UPCA - United Pipe Clubs of America for the Pipe Smoking Community

The United Pipe Clubs of America (UPCA) was organized in 2002 as a national federation of pipe clubs in the United States. Its purpose is to promote and protect the interests of the American pipe smoking community by encouraging and assisting in the formation of local pipe clubs and actively supporting their activities, including pipe shows and pipe smoking competitions.

UPCA's broader goals are to bring American pipe smokers together by serving as a liason to facilitate the sharing of information and ideas between its member clubs and to maintain smokers' enthusiasm for the hobby by presenting a positive public image of the culture and traditions of pipe smoking and collecting.

We welcome you to the UPCA website and hope you will use it both to learn what clubs are doing around the country (and abroad) and as a reliable source for news and information about upcoming pipe-related events and reports after they occur. We also encourage you to provide information in these categories for posting on the site.

Quick Links

2008 Contest Summary

2008 Annual Meeting

Calendar (NEW!)

Contact Us

See Headlines Below

NEW! CALENDAR NEW!

Our site now offers an interactive calendar for the pipe and tobacco industry. Anyone can submit an event so the potential for this to become a really valuable resource for our community is huge.

Take a Look Learn more...

Clubs can post events to promote their meetings. And the event can be recurring which means an event submitted once will appear EVERY month! Shows can be promoted and even include a flyer linked to the event. Smoking Contests, Trunk Shows, Swaps and more will now be found easily by pipe enthusiasts near and far.

Our awareness campaign is just beginning. Help us spread the word. On the calendar is a link to "Tell a Friend". If you have a question, please send it via the form on our Contact Us page.

Support Pipe Smoking
in the United States

UPCA resolved at its annual meeting in 2007 to raise funds each year to reimburse the U.S. Champion's travel expenses to the next international competition. This year the European Championship will be held October 3-5 in Werselen, Germany and we want to have the U.S. National winner there to represent us!

We making a call for contributions to all UPCA Member Clubs, Associate Members and all other members and friends of the industry, as well as to individual pipe smokers. Our modest aim is to raise $2000.

For more information,

Making a donation is easy - credit card or PayPal.

Must Read.... A Quiet Revolution

At the annual Seattle Pipe Club banquet dinner Rick Newcombe was the keynote speaker and delivered an eloquent message on being a pipe smoker today. He discussed pipe smoking of old and explored the fulfillment that our pipes bring...something unknown to 99+ percent of the world's population.

We thought you would like to read his speech in its entirety.... Just click here for a pdf version .

The 2007 World Cup

This event took place on October 12-14 in St. Petersburg, Russia. It included a Pipe Show, a Banquet, and a Slow Smoke Competition with nearly 300 contestants. UPCA fielded a team comprised of 4 members: Craig Tarler, Rick Newcombe, Tom Pfaeffle and Vernon Vig. Tom is the current U.S. National Champion having won his title at the 2007 Contest in Chicago last May. He has submitted a magnificent report that can be accessed by clicking the photo at right. That page also contains links to many photos of the event.

Click Image for Show Report

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