Peter Stokkebye: Pipe, Tobacco, and Cigarette Man

Peter Stokkebye (1931-2003) is one of the Danish blenders whose name is most often mentioned in pipe tobacco and hand-rolling tobacco during the second half of the twentieth century. He grew up as the third-generation representative of a family factory founded in Odense, established a tobacco factory bearing his own name in the 1970s, and brought his blends particularly to the American market.

Today his name is associated both with shag-cut tobaccos and with an unusual cigarette venture he entered midway through his career.

Three Generations in Odense

The family's tobacco business began in the city of Odense on Denmark's island of Fyn. According to records, grandfather Erik Peter Stokkebye, born in 1855, learned cigar rolling in Copenhagen and then opened his own shop and workshop in Odense in 1882; cigars were hand-rolled in the back room of the shop. The business soon expanded to include pipe and chewing tobacco as well, and was documented in local archive records under the name "Stokkebyes Tobaksfabrik." It is said that, in the family, a generation was expected to work through every stage of production before taking over the business; in keeping with this standard, Peter's father, Erik Poul Stokkebye, born in 1897, had learned tobacco manufacturing not only in Denmark but also in the Netherlands and Indonesia.