Comoy's catalogue

[jaingorenard]

Yet another catalogue (which will be uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF when I have time). Not much new in this one, but it is the 1956 trade catalogue.
Most excitingly for me, this catalogue was sent to a business in Great Yarmouth, a seaside town very close to where I live. I believe it to have been Palmers department store (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmers_Department_Store), which only closed in 2020 after 188 years in operation. Coincidentally, C-Gars (one of the biggest online tobacco retailers in the UK) is based in Yarmouth, just round the corner from where Palmers used to be, and so I still occasionally travel there to buy pipes and tobacco.

 

[sablebrush52]

Yet another catalogue (which will be uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF when I have time). Not much new in this one, but it is the 1956 trade catalogue. View attachment 381836View attachment 381837View attachment 381838View attachment 381839
Most excitingly for me, this catalogue was sent to a business in Great Yarmouth, a seaside town very close to where I live. I believe it to have been Palmers department store (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmers_Department_Store), which only closed in 2020 after 188 years in operation. Coincidentally, C-Gars (one of the biggest online tobacco retailers in the UK) is based in Yarmouth, just round the corner from where Palmers used to be, and so I still occasionally travel there to buy pipes and tobacco.
View attachment 381840

For people with an intense interest in the history of Britwood, documents such as this are pure gold.

 

[jaingorenard]

For people with an intense interest in the history of Britwood, documents such as this are pure gold.

Absolutely, the price list alone is interesting. As far as I can tell, this 1956 catalogue hasn't been posted online anywhere before.

 

[ssjones]

For people with an intense interest in the history of Britwood, documents such as this are pure gold.

100%! I have also never seen a 1956 catalog posted. And that one looks to be in mint condition. With the connection to your home area, what a find!

I wonder what the "system 28" is, referenced in the letter?

Any chance you could host that somewhere for upload? I use Drop-box. I have '75 and '64 here, if anyone needs a copy:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Briar Lee]

Please correct me if I’m off, but in 1956 80 shillings would equal 4 pounds sterling

And the traditional exchange rate of pounds to US dollars was about 5 dollars to the pound.

So, the 80 shilling grade of Comoy in 1956 would have been a $20 pipe in the UK.

In modern money you’d multiply by ten.

America might have had stiff tariffs that would make it higher over here across the pond.

 

[jaingorenard]

100%! I have also never seen a 1956 catalog posted. And that one looks to be in mint condition. With the connection to your home area, what a find!

I wonder what the "system 28" is, referenced in the letter?

Any chance you could host that somewhere for upload? I use Drop-box. I have '75 and '64 here, if anyone needs a copy:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I will have it uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF, but happy to send to you too.

I guess it's the name for one of the various patents (stinger or metal reinforcement), but no idea specifically what it refers to. Will try and find out!

 

[jguss]

I will have it uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF, but happy to send to you too.

I guess it's the name for one of the various parents (stinger or metal reinforcement), but no idea specifically what it refers to. Will try and find out!

Me too please! I’ve seen very down generation versions of parts but never a clean copy. What a marvelous find!

 

[ssjones]

I will have it uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF, but happy to send to you too.

I guess it's the name for one of the various parents (stinger or metal reinforcement), but no idea specifically what it refers to. Will try and find out!

Sent you a PM. I couldn't locate it on Pipedia.

 

[jguss]

By the way, the cover letter & price list are from 1956 but I think this actual catalog had been in use since the autumn of 1951. Is there anything in the catalog proper that suggests a specific date of issuance?

 

[jguss]

Incidentally, this is an example of what I mean by a very down generation copy:

 

[jaingorenard]

By the way, the cover letter & price list are from 1956 but I think this actual catalog had been in use since the autumn of 1951. Is there anything in the catalog proper that suggests a specific date of issuance?

No indication of any publication date on the catalogue itself, unfortunately.

 

[jguss]

This is why I think it dates from earlier but was still in use in ‘56:



This notice appeared in the October 1951 issue of Tobacco. Few manufacturers at that time were issuing new catalogs annually.

 

[sablebrush52]

I will have it uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF, but happy to send to you too.

I guess it's the name for one of the various patents (stinger or metal reinforcement), but no idea specifically what it refers to. Will try and find out!

I'd love a copy. Most of what I have of Comoy are later catalogs and fairly bad scanned copies of the earlier ones.

 

[sablebrush52]

This is why I think it dates from earlier but was still in use in ‘56:

View attachment 381899

This notice appeared in the October 1951 issue of Tobacco. Few manufacturers at that time were issuing new catalogs annually.

That makes sense. Why remake expensive artwork when you can just reuse it. With with the engraved images in the early Barling catalog, I've since found the same engravings used in 1912 in newspaper advertisements.

 

[ssjones]

I put the PDF copy of this catalog in my Drop-Box share folder. Joe did not mind if I shared it. You can download it here:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[sablebrush52]

Absolutely, the price list alone is interesting. As far as I can tell, this 1956 catalogue hasn't been posted online anywhere before.

You could post it on Pipedia.

 

[jguss]

You could post it on Pipedia.

I will have it uploaded to Pipedia as a PDF

The OP has that in the works

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

I know this wasn't the point of your post but it's sad to hear about Palmers Department Store closing down after 188 years. When I was a kid in the 1980's department stores were everywhere. From family owned ones to bigger chaines, most towns had a department store. They're becoming a thing of the past, sadly.

Anyway, nice catalogue.

 

[BingBong]

Looks like the old factories still stand, albeit repurposed, in Rosebery Avenue and Pentonville Rd, I must have passed by both unwittingly several hundred times. Well knock me down with a feather.

The Pentonville Rd address is a mere stone's throw from the old Peterson factory in White Lion St. A hotbed of pipe manufacture.

 

[BingBong]

Looks like the old factories still stand, albeit repurposed, in Rosebery Avenue and Pentonville Rd, I must have passed by both unwittingly several hundred times. Well knock me down with a feather.

The Pentonville Rd address is a mere stone's throw from the old Peterson factory in White Lion St. A hotbed of pipe manufacture.

I should mention Route 19 Heritage Day – London Bus Museum - https://www.londonbusmuseum.com/route-19-heritage-day/

Ye olde Routemasters, on their old route past the Comoy's building in Rosebery Avenue - if only smoking was still permitted on the upper deck.