Summary

This clay tobacco pipe stem was excavated at Commonwealth Block site between 1988 and 2003. It was manufactured by Thomas White & Co. in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thomas White & Co. made pipes between 1823 - 1876.

A pipeful of tobacco was long-lasting and its aroma disguised the stench of Melbourne's streets. The short clay pipe favoured by working men was called a 'cutty'. Being made of brittle clay, these pipes broke easily, explaining the abundance of fragments uncovered at Little Lon. Of the pipes excavated, many were decorated with slogans, patriotic symbols, even jokes and caricatures, hinting at the identities of those who smoked them.

Physical Description

This is a piece of a cylindrical pipe stem and the maker's mark is impressed into it.

Physical Description

Clay tobacco pipe bowl, spur and part of the stem. Impressed initials on bowl reads 'TW'. Fragment of a second pipe stem with impressed lettering in an oval reads 'THO. WHITE & CO. EDINBURGH'. Thomas White & Co., Edinburgh, made pipes between 1823 - 1876.

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