Barling? D.Simpson LTD Edinburgh, "Arcadia" British Made

[teaman]

Hi Everyone,
I love research and have hit my end with this pipe and got most of my insight from reading older posts here on old Barlings!
I am lovingly in possession of this pipe, and a having a whale of a time nailing down its age and make.
Heres the pipe!!
From what I am reading, it looks like it is likely an old Barling, made for D.Simpson Ltd. Tobacconist on Prince Charles St. in Edinburgh. All of the information I have which points to that are below:
This is a discussion on a D.S stamped 1895 Barling, where the knowledgeable folks nail down the DS as being D. Simpson.
This is a view of 25 Princes street in 1925 where D. Simpson Ltd is located


And this thread on this very site where a user guesses D Simpson as the dealer for a mystery Barling
That's about all I can find about D. Simpson, and any relationship to pipes. Barling came up because of the articles and discussions above as it was the only brand referenced along with D. Simpson LTD.
The pipe has D. SIMPSON LTD, EDINBURGH stamped on one side and "ARCADIA", BRITISH MADE stamped on the other.
Anyway, that's as far as I have come... I really enjoy research but hate leaving with a dead end! Anyone have more resources or insight to the background of this pipe? Any help is much appreciated!

 

[teaman]

 

[georged]

This is your lucky day. One of the world's top Barling authorities---Jesse Silver---frequents this board. :D
He will doubtless be along shortly. ::

 

[pitchfork]

The stummel certainly looks Barling-like, but the markings don't ring any Barling bells (at least to me). Pipe shops like Simpson would have bought pipes from any number of manufacturers, so I don't think that the Simpson stamp suggests it's a Barling. (By the way, both of those pipes you linked to are mine. :D )
Hardcastle marked their pipes "British Made" -- I wonder if that's not the maker?

 

[jguss]

I agree with Pitchfork. In my experience pipes made by Barling for retail tobacconists often if not generally had the Barling name stamped on them; certainly the two examples given in the threads you cite demonstrating other possible Barling made/Simpson sold pipes suggest that.
A few other thoughts. First, David Simpson first appears as a tobacconist in the Edinburgh city directories in the 1878/79 edition. He was originally located at 30 Forrest Road, but over the next three decades opened shops on Princes Street, Great Junction Street, and North Bridge. Apparently about 1908 the business reorganized as a limited liability entity, and thereafter appeared in city directories as David Simpson Ltd. Immediately thereafter it expanded to a variety of other locations on Princes and Rutland Streets. From what I can tell it continued to exist at least through the mid fifties.
Second, A. Oppenheimer manufactured a model named Arcadia for a number of years (from at least the late twenties through the late thirties), and in fact had the name trademarked. To me this strongly suggests that the pipe was made by Oppenheimer or one of its affiliated (through Cadogan) companies.
Putting it together my best guess would be that your pipe was made by Oppenheimer, and produced sometime in the 1930s or in the period when production slowly recovered from the disruptions of WW2 (starting about 1947). It's certainly possible it dates to a later period than this since I don't really know when Simpson went out of business or when Oppenheimer stopped making the Arcadia.
Incidentally, better pictures of the nomenclature might help someone here to offer more insight into the origins of the pipe.
In any case it's a beauty; enjoy it!

 

[sablebrush52]

That IS a beautiful pipe! But as Jon writes, the nomenclature points to a different maker. "British made" wasn't a Barling stamp, nor was "Arcadia". Who Made That Pipe? lists Oppenheimer as the manufacturer.

 

[teaman]

Wow!! You guys are amazing! I hadn’t ever heard of Oppenheimer, now I have a fun new research project to undertake and a new resource in the “who made that pipe” list!
I love the burl on the pipe and like that it has history even more I will take closer pictures of the stamps when I get home today if anyone is interested... I am just floored by the depth of knowledge here!

 

[ssjones]

Oppenheimer was a juggernaut in the briar pipe world, with very early connections with GBD.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheimer_Pipe

 

[teaman]

Oppenheimer I am finding is even more of a rabbit hole than Barling! It looks to me like most all of their pipes were produced under other brands within the Oppenheimer umbrella... So would this likely be a GBD pipe? Or is it Oppenheimer? Or nothing? These British pipe makers sue knew how to convolute things!

 

[ssjones]

A close up shot of the nomenclature would increase your odds of getting answer (most camera phones now take excellent close-up shots, under a light, no flash). It doesn't sound like the COM is from GBD.

 

[teaman]

Here are some close ups of the nomenclature

 

[ssjones]

There's definitely no connection to GBD (other than ownership by Oppenheimer).

That is some nice grain,enjoy getting to know it.

 

[teaman]

I’m trying to figure out the perfect blend to try it out
I’m also ashamed to admit, I’m afraid of hurting it since she cleaned up so nicely after the scrub and polish I gave her. Couldn’t believe it was the same pipe!

 

[jpmcwjr]

A beauty! And you got two of our top experts to opine!
Load her up and fire away!

 

[teaman]

Last tidbit that I rather glaringly neglected... The pipe had this stinger in it. I removed it during cleaning/polishing/waxing and promptly forgot about it. The stinger caused the stem to have a slight gap when installed and not wanting to force it, I did not put it back into the pipe and fhe stem fit just fine!
Any telltale signs on this filter design?

 

[teaman]

From the bottom

 

[davidintexas]

Although I suppose that the same looking stinger could be in a number of different make pipes, one like this was in a BBB pipe that I bought last week.