EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)
Just FYI, there has been considerable misinformation concerning the Astleys pipe brand over the past few years. Having visited the Jermyn street store back in 1985 when I bought two of their beautiful briars I have done a bit of research which I will share now: 1. The store never moved to a different location, it simply went out of business years ago, a victim of the anti smoking crowds draconian tactics worldwide. 2. Almost all of their house brand pipes were made either by Dunhill, Charatan, Ashton, never by Savinelli. 2. The Astley pipe tobaccos you see on the market today only bear their name because the trademark was purchased by another company, the blends are a very pale comparison to the blends available now. 3. The original Astley bran pipes had the stamping "109 Jermyn street" on the shank. The more recently produced pipe are stamped "Jermyn Street" without the "109" street number. 3. These more recent pipes have an unclear provenance. The seller has assured me that they purchased hundreds of briar blocks from Astleys when they went out of business and therefore these newer issues are authentic pipes made by the pipe makers I described in #2 above. I have no reason to doubt their word on this nor do I have any proof to the contrary. All I can tell you is that the lack of the street number on the new pipes does make them less collectable from my point of view. The reader will have to reach his or her own conclusions on this point. I wish that more of you could have visited the old shop as I did in 1985. It could not have been more than about 250 square feet but it was an absolute gem.
Just FYI, there has been considerable misinformation concerning the Astleys pipe brand over the past few years. Having visited the Jermyn street store back in 1985 when I bought two of their beautiful briars I have done a bit of research which I will share now: 1. The store never moved to a different location, it simply went out of business years ago, a victim of the anti smoking crowds draconian tactics worldwide. 2. Almost all of their house brand pipes were made either by Dunhill, Charatan, Ashton, never by Savinelli. 2. The Astley pipe tobaccos you see on the market today only bear their name because the trademark was purchased by another company, the blends are a very pale comparison to the blends available now. 3. The original Astley bran pipes had the stamping "109 Jermyn street" on the shank. The more recently produced pipe are stamped "Jermyn Street" without the "109" street number. 3. These more recent pipes have an unclear provenance. The seller has assured me that they purchased hundreds of briar blocks from Astleys when they went out of business and therefore these newer issues are authentic pipes made by the pipe makers I described in #2 above. I have no reason to doubt their word on this nor do I have any proof to the contrary. All I can tell you is that the lack of the street number on the new pipes does make them less collectable from my point of view. The reader will have to reach his or her own conclusions on this point. I wish that more of you could have visited the old shop as I did in 1985. It could not have been more than about 250 square feet but it was an absolute gem.
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