The reeds were cut in 12 foot lengths by men in boats, allowed to dry for six months, cut in lengths and reamed out. Some were put in a machine and bent (Miss Thornton, Dr. O’Brien).
Cork plugs or washers were used in the base of the pipes to hold the stem in place. Some were still in place in pipes we examined. A plug mill, a high pressure machine, extruded the cork plugs which were cut off by wire (Heite).
(Replacement reed stems for clay, hickory, or corn cob pipes, retailed in the grocery stores in Lexington, Missouri, for 10¢ per dozen about 1916).
A number of people and institutions with varying numbers of Pamplin Factory pipes in their possession have given us an opportunity to examine them. The largest number of specimens were in the hands of the following.
Our attention was first called to these pipes in 1968 at the Craft Club in Arrow Rock, Missouri, where some of them appeared for sale as an unusual item. They obviously had been underground, for the bowls and bases were still filled with earth containing numerous rootlets growing through the pipe cavities.
It was learned that the pipes had been supplied by Francis B. Fitzgerald, Suffolk, Virginia; David I. Dautenhahn, Marshall, Missouri, put us in touch with him. As a youngster, Fitzgerald had on various occasions visited his grandfather’s farm, which was near the Pamplin Factory, and had played in the water of a little creek on pipe plant property. In so doing, he discovered that there were numerous clay pipes in a bank which apparently had been placed in the creek to form a dam. (The dam was probably for the purpose of retaining water to mix with the clay). He had hundreds of these pipes. Practically none would seem to have been rejects—how or why they got into the dirt which was used to make the fill is unknown. Through the years Fitzgerald had made a selection of forms representative of this group, all of which he made available to us.
Since that time an owner of the pipe plant property had secured many pipes, later acquired by the Appomattox National Historic Park. They were made available to us by Alford L. Rechtor, Superintendent.
The Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission supplied photographs of some Pamplin pipes, as well as photographs of a pipe mold and pipe maker’s bench (Plate 6) and saggers (Plate 7). We were granted the use of these by Edward F. Heite and Edward A. Chappell of that institution.