smoking everywhere tobacco
shops pipe
smoking cigarette brands cigarette advertising rolling your own
cigarettes cigars snuff smoking accessories

pipe
smoking
in the early to mid 1900s

While I was growing up in the 1940s, pipe smoking was giving way to cigarette smoking, although it was still popular with older men.

Box of wooden pipes, showing the range available in the 1920s

Box of a range of wooden pipes, photographed in the window of a tobacconists shop in the Black Country Museum, said to represent the 1920s.

Pipe racks

To accommodate the pipes of all the adults in the family, there were pipe racks in the older houses. These came in a range of lengths and were normally mounted on walls to double as ornaments. The pipe rack in the photo was in my mother's family for many years and was affectionately known by everyone as 'the monks'.

Pipe rack for mounting on a wall, holding pipes.

Wooden pipes

The best pipes were made of wood and came in a range of shapes and woods. They could last for years.

Clay pipes

Cheaper pipes were made of white clay and chipped and broke easily.

Clay pipes, from my mother's effects.

The main use of these clay pipes was as playthings for children. It was fun to dip the pipe into a bowl of soapy water, blow into it and watch the bubbles floating out. Not that the bubbles lasted for long, because they was no detergent and soap was a poor substitute.

Pipe cleaners

Pipe cleaners were lengths of stiff but flexible wire covered in a soft fabric. My mother used them as hair curlers.

Packaging of tobaccos

Smokers had their favourite tobacco brands. One was not like another to them, and a very large range was available. It was normally sold in branded tins, although I understand that it could be bought loose, although one couldn't be sure where that came from - see Peter Johnson's recollection of cigarette butts in cinemas!

Range of old tobacco brands, known as' shag'.

Range of tobacco brands, photographed from the window of a tobacconists shop in the Eastbourne Museum of Shops. (Shag is shredded course tobacco.)

If you can add anything to this page or provide a photo, I would be pleased if you would contact me.