Missouri Meerschaum Factory Tour

The Missouri Meerschaum factory tour looks at how the facility of the world's oldest corncob pipe manufacturer, in the town of Washington, Missouri, operates. The building sits directly across from the road running along the bank of the Missouri River, and for many years its production floors have been lit by daylight streaming through large windows facing the river. For the company's history and product family, see Missouri Meerschaum; for the care of corncob pipes, see the Corncob Pipe Care Guide (Corncob Primer).

From Field to Bench

What sets the facility apart from similar operations is that the raw material is grown under its own supervision. The cobs used come from a white hybrid "pipe corn" bred to yield thick, sturdy cobs; the variety is known to have been developed at the University of Missouri at the company's request. Although the breeding is said to date to work in the 1960s, this date has not been confirmed in independent sources. The corn is grown in fields across the river from the factory; after harvest, the kernels are separated from the cob and are not used in pipe making, being handled separately instead. Cobs too small to be suitable for pipes are also used in local handicrafts. The plaster-based coating applied to the surface of the pipes is the process that gave the company its name; it is intended to make the pipes resemble meerschaum pipes in appearance.

How the Floors Work

Cobs are aged for at least two years to reach a hardness suitable for carving and working; this stock is kept mainly on the top floor. The same floor also stores machinery retired from production: these machines are not scrapped but kept to supply parts to their still-working counterparts. The middle floor holds additional cob storage, administrative offices, and a small museum recounting the company's history. Pipe making, packaging, and shipping take place on the ground floor. Moving cobs and materials between floors is handled by an old freight elevator that originally ran on steam; the belt and cable system was later converted to electricity, though the pulley system and the manner of its use have largely been preserved.

The Building and Its Machinery

The factory was not built all at once. The corner section is the oldest and, according to records, was completed in 1883; some sources give 1884. As demand grew in subsequent decades, floors were added to the building and additional sections were built along the river, giving rise to today's irregular mass. Henry Tibbe had founded the business in 1869 in a small workshop equipped with a foot-powered lathe and hand tools; the person who gave real direction to its growth and mechanization was his son Anton (Antone) Tibbe. The switch from steam power to electricity is likewise attributed to his initiatives; as the story goes, the old family electric company's building, on the same street as the factory, still stands today. A significant portion of the old machinery in production was designed and built at a nearby machine shop; kept within the same family for generations, this shop continues to handle maintenance and repair.

The Workforce

150. In 2019, when the company's anniversary year was celebrated, the facility employed roughly thirty-five people; whether this figure is current is not known. A small part of the staff worked in the office and in the field, with the rest engaged in the various stages of pipe making. That masters with more than thirty years of seniority work alongside new employees is considered the means by which workshop knowledge is passed down through the generations.