Corn Cob Pipes Sell Well in St. Charles

Corn cob pipes are a popular item at John Dengler Tobacconist in St. Charles. 

Larry Muench, owner of the shop, recommends them to college students who wander in at the start of the school year. Rather than purchase a $40 pipe they might not end up liking, he suggests they spend $10 on a corn cob pipe and an ounce of tobacco. 

"It's a corn cob, it'll burn up, but they smoke good," he said. 

Muench was interviewed on NPR on Monday for a story about how drought has slowed production of corn cob pipes. He told NPR he sells about 700 corn cob pipes a year. 

It takes two years for a corn cob pipe to dry naturally and low supply of corn due to drought has led the Missouri Meerschaum factory in Washington, MO to have to speed up the drying process with propane tanks, according to the story. 

The crop for 2012 produced only one-third of the cobs needed, according to the story. 

Muench said supplies of corn cob pipes may slow down in the future.