Gubbels (Big Ben)

Gubbels is a pipe maker that arose in Roermond in the southern Netherlands, best known worldwide under the name Big Ben. The family firm moved from a shop selling pipes and smoking accessories into wholesale trading, then into manufacturing after the Second World War, establishing the country's first factory to make pipes from briar.

From Shop Counter to Workbench

The story begins with a small retail shop that Elbert Gubbels Sr.'s father ran in Roermond. Sources differ on the shop's opening year, giving dates between 1870 and 1873; the company's own promotional materials use 1870. In 1924 the business shifted from retail to wholesale trading in tobacco accessories. Since no factory in the Netherlands made briar pipes at the time, goods were brought in mainly from France and England.

The German occupation of May 1940 shut down import channels, and trade nearly ground to a halt. These years pushed Elbert Gubbels toward building a setup that would not depend on outside supply. As soon as the war ended, he began production in Roermond in 1946 with a handful of machines and a small crew that included French craftsmen; according to the record, the first pipes bore the name EGRO (Elbert Gubbels Roermond). When the cramped workshop soon proved too small, production moved, warehouse and all, into a larger building.