Morgan Pipes: Difference between revisions

=== Expanding Further ===

Morgan continued to make high-grade pipes in his workshop and to sell them along with The Briar Cigar. By 2014, however, the high-grade pipe boom of the 2000s was on the wane. Morgan’s customers still wanted uniquely American pipes, but fewer were able to afford a typically-priced artisan piece than in previous years. Morgan responded to these changes in the pipe market by opting to add another line to his existing range: the Blackjack. Morgan took what he considered to be the most important design and engineering aspects of his high-grade pipes and incorporated these aspects into the Italian-made, serially produced line of Blackjack pipes.

Morgan’s next venture was the Bones, an economy line debuted in 2015. Morgan had been having conversations with a friend, the late Chris Chopin, about the best way to offer his customers pipes that were simultaneously “inexpensive” and “transparent.” Regarding the latter, Morgan had become disdainful of the common practice of applying putty fills to cheaper pipes prior to staining. These fills are typically used for hiding superficial flaws in the wood, but have a tendency to be unattractive and to fall out over time. Morgan, instead, wanted a line of pipes that would be forthcoming about their visual imperfections, and even to show off these imperfections as an element of each pipe’s unique aesthetic qualities. Thanks to the contacts he had made in Italy over the previous years, Morgan was able to source century-old stummels, destined to be filled, stained, and sold elsewhere, which he transported to his factory in Northern Italy. The first batch of Bones pipes was then stemmed, stained, and prepared for sale.

In the lead-up to the sale of the Bones line, Morgan launched a social media campaign via YouTube, in the form of ‘teaser’ videos. Within two weeks of the line going on sale, 600 Bones pipes had been sold. As of 2023, 75,000 Bones pipes have been sold, and the line has acquired a significant cult following. Bones pipes have been sold through Morgan’s website, TobaccoPipes, and Cup O’ Joes in the US, Smoke King in the UK, and Pfeifen Shop Online in Germany. Initially, Bones pipes were only offered as briar pipes, however in the years that followed, Morgan also began selling versions made from the wood of the strawberry tree. These Bones pipes were sold under the Arbutus label, the name being derived from the scientific term for tree itself, ''Arbutus unedo''.

Morgan soon added another line to his catalog, appropriately named The ONE. Having imported a large number of briar blocks that were too small to be used for traditionally-sized pipes, Morgan instead used the blocks to produce short, stemless pipes. These pipes were made, like The Briar Cigar, with portability in mind, however the price was closer to the Bones line. Morgan describes The ONE as, “the simplest interpretation of a briar pipe on the market”, and furthermore notes that they smoke “exceptionally cool” due to the lack of turbulence that would otherwise be caused by the transition from shank to stem. Owing to the success of these all-briar pieces, Morgan moved their production to his factory in Italy, where they continue to be produced.

=== Other Projects ===

In 2019, Morgan was recruited as a consult and a propmaker for the television series, ''The Underground Railroad'', set in the United States during the early- to mid-1800s. Morgan’s role was ensuring historical accuracy for pipe smoking scenes in the series, as well as producing the kinds of pipes that would have been smoked by various groups during this period. This included crafting ‘slave’ pipes, fashioned from rudimentary materials, as well as traditional tobacco pipes. During production, Morgan collaborated with Chris Kelly, of Eldritch Pipes, to create ‘Ambite,’ a synthetic amber substitute, for historically-accurate meerschaum pipe stems. The series was released in 2020.

Morgan and Sean Reum currently produce a podcast together, called ''Beyond the Pipe''.