Anyone from Cleveland? John Bessai

Not from Cleveland, but for a little more on John Bessai,
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bessai
and The Arcade,
http://www.theclevelandarcade.com/gallery.htm
Wow, great link to the blog post! :D

Gorgeous renovation of the pipe!

Great restoration! Thanks for the link to my blog. Been a while since I've had time to add other Classic Smoke Shops.
The Bessai Specials are as beautiful in the hand as they are to the eye (and tobacco). Congrats on a fine pipe!

I don't know much about John Bessai but I spent many an hour at the Old Pipe Erie Shop. which was also known (I believe) as the Bessai Pipe Clinic. I've seen a number of his pipes over the years, nothing special but nice. I may be wrong but I believe I heard he did the pie repairs at Old Erie. Wonderful shop which was pushed out during the modernization of the Old Arcade. I would suggest a trip the Cousin's Cigar in Akron for anyone who wants to know the history of the Cleveland pipe scene, including Bessai. The guy who runs it, John Coleman is very knowledgeable and has been with Cousins for some time.
Mike S.

Hi Mike,
Hope all is well - think I sold you a pipe or so in the past!
Regarding the Old Erie Pipe Shop...that was well after John passed away. The business was bought out by Daniel Gottschall (Cousin Cigars) and the name was change to Old Erie Pipe Shop. The company had changed hands a couple times after Herb sold the business in the late 70s. After the Old Erie shop didn't do as well as Gottschall had wanted, they moved all the assets to the Cousin Cigar location on Euclid Ave (great old shop as well). There, they sold off the remainder of the old Bessai pipe stock they purchased in the 80s. Oddly, the Bessai pipes were still available at their shop through the late 90s / early 00s!
Funny you mention John Coleman in their Akron (Valley) location. He was very helpful with some information on my blog as well. Great guy and very knowledgeable. They have at least one existing tobacco recipe from the old Bessai Pipe shop currently available at their store (Akron / Valley store only).
He helped me place and date some older Bessai tobacco I acquired and some of their components. I believe the Cousins shop in Cleveland still has some of the stamps John and Herb used to stamp their pipes. Would love to see some of those.