White Ball Clay Pipe

White Ball Clay Pipe

Both men and women enjoyed the sweet flavors and the soothing properties of tobacco through white ball clay pipes. Clay smoking pipes are some of the first mass-produced items. Because of this mass production, clay pipes served as an affordable alternative to those who could not afford the more expensive options made of brier wood or meerschaum. Serving as a cheap way to enjoy the pleasures of tobacco, factory workers purchased these pipes one or two at a time. After a couple bowls of tobacco, the pipes would be thrown away.

Excavation prior to construction of Rutgers-Camden dormitory at 330 Cooper Street, Camden, NJ.

Rutgers University-Camden

c. 1880-1890; photographs, March 2018.

Ernie Ariens (Graduate Student, American Material Culture, Spring 2018); photographs by Jacob Lechner.

Collection of Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts

Affleck, Richard, George Cress, Ingrid Weubber, Rebecca White, Kimberly Morrell, and Thomas Kutys. Phase II and Data-Recovery Archaeological Excavations of the Smith-Maskell Site Cooper Street Development Camden, New Jersey. Archaeological Excavation Report, Burlington: URS Corporation.

Clay pipe, 4 inches in length with a stem 0.1090 inches in diameter and 3.75 inches long.

Photograph