Bartlett Pipe Co.

Bartlett Pipe Co. was an American venture that tried to turn the idea of lighting a pipe from the bottom rather than the top into a commercial product. The invention behind the brand belonged to Daniel C. Bianchino, a resident of New Jersey; filed on March 6, 1979, the patent was registered on November 25, 1980 as US 4,235,252.

Patent records show the right was transferred in 1993 to a New Hampshire-based company called The Bartlett Pipe Company, Inc. — the source of the brand name.

A Bowl That Burns From the Bottom

The Bartlett bowl is designed like a tube open at both the top and bottom ends. The top opening is covered by a lid assembly fastened to the bowl, while the bottom opening carries a base fitted with a stainless-steel screen that holds the tobacco in place. The smoke channel connects to the shank through an air hole just below the top opening. Tobacco is loaded from the top, left just short of this hole, and lit from the screen below. Combustion thus travels upward from the bottom.

The patent text lists the reasoning behind this arrangement: because the combustion front sits at the base, less moisture collects at the bottom of the bowl; ash can be emptied from below; the top lid makes lighting easier in wind and rain; and because the air hole never gets clogged with tobacco, draw stays open. By turning the bowl itself into part of a mechanism, the design comes close to the solutions covered under pipe filters and systems, particularly the example of the Kirsten Pipe Company.