Hodgson Collection. Prior to accessioning, the number 62 was printed in white ink on side of bowl. Smoke Rings Hodgson notes: "Bob Jacobsen was a tail gunner in a B 17 Flying Fortress with the 8th Air Force in England. He bought this pipe on the way over and carried it with him on each mission flown. The 3 notches on the bowl are for 3 trips to bomb Berlin. Three of the notches on the stem are for flights over France and one is for the time he went on to Russia and back by way of Italy. In Italy he picked up a switch box and a live cartridge from a Junkers 88 he saw shot down. These and the can of K rations are in the case." Robert E. Hodgson (1893-1968) was superintendent of the Southern Experiment Station from 1919 to 1960. He promoted modern agricultural methods in Waseca and throughout Minnesota. From 1948 to 1964, Hodgson wrote a column for The Farmer Magazine, and his column “Bob Hodgson Talks” appeared in more than one hundred rural Minnesota newspapers for over 20 years. Hodgson was a member of the Waseca County Historical Society, the Waseca County Horse Thief Detectives, The Boy Scouts and other organizations. Among his many interests were history, nature study and pipe collecting. During World War II, Hodgson wrote a once a month letter to members of Boy Scout Troop 85 who were serving in the armed forces all over the world. The letters were published in the Waseca Journal with separate copies printed and mailed to any Waseca serviceman who wished to receive them. Hodgson’s letters maintained the home contacts, helped men keep up on the locations of friends and provided morale-boosting communications for those far away from home.
