Could some help me out with what I am looking at? I mean, do you know if it was just a regular line, or a collection set? Age maybe? Any info would help.
Barling System 2000 Boxed Set
- Thread starter Dshift
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This isn't a part of the brand's history that I'm as familiar with, but I can give you some info.
In 1960 the family sold the business to Finlay, and Imperial Tobacco, which owned 49% of Finlay, exercised its option to buy the rest of it at the beginning of 1963. This placed Imperial Tobacco completely in charge of B. Barling & Sons, a charge that they fucked up over the next 17 years.
In 1980, the company was sold to an investor group, headed by Barling's former general manager, Ron Hardin, and involving Bucktrout & Co. Manufacturing was set up on the Isle of Man with the intent of restoring the Brand to its former glory.
Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the new factory. The group continued on with manufacturing, but eventually, and here's where I'm not altogether knowledgeable about specifics, sometime in the late 90's to early 2000's, The IP changed hands again and maybe several times, ending up in the hands of an American investor who had Peterson making Barling pipes.
These pipes were standard Peterson shapes and were available with P-Lips, just stamped Barling with a Barling Cross logo on the shank. They were still available online as recently as just before the Pandemic and could be bought at Cup O Joe's. So, my first thought is that these were made by Peterson, since Peterson had been involved with the American distribution of Barling pipes under Imperial. There's an existing business connection.
But, I'm not entirely satisfied that these are Peterson made Barlings, though they very well may be. Looking at the metal shank caps, and the style of the crossed Barling stem stamp reminds me of a different company that manufactured for Barling, and that's Laxey Pipes Ltd, also located on the Isle of Man and the manufacturer of both Barling's and Peterson's meerschaums. Toward the end, Laxey broadened their base to include working in briar and could have done the work.
From what I'm looking at, it's either Peterson or Laxey, or something involving the both of them.
And then again, it could be a completely random manufacturer. though unlikely.
In 1960 the family sold the business to Finlay, and Imperial Tobacco, which owned 49% of Finlay, exercised its option to buy the rest of it at the beginning of 1963. This placed Imperial Tobacco completely in charge of B. Barling & Sons, a charge that they fucked up over the next 17 years.
In 1980, the company was sold to an investor group, headed by Barling's former general manager, Ron Hardin, and involving Bucktrout & Co. Manufacturing was set up on the Isle of Man with the intent of restoring the Brand to its former glory.
Unfortunately, a fire destroyed the new factory. The group continued on with manufacturing, but eventually, and here's where I'm not altogether knowledgeable about specifics, sometime in the late 90's to early 2000's, The IP changed hands again and maybe several times, ending up in the hands of an American investor who had Peterson making Barling pipes.
These pipes were standard Peterson shapes and were available with P-Lips, just stamped Barling with a Barling Cross logo on the shank. They were still available online as recently as just before the Pandemic and could be bought at Cup O Joe's. So, my first thought is that these were made by Peterson, since Peterson had been involved with the American distribution of Barling pipes under Imperial. There's an existing business connection.
But, I'm not entirely satisfied that these are Peterson made Barlings, though they very well may be. Looking at the metal shank caps, and the style of the crossed Barling stem stamp reminds me of a different company that manufactured for Barling, and that's Laxey Pipes Ltd, also located on the Isle of Man and the manufacturer of both Barling's and Peterson's meerschaums. Toward the end, Laxey broadened their base to include working in briar and could have done the work.
From what I'm looking at, it's either Peterson or Laxey, or something involving the both of them.
And then again, it could be a completely random manufacturer. though unlikely.
Thank you for taking your time to educate me/us on the matter.
I knew about the Laxey - Peterson - Barling connection, when it comes to meerschaum pipes, but I never knew that Peterson made briars for Barling.
Unfortunately, I don't know when Peterson began manufacturing "Barling" pipes, so there's that great unknown, though it anyone does know the facts it would be @jguss .Thank you for taking your time to educate me/us on the matter.