The Oom Paul’s Background
Fred Hanna

The Oom Paul pipe shape has quite a curious and rather dark history that deserves a bit of light. The Oom Paul is one of my favorite shapes but I cannot say I am fond of its name. It is named after the South African politician "Oom" Paul Kruger (1825-1904) who smoked a variation of that particular shape. Please understand that I am not a historian, but what follows is the little that I have learned of Oom Paul Kruger.

Kruger was among the best known of the Afrikaners, or Boers, the whites who took control of the South African region in the 19th century. The term “Oom” translates as “Uncle” in the Afrikaner language, and is a term of respect. Kruger was the first president of the Tranvaal Republic of South Africa, and was a leader of that country for over 20 years. He died in 1904 still believing that the world was flat.

For the record, Paul Kruger did not have anything to do with Apartheid. Apartheid came in 1948, long after he died in 1904. However, his religion, a Dutch version of Calvinism, was extremely racist, and held that the whites, as opposed to people of color, were the chosen ones and privileged by God. This is quite similar to the equally racist belief known as manifest destiny, that allowed the oppression of Native Americans in America in the 19th century. It is a matter of historical record that Paul Kruger was extremely religious and being so inclined, he appears to have subscribed to this insidious belief completely. According to the Brittanica and other sources, the Boers, or Afrikaners, practiced slavery, and subjected the native black people of South Africa into forced labor and treated them very harshly, including depriving them of their lands.

Paul Kruger was a major figure among the Afrikaners, whose virulent racism eventually matured into the Apartheid political system in 1948. Apartheid did not appear out of nowhere, it had its origins and roots in the Boer religion and its racism, and the Afrikaners controlled the government of all of South Africa from 1910 until 1994. Friends in South Africa have informed me that many of the Afrikaners there continue to be racists. Oom Paul Kruger has long been a hero of these Afrikaners. They named parks and currency after him. The Krugerrand is an example. He was and remains a symbol of racism, and was despised by many, including, I am told, Mahatma Gandhi.

There are some who praise the Boers, believing that they were a brave people fighting for their lands against the British during the Boer wars. However, in regard to this heroism of the Boers in their war against the British, many of the Boers fought alongside the British, against their own people. That many of the Boers fought valiantly for their lands against the Brits also appears to be true. But we might remember that their lands were originally stolen from the native Africans to begin with, and it is difficult, if not absurd, to see an injustice being done against them by the Brits.

So I ask you my fellow pipe collectors, was Paul Kruger a person of admirable character? From what I can tell, this does not seem to be the case. Does he deserve a classic pipe shape to be associated with his name? Not in my opinion. But the name is there nonetheless. I am not saying that we should all stop the use of the term Oom Paul. That is each individual’s decision, and I still use it on occasion myself. My purpose for writing this short essay is to increase our awareness of the history behind that unique name, that is now an established part of pipe lore and tradition.

Have you ever wondered why Dunhill did not and does not call that shape, the Oom Paul? As many collectors know, Dunhill refers to that same shape as the Hungarian. This is quite understandable. Given the historical opposition of the British toward the Boers or Afrikaners, it is likely that to them, Oom Paul Kruger deserved no such honor.

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The author wishes to thank Robert Schrire, our highly regarded pipe collecting friend from South Africa, for his helpful comments on this article.
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Originally published in The Pipe Collector, newsletter of the North American Society of Pipe Collectors (NASPC) in 2006.
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