In the 18th century, a clay tobacco pipe could reveal more than you might think. Its length, quality and condition, as well as the way it was used, could signal social status. In a new doctoral thesis, Lund University archaeologist Robert Bergman Carter shows how smokeways at the time served as clear markers of status.
"During certain periods, smoking a well-used pipe was a sign of high status. To achieve the desired seasoned appearance, people would sometimes have their servants smoke their pipes for them. The pipe was not simply a tool for smoking tobacco, but also a marker of people's identities and places in the social hierarchy," says Robert Bergman Carter, who has studied the social aspects of tobacco smoking in 18th-century Sweden.
To describe these differences, Robert Bergman Carter has introduced the concept of Smokeways, roughly comparable to "smoking manners". The concept enables comparisons of how smoking practices differed between social classes.
The study draws on archaeological finds of clay pipes from Sweden, as well as images and archival material. A key part of the archaeological material comes from an excavation at Slussen in Stockholm in 1984, where around six tonnes of 18th-century clay pipes were found in a deposit associated with pipe manufacturer Olof Forsberg.
Until now, archaeological pipe finds in Sweden have mainly been used to date archaeological contexts and to map trade routes. In England and the Netherlands, the two major pipe-producing countries, previous research has focused on the social aspects of pipe smoking.
"I compare finds of pipes and pipe fragments with images and archival material, including descriptions of manufacturing methods, price lists from pipe factories, records from the Swedish parliament and printed advertisements from various pipe manufacturers. Taken together, they provide a picture of how people smoked and how smoking was connected to socioeconomic status," says Robert Bergman Carter.
Pipes revealed class and status
Under the right circumstances, traces of differences in manufacturing methods, quality and price can be identified in the archaeological record. Pipes varied considerably in appearance.
"Pipes used by people from the lower social classes were coarser, unpolished and more likely to have shorter stems, while those from higher social classes smoked longer, more carefully finished and polished pipes. Pipes were therefore not merely everyday objects, they were also a visible markers of socioeconomic status," says Robert Bergman Carter.
Pipe stems were generally between 20 and 45 centimetres long, considerably longer than those of most pipes today.
"To smoke a pipe with a 45-centimetre stem, you need to remain relatively still, which was difficult for people in the lower, manual-labour classes," says Robert Bergman Carter.
Wear and tear can also reveal social class. Simpler pipes often show bite marks on stems, repairs and heavy staining from prolonged smoking, suggesting that they were used for longer periods. They were probably often held between the teeth while their owners worked.
"There are finds of human crania with pipe-stem-shaped gaps between the teeth, where the pipe had been held. Sometimes as many as three such gaps have been found. When one gap became too large to hold the pipe securely, the smoker simply switched to a new position," says Robert Bergman Carter.
Clay pipes were smoked by almost everyone
The starting point for the thesis is that pipe smoking was widespread and essentially the only way of smoking tobacco at the time.
"Everyone smoked, men and women and people from all social classes. Despite a minimum age of 21 for tobacco use, many sources describe smoking as widespread among children as well. Unlike today, tobacco smoking was considered healthy and was used as a treatment for a range of diseases, including plague and cancer," says Robert Bergman Carter.
One exception was upper-class women.
"It was considered inappropriate for them to smoke, although there were probably secret smokers among them," says Robert Bergman Carter.
He adds that both the archaeological evidence and archival material also dispel the notion that smoking was primarily a male activity.
Import ban made clay pipes the most common choice
Clay pipes and pipe fragments are among the most common finds at archaeological sites from this period. The pipes were made from grey clay that turned chalk-white when fired in a kiln.
One reason that Swedish clay pipes became so common was that Sweden introduced an embargo on imports of ordinary pipes in 1747. This prompted extensive domestic production and the establishment of several clay tobacco pipe factories.
Although clay pipes themselves have almost disappeared today, many of the social mechanisms surrounding smoking still remain.
"Smokeways is not only about what people smoke, but also how they smoke, what smoking implements they use and what social signals these send. Just as consumption habits can signal status today, they did so back then," says Robert Bergman Carter.
The study in brief
- The thesis examines the social aspects of tobacco smoking in 18th-century Sweden and how smoking practices were used to express identity, social status and class.
- The thesis introduces the concept of Smokeways to describe and analyse how smoking practices varied between different social groups in the 18th century.
- Archaeological finds have been combined with historical archival records, estate inventories, customs records, newspaper advertisements, and contemporary texts and images. By comparing the finds with documentation on pipe production, prices and trade, Robert Bergman Carter investigates how pipe smoking and the choice of pipe were linked to social differences in 18th-century Sweden.
- The thesis shows that differences in pipe design, quality, stem-length, and traces of use reflect social divisions in Swedish society. Pipes were not simply tools for smoking tobacco, but also visible markers of identity, status, and social belonging.
- International studies, including research from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have shown that clay pipes can provide clues about social differences and patterns of consumption. In Sweden, this field has so far received less attention.
