Plastic with meerschaum inner bowl

October 2010

In the 1960s the Hilson company from Brée in Belgium developed the Hilson Fantasia, a pipe with a flashy appearance. The outside of bowl and stem was made of moulded plastic, in many cases in beautiful marble colours, but also in plain version. Because plastic is not porous and, moreover flammable, a tobacco pipe of that material can only be functional with a non-combustible inner bowl. It was found by applying an interior in pressed meerschaum grit. The stem of the pipe is made of the usual black hard rubber. As innovative as this pipe was, it is a follow-up of other plastic pipes from the same period, such as The Pipe, an English initiative by Falcon for a cast plastic pipe. However, the smoker was not very enthusiastic about the Fantasia. A bit understandable though, because the rubber mouthpiece turned out to be more fragile than usual, while the absorption of the semi-foam inner bowl was below standard. Thus the Fantasia became a short-lived fashion and not a keeper.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 20.336

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