Brooks Brothers pipe

soshoresig · Dec 8, 2015

Hi all, new to the forum and back to smoking a pipe now the the kids are grown. I bought an estate pipe that was titled as unmarked but looking close it say "Made in England Brooks Brothers" on one side and 46 on the other. any one know who made pipes for Brooks Brothers? It looks very nice and is supposedly quite old. The advertised it as "from the 30's or 40's". The stem is made of a wood colored plastic like material. I'll try to read up on how to post pics.

thanks in advance

neverbend · Dec 8, 2015

Hi Soshoresig,
Welcome.
I've only seen a few Brooks Brother pipes and they ranged in era and quality. Looking forward to your pics.
Pete

soshoresig · Dec 11, 2015

Here's some pics, any info would be appreciated.

georged · Dec 11, 2015

Quite nicely cut overall. The high caliber of stem work (the evenness of the taper and the swan-like bend) make me think pre-WWII.
Very BBB-ish. Nice piece.
Does anyone know if BBB made contract pipes?

neverbend · Dec 11, 2015

Hi Soshoresig,
Wish I could say anything authoritative about your pipe but I can't. It looks to be pre-1960 English (Cadogan specifically) manufacture but without the pipe in hand that's just my impression. Are there any other marks on the pipe that you don't show in the pics?
Pete

georged · Dec 11, 2015

Here a BBB from the 1920's that's typical of the smaller full bents that were popular at the time:

neverbend · Dec 11, 2015

Good comp George.
Without seeing the smoke hold it's impossible to get an idea of the age of the Brooks Brothers. The Brooks Brothers comes in more at the shoulder (less mass) and has more of a swan neck bend.

gloucesterman · Dec 11, 2015

Brooks Brothers is an up-scale men's haberdashery here in the Boston area. I doubt those pipes would have been inexpensive and were probably sold in very limited numbers. Brooks Brothers caters to the culturally refined so George's assessment would fit very well with their usual business practices.

georged · Dec 11, 2015

Without seeing the smoke hole it's impossible to get an idea of the age of the Brooks Brothers.

Indeed. An orific button would draw a pretty sharp age line.

The Brooks Brothers comes in more at the shoulder (less mass) and has more of a swan neck bend.

Yeah, they obviously aren't the same pipe, that was just the closest match I had in my collection. Mine is chubbier (and probably) smaller overall. The flowing, "curlicue" aesthetic is the similarity that jumped out at me.
PS to soshoresig: More pics! :D

soshoresig · Dec 11, 2015

The only other mark I can find is a 46 on the other side from the Brooks Bros mark. Sorry, but I don't know what the smoke hold is. I can send pic if you tell me what to look for

thanks for all info. Seems very nicely made Very smooth finish

georged · Dec 11, 2015

"Hold" is a typo. He meant "hole" As in, the smoke airway.
Please take a shot of the end of the stem---the part that goes in your mouth---and post it. It will go a long way toward figuring out what you have.

soshoresig · Dec 11, 2015

Sorry, fairly new to pipe lingo. Here's some more shots.

soshoresig · Dec 11, 2015

From a collectibility standpoint if it really is as old as owner said, is it ok to clean and polish this pipe, and smoke from it? Or am I better off leaving it as found?

georged · Dec 11, 2015

Collectors WANT properly cleaned/restored stuff. If you sold it as-is, in other words, the first thing they would do is send it off to have it done (or do it themselves if qualified.).
Only historically significant pipes---museum caliber---are best left as-is.
The catch is that since cleaning & restoration looks straightforward and easy (but isn't), a lot of people give it a go who shouldn't, and end up with something far less desirable to collectors than they started with.
Also, the airway being flat instead of round makes its likely age newer than appx. 1930. Could have been made sometime into the 1960's, even, but I'm not sure who was making that style that late in the game.

neverbend · Dec 11, 2015

George,
It's an excellent comp pipe.

The stem is made of a wood colored plastic like material.

Your stem is vulcanite and the The 'wood' look is oxidation. Yes, it can be restored. George any recommended resources?
Pic of the smoke hole is appreciated. If the stem's original then it's post WWII, probably closer to early 1950s. Looks to me like a GBD.

soshoresig · Dec 11, 2015

Thanks for the info. Does that gap between stem and bowl look right? Thats as far in as it will go. I would guess that stem is original to pipe just because the diameter of bowl matches up to diameter of the stem perfectly.

georged · Dec 11, 2015

I'm pretty sure the stem is original.
Before people collected pipes the way they do today, stems were thought of like shoe soles or car tires---things that were gradually consumed while using the product as intended. But replacing them properly was (and remains) labor intensive handwork.
The net result? Stem replacement was usually done by only two groups of smokers: The frugal ones who were willing to save on money in exchange for something that wasn't up to the workmanship standard of the original; and those who went the re-stem route simply because they thought of pipes as "tobacco access devices" and didn't CARE about workmanship.
Everyone else just bought a new pipe.
There was virtually no demand for today's "collector caliber" replacement stems, in other words, so few retail shops offered them. So, since the stem in the photos is well executed, I'm guessing "original."

georged · Dec 11, 2015

The gap is just an artifact of age. It isn't part of the design. (Or anything to worry about---it can be dealt with during restoration)

mso489 · Dec 11, 2015

Brook Brothers, in my experience, prices items up at their flagship stores, so perhaps this pipe cost somewhat more than pipes of comparable quality. It also illustrates what a mainstream male accessory pipes were. Forums members have reported Disney pipes sold at Disneyland at one time. For years I owned a sturdy pot shape pipe stamped as an L.L. Bean house pipe.

philobeddoe · Dec 11, 2015

I have a tin of Brooks Brothers tobacco, I've never seen another.

Brooks Brothers pipe

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