I picked up this pipe because I loved the shape, and then read up on some history of Bertram and thought it was an interesting historical piece.
The pipedia page says that Bertram was known as the 'Nation's Pipemaker' based out of Washington DC. They started in 1927, and supplied pipes to many different celebrities and politicians.
Their grading system was something like 10, 20, 30 and so on. The price was also reflected in this grading system, so a 20 grade was $2, and a 50 was $5 etc.
Turns out that in riots following Martin Luther King's assassination the factory was looted and destroyed! The company never really recovered.
This pipe is an 80 grade 'Strate Grain', the shape looks like a 221 to me. I don't know an exact date, can anyone pin it down?
Some shots of the shop:
Here's what Google maps shows as the shop today, it shows a different street number, but maybe the whole block was torn down to build the new tower?
Some before shots of the pipe:
The pipedia page says that Bertram was known as the 'Nation's Pipemaker' based out of Washington DC. They started in 1927, and supplied pipes to many different celebrities and politicians.
Their grading system was something like 10, 20, 30 and so on. The price was also reflected in this grading system, so a 20 grade was $2, and a 50 was $5 etc.
Turns out that in riots following Martin Luther King's assassination the factory was looted and destroyed! The company never really recovered.
This pipe is an 80 grade 'Strate Grain', the shape looks like a 221 to me. I don't know an exact date, can anyone pin it down?
Some shots of the shop:
Here's what Google maps shows as the shop today, it shows a different street number, but maybe the whole block was torn down to build the new tower?
Some before shots of the pipe: