Luigi Pipes

Luigi Pipes is the brand regarded as the starting point of factory-scale pipe production in Argentina. The business traces back to José Gaspar Arbotto, an Italian immigrant who arrived in the country at the start of the twentieth century; the brand is still known today by the same family's name and is presented as the continuation of a native production tradition.

Founding

In Argentina, pipe smoking is largely a habit known through the European immigration of the early twentieth century; the first examples to reach the country were also among the immigrants' own personal belongings. The brand emerged from within this immigrant generation. Records indicate José Gaspar Arbotto combined his skill in woodworking with the resources of a joinery shop his family was connected to through kinship, and set out to make pipes; the same business also dealt in importing pipes and tobacco.

Production initially proceeded piece by piece, by hand. Once lathes brought in from France came into use, the operation grew beyond a workshop. In 1910, Arbotto bought out his partner's share and opened his own plant in the Avellaneda district of Buenos Aires. This plant is regarded as the country's first pipe factory.