMaterClassPipe2.jpg
UniversityOfNorthCarolinaAlmaMaterClassPipe3.jpg
SaracusseUniversityComoyRoyalFalconClassPipe2.jpg
SaracusseUniversityComoyRoyalFalconClassPipe3.jpg
1936SaracusseUniversityCo-opAD.jpg|Syracuse University Student Newspaper Class Pipe Ad
1950sMedicoAlmaMaterClassPipes.jpg
1950sMedicoAlmaMaterClassPipes2.jpg
1950sMedicoAlmaMaterClassPipes3.jpg 
1946PrincetonWalllyFrank.jpg
1946PrincetonWalllyFrank2.jpg
1946PrincetonWalllyFrank3.jpg
1914Cornell1911Glokar2.jpg
1914Cornell1911Glokar3.jpg
1914Cornell1911Glokar4.jpg
1923UofWisconsinBBB.jpg
1923UofWisconsinBBB2.jpg
1923UofWisconsinBBB3.jpg
About this next example, Brian Robertson writes: 
"Thanks to Hollywood I believed in the 1900's all early ivy league college students were children of wealth. I found an early Yale or Harvard student newspaper article asking what students would do during the summer. There were the "sailing evenings, off cape cod" and "golfing" . included however, were more than a few "farm labor on family farm". I wonder if this pipe was the evening product of just such a young man."
1906HarvardMissouriMeerschaum.jpg
1906HarvardMissouriMeerschaum2.jpg
1906HarvardMissouriMeerschaum3.jpg
1906HarvardMissouriMeerschaum4.jpg
Brian reports having never see corn cob class pipe until getting the example above. Within 48 hours a neighbor stopped by and gave him this 38 Yale, having purchased it at a garage sale! The Missouri Meerschaum "Radio" model shown bellow in the 1938 Yale Class Pipe has at least two theories regarding the name. The hard stem mimics the Bakelite in early radios, and the brown button on the bottom of the pipe bowl resembles a radio knob. Also, read the description above of the 1906 Harvard corncob class pipe for more information about corn cob class pipes.
MM-Radio1938YaleClassPipe.jpg
MM-Radio1938YaleClassPipe2.jpg
MM-Radio1938YaleClassPipe3.jpg
MM-Radio1938YaleClassPipe4.jpg
1931UnofficialPrincetonOldRoot.jpg
1931UnofficialPrincetonOldRoot2.jpg
1931UnofficialPrincetonOldRoot3.jpg
=== Fraternity Pipes ===
File:BBBGlokarATOmega5.jpg
File:BBBGlokarATOmega4.jpg
File:BBBGlokarATOmega3.jpg
File:BBBGlokarATOmega2.jpg
File:BBBGlokarATOmega.jpg
1930sKaywoodieRockyBriar(m1842)PKE-FratPipe2.jpg
1930sKaywoodieRockyBriar(m1842)PKE-FratPipe3.jpg
1930sKaywoodieRockyBriar(m1842)PKE-FratPipe4.jpg
PhiDeltaThetaCaptainBlackFratPipe.jpg
PhiDeltaThetaCaptainBlackFratPipe2.jpg
PhiDeltaThetaCaptainBlackFratPipe3.jpg
PSI-Omega DentalFratPipe.jpg
PSI-Omega DentalFratPipe2.jpg
PSI-Omega DentalFratPipe3.jpg 
KB&BYello-Bole1940sAEL.jpg
KB&BYello-Bole1940sAEL2.jpg
KB&BYello-Bole1940sAEL3.jpg
KB&BYello-Bole1940sAEL4.jpg
KB&BYello-Bole1940sAEL5.jpg 
Note: Introduced in the 1940's, the Stembiter model featured a beveled area in front of the stem button with a hole that went all the way through the twin bore stem. The feature was touted to end "stem chewing", and in their ads targeted smokers with "strong teeth"
== A note of thanks ==
Acknowledgement and thank you to Steve Charbonneau/humblepipe. Many of the class pipes shown in the collection were in dire straits when obtained. Steve did amazing repairs and restoration to many of these pipes. He contributed his vast knowledge and talents to the ressurection of these pipes, purely, for the history and love of the hobby.