More than three decades ago, Kathie Roussin and her husband, Doug, were checking out an antique shop when she spotted some clay pipes that caught her eye and sparked a yearslong obsession.
Since then, she has amassed a collection of nearly 500 historical clay pipes, some of them more than 300 years old.
Both Kathie, 79, and Doug, 78, are retired De Soto School District teachers.
“Really, my husband got me into it,” she said. “We are big antique collectors and we go to antique shops. I thought, ‘I’m going to start collecting something.’ So, I just looked down and saw two or three clay pipes and thought, ‘That’s it! I’m going to start collecting them. They’re kind of pretty.’ It was 30-plus years ago.”
Doug said he smoked pipes at one time, but his wife has never been a smoker.
“I haven’t smoked a pipe in 35 years,” he said. “Kathy has never smoked a day in her life.”
Despite her non-smoking status, Kathie finds the clay pipes fascinating and has bought all sorts of them in different shapes, designs and sizes.
“I’ve got some colonial pipes from the 1600s,” she said. “The pipes range from the 1600s to the early 1900s. We didn’t know (when starting the hobby) how many different kinds there were.”
The Roussins said pipes can be formed from a variety of materials, but Kathie focuses on collecting clay pipes.
“These are strictly pipes molded in clay,” Doug said.
Kathie said she is only interested in old, original clay pipes, not reproductions or more recent vintages.
She takes good care of her clay pipes, storing them in wooden cases with glass fronts.
And if anyone asks to use one of her pipes for its original purpose, she has an emphatic answer.
“No, no, no, no!” she said.
Clay pipes from Holland.
Pipes can be works of art
Kathie said it is fascinating to look at the different shaped pipes and the designs on the pipes.
Some of the pipes are shaped like historical or fictional people, and others have designs on them depicting famous figures.
“We’re from Missouri – we’ve got to have a Mark Twain pipe,” she said, proudly pointing to one shaped like the great writer’s head. “You can see how it’s been smoked.
“I have one with Uncle Sam’s image. I have one with President William Taft’s image. Here’s King Alexander II. There’s the Duchess of Devonshire, her image. And, this is Rubens, the painter. Here’s Queen Victoria. I’ve got several diplomatic faces.”
“It was common in the day for manufacturers to make commemorative pipes with the faces of famous people,” Doug said. “The pipes come in the shapes of famous people, animals, athletes, all different designs.”
Kathie said she is always on the hunt for more historical clay pipes and has made a name for herself among collectors because of her particular interest.
“A lot of times, we go to Civil War shows, and I know a lot of the men down there and they’ll say, ‘Kathie, next year I’ll bring you three or four pipes that my buddies dug up,’” she said. “We also go antiquing in shops to buy stuff.”
Of all of the pieces in her collection, one design is her favorite.
“I like the eagle-talon pipes,” she said. “It’s a pipe that has an eagle-talon design.”
Kathie Roussin of De Soto shows off two pipes shaped like eagle talons.
Kathie said her collection has not been appraised.
“I’ve never put a value on it,” she said. “Some of my pipes are pretty expensive. But, when I started, I got a lot of my pipes for practically nothing, compared to today’s money. So, I just don’t know it’s value.”
She said most of the pipes cost her $50 or less.
“The location where you get them has a lot to do with the cost,” Kathie said. “When we’ve been out East, naturally, they want much more.”
The Roussins have traveled extensively since retiring, including trips abroad, but Kathie said she has been reluctant to buy clay pipes during those excursions for fear of breaking any new purchases.
“So many of them are fragile,” she said. “You really need to be careful handling them.”
Kathie’s collection includes some oversized novelty clay pipes.
“They were used a lot for advertising,” she said. “The people would put them in their store windows to entice men to come in and buy pipes. You could smoke them if you wanted.”
Kathie said her clay pipe collection is for pleasure, not profit.
“I don’t sell them,” she said. “I strictly collect them and display them. I just want people to enjoy them.”
She takes her collection to shows
Kathie has shown off items from her collection at different events over the years and received recognition for the displays several times. Her latest honor came in July at the Chattanooga Antique Militaria & Americana Show, where she won the event’s Best Display Award.
“It’s still fun for me,” she said of her hobby. “We get quite a lot of enjoyment out of it. There are still pipes I’d like to get I’ve seen in books.”
The Roussins said they enjoy attending the different collector shows and speaking with other regular attendees.
Doug has written books on Civil War memorabilia.
“You’ve got collectors across the country that swap information,” he said. “I’ve often said (Kathie) needs to do a little book on her collection.”
The Roussins said they have never run into anyone who collects clay pipes anywhere near the extent Kathie does.
“(Others) aren’t full clay pipe collectors,” she said. “They have a few, maybe, two or three cases (full).”
Kathie said she met at least one person who valued her clay pipe expertise.
“I had this one man one time, I don’t remember what show it was, and he brought a case and had his pipes in there,” she recalled. “He made me feel so good. He said, ‘Could you date these for me and tell me a little bit about them?’”
She did.
“Yes, I helped him,” she said. “I told him what the value was of his pipes, their time period, how they were molded. He was very appreciative.”
Kathie also collects old cigarette holders made of clay, but not as seriously.
“They’re made to look like a pipe,” she said. “They’re clay. I just have seven of them.”
“They were very fashionable back in about the 1920s,” Doug said.
Both the Roussins were De Soto elementary school teachers, Kathie at Vineland Elementary and Doug at Athena Elementary. They have been married for 35 years.
Kathie said she is not interested in displaying her collection online but will continue taking it to shows.