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Think of Douglas MacArthur and the picture that likely comes to mind is of the stoic, erect, and always in control General with his trademark pipe hanging from that tip-lipped, chiseled face. The two are seemingly inseparable in our memories. MacArthur’s been photographed over the years smoking several different styles of corncob pipes, but the one he’s most often associated with (an extra-long stem and tall bowl) is known as the “Mac”, and is still produced to Macarthur’s original, exact specifications by America’s first and largest corncob pipe producer– Missouri Meerschaum Company of Washington, Missouri.

Pipe smoking isn’t quite what it used to be in terms of popularity (I’d be interested to know how tobacco pipe sales have faired over the last few decades…), but in proper hands it can add a certain something special and distinguished to a man’s mystique. Kids– don’t try this at home.

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Famous pipe-smoker, Albert Einstein.

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Said Mark Twain, “I always hire a cheap man–a man who doesn’t amount to much, anyhow–who would be as well–or better–dead, and let him break in the pipe for me. I get him to smoke the pipe for a couple of weeks, then put in a new stem, and continue operations as long as the pipe holds together.”

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