College Class Pipes: Difference between revisions

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[[File:GlokarClassPipes.jpg|thumb|500px|A grouping of Glokar branded [[BBB]] Class pipes: Two Cornells, a Princeton, and a University of Michigan, courtesy Brian Robertson collection]][[File:OwlShopClassPipes.jpg|thumb|500px|A grouping of Yale Class pipes from the [[Owl Shop]], courtesy Brian Robertson collection]]
[[File:GlokarClassPipes.jpg|thumb|500px|A grouping of Glokar branded [[BBB]] Class pipes: Two Cornells, a Princeton, and a University of Michigan, courtesy Brian Robertson collection]][[File:OwlShopClassPipes.jpg|thumb|500px|A grouping of Yale Class pipes from the [[Owl Shop]], courtesy Brian Robertson collection]]
=== Introduction and Origins of The Class Pipe Tradition ===
=== Introduction and Origins of The Class Pipe Tradition ===
[[File:1935YalePipeCeremony.jpg|thumb|left|This photo dated June 17th, 1935 shows Yale graduates smoking clay pipes, which were afterward broken and ground into the dirt to symbolize their passage from their "Bright" college days. Other Eastern Colleges had similar traditions. Courtesy Brian Robertson]][[File:1935PrincetonPipesSmashedAgainstCannon.jpg|thumb|left|Princeton Class Day, June 17, 1935, showing the tradition of seniors smashing clay pipes against the school's cannon. Courtesy Brian Richardson]]Around 1900 and slightly earlier, pipe smoking on college campuses, by faculty and students, seems to have been the tobacco implement of choice.  From the 1890's until at least the early 1940's , the pipe was the "big man on campus". My research indicates that several Eastern colleges in the late 1800's had a single "class pipe" that was smoked  during a school ceremony,  marking the end of a school year. Emulating early western movie scenes, the pipe was passed among faculty and chosen ranking students, not unlike the native American "peace pipe" shown in those same films. Some colleges even had a pipe annually used in a ritual, not  a "class pipe", but literally referred to as "the peace pipe".  This "peace pipe” was smoked by the warring "tribes" of the senior and junior classes, symbolically ending their conflict as the seniors graduated.     
[[File:1935YalePipeCeremony.jpg|thumb|left|This photo dated June 17th, 1935 shows Yale graduates smoking clay pipes, which were afterward broken and ground into the dirt to symbolize their passage from their "Bright" college days. Other Eastern Colleges had similar traditions. Courtesy Brian Robertson]][[File:1935PrincetonPipesSmashedAgainstCannon.jpg|thumb|left|Princeton Class Day, June 17, 1935, showing the tradition of seniors smashing clay pipes against the school's cannon. Courtesy Brian Robertson]]Around 1900 and slightly earlier, pipe smoking on college campuses, by faculty and students, seems to have been the tobacco implement of choice.  From the 1890's until at least the early 1940's , the pipe was the "big man on campus". My research indicates that several Eastern colleges in the late 1800's had a single "class pipe" that was smoked  during a school ceremony,  marking the end of a school year. Emulating early western movie scenes, the pipe was passed among faculty and chosen ranking students, not unlike the native American "peace pipe" shown in those same films. Some colleges even had a pipe annually used in a ritual, not  a "class pipe", but literally referred to as "the peace pipe".  This "peace pipe” was smoked by the warring "tribes" of the senior and junior classes, symbolically ending their conflict as the seniors graduated.     


During a period when pipe smoking registered among the principle pastimes cultivated by students, a yet to be credited marketing genius came up with the idea to place a silver letter on the outward facing bowl of a pipe . Young men couldn't wait to have someone remark "oh, you must be a Yale man", or Princeton, or Harvard, etc.. Then around 1900,  Mr. Lew L. Stoddard came up with an idea that would change the fad into a tradition.  He  put a student’s class year on the pipe, along with the school initial.  Student class pride and rivalries were fierce, so this was an excellent way of displaying "class pride".  In a 1908 ad, Mr. Stoddard claims to be  "the originator of numerals on the class pipe".  In a recently found earlier ad Mr. Stoddard claims to be the originator of the "class pipe", and he may well be.  Yale university may have been the first college to adopt the "student class pipe". In a 1900 newspaper article it is reported that Yale students would adopt a class pipe instead of their usual class cane, which I have to assume was the current tradition of the period. It appears this was not done as a substitute for the original single class pipe, used in the year end ritual, but the beginning of a new tradition for students.     
During a period when pipe smoking registered among the principle pastimes cultivated by students, a yet to be credited marketing genius came up with the idea to place a silver letter on the outward facing bowl of a pipe . Young men couldn't wait to have someone remark "oh, you must be a Yale man", or Princeton, or Harvard, etc.. Then around 1900,  Mr. Lew L. Stoddard came up with an idea that would change the fad into a tradition.  He  put a student’s class year on the pipe, along with the school initial.  Student class pride and rivalries were fierce, so this was an excellent way of displaying "class pride".  In a 1908 ad, Mr. Stoddard claims to be  "the originator of numerals on the class pipe".  In a recently found earlier ad Mr. Stoddard claims to be the originator of the "class pipe", and he may well be.  Yale university may have been the first college to adopt the "student class pipe". In a 1900 newspaper article it is reported that Yale students would adopt a class pipe instead of their usual class cane, which I have to assume was the current tradition of the period. It appears this was not done as a substitute for the original single class pipe, used in the year end ritual, but the beginning of a new tradition for students.     

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