Interesting original Ben Wade

A Ben Wade pipe made in Leeds England. This one was apparently owned by the famous film director George Sidney. He was a great pipe enthusiast. He was a great customer of Kramer's store in Hollywood and would have his pipes marked especially for him as well as banded. This one has a gold band with the date of October 11th and the number 2.??? Here's a quote from the Hollywood Pipes article I was able to find. "A lot of Hollywood history has gone up in smoke at Kramer’s. "Years back, all the directors and producers smoked pipes, and they all came here," says Tina. Al made and repaired pipes at his lathe in the front window. George Sidney, director of Showboat, Pal Joey and Bye Bye Birdie, had a special stamp for Al to imprint Sidney’s name on all his pipes. "Stems break or men eventually bite through them. Al would make the new stem, tailor it to fit the inside and the outside, make them look like new, put a band around it. There are very few people who do that kind of work now." "

Here's Mr. Sidney holding this pipe ?? or one very similar.

Hope you enjoy this history as much as I did searching the internet ! Comments welcomed !! Hoppes