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Henry Tibbe
A Dutch wood turner who transformed the corncob into a durable pipe material in Washington, Missouri, and founder of Missouri Meerschaum.
Henry Tibbe is the Dutch wood turner who took the corncob pipe out of the realm of a rustic pocketknife item and turned it into a durable consumer good suited to series production. His name is linked today with Missouri Meerschaum, the continuation of the bench he founded.
From Holland to Missouri
Tibbe's name is synonymous with the town of Washington, in Franklin County on the banks of the Missouri River. The family settled there in the 1860s, following emigration from the Netherlands; his wife Johanna, his brother Fritz, and his young son Anton were with him. According to one account, behind the decision to emigrate was a fire that destroyed their house and workshop in Enschede, though this detail has not been confirmed in independent records. The small workshop he set up in the town had nothing to do with pipes at first; it produced spinning-wheel parts, wooden handles, and household items.
From Cob to Pipe
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Source: Pipedia, adapted under the CC BY-SA licence.