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teufelhund

Lifer
Mar 5, 2013
1,497
3
St. Louis, MO
I came across this Five Brothers Pipe Tobacco and thought that it looked pretty neat. From what I've heard it's a very hefty smoke so probably not my cup of tea, but I do like the packaging of it in the what feels like a brick wrapped in paper. Anyone manage to help me date it? I know it is at least 50's or newer beacause it has a UPC on the wrapper. I have tried to research some to no avail because the general look hasn't changed very much. The only things that I think might help are the weight since that seems to vary across time and perhaps the distributor. I only paid $5 for it at the flea market so I figured it would at least be worth it to look at some history in my office. I can only imagine guys smoking this stuff back in the 50's.
Here are some pics:
$_57.JPG

$_57.JPG

Thanks for your help guys.

 

northernneil

Lifer
Jun 1, 2013
1,390
1
Im no help on putting a date on that pouch of baccy, but I can say that it looks vintage for sure haha.

 

sfsteves

Lifer
Aug 3, 2013
1,279
0
SF Bay Area
If it were me, I'd send a PM to fishnbanjo ... I know he's had a package of Five Brothers that looks just like that and perhaps he's got some insight to offer ...

 

lonestar

Lifer
Mar 22, 2011
2,854
161
Edgewood Texas
I don't know about 5 brothers, but if I wanted to date a tobacco the first thing I would do is flirt with it little. See how it responds. If it seems interested, maybe take it out for a movie.

 

moses

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 12, 2013
792
2
Biddeford
I don't know about 5 brothers, but if I wanted to date a tobacco the first thing I would do is flirt with it little. See how it responds. If it seems interested, maybe take it out for a movie.
Womp womp... :wink:

 

vigil

Might Stick Around
Nov 12, 2013
99
0
Dinner and flowers? Really? What a flip answer to such a serious question.
A serious question deserves a serious answer.
Wine, a 'chick flick', and a box of chocolates is the obvious choice.

 

pipestud

Lifer
Dec 6, 2012
2,010
1,749
Robinson, TX.
That is the original Finzer Five Brothers and it does feel like the tobacco is wrapped in a heavy ecru paper. I had an unopened box with about two dozen of those 50g pouches and sold them individually on my website. They actually went fast and I did keep one for myself. The contents were indeed dry but broke apart easily and needed only light rehydration. Not as flavorful as the Kentucky and now Danish made versions and actually was not as stout as either. What I did find interesting was the fact that the basic flavor had not changed much at all. Those originals, by the way, were from the 1950's from what I was told.
Best,
Pipestud

 

taerin

Lifer
May 22, 2012
1,851
1
Don't try to get her in your pipe too quickly, tobacco is very self-conscience and will not want to look cheap, you will have to wow her with vigil's method or any other of your choosing for at least two nights.

 

rangerearthpig

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 5, 2014
858
1
I think I grew hair on my chest just looking at that packaging! If Chuck Norris smoked a pipe, that would undoubtedly be his brand of tobacco.

 

vigil

Might Stick Around
Nov 12, 2013
99
0
I did a little online sleuthing... Finzer was sold in 1911 to AMT. AMT kept producing it (on and off, apparently) well into the early 1980s, and, maybe beyond.
Given that there is a UPC.. You could look it up in the UPC database and find out the earliest and latest it was used.

 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
11,582
15,255
SE PA USA
"John Finzer: He and his four brothers, owned the John Finzer and Brothers Tobacco Co. in Louisville in the late 1800's. John's brothers were: Nicholas, Frederick, Rudolph, and Benedict Jr. Benedict Finzer Sr was their father. They came from Bern, Switzerland, in the 1850s. They are all buried at Cave Hill Cemetery, in Louisville,KY."
"The Five Brothers Company was started in the 1860s by John Finzer (and his 4 other brothers, hence Five Brothers) and produced tobacco for pipes out of a factory in Louisville, Kentucky. By 1882 only two brothers were still with the company as 2 had died, and one had left the firm. In 1882 the company was incorporated and operated into the early 1900s when it was bought by the American Tobacco Company who owned a virtual monopoly on tobacco until Roosevelt busted up the monopoly."

 
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