I just picked up a lovely estate pipe on eBay for $38 including shipping. It's a classic English straight bulldog. The nomenclature reads: "Epicure" with an "E" on the stamp, and "S.S Pierce Co." underneath. A rugby ball shaped "Made in England" and a shape number of "80" on the other side.
Although the seller said it was made for the S.S. Pierce Co., a Boston based mercantile company dating from the 1830s to the 1970s, by Sasieni, I think it more likely that it was made by Comoy. This is because shape 80 is a straight bulldog in the Comoy shape charts. Whereas Sasieni did not make an 80 in their shape charts.
If this is a Comoys pipe, then the rugby shaped Made in England is a pre-war stamp, common in the 30s. Post war Comoy stamps were a circular Made in England, or a circular Made in London over a straight England. Commissioned by the famous Bostonion S.S. Pierce Co. it was named "Epicure" to commemorate the fine food offerings the company was famous for. See below.
It's a great little bit of history, and after my thorough cleaning it smokes Star of the East like a pro.
History of S.S. Pierce & Co.
In 1831 Pierce and his partner, Eldad Worcester started out by wholesaling provisions to the ships that crowded what was then a very busy Boston Harbor, but soon enough Pierce was bartering with ship captains, often exchanging his provisions for the delicacies they would bring to Boston from faraway ports. Pierce said, "I may not make money, but I shall make a reputation." The grocery business thrived, due in part to "celebrity customers ... John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster," and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. who said: "I was brought up on S.S. Pierce's groceries and I don't dare change."
The 1938 catalog for S.S. Pierce & Co, Importers and Grocers lists myriad items for sale in its Grocery, Wine, Cigar, and Perfumery Departments, including a number of notable tobacco pipes made specifically for S.S. Pierce Co. by the celebrated pipe houses of England.
In addition to a wide variety of goods for sale, the company provided notable customer service. "The company hired horse-drawn sleighs to deliver groceries when snowstorms closed roads to auto traffic, and maintained a well-drilled corps of salesmen who would phone housewives at appointed hours. They not only suggested menus but answered such arcane questions as how to cook an ostrich egg (boil it) or how to extract the flavor from a 6-in. vanilla bean (bury a 1-in. cutting from the bean for a month in a pound of sugar). Once when a hostess in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., complained that a case of turtle soup had not arrived, a Pierce salesman took an overnight train to deliver it in person — just in time for her party".
In 1887 the company moved from the corner of Tremont and Court Streets to Copley Square, into a new building designed by architect S. Edwin Tobey. Architecture critic Robert Campbell has observed of the building: "It's no masterpiece of architecture, but it's great urban design. A heap of dark Romanesque masonry, it anchored a corner of Copley Square as solidly as a mountain." The building was demolished in 1958. In 1972, the S.S. Pierce company was sold to Seneca Foods Corp., of New York.
Although the seller said it was made for the S.S. Pierce Co., a Boston based mercantile company dating from the 1830s to the 1970s, by Sasieni, I think it more likely that it was made by Comoy. This is because shape 80 is a straight bulldog in the Comoy shape charts. Whereas Sasieni did not make an 80 in their shape charts.
If this is a Comoys pipe, then the rugby shaped Made in England is a pre-war stamp, common in the 30s. Post war Comoy stamps were a circular Made in England, or a circular Made in London over a straight England. Commissioned by the famous Bostonion S.S. Pierce Co. it was named "Epicure" to commemorate the fine food offerings the company was famous for. See below.
It's a great little bit of history, and after my thorough cleaning it smokes Star of the East like a pro.
History of S.S. Pierce & Co.
In 1831 Pierce and his partner, Eldad Worcester started out by wholesaling provisions to the ships that crowded what was then a very busy Boston Harbor, but soon enough Pierce was bartering with ship captains, often exchanging his provisions for the delicacies they would bring to Boston from faraway ports. Pierce said, "I may not make money, but I shall make a reputation." The grocery business thrived, due in part to "celebrity customers ... John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster," and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. who said: "I was brought up on S.S. Pierce's groceries and I don't dare change."
The 1938 catalog for S.S. Pierce & Co, Importers and Grocers lists myriad items for sale in its Grocery, Wine, Cigar, and Perfumery Departments, including a number of notable tobacco pipes made specifically for S.S. Pierce Co. by the celebrated pipe houses of England.
In addition to a wide variety of goods for sale, the company provided notable customer service. "The company hired horse-drawn sleighs to deliver groceries when snowstorms closed roads to auto traffic, and maintained a well-drilled corps of salesmen who would phone housewives at appointed hours. They not only suggested menus but answered such arcane questions as how to cook an ostrich egg (boil it) or how to extract the flavor from a 6-in. vanilla bean (bury a 1-in. cutting from the bean for a month in a pound of sugar). Once when a hostess in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., complained that a case of turtle soup had not arrived, a Pierce salesman took an overnight train to deliver it in person — just in time for her party".
In 1887 the company moved from the corner of Tremont and Court Streets to Copley Square, into a new building designed by architect S. Edwin Tobey. Architecture critic Robert Campbell has observed of the building: "It's no masterpiece of architecture, but it's great urban design. A heap of dark Romanesque masonry, it anchored a corner of Copley Square as solidly as a mountain." The building was demolished in 1958. In 1972, the S.S. Pierce company was sold to Seneca Foods Corp., of New York.
