The “upper crust” of society – think Hollywood, ultra-expensive gated communities, Wall Street, or wherever perceived elites live and congregate – has always been about outward appearances. The clothes may not make the man – or women, or whatever gender affiliation a person prefers – but other accouterments play an important role in communicating stature like wealth, education, politics, and more. Think expensive clothing and jewelry, vacation homes, luxury cars, and little things like tobacco pipes. In fact, the pipe has long been associated with the upper crust of society – at least since the first cameras were introduced. Some call it the ultimate accessory. It seamlessly becomes part of your face and by the way, you hold it often proudly displayed in your home when not in use.

If you’re an aspiring pipe smoker, you may invariably ask: So, which famous people have smoked pipes over the years? Read on for a list of some of the most widely known pipe smokers in history.

SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS PIPE SMOKERS THAT EVER LIVED

J.R.R. Tolkien

The famous Lord of the Rings author enjoyed a good pipe from time to time. Well, far more than occasionally as some of the most well-known photos of the author show him holding a pipe. Tolkien had a penchant for a thick-bowl billiard. Photos show him cheerfully puffing a blackened rim, straight-stem pipe or, even less frequently, a pipe with a rough-hewn bowl, a more rustic pipe than anything else. It’s possible he also enjoyed briar pipes occasionally.

But Tolkien’s most famed pipe is the one he displayed but never smoked. It became the model pipe for his famous Lord of the Rings wizard, Gandalf, an equatorial-long churchwarden. They’re famous for their lengthy, bent stems which often stretch beyond six inches in length. Considering his creative nature, it’s no wonder Tolkien was attracted to such an elegant pipe that became ubiquitous in his lifetime.

Albert Einstein

Possibly one of the most prominent pipe smokers in our history was the talented Swiss mathematician and scientist, Albert Einstein. Though it now resides in the Smithsonian Museum, Einstein’s tobacco pipe has traversed the world and is known as a symbol of one of the biggest thinkers in human history. Even when he eschewed smoking, Einstein would put a pipe in his mouth and gnaw on it to allow him to think, as evidenced by the tooth marks discovered on many of his pipes.

President Gerald R. Ford

Having assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned, Ford first picked up a pipe during his years in the U.S. Navy during World War II and never put it down. He told a reporter he specifically began smoking a pipe while on patrol in the Pacific.

Vincent van Gogh

Psychologically tortured artist Van Gogh took comfort in pipe smoking and derived great peace from it during tumultuous times in his life, once calling his pipe in an 1875 letter "an old, trusty friend, and I imagine we'll never part again." Due to the many challenges in his lifetime – he was largely poor and made little from his artwork – he thought of smoking tobacco pipes as a means of consolation.

Bing Crosby

The famous actor and singer never seemed to go anywhere without a pipe. In fact, he has said he gave up cigarette smoking and turned to the pipe because his mother hated cigarettes. There’s also a widely reported incident of Crosby losing a lucrative radio contract because he refused to say a line encouraging radio listeners to buy their mothers a carton of cigarettes. Actress Grace Kelly, who recorded a song with the crooner, said he was easy to get along with and she was amazed he could sing with a pipe between his lips.

J. Allen Hynek

If smoking a pipe sometimes connotates deep thinking, then there are few pipe smokers who fit that image better than Hynek. Astronomer of UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek is best known, of course, for his groundbreaking work in the 1960s and 1970s investigating unidentified flying objects and their possible connection to sightings throughout the world. Perhaps most famously associated with Project Blue Book, the U.S. project looking into UFOs, Hynek was known to enjoy a good pipe – obviously to relieve the stress of his day job, and contemplate the age-old question, “Are we alone in the universe?”

Sherlock Holmes

Holmes is the great fictional detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle who’s been portrayed for close to 150 years in books, radio and television programs, stage productions and, of course, Hollywood films. One of his defining traits is his relationship with his pipe, and how it accompanied him on nearly all his wonderous and dangerous adventures. Likely, Holmes’ obsession with pipe smoking stemmed from Doyle’s own fondness for it, too.

Other Famous Pipe Smokers

There are numerous other famous pipe smokers in human history, some fictional but mostly real people. These include authors like Mark Twain of Huckleberry Finn fame, Ralph Emerson, William Faulkner, C.S. Lewis, U.S. Civil War historian Shelby Foote and, of course, Ernest Hemmingway. Television producer Aaron Spelling enjoyed a good pipe, as did Native American leader Sitting Bull, actors Edward G. Robinson and Dean Martin, fashion editor-politician-diplomat Millicent Fenwick, philosopher Bertrand Russell, and so many others.

Pipe smoking is a time-honored institution long enjoyed by rich and famous, poor, and destitute people worldwide. If you choose to wholesale tobacco pipes or estate pipes, for example, know this: You’ve decided to revel in an age-old tradition relished by people as respite from the stress of everyday living.