Impressive pipe factory

28 June 2021

Impressive pipe factory

Where pipe factories all over the world have to close their doors, downsize or even go bankrupt, the opposite happens at Chacom. This French briar factory, the oldest in the world, moved into new premises. They exchanged a dusty and damp factory space in the center of Saint-Claude for a fresh and modern building on the outskirts of the city. With 3,000 square meters there is enough space for efficient production units and the stock of turned but unfinished pipes. In addition, there is a lot of room for the company history with antique machines and advertisements. A must for every pipe smoker is a visit to the great showroom with beautiful videos of the production and history, but also the complete overview of their current range. There is also the nicest merchandising such as T-shirts and mugs with print in which the pipe plays the leading role. It is the impressive but perhaps also the last proof of the great history of the briar industry in Saint Claude. Congratulations to Antoine Grenard who took the initiative for this.

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History of Commoy-David

25 June 2021

History of Commoy-David

Today in Saint-Claude, the French pipe city where as a confrère you regularly have to show your face and where we know various pipe makers personally. When visiting Jacky Craen, Don Duco received a unique archival item for our collection as a gift. The retired pipe maker still runs his shop in the center of town. From his father-in-law he still owned an impressive folio with the financial administration of the company Commoy-David. Coincidentally, the opposite has been present in our library for years, but it could never have been understood without this part. By completing this five-hundred-page folio with the cash register of this interesting company, we gain a unique insight into the sales figures plus distribution of customers in Europe during and just after the First World War.

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Professor Fock passed away

22 June 2021

Professor Fock passed away

Within the art-historical world, the city of Leiden has been known for decades as the city of applied arts. The first professor, Professor Theo Lunsingh Scheurleer, was succeeded in 1982 by Professor C. Willemijn Fock. Don Duco graduated with her in 1987. Later, Professor Fock was prepared to take on an advisory role in the Pijpenkabinet foundation, following her vision that applied arts should be stimulated across the board. As a result, our field of expertise also rose in prestige. We keep fond memories of Willemijn's commitment, in a formal sense, but also of pleasant hours with her at the dinner table.

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Twenty years of 'Object of the month'

18 June 2021

Twenty years of 'Object of the month'

This month, with issue number 240, we are completing exactly twenty years with our ‘Object of the month’ section. In the meantime, not only the section on our homepage has become familiar, but also the messages about this on Facebook. To some, even the objects will look familiar. Time for change? No, why should we? The section is too popular to exchange for an alternative. For now, we'll just keep going, for many of our site visitors it's the first thing they look at. And when it comes to our field, there is always enough choice of attractive, curious or descriptive objects to highlight with a story.

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International Museum Week – Day 7

13 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 7

Words for the Future. Smoking has a bad smell since the invention of the cigarette. Pipe smoking on the contrary is meant as a ceremony, as a moment of relaxation, only you with your pipe or in pleasant company. What will that be like in 100 years? Hopefully the addictive cigarette will then really be something of the past, while the tobacco pipe makes it revival among connoisseurs. Anyhow, the collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum will still exist as an archive of this special heritage.
More info on APM library

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International Museum Week – Day 6

12 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 6

Art is everywhere… This is the famous pipe from 1994 called 'screw driver', exactly what it is. But now in platinum glazed ceramic, made by the Gouda pipe manufacturer GTP. Guido Geelen, the designer, turned a simple utensil into a work of art, which can also be used and enjoyed as a tobacco pipe! That's creative!
More info on APM 13.805ddd

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International Museum Week – Day 5

11 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 5

Caption this. Is it the French shop window display pipe called 'femme Renaissance' made in 1860? Or a remake of Madonna in her iconic 'cone bra' by Jean Paul Gaultier from 1990? See what you want in it, the collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum offers every opportunity for creative thinking and free association!
More info on APM 1.888

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International Museum Week – Day 4

10 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 4

Eureka! A new discovery as a solution to a long-standing problem: the short pipe becomes too hot, the smoke too moist hence the taste gets spoiled. Well, in 1946 a certain Bryson from California thought to offer the solution with this system pipe. The aluminium stem has an ingenious system inside that forces the smoke to take a long zig-zag path and thus cools it down. Still, the pipe was not a big success and did not last long.
More info on APM 17.899

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International Museum Week – Day 3

9 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 3

Through children's eyes the collection of the #AmsterdamPipeMuseum looks very different. They are the first to notice that there are so many jolly animals in the museum. These two porcelain animals are really meant for smoking; acting as pipe bowls, the smoke comes out of the ears and mouth! Everyone can see what he likes in a museum!
More info on APM 12.781 en APM 13.606

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International Museum Week – Day 2

8 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 2

Behind the scenes the museum stores everything that cannot be shown in the permanent presentation, but that is strongly related with the theme. For example, the Amsterdam_Pipe_Museum has a documentation room with hundreds of boxes of printed matter, papers from the past about tobacco, cigars, etc. This is a cigar box label for quality cigars with a fancy factory building on it, beautifully printed, embossed and gilded in an expensive process.
More info on APM 28.872

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International Museum Week – Day 1

7 June 2021

International Museum Week – Day 1

Once upon a time ... in a land far from here, there was an Indian who had found a plant in the jungle that smelled wonderful when burned. He made a hollow tube in clay, baked it as ceramic. Stuffed with the crushed leaves he could burn and inhale the smoke. The tobacco pipe was born. This 'tubular pipe' from Central America dates from the first centuries of our era and is one of the earliest examples.
More info on APM 19.821

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Next week Museum Week!

4 June 2021

Next week Museum Week!

It is museum week from 7 to 13 June 2021. Not an ordinary national event but an international museum week especially on social-media. The Amsterdam Pipe Museum follows the seven themes of the day with an object from our collections. In this way we contribute to the countless activities in all parts of the world and hope to draw more attention to our renewed website. Facebook and Instagram support this activity.

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Carnation campaign for culture

1 June 2021

Carnation campaign for culture

From 1 to 5 June the Dutch Carnation Action takes place, a fundraising campaign by the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund. Not only because we sympathize this Charity, but mainly because we ourselves have had no income for the past six months, we are participating for the Amsterdam Pipe Museum this year. Our aim is to raise money with which we can continue with the innovations of our unique website. The fundraising will be only online, with a special QR code (see above). Scan the code and transfer an amount via your own bank account, large or small - every contribution is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your gift!

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