Tobacco pipes have been around longer than the United States as a country. Native Americans first started enjoying tobacco more than 1,000 years ago although it’s unclear exactly when they started using pipes. What is known is that tobacco pipes were already in common usage by the time European colonists arrived in the late 15th century.

The transition from pipes being handmade objects made by individuals to being produced in large quantities for the commercial market didn’t occur until about 100 years later. Sadly, all of the companies producing pipes at that time have long since gone out of business. But there are still quite a few pipe manufacturers who have been plying their trade for a century or more in operation today and we’ve brought together a representative collection for you.

7 of the World’s Oldest Makers of Tobacco Pipes

1: Dunhill

Alfred Dunhill was an English tobacconist, inventor and entrepreneur. In 1893 at the age of just 21, he started a business in London selling accessories for the newfangled hobby of motoring. By 1902 he was doing well enough to open a brick-and-mortar shop in the affluent London neighborhood of Mayfair, and two years later began marketing a tobacco pipe intended for use by those motoring enthusiasts he was keen to court.

Being the observant type, Dunhill noticed that his new tobacco pipe was quickly becoming a big seller and he expanded his operation to include tobacco pipe accessories. Finally, in 1907 he opened a separate tobacconist's shop in the equally upscale London neighborhood of St. James.

The company Dunhill started is one of the most successful tobacco-related enterprises in the world although it is now split into two distinct parts: Alfred Dunhill, Ltd. the London-based luxury goods company currently owned by Swiss company Richemont and Dunhill tobacco products owned by British American Tobacco.

2: Peterson of Dublin

In 1865 German immigrants Friedrich and Heinrich Kapp founded the Kapp Brothers Store on Grafton Street in Dublin. It wasn’t long after the company’s founding that a Latvian immigrant named Charles Peterson, who had some woodworking experience, strolled into the brothers’ store and declared he could make better pipes than they could. They gave him an opportunity to prove it, and he did. Within 10 years he was made a partner in the business, which subsequently changed its name to Kapp & Peterson.

Ultimately, Peterson outlasted the Kapp brothers at the firm and when their sons took over for Friedrich and Heinrich, Peterson was eventually able to convince them to sell a significant number of their shares to him and he, in effect, became the controlling partner.

Peterson Pipes have introduced a couple of important innovations to pipe design over the years. Most notable is the Peterson Dry System which captures moisture before it reaches the smoker, and the P-lip mouthpiece that directs smoke up and away from the smoker’s tongue, thereby making for a less bitter smoke.

3: Savinelli

Savinelli Pipes was founded nearly 150 years ago in Milan by Achille Savinelli Sr. From the outset the company dedicated itself to producing high-quality tobacco pipes in a variety of styles that featured peerless craftsmanship. That tradition and commitment continues to this day. Oddly enough, no one seems quite sure when Achille Sr was born. But they do agree that in 1881 he exhibited some of his handcrafted smoking pipes at what was then called the Italian Industrial Exposition.

Achille Sr retired from the business in 1890 and his son Carlo took over. Carlo wound up running the business for the next 50 years and turned it into a widely recognized source of quality pipes and tobacco pipe accessories.

In 1918 the confusingly-named Achille Jr (who was actually Achille Sr’s grandson) was born and immediately took an interest in pipe making that would pay handsome dividends for the company going forward. Despite a lull in activity during WWII Savinelli Pipes emerged from the conflict in reasonably good shape and Achille Jr set up his own workshop to produce pipes to his exacting specifications.

Today those pipes are in high demand as the company navigates the 21st century cultural and business landscape with Achille Sr’s great-grandson Giancarlo at the helm.

4: Charatan

Charatan was established by an immigrant named Frederick Charatan on Mansell Street in London, just a few blocks north of the Tower, in 1863, exactly 150 years ago as of this writing. Frederick began hand-carving meerschaum pipes, which quickly found an eager audience. In order to satisfy demand Frederick moved the business a couple of blocks away to a larger space on Prescot Street. There he first began to produce the briar pipes that would become his signature product.

Frederick eschewed the practice of buying pre-turned bowls from factories on the continent, and instead insisted on crafting each bowl by hand from blocks of rough briar. This methodology gave rise to the term “Charatan’s make” which is still used today.

So impressed was he with the quality of Charatan’s pipes Alfred Dunhill contracted the Charatan workshop to produce pipes for him. That went on for several years until Dunhill was able to convince one of Charatan’s most coveted carvers to start his own workshop which then produced pipes for the Dunhill brand.

In 1978 the company was sold to Dunhill who sold it 10 years later to J.B. Russell of New Jersey. 14 years later Russell went out of business and Dunhill repurchased the Charatan brand, bringing in established artisans of high renown to breathe new life into the business.

5: Comoy's of London

Comoy’s is the oldest company on this list with a history that dates back nearly 2 centuries. The company can trace its origins to 1825 when Francois Comoy and his brothers began making clay pipes in the small town of Saint-Claude in eastern France. In 1848 the brothers shifted focus and began producing briar pipes after determining that the briar wood available around Saint-Claude was of superior quality.

In 1879 Francois’ son Henri moved to London with the idea of setting up an arm of the company there. He set up a small workshop in Cambridge Circus and within a few years had established himself and the Comoy name in the British capital. He played an integral role in establishing the briar trade in London.

In time relatives joined him from France and by 1895 the operation needed to move to a larger factory, this one in Clerkenwell. A second factory was added in 1913 and in 1914 the business was incorporated. Henri died in 1924 leaving the business to his nephews, Charles and Louis. Following a war-related lull in business during the 1940s the company began to rebound. Comoy’s remained a family-owned company until it was bought by Cadogan Investments in the 1980’s.

6: The Missouri Meerschaum Company

We couldn’t wrap up this list of the oldest pipe makers without at least 1 US company. The one that gets our nod is none other than the Missouri Meerschaum Company of Washington, Missouri. The MMC is the world’s largest and oldest commercial manufacturer of corncob pipes. It was founded more than 150 years ago by woodworker Henry Tibbe who began creating corn cob pipes and selling them as one of many items in his shop.

The name Missouri Meerschaum is more than a bit misleading since Tibbe’s pipes were not (and are not) carved from meerschaum. Tibbe just liked the name and he lived in an era when there was less insistence on marketing accuracy. But regardless, the MMC has enjoyed robust success right into the present day and continues to produce some 3,500 pipes per day for the global market.

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