A Strange Extra Large Pipe

[Briar Lee]

This pipe came in a completely genuine large, faded brown felt casket box, marked Marxman inside and large enough the standard Marxman red box fits inside and closes.





The pipe is not marked at all.

It weighs 100 grams, feels feather light, is beautifully rusticated, has a nice saddle stem, and is huge. It’s 2” high, 7 1/2” long with a whopping 1.1” bore bowl. There’s a faux diamond set in the bowl, and ten holes drilled all the way through to serve as heat radiators.




Although it’s not marked anywhere with anything the stem looks like a Marxman, it smokes like a Marxman, and it colors like a Marxman.



One smoke



This pipe is so strange it’s a novelty.

You’d never want to be seen in public smoking this monster.

If Marx made it he wasn’t proud of it.

Why in the hell would you put a rhinestone on the bowl?

It’s quite a conversation piece and an awesome smoker.

 

[Ryan]

I saw that one when it was on eBay, it’s certainly unusual.

 

[Briar Lee]

I saw that one when it was on eBay, it’s certainly unusual.

I wonder if Tracy Mincer had a patent on holes drilled all the way through the walls of a pipe?

It looks like a demo. They were sort of in a hurry, making this.

And even a Marx customer wouldn’t have wanted a black pipe in a week.

Halfway through second bowl.

 

[Ryan]

The holes appear to have been drilled after the pipe was stained. I wonder if someone “customized” this pipe after the purchase?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

The holes appear to have been drilled after the pipe was stained. I wonder if someone “customized” this pipe after the purchase?

I suspect that is the case. If it was a Marxman, the stamping was probably ground away with the crude rustication. For what it’s worth, I have a real Doodler and the holes are crisp, finished, and well aligned. This feels like an after school project. I do hope Van gets a good smoke out of it, regardless of its origins.

 

[Briar Lee]

I cleaned this with Everclear and smoked it twice, adding beeswax to help it color.

This was likely freehanded out of about the largest and spongiest and softest piece of Algerian briar I’ve seen. It’s very light for the size. I see no fills and the hammer type rustication doesn’t seem to cover any.

It smokes wonderful like they all do, cool and savory and hardly a whiff of briar taste on the first bowl, only.

It’s as wild as they come for looks.

But if I wax the holes they’ll color too.

 

[Grangerous]

I think I saw a judge quiet a courtroom with one of those.

 

[burleybreath]

You've almost got me interested in getting a Marxman, just for the novelty if nothing else. So what is it that's coloring so quickly, the briar or the wax?

 

[Briar Lee]

You've almost got me interested in getting a Marxman, just for the novelty if nothing else. So what is it that's coloring so quickly, the briar or the wax?

I don’t rightly know.

But even without wax they’ll color that reddish brown, only slower.

The less grain figure and softer they are the deeper and faster they color.

It’s either the oils or wax in the briar, or tannins, or maybe even smoke.

If it was a meerschaum we’d say it was smoke that colors it.

 

[burleybreath]

The only thing to do then is smoke hell out of it, darken it up, then saw it in half, right? For science?

 

[Singed]

If a pipecleaner or perhaps round toothpicks will pass the vents they may serve suitably to prevent wax infiltration.

It is a unique piece.

 

[Briar Lee]

If a pipecleaner or perhaps round toothpicks will pass the vents they may serve suitably to prevent wax infiltration.

It is a unique piece.

Pipe cleaners pass, but the hole on top over the airway is not through all the way.

Why the rhinestone?

 

[Singed]

Pipe cleaners pass, but the hole on top over the airway is not through all the way.

Why the rhinestone?

View attachment 275497

No idea, my guess would be personal embellishment. It may be something a previous owner added. Or a stylistic manufacturing experiment?

 

[telescopes]

One thing is for sure, tha pipe did not come from the factory like that. I am still not convinced it is a Marxman.

 

[captpat]

A unique piece for sure.

 

[Briar Lee]

One thing is for sure, tha pipe did not come from the factory like that. I am still not convinced it is a Marxman.

I’m not convinced it’s a Marxman, but I do think it was made exactly as I got it.

At one time there was a geniune Marxman Jumbo in that unusual big Marxman casket box, with a pamphlet that shows all the same rugged outdoor men of action as my other pamphlet but is four pages shorter. That part is 100% original.

The pipe was made in a factory. It has a very Marxy looking stem. It’s so spongy and soft I don’t think even Marx would ship a customer a pipe made of that briar, which tickles me half to death, but a retail customer woulf crap himself to see all that rapid coloring.

This is more like a concept pipe.

As in lookie here Wally Frank, what we can make for you.

The big deal is all those holes drilled all the way through. The rhinestone is just odd. I don’t think a geniune Doodler had all the way through holes.

It’s all got a one of a kind workshop look about it. It had a light coat of shellac or varnish that just fell off, using Everclear. It was hurriedly made, not to Marxman production standards.

Strange critter, very strange.

 

[Ryan]

Serious question- Is it the ugliest pipe you own?

 

[Briar Lee]

Serious question- Is it the ugliest pipe you own?

Likely. I own some pretty damned ugly Marxmans, though.

I’m sitting here reading official 1947 Kaywoodie propaganda about the 250-400 year old briar they used.



Algeria exported some top grade, fancy, beautful briar.

Marx used the ugly kind.

But a Marx pipe is extremely well made of extremely ugly briar.

This one is mainly just ugly.