Dr. Grabow: The Real Story

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ravkesef

Lifer
Aug 10, 2010
2,913
9,199
81
Cheshire, CT
For those who may be interested in the true history of Dr. Grabow pipes: I had posted this on another thread, but realized that the subject matter deserves a thread all its own, because it is a topic that many of us may be interested in.
I have a friend with a family connection to Dr. Grabow pipes l. In the early 1950s, her uncle, Henry Levitas, bought a factory in North Carolina and manufactured the Dr. Grabow pipes. She is under the impression that he started the business, although she says it may be possible that it was a very small and relatively new business that Uncle Henry bought and then expanded. She remembers as a little girl that he installed shower facilities outside the main building for the workers to use before they began their shifts. As these were North Carolina hill-country people, the general notions of personal hygiene were not known to them, and Uncle Henry had to impose his standards in order to ensure that the facilities inside the main factory building, as well as the finished product were clean. She remembers watching with awe how pipes were made, and especially the pipe smoking machine, a large circular device onto which the newly manufactured pipes were placed to be pre-smoked prior to sale. She has no idea whether Dr. Grabow was a real person, but believes that it may have been a name cooked up by Uncle Henry to imply that the pipes observed the highest standards of health and cleanliness, similar to the ad which told you that four out of five doctors smoked camels. She thinks that he may have invented the name precisely because there was no Dr. Grabow anywhere in the country, and that it was not a last name that he could find, so there would be no infringement issues.

The factory was later sold, and she thinks it was to a large corporation--American Tobacco sticks out in her mind. She named her son Henry after her uncle.
She believes that she may have a few brand-new pipes from that era kicking around the attic somewhere, and told me that she will keep an eye peeled for them. She said if she finds them she will let me see them. She did not say have or sell. Dang!
Anyway if you wanted to know the real history of Dr. Grabow pipes, this is the story from an insider.

 
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judd

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 3, 2014
127
1
I have several pipes and one of my favorites is a Grabow Omega, I always seem to use it more than all my others. I don't know why, maybe because my Dad use to smoke The them when I was just a lad. Sure miss the smell of his Union Leader pipe tobacco. Haven't heard nor seen this in many many years.

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
I think maybe your friends memory as a child may be a bit blurred. There was indeed a real Dr. Grabow and the pipes were named after him.

Dr. Grabow pipes were made for 18-20 years before your friends uncles company bought out M.Linkman co. Henry Lavietes was the Henry in Henry,Lenard &Thomas, a New York based pipe company. HLT bought other companies also and consolidated their operations in the Sparta,NC. factory of D&P Pipeworks, which they also bought out.

The info below was taken from the website of RJ McKay,who along with Dr.DR Bridges has done a lot of research into the history of Dr. Grabow.
See these links also- http://www.drgrabow-pipe-info.com/drgrabow_paul09ab.html

http://www.drgrabow-pipe-info.com/drgrabowp03.html
Dr. Grabow Pipe History -- a Brief Overview

by Dr. D.R. Bridges, last update 12-08-2008.
The Dr. Grabow as an identifiable brand of pipes began in 1931, as the brainchild of Louis B. Linkman and Dr. Paul Grabow. Linkman was owner of M. Linkman & Co., which had been making pipes since 1892 under the MLC brand. The Grabow family history is that Linkman and Dr. Grabow used to meet for a smoke and bull session in Brown’s Drug Store in Lincoln Park. During one of their discussions, Linkman told Grabow he had an idea for a new line of innovative pipes, and he wanted to use Dr. Grabow’s name and endorsement. We don’t know Linkman’s new idea behind these pipes, but suspect it was the 2-scoop aluminum cleaner, featuring a saliva trap and a nicotine trap, which also functioned as a scraping tool to remove residue from the bowl.
The Dr. Grabow pipe was only one of several pipe brands made at the Linkman plant on W. Fullerton Ave., but they must have earned the public’s approval, because a 1937 Linkman publication shows sales of their Dr. Grabow pipes increased by approximately 8-fold in their first six years.
Dr. Grabow pipe sales continued to increase and in October of 1944, the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co. was formed and incorporated. Its founding incorporators included Richard J. Dean, Angelo Pinasco, and Harry A. Shapiro. The corporate address remained in the M. Linkman building on W. Fullerton. We have found no evidence showing that anyone other than M. Linkman produced the Dr. Grabow pipe for the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co. of Chicago.
In February of 1953, the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co. filed corporate dissolution papers. The next month in March, Henry Leonard and Thomas of Greensboro, North Carolina announced they had acquired the Dr. Grabow and M. Linkman business. The Chicago factory continued to produce Dr. Grabow pipes for a few months until manufacturing equipment could be moved from Chicago to HL&T’s factory, Sparta Pipes, in Sparta, North Carolina. In December of 1953 the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co., corporation of Chicago finally dissolved.
HL&T continued to produce the Dr. Grabow pipes under their previous model names for the first few years, but with new shapes HL&T had developed for their Royalton brand of pipes. By 1956, the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co. advertised their new line of Savoy pipes for $2.00, and throughout the rest of the 1950s and in the early 1960s the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co. announced new lines of pipes – the Riviera and Regal in 1957, the Starfire in 1958, the Viscount and Eldorado in 1961. Also during the 1950s, the Dr. Grabow Pipe Co. introduced their filtered Duke line of pipes using the new Duke paper filters.
Sparta Pipes wasn’t the only factory involved in manufacturing Dr. Grabow pipes for HL&T. Until 1984, So La Res Spa of Livorno Italy produced “little” Dukes and Larks. Missouri Meerschaum produced Dr. Grabow corn cob pipes. Italian and Greek makers such as Gigi produced meerschaum lined Dr. Grabow pipes.
In 1969, US Tobacco acquired Sparta Pipes and rights to Dr. Grabow. This acquisition infused the company with new capital and secured its future. A new factory was completed in 1978, and the old cramped quarters were abandoned. US Tobacco bought out Henry Leonard & Thomas in 1982, and closed the Greensboro sales office.
In 1992, Lane Ltd. acquired the Dr. Grabow property from US Tobacco. Lane Ltd. came under ownership of RJ Reynolds and British American Tobacco in about 2000. James Burns of BAT purchased the Dr. Grabow/Sparta business in 2006, and it is now under his sole ownership.

 

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
Yes, beautifully done. So thorough.
More than half my pipes are Grabows. Only one is a stinker -- but I'm not giving up on it. I just have to figure out what's causing the problem and fix it (I pipe I got with a box of estate pipes).
Golden Duke, Royal Duke... all my Dukes are smoking well. My favorite is still a slight bent freehand. I like the open draw of them. I like their reliability.
So good to know more of their ancestry!

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
Golden Duke, Royal Duke... all my Dukes are smoking well. My favorite is still a slight bent freehand. I like the open draw of them. I like their reliability.
Have you tried the Berwyck's? They are also filter pipes and have the wire carved rustication-or smooth if you prefer. Color and finish wise they are a lot like the Starfires. All have the Ajustomatic stem and the stem are vulcanite. They're a little harder to find than the "Duke" lines, as they were RJR coupon pipes and haven't been made for about 25 years. They,along with the Gold and Silver Dukes are my favorite smokers.

 

12pups

Lifer
Feb 9, 2014
1,063
2
Minnesota
don't have Berwyks, no. Do have a couple adjustomatics. One I like, the other is off kilter and I haven't searched for how to fix it yet.
I have a meer-lined dublin-shaped Grabow, too. And ... I haven't smoked it because I don't know what's up with it. There seems to be a little metal thing in the draw hole between the bowl inside and the stem? What's that thing?
I mean, it draws hard. So I'm wondering, is it supposed to be there, and if it is, is it damaged or something? Why is it hard to draw? And... would I wreck something if I tried to extract it?

 

northernneil

Lifer
Jun 1, 2013
1,390
1
There are actually 3 people with the Dog smoking a Pipe as there avatar. Uh oh :)
Great infor on grabow pipes. Thanks for sharing.

 

ejames

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
3,916
22
don't have Berwyks, no. Do have a couple adjustomatics. One I like, the other is off kilter and I haven't searched for how to fix it yet.
I have a meer-lined dublin-shaped Grabow, too. And ... I haven't smoked it because I don't know what's up with it. There seems to be a little metal thing in the draw hole between the bowl inside and the stem? What's that thing?
I mean, it draws hard. So I'm wondering, is it supposed to be there, and if it is, is it damaged or something? Why is it hard to draw? And... would I wreck something if I tried to extract it?
Ajusto's are usually easy to fix. Heat the tenon for a few seconds with a Bic or match. Screw it in and crank on it a little. You may have to heat it 2-3 times. Once it breaks loose turn it clockwise until it lines up and let it set for a while. Sometimes a few drops of alcohol around the base of tenon will help loosen built up gunk in the Ajusto.

As for your meer lined pipe,sounds like it has a stinger hung up in the shank,probably because it wasn't cleaned well. Dribble some alcohol into the shank and let it soak for a while then try to push a bent pipe cleaner through it from the bowl. Might need to soak it a couple of times. Once you get whatever is in there out,clean it thoroughly and allow to sit with the stem out for a couple of days to dry out.

The one meer lined Grabow I have uses a filter not a stinger, so it may not be a stinger in there, but I seem to remember that some were made were made with a push stem and stinger. Some of the meer lined pipes were made in Italy and are marked Italy,some were made in Sparta.

 
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