The fun of pipe smoking is more than discovering great pipes and tobaccos. The accessories that make smoking easy and convenient are also a source of satisfaction, and they needn't be expensive. Pipe rests, tobacco jars, pouches, tampers, and lighters all contribute to the experiences we seek with our pipes, and they can be simple everyday items or sophisticated and precious works of art. Tampers, for example, can be as modest as a stick from the yard or as distinctive as a Tiffany-made 14k-gold statement piece. One essential accessory, however, is never expensive or pretentious: the cork pipe knocker, and of particular interest to those of us who enjoy unusual historical details, it may be that it was invented by the famous Scottish tobacconist, Charles Rattray.

The pipe knocker serves the important purpose of protecting our pipes when we empty them. The dottle left after a smoke can be stubborn. It does not respond to reason or flattery, but can be coerced with a resolute whack on a solid object like a shoe, rock, or tree stump. However, this tactic is not without potential drawbacks.

Clays and meerschaums do not respond any more positively when bashed against a rock than you or I would. We might complain, but they break, and though it's remarkably easy to remove dottle from the shards of a broken bowl, it's a hollow victory. Briars and cobs are more resilient but are easily dented by rocks of any given mineralogical composition. Knocking dottle from a pipe requires something solid enough to persuade that dottle to relocate, yet soft enough to preserve the pipe. Cork is perfect, especially when paired with an ashtray that can catch the discarded ash.

We pipe smokers are now afforded the luxury of ashtrays fitted with cork pipe knockers. Some are pre-fitted with raised centers to more prominently orient the cork. Cork knockers are also available individually, with adhesive backs so they can be easily installed in regular ashtrays, transforming them into pipe ashtrays. There are antique pipe ashtrays that feature hard rubber knockers, which look terrific. I'm personally partial to black silicone hemispheres, available in different sizes. They're somewhat more bouncy than cork, but they don't display the unsightly burns that lighter cork can when burning embers are knocked from the pipe. And I like the aesthetic. I've transformed a cool antique bronze ashtray into a cool antique bronze pipe ashtray and truly enjoy it.

... it's remarkably easy to remove dottle from the shards of a broken bowl

Clearly, I'm a fan of pipe knockers (don't put that on my headstone for the uninitiated to puzzle over), and they're so convenient that I feel sorry for the generations of pipe smokers who did not have them. (I feel bad about their lack of matches, butane lighters, pipe cleaners, and boutique tobaccos, too, but we're now concentrating elsewhere.)

This line of thinking introduces the question of who we have to thank for this convenient item, and it seems that Charles Rattray had a hand in bringing pipe-knocker ashtrays to the public.

We're all familiar with the name Rattray and the classic tobaccos and pipes associated with it. Charles Rattray was entrenched in the Scottish tobacco industry and worked in Dundee in the Fairweathers tobacco factory until, at age 23, he opened his own shop on High Street in Perth and developed his own blends. It was the first decade of the 20th century, and more than a century later, we still know and admire many of his tobacco mixtures.

... they're so convenient that I feel sorry for the generations of pipe smokers who did not have them

His genius carried into other aspects of his business, and the book Holy Smoke (1997) contains an interesting anecdote to support that declaration, one that hints at the origin of the pipe-knocker ashtray. It's a quote of the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie from Sublime Tobacco (1957), but I was unable to obtain a copy of the primary source, so this is Guillermo Infante quoting Mackenzie:

The diner observed by Rattray was obviously a seasoned pipe smoker who understood the advantages of cork. Using a champagne cork after dinner appears to have been a regular routine for this individual, but it couldn't have been perfect. A loose champagne cork on a plate is going to bounce when struck with a pipe, and the plate itself would doubtless have jumped on the table and rattled the dinnerware, distracting from after-dinner conversation.

It isn't hard to imagine that cork reacting with unexpected kinetic spirit. There had to have been occasions when the cork launched from the plate in improbable directions to bounce off the user's forehead, land in a lady companion's cleavage, splash into a water pitcher, or tumble under the feet of a waiter carrying a full tray of drinks that subsequently douse unsuspecting nearby diners. It seems like a strategy destined for inconvenience.

Rattray recognized that defect and devised what may have been the first commercial pipe-knocker ashtray, affixing the cork to circumvent potential projectiles and adding the superiority of an ashtray over a dinner plate.

A loose champagne cork on a plate is going to bounce when struck with a pipe

Mackenzie's anecdote doesn't prove that Rattray was the first, and there are no patents to support the hypothesis. But Mackenzie was a dedicated, well-traveled pipe smoker who was delighted with the discovery, so it's unlikely that these ashtrays preceded Rattray's invention.

I think it's a fun detail that contributes to the texture of pipe-smoking history. When we think of Charles Rattray, we obviously appreciate his contributions to the advancement of pipes and tobaccos. But it's worth remembering that he was also an avid pipe guy, always looking for ways to improve the smoking experiences of his fellow pipe smokers.

Bibliography

• Infante, Guillermo Cabrera. Holy Smoke (1997)