Where to Buy Clay Pipes

Unfortunately, clay pipes are rather difficult to come by at present, however they are available if you know where to look. Clays appear to be more popular in Europe following a resurgence of historical recreation in the 1990s, and can often be found in the catalogues of large pipe and tobacco companies such as Dan Pipe.

There are also a number of individuals who make press cast pipes, usually replicas of historical pipes, and many of these people have web pages from which you can order. Usually, such operations are quite small, and the vendor may or may not accept credit cards.

Another place you may find replica pipes is in museum shops or the gift shops of historical villages (the type where the staff play the parts of everyday people in a community of a specific period in history). Surprising as it may seem, these pipes, while intended as display pieces, are smokable. The staff of the gift shop may know whether or not the pipe was actually made in the historical village, and if it was it is likely to be quite genuine. If not, it will of course depend on whether the manufacturer intended to make something pretty for your gew-gaw shelf or a pipe.

Finally, some pipe shops do stock clay pipes, though due to problems finding other suppliers these are often slip cast pipes. You local vendor may be able to order some clay pipes for you, particularly if you guarantee to buy three or four of them.