Hi guys trying to get some info on dating one of my Barling's pipe, allegedly the pipe was a custom pipe through the store F.E. BOWDEN EXETER( marked on one side). The other side is marked Barling's Make Ye old Wood Straight Grain( so a pre transition), the interesting thing is it is a twin bore stem(like Comoy). I was told in no uncertain terms that it was purchased new as a custom from Barling's with said mouth piece. So i guess a two fold question, any ideas on dating (possibly from the twin bore stem) and second the question, did the pre transitions have such a stem? I had heard of people getting replacement stems in twin bore, but just looking to confirm the information i was given could be correct. Hope you Barlings Gurus can help me on this one, PS one of my best smokers!
Barling's Make Twin Bore Straight Grain
- Thread starter quinny
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Very nice briars, I am smitten with the bent pot above the Barling, who made that silver banded beauty?
hi quinny,
as for the barling twin bore, dating within a moderately broad range is fairly easy. this can be done on the basis of the tobacconist for whom the pipe was made. f e bowden was owned by fred e bowden of exeter. fred had previously been in business with george farrant chalk under the name "bowden & chalk" from at least 1909 through 1928, located at 229 high street in exeter. starting in 1929 the business is listed under the name f e bowden, but is located at the same address. the next year, 1930, the business moved to 1a high st, and remained there through 1942 (all this per the uk telephone directories). the name stamped on your pipe strongly suggests that it was made between 1929-1944. given the realities of production during the war, it seems fairly safe to narrow that range and say that the pipe was made in the 1930s.
by the way, is there an address for the tobacconist on the case?
i'll let other barling experts chime in on the degree to which the presence of the twin bore stem enables a closer dating. jesse's on vacation but i think still reading the forum.
best regards,
jon
as for the barling twin bore, dating within a moderately broad range is fairly easy. this can be done on the basis of the tobacconist for whom the pipe was made. f e bowden was owned by fred e bowden of exeter. fred had previously been in business with george farrant chalk under the name "bowden & chalk" from at least 1909 through 1928, located at 229 high street in exeter. starting in 1929 the business is listed under the name f e bowden, but is located at the same address. the next year, 1930, the business moved to 1a high st, and remained there through 1942 (all this per the uk telephone directories). the name stamped on your pipe strongly suggests that it was made between 1929-1944. given the realities of production during the war, it seems fairly safe to narrow that range and say that the pipe was made in the 1930s.
by the way, is there an address for the tobacconist on the case?
i'll let other barling experts chime in on the degree to which the presence of the twin bore stem enables a closer dating. jesse's on vacation but i think still reading the forum.
best regards,
jon
Ooooh, that's lovely. Jesse will love to see it. And I'd love to see it cleaned and buffed, then photo'd.... Any chance?
That's a superb example of a Barling straightgrain. Barling did make twin bore stems. I have a few such, and there's some advertising copy about them. The stem was designed to provide more resistance to "gnawers". Without seeing better images of the nomenclature I can't give you a tighter dating than post WW2. As for it being the original stem, there's no way to know. It's entirely possible that the stem is original, but it's also possible that the stem is a replacement. Barling also offered its own repair work, so how would anyone know?
The older Barling has had some work done on it, chiefly, the bowl has been significantly cut down as it was originally one of the billiard variants. The stem has been re-bent. Beautiful pipes, both. Congratulations! Barlings are my favorite pipes.
The older Barling has had some work done on it, chiefly, the bowl has been significantly cut down as it was originally one of the billiard variants. The stem has been re-bent. Beautiful pipes, both. Congratulations! Barlings are my favorite pipes.
Well now Jon's really piqued my interest and I'd really like to see clear photos of the nomenclature. The only pipes with a "straightgrain" stamp that I've seen have all been post war. Thanks to Jon's researches we know that there was a "straight grain" line, was it "selected straight grain"? But we've not seen anything that could be reliably dated as Pre-War, so this could prove very interesting if Bowden was out of business after WW2.
Hi Jesse,
I've gone back and checked through the mid-1950s; I feel comfortable saying that "F E Bowden" as such disappeared from the Exeter directory after being listed for a final time in the 1942 edition. I can think of many alternatives to explain the fact pattern, but perhaps the simplest is that the pipe dates from before that time, very likely from before the start of the war.
If it's of any interest, the Bowdens were tobacconists in Exeter for many years. Fred's business was originally established by an uncle named Edward Albert Bowden (initially partnering with one of his in-laws named Anning) sometime in the late 1870s; by 1881 Anning was gone, and the business was in (and stayed in) the hands of the Bowdens for over sixty years.
Edward Albert Bowden (1849-1916) had an older brother named Harry Francis (1846-1898). About seven years before Edward Albert died he turned the business over to one of his deceased brother's sons, Francis Leopold Bowden (1882-1917). Francis took on an old and valued assistant of Edward Albert's as his partner. This man was George Farrant Chalk, and the resulting enterprise was restyled Bowden & Chalk. Francis died in the Great War while serving in France as a private in the 8th Middlesex Regiment, and two years later his older brother took over the business. This brother, Frederick Edward Bowden, is the one whose name appears on the Barling as "FE Bowden". Fred had spent a good part of his life working as a banker (god help him), retiring in April of 1919 with 25 years of service with the Exeter Bank Branch of the National Provincial Bank. Tucking the obligatory gold watch chain into his pocket, Fred began the next phase of his career. At age 41, he took sole ownership of Bowden & Chalk, eventually renaming it FE Bowden about 1929.
Jon
I've gone back and checked through the mid-1950s; I feel comfortable saying that "F E Bowden" as such disappeared from the Exeter directory after being listed for a final time in the 1942 edition. I can think of many alternatives to explain the fact pattern, but perhaps the simplest is that the pipe dates from before that time, very likely from before the start of the war.
If it's of any interest, the Bowdens were tobacconists in Exeter for many years. Fred's business was originally established by an uncle named Edward Albert Bowden (initially partnering with one of his in-laws named Anning) sometime in the late 1870s; by 1881 Anning was gone, and the business was in (and stayed in) the hands of the Bowdens for over sixty years.
Edward Albert Bowden (1849-1916) had an older brother named Harry Francis (1846-1898). About seven years before Edward Albert died he turned the business over to one of his deceased brother's sons, Francis Leopold Bowden (1882-1917). Francis took on an old and valued assistant of Edward Albert's as his partner. This man was George Farrant Chalk, and the resulting enterprise was restyled Bowden & Chalk. Francis died in the Great War while serving in France as a private in the 8th Middlesex Regiment, and two years later his older brother took over the business. This brother, Frederick Edward Bowden, is the one whose name appears on the Barling as "FE Bowden". Fred had spent a good part of his life working as a banker (god help him), retiring in April of 1919 with 25 years of service with the Exeter Bank Branch of the National Provincial Bank. Tucking the obligatory gold watch chain into his pocket, Fred began the next phase of his career. At age 41, he took sole ownership of Bowden & Chalk, eventually renaming it FE Bowden about 1929.
Jon
I hope that we'll get to see some close ups of the nomenclature. It all helps tell the story. The Barling's logo stamp changed at various points, so it would be very interesting to see that stamp over the straight grain stamp.
Hi guys, firstly let me say i am absolutely blown away by the wealth of information so freely offered,i am eternally grateful for the invaluable information from all the member posts.Thankyou all, Love this forum.
I only hand buff my older pipes, gradually bringing them back to life, the pipe was a said state of affairs before i started, now regularly smoked.
The nomaculture is faint but can be made out ledgebly, "bowden" is the most difficult . I will take some photos to upload asap. Apologies in lateness of reply..time is friend to no man especially over here in the land downunder!
I only hand buff my older pipes, gradually bringing them back to life, the pipe was a said state of affairs before i started, now regularly smoked.
The nomaculture is faint but can be made out ledgebly, "bowden" is the most difficult . I will take some photos to upload asap. Apologies in lateness of reply..time is friend to no man especially over here in the land downunder!
Thanks for the pictures! I wish I was home so I could pull out my straight grains to compare the font. The Barling's Make logo looks like some of my 1930's, early '40's pipes. The straight grain stamp is serifed and looks different from mine, but I want to look at it against mine, which are post war, to be sure. I'd like to add these images to the Pipedia Barling page if you're willing.
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