Skillet Fork Pipe Museum

08/25/2026

I big part of establishing the timeline of cob pipes is the tag on the bottom of the bowl. Some were model specific, some used for a special run, but most were just the common tags of their era. Every now and again one pops up that has me scratching my noggin. While this one is very similar the both the brown and gold and red and gold (pictured)versions, it is not the same. The text is smaller, the font is different, and it doesn't say Washington Mo. It's the little details that keep a collector up at night!

08/22/2026

08/22/2026

Its been a minute since I've posted anything because its been a minute since I've found anything interesting. Check out this carded Mild-N-Mellow cob. This was one of the many off shoot companies of Buescher's. Don't believe me, check the tag on the pipe lol. The graphics and the text are outstanding. I've found several Mild-N-Mellow tagged pipes over the years, but never a carded one!

07/22/2026

Just got this very cool National pipe works "Aviator ". It's the second example in the collection, the difference is the ferrule. The other one has a spacer instead. These spacers show up on cob shank models frequently, and i have no idea why they were used. My original theory was metal shortages during World War 2. That idea is not supported here as National was out of business before the war began. Hopefully we will figure it out some day.

07/18/2026

When Shannon Hoch told me about the discovery of a box of 150th Franklins, I was delighted as I was surprised. Delighted because a vintage discovery of any kind, in that building, is always exciting. Surprised because I had no idea what a "Franklin" was! I have a complete collection of the 150th pipes, I just had no idea one had a model name. The exceptional 250th American birthday tag made this one a must have. It's really great job by Missouri Meerschaum Company to incorporate their early 'ear of corn " tag, i really dig it! They look good sitting next to each other

07/16/2026

Here is the other exceptional pipe I recently received from Reed's Tobacciana . I remember talking to John when he found it about how strange its is. The mystery has yet to be solved as neither of us has found a corresponding model in the old catalogs. It is similar to a Yale or a Roxie, but both of those have tapered bowls. This is like a Radio bowl on a straight shank. The threaded tennon, ox blood bakelite, and round airway drilling mean its an early pipe. Maybe 1920s or early 30s? It's possible this is a Friday afternoon pipe, something that got assembled with mis Matched components and is a one off anomaly.

07/13/2026

Got a few exquisite pipes from the collection of John Reed of Reed's Tobacciana today. The first is one of the hardest to find antique cobs there is. This is a Missouri Meerschaum Company Hercules. The were originally part of the "nature's sweetest ' collection when the debuted in the early 1930's. This collection includes very popular models like the radio, champ, and Golfer. They all had cob shanks and bakelite stems. For some reason, the Hercules is almost never seen. I have a few later versions but this is the first early model, with the "ear of corn" tag I've ever gotten. This was John's holy grail pipe for many years and I count myself very fortunate to have this. Thanks John!

07/03/2026

Happy birthday America! Happy forth to all you pipers out there. I may not be fully operational tomorrow so I figured I'd get this out now.

06/26/2026

Its always exciting to get something we've never seen before. Otto Missouri Corn Cobs was the company the Otto family ran after they sold Missouri Meerschaum (and possibly a bit before) in 1977. We have seen tagged pipes, we even have a few display cards, but this is the first carded pipe we have ever seen. Guess we didn't shop at K Mart enough! There has been some discussion about the "since 1905" claim. It is believed that E.H. Otto got his start in the cob business with Phoenix American Pipe Works while it was still in Washington Missouri prior to 1912. In that year, E.H. would start the Washington Cob Pipe company and also buy the Missouri Meerschaum Company. He and his family would continue to drive and shape the cob industry for almost another 70 years! Its a cool bit of history and a cool pipe!