Does Anyone Know Anything About Richcraft Pipes?

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esnowrackley

Lurker
Nov 18, 2019
8
11
Cleveland, OH
I've just finished my first ever restoration job on a cheap estate I picked up at a local antique shop. The pipe itself has the following stamps: RICHCRAFT SPECIAL GRAIN, 55. See photos below.

9087
Original Condition

9088
RICHCRAFT SPECIAL GRAIN

9089
55

9090
Final Restoration

I can't find anything on the brand other than it appears to have been a company active between the 1930s and 1950s. The 55 on the side could be a model, year built, or something else. I don't know. It came with a stinger that looked like it had been added to the pipe, not an original component. The antique shop didn't know anything about it either. I've asked in other forums, but so far no one has been able to find anything. I'm very happy with the pipe, but I'd love to know more about it. Has anyone ever come across one of these?

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title and Shortened Title - Bob
 
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esnowrackley

Lurker
Nov 18, 2019
8
11
Cleveland, OH
Smokingpipes.com sold one in their Misc. Estate pipes a while back. No Idea what the price was but you could probably inquire.
I saw that too when looking it up. I'll shoot something their way. I assumed their knowledge was probably as detailed as mine since they seemed to have taken the info straight from the stamps. We'll see what turns up!
 

jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,417
6,227
I have a vague idea who might have made it, but need to get back to my home office later this week to check it out.
 
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jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,417
6,227
I can tell you a little bit about Richcraft right now; if I find more when I'm back home I'll be glad to post again

Richcraft was a brand used for cigars (Invincible was a commonly advertised model) and pipes in the 1930s, 1940s and possibly the very early 1950s. It could have started earlier, or lasted later, but I haven't found traces of it.

A company called Stewart-Allen Co. Inc. owned the brand by the early 1950s; whether it (or a predecessor entity) owned Richcraft from the beginning I don't know. In any event Stewart-Allen went through bankruptcy in the summer of 1954.

Richcraft pipes were marketed as of foreign manufacturer, but this claim might have been false. In 1951 a complaint was filed by the FTC "...against Stewart-Allen Co. for falsely representing that its smoking pipes were of foreign origin." The complaint was initially dismissed a few years later, but I'm uncertain of its final disposition. Here's one ad from 1943 claiming English manufacture:

9168

I suspect, but can't prove, that the Guildhall reference is an infringement on the Comoy brand. Typically Comoy pipes made for other companies (and there were many) were marked with new names distinct from the company's own models.

Stewart-Allen is, or should be, better known in the pipe world for its affiliation with Pipes by Lee and Briarlee. In the summer of 1951 Sol C. Korn, President of Stewart-Allen, orchestrated a merger of his company with Pipes by Lee, Inc., and Briarlee Pipe Co., both founded and run by Lee H. Singer (a long time briar pipe manufacturer, worthy of his own mini-biography, who had worked at some of the largest firms in the industry before striking out on his own). After the merger, which was really more in the nature of an acquisition (Stewart-Allen was the parent, and the pipe firms were subsidiaries) Korn became the Chairman of all three entities, and Lee became the VP of Stewart-Allen while remaining President of the two pipe companies. Stewart-Allen was a sizeable distributor of smokers accessories, cigars, and sundries. It remained responsible for sales and marketing after the transaction took place, while the pipe subsidiaries were responsible for production. As I recall it wasn't too long after the merger before Lee was forced out.

In any case your pipe is very cool, and I suspect dates from the late thirties or early forties. Enjoy it!
 
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