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College Class Pipes: Difference between revisions
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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. | ||
[[File: | [[File:1898PrincetonClassDayClay.jpg|thumb|Rare 1898 Princeton Class Day Ceremonial Clay Pipe, courtesy Brian Robertson]]Although not a class pipe, the pipe to the right and below is a thick branch of the family tree. The class day pipe ceremony began at Yale in 1859. The purpose of the rite was to have senior students gather, smoke a single bowl of tobacco, and afterwards smash the pipe on the ground. This was intended to signify the students' end of days at Yale. This tradition was performed for over 100 years and revived in 2018. The pipe pictured is an 1898 Princeton Class Day Ceremony pipe. Unlike Yale, that crushed Class Day pipes underfoot. Princeton grads, hurled their clay pipes at a partially buried cannon, referred to as "The Great Totem", with intent of striking and breaking the pipes against it.Signaling the end of their days, at Princeton University. (see the Princeton ceremony photo) The rarity of this pipe cannot be overstated. The combination of fragility, age, and that its purpose was to be destroyed upon a single use, should have created a "perfect storm" of destruction. Regarding the pipe itself, the Princeton insignia , appears to have been hand painted, and the numerals are "raised". Although the pipe has not been smoked, the exterior has not been cleaned. The display stand is a deserved recent addition. | ||
<gallery widths=300 heights=300 caption="Rare 1898 | <gallery widths=300 heights=300 caption="Rare 1898 Princeton Class Day Ceremonial Clay Pipe, courtesy Brian Robertson"> | ||
1898PrincetonClassDayClay2.jpg | |||
1898PrincetonClassDayClay3.jpg | |||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||