I’m not only learning more from my new friends here, I’m teaching myself more about pipes, since I joined this forum.
Somewhere between Frankfurt, Germany and Bug Tussle (greater Humansville metro area) is a White Spot NOT FOR SALE pipe I’m hoping will be a Dunhill “lunch box special”.
If that pipe had left Dunhill as an authorized, regular item of merchandise it would not bear NOT FOR SALE stamp.
There are two things, that the German who sold me this pipe said I trust-
It’s a high quality pipe
It snaps the stem and briar together like a Dunhill
So I dug around in box of old pipes and found my Parker pipe with a broken button that’s been badly filed so I can smoke it. I’ve owned this Parker maybe 30 years, and for years I just thought it was a cool old English pipe with a feel of extremely high quality about it.
Tonight I looked up Parker pipes on Pipepedia. I have a 1925 Parker with a bad stem but otherwise in very high condition.
——
Prior to Word War II, the possessive PARKER'S stamp was used. However, at least some pipes were stamped with the non-possessive as early as 1936.
Like Dunhill, Parker pipes are date stamped, but differently than Dunhill. The Parker date code always followed the MADE IN LONDONover ENGLAND stamping. The first year's pipes (1923) had no date code; from 1924 on it ran consecutively from 1 to 19.
There is no indication of a date code for the war years. Parker was not a government approved pipe manufacturer, while Dunhill and Hardcastle were. During the war years Parker manufactured the "Wunup" pipe made of bakelite and clay.
Thanks to Jason Lynn, we now have photos of the following Parker pipe with a 19 date code, indicating there was perhaps some production of briar pipes during the war years. This pipe appears to have a replacement stem, or perhaps the unusual stem had to do with the war.
Here’s my 2 stamped (1925) Parker
I can safely say that my Parker was constructed in 1925 in London and later on the button was altered.
It’s a genuine Parker.
What makes a Dunhill special, is that White Spot. But the quality of construction, even if details are not right, will tell us if artisan faked a White Spot or some counterfeiter, without much skill.
Otherwise it just as easily could have been a Dr. Grabow without the Spade and stamped Royalton, with a lucite stem.
Another thing I learned this evening, is that Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake has about a dozen square coins per ounce, and a medium pipe takes two coins.
Six pipe fulls of pure luxury, for about three dollars.
Unless they raise taxes, we can smoke all we want of the best tobaccos a day, for less than some guy pays for a pack of Marlboro’s.
And if we only care about having a good briar, and not some name or trademark stamped on it, then less than $30 buys a smoking pipe to equal any pipe ever made.
We’re living in a golden age of pipe smoking, is what I think.
Somewhere between Frankfurt, Germany and Bug Tussle (greater Humansville metro area) is a White Spot NOT FOR SALE pipe I’m hoping will be a Dunhill “lunch box special”.
If that pipe had left Dunhill as an authorized, regular item of merchandise it would not bear NOT FOR SALE stamp.
There are two things, that the German who sold me this pipe said I trust-
It’s a high quality pipe
It snaps the stem and briar together like a Dunhill
So I dug around in box of old pipes and found my Parker pipe with a broken button that’s been badly filed so I can smoke it. I’ve owned this Parker maybe 30 years, and for years I just thought it was a cool old English pipe with a feel of extremely high quality about it.
Tonight I looked up Parker pipes on Pipepedia. I have a 1925 Parker with a bad stem but otherwise in very high condition.
——
Prior to Word War II, the possessive PARKER'S stamp was used. However, at least some pipes were stamped with the non-possessive as early as 1936.
Like Dunhill, Parker pipes are date stamped, but differently than Dunhill. The Parker date code always followed the MADE IN LONDONover ENGLAND stamping. The first year's pipes (1923) had no date code; from 1924 on it ran consecutively from 1 to 19.
There is no indication of a date code for the war years. Parker was not a government approved pipe manufacturer, while Dunhill and Hardcastle were. During the war years Parker manufactured the "Wunup" pipe made of bakelite and clay.
Thanks to Jason Lynn, we now have photos of the following Parker pipe with a 19 date code, indicating there was perhaps some production of briar pipes during the war years. This pipe appears to have a replacement stem, or perhaps the unusual stem had to do with the war.
- Parker with a 19 date code (1942), with what appears to be a replacement stem, courtesy Jason Lynn
Here’s my 2 stamped (1925) Parker
I can safely say that my Parker was constructed in 1925 in London and later on the button was altered.It’s a genuine Parker.
What makes a Dunhill special, is that White Spot. But the quality of construction, even if details are not right, will tell us if artisan faked a White Spot or some counterfeiter, without much skill.
Otherwise it just as easily could have been a Dr. Grabow without the Spade and stamped Royalton, with a lucite stem.
Another thing I learned this evening, is that Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake has about a dozen square coins per ounce, and a medium pipe takes two coins.
Six pipe fulls of pure luxury, for about three dollars.
Unless they raise taxes, we can smoke all we want of the best tobaccos a day, for less than some guy pays for a pack of Marlboro’s.
And if we only care about having a good briar, and not some name or trademark stamped on it, then less than $30 buys a smoking pipe to equal any pipe ever made.
We’re living in a golden age of pipe smoking, is what I think.
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