Calling the Duke Street Irregulars (Dunhill I.D. detectives)
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You got me. It doesn't seem to match anything in the dating guides I'm looking at. Best guess is 1920-1924.
It is definitely pre-1934 and these markings were used until 1929 my guess would be post WW 1 but not by much, the shape 137 and bowl size 1 is about right for that period.
banjo
banjo
My first inclination is 1920 or 1921, as there is no date stamp. What confuses me is that it reads "Dunhill" shell instead of "Dunhill's" shell................. With that, it could be a later model, with an omission of date stamp from the factory.
The shape 137 is a dublin, the "1" is the inner tube size, not bowl size.
The shape 137 is a dublin, the "1" is the inner tube size, not bowl size.
Patent Number 1341418 was issued on May 25, 1920 by the United States Patent Office to Alfred Dunhill for, "...certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Tobacco-Pipes..." Here is a link (Patent No. 1341418) to the full text of this Patent.
According to John Loring's book titled "The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After," "The date code was not introduced until sometime during (probably late) 1921 so the dating of earlier pipes is essentially a deduction from patent nomenclature." Complicating this, however, is the DUNHILL (not DUNHILL'S) SHELL stamping. The earliest reference which he lists for "DUNHILL SHELL MADE IN ENGLAND" stamping, and with a United States patent number, dates from the period 1935 - 1950.
Unfortunately the mystery of the age of your pipe appears to remain unsolved.
According to John Loring's book titled "The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After," "The date code was not introduced until sometime during (probably late) 1921 so the dating of earlier pipes is essentially a deduction from patent nomenclature." Complicating this, however, is the DUNHILL (not DUNHILL'S) SHELL stamping. The earliest reference which he lists for "DUNHILL SHELL MADE IN ENGLAND" stamping, and with a United States patent number, dates from the period 1935 - 1950.
Unfortunately the mystery of the age of your pipe appears to remain unsolved.
The absence of the Pat.# with a /20 suffix as noted by Loring suggests that it is not a war years pipe. As I read it the same stamps were used throughout the war. Missing this element would mean it wasn't produced during that period at least according to Loring. The mystery continues!
While I realize that the /20 is not there, I still think it is a possibility in the sense that this may have been an alternate stamp that was used in addition to the one Loring mentions. There was the War going on after all. I'll ask a friend who is a Dunhill collector, see if he has any insights...
You could well be right. Given the circumstances, getting pipes out would have been their primary objective. I doubt they would have keep one back for a small stamping issue. It would be interesting to know what the /20 designation meant. That might give us some insight into how significant it is or isn't.
The above quote made me think Loring was pretty unequivocal but then too we all know the pipe world is anything but exacting! Even Dunhill.
I can't offer much because my knowledge of Dunhill minutia is miniscule and I would have to go to reference-land to try and find something, but Dave is on the case so I have confidence that a solid info report will emerge.
I clicked this because of the thread title,
one of the best ever!
There should be a collective blog of the same title somewhere!
I clicked this because of the thread title,
one of the best ever!
There should be a collective blog of the same title somewhere!
:puffpipe:
:puffpipe:
:puffpipe:
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