Caminetto

Caminetto is a brand born in 1968 in the town of Cucciago, in the province of Como, that quickly became one of the best-known names in postwar Italian pipe making. It is remembered for the mustache emblem carved into its stem, its rustic Business finish, and its rapid rise in the American market. When the founding team broke apart in 1979, the brand fell into a period of limbo before being revived over the following decade under the Ascorti family.

A Workshop Founded in Cucciago

Both masters who founded the brand came from the Castello bench in Cantù. Giuseppe Ascorti, known to friends as "Peppino," had worked alongside Carlo Scotti since 1959 and aimed to set up on his own; the small greengrocer's shop his wife Paola had taken over financed this goal, and the necessary bench and machinery were assembled through purchases spread over years. Ascorti left Castello at the end of 1968, drawing in his Cucciago neighbor and colleague Luigi Radice, born in 1939, as well.

The person who took on marketing the pair's pipes was Gianni Davoli, a tobacconist in Milan. When the samples Davoli sent to wholesalers in America were well received, the parties agreed on exclusive worldwide distribution.