Missouri Meerschaum Factory Tour

The Missouri Meerschaum factory tour looks at how the facility of the world's oldest corncob pipe manufacturer, in the town of Washington, Missouri, operates. The building sits directly across from the road running along the bank of the Missouri River, and for many years its production floors have been lit by daylight streaming through large windows facing the river.

For the company's history and product family, see Missouri Meerschaum; for the care of corncob pipes, see the Corncob Pipe Care Guide (Corncob Primer).

From Field to Bench

What sets the facility apart from similar operations is that the raw material is grown under its own supervision. The cobs used come from a white hybrid "pipe corn" bred to yield thick, sturdy cobs; the variety is known to have been developed at the University of Missouri at the company's request. Although the breeding is said to date to work in the 1960s, this date has not been confirmed in independent sources. The corn is grown in fields across the river from the factory; after harvest, the kernels are separated from the cob and are not used in pipe making, being handled separately instead. Cobs too small to be suitable for pipes are also used in local handicrafts. The plaster-based coating applied to the surface of the pipes is the process that gave the company its name; it is intended to make the pipes resemble meerschaum pipes in appearance.