While prowling through the Life magazine archive on Google Images, I discovered a series of images taken by Wallace Kirkland about the Missouri Meerschaum Company in Washington, MO. The pictures from this story all dated April, 1945. The Missouri Meerschaum Company is still the premier manufacturer of Corn Cob pipes to this day.

A man smokes a corn cob pipe while unloading bags of corn cobs. A man smokes a corn cob pipe while unloading bags of corn cobs to be used in the production of Corn Cob pipes.

A worker making corn cob pipes. A worker making corn cob pipes. Interestingly enough, this image is available as a poster through AllPosters.com.

Another worker drills out corn cobs to fashion the bowls of the pipes. Another worker drills out corn cobs to fashion the bowls of the pipes.

A view of the a storage bin for the materials used in making corn cob pipes. A view of the a storage bin for the materials used in making corn cob pipes.

Some of the different styles of corn cob pipes that Missouri Meerschaum Company made back in 1945. Some of the different styles of corn cob pipes that Missouri Meerschaum Company made back in 1945.

A portrait of various stages of corn cob pipe production. A portrait of various stages of corn cob pipe production.

You’ll find all of these and many more pictures from this store by  going to Google Images and searching on “Washington, MO, US source:life.” If all this pipe goodness leads you to

Wallace Kirkland was a general assignment photographer for Life Magazine during times of war and peace. You can find more examples of his artwork, including images of the women baseball players during WWII as profiled in A League of Their Own. You can find more about Wallace Kirkland at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Special Collections website.