History of the Tamper & More on our Company

Written by Marc Chevalier

A WORLD RULED BY PIPES

 Once upon a time -- from 1585, the year Sir Walter Raleigh introduced pipe-smoking to the Elizabethan court, to 1881, when the first viable cigarette-rolling machine was patented -- pipes ruled the world. No hyberbole here: The combination of a New World stimulant -- tobacco -- and a freewheeling European market, placed pipes firmly in the mouths of every English privateer, Dutch trading magnate, Descartian philosopher, colonial tavernkeeper, tribal chieftain, Napoleonic general, Samurai lord, and Dickensian city dweller within reach. Paintings, pamphlets, the earliest of novels and the earliest of photographs -- an endless array -- show us what our ancestors knew: that the pipe was an icon of their daily lives, a hand-held pleasure, an adult (and sometimes juvenile) toy. True, the famous generals Grant and Sherman smoked cigars. But look closely at photos of their soldiers: what you'll spot . again and again . are their pipes.

BUT PIPES WEREN'T ENOUGH

Those tobacco leaves burning so benignly in one's pipe bowl require care. To achieve a smooth and even draw of smoke, you need to push, or "tamp", the stuff down. Sir Isaac Newton once used a lady's finger (still attached to its owner, it seems) to "tamp" his pipe, with inflammatory results. There had to be a better way.

ENTER THE TAMPER

Japan had its purse-string netsukes, Native America its medicine pouches; Europe came up with figural pipe tampers. Like the netsukes and medicine pouches, tampers - or "stoppers" in British English - were small, portable, useful, and wonderfully decorative. Within these little verticle sculptures, every aspect of contemporary life was depicted, glorified, satirized: terriers and grinning imps, two-faced popes and Cheshire cats, Bonaparte and the weeping Eve . a waistcoat-pocket menagerie. The art of silversmiths, pewterers, ironmongers and glassblowers spanning three very creative centuries.

      "In the tobacco-stopper alone was anything like taste or fancy displayed. This was the only article on which the English smoker prided himself. It was made of various materials - wood, bone, ivory, mother-of-pearl, brass, and silver; and the forms which it assured were exceedingly diversified."       --Joseph Fume, 1839

Additional materials included pewter, bronze, iron, lead(!), horn, basalt, china, clay, lava and even animal teeth. Tampers of various forms were fashioned and used by nearly every ethnic group in every continent. Diversity, it seems, is nothing new.

HUMANITY

A glimpse of a tamper in a pipe smoker's hand brought color, thought and humor to the day. It had its own humanity: far from the history books, perhaps, but close to the lives of everyday people. The humans that we were ... the humans we've become.  By the 1880's, mass manufacturing had replaced craft in most areas of life. Pipe smoking, the activity of a slower time, gave way to the faster, disposable cigarette. And tampers? They went the way of craftspeople: from the workshop to the factory. Nearly all of today's mass-produced tampers, made of acrylic, wood, steel, or brass, are functional -- and they look it. You could easily mistake one for an auto part, or perhaps a pen. In short, the modern tamper is utility, not fantasy. Antique pieces can be found, but at a price their original owners never would (nor could) have paid. 

Objects of everyday humanity shouldn't be costly. Our affordable solution is to reproduce them by hand, one at a time ... and to fashion some originals in their spirit, created for us by local artists. No matter who you are or where you're from, your ancestor probably used a tamper of some kind. It probably brought a smile to his face, too. That alone gives it value beyond time, beyond price.

OUR TAMPERS

Our very own Tampers - dozens of designs in all, from historical and comical characters to real and mythological animals -- are cast from fine Pewter, one of the earliest tamper materials used. Each piece is hand-polished and finished, producing a collectible sculpture that earns our - and, we hope, your - pride.  As you browse through our Tampers, click on the order button at any time to place an order. This will take you to a page called the SHOPPING CART, or it could be referred to as your invoice. As you place orders, your shopping cart will keep a running total of your order.  When you finalize your order,  you will be taken to our secure server to process your personal information.  Rest assured we never have and never will sell or share our customer list with any third party. 

"Thanks for stopping by and above all, we appreciate your business."

R. D. Hisel

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