Who Invented the Corn Cob Pipe?

(Firecured) I recently read an article in Pipes Magazine titled Corn Cob Pipes - Almost 150 Years Old and 3,000 Produced per Day. It's a pretty good article and the video is not to be missed, but the title got me to wondering: Just how old are corn cob pipes? While it's true that the Missouri Meerschaum company has been making an improved version of the corn cob pipe since 1869, they must have been around before that. A quick walk around Google Books confirms this. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress