Barling Question

[jgriff]

(Paging Sablebrush.....)
I just acquired my first pre-trans Barling. I got it at a decent price with a few scratches and flaws and it's probably headed to Walker Pipe Repair soon. However, my question centers on the fact that there aren't any markings other than the Barling's Make, the 1896 Shape Number, and the EXEL size stamp. There isn't any TVF or Ye Olde Wood. Are there any pre-transition pipes that didn't use the old briar? Or is this just the fact that Barling was pretty inconsistent with it's stamping process?

 

[mikestanley]

From what I know, the four digit shape, beginning with "1" indicates a pipe for the English market,often stamped with a tobacconist's name. Barling was very consistent in it's inconsistency when it comes to stamping. The pipe is most assuredly a fine quality pipe made of the same wood as any other barling of the era. Nice find!

Mike S.

 

[dmcmtk]

I'm sure sablebrush will have a good sense of what you have there. I would say it is an older pipe, earlier than 1950. Is the stem the original Barling stem?

 

[ssjones]

I believe pipes stamped "Barling's Make" were considered to be pre-transition.

 

[jgriff]

I'm pretty sure it's pre-transition from the 1 in the shape number. (Though I recently looked at the 1962 catalog and see some transition pipes with four digit shapes starting with 1 as a size indication. However, this is much bigger - a EXEL is probably about a Dunhill Group 4, so I'd pretty sure it's in that 1946-1962 range).
The stem seems original though the Barling Cross and the Barling Design stamps are extremely faint and not filled in anymore.
The big flaw is an out-of-round bowl which is probably beyond my rehab skills, hence sending it out. The nice thing with the Barlings is that the walls are thick enough to deal with it. Though my billiard may become a pot.

 

[dmcmtk]

Ok, now I know exactly which pipe it is. It's kind of interesting, the smaller BARLING'S MAKE stamp would be on an older pipe, yet the Barling Design stem on a pipe from the '50's. I remember thinking when I first saw the listing, "Was this a stummel from the '40's that was re-stamped some time after the war, and then fitted with a newer stem?" The chamber condition is the major issue, the thinness of the wall, and the interior at the same point. Let us know how it turns out, I myself will be very interested.

 

[jgriff]

The Seller was very definitive about any potential issues but the condition isn't nearly as bad as he seemed to suggest. He mentioned a crack but it's superficial at worst. In fact, I think it's actually a scratch and it clearly doesn't go through to the bowl.
My major concern was the bowl thickness too but the walls are so thick to start that the "thin" area is still thicker than most other older pipes I have. It is still significantly thicker than my Dunhills for example. The bowl condition in the photos made it look worse than it was but it's fine. There is no evidence of any burnout. It appears that it's just been reamed unevenly (probably for a long time).
It only took about 50-60 pipe cleaners (which is low for my ebay purchases) but it cleaned up nice and the stem was an easy to de-oxidize and shine up. There are a number of scratches and dings but they'd be the easiest part to repair.
I'm going to try a liberal amount of pipe mud to bring it closer to round first and see where it goes from there.

I think it will smoke fine but the out-of-round bowl will probably lead to uneven wear. However, it's appears to have been smoked heavily for 50-60 years. With some spit and polish, I bet I can get that much time out of it as well.

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi J
Sorry that I missed spotting this thread before. The lack of an "Ye Olde Wood" stamp doesn't mean that the pipe wasn't made with the same old Algerian briar as were the other pipes. YOW was also a grading at one point, later Barling stamped it on almost everything. The base grade would not have a YOW stamp. TVF also didn't come into common use until the 1940's and that was originally also a grading that was not applied to every pipe. The 4 digit model number, which begins with a "1" does indicate that the pipe was intended for the European market.
Does the stem have any markings on the underside, such as a reg number? That dates the pipe to between 1936 and 1950. At a glance I'd guess that it's early '40's, maybe late '30's. Nice pipe!

 

[jgriff]

The Stem had a Cross on one side and a Barling Design (Barling in Script, Design in Block) on the other side No Reg markings. It was so faint it would hard to photograph.
Dmcmthk saw the same auction and commented above that he thought the stummel and stem didn't match up eras.