Dr. Grabow in my Collection, At Last

[Joe H]

This thread is intended to be part nostalgic ramble, part pipe-review and partly a bunch of pipe pictures because, who doesn’t like looking at pipe pictures?

I’ve posted previously that most of my small pipe collection came from my dad. He was a typical blue-collar pipe man of his day (1921-2010) with a variety of drug store brands that include Kaywoodie (his favorites), Medico, Yorkshire (a Sears brand) and at least one Dr. Grabow. Unfortunately, I never got to smoke his Grabow. While cleaning out his old house after he passed away, I found the stummel of a Savoy in what I believe was shape #65, probably from the late 1950s. My age estimate is based on where it was found and what was with it as much as the pipe itself. It was a slightly open Dublin with an oval shank with stamping on the top (“Savoy” over “Dr. Grabow”) and bottom (“Imported Briar”). It was covered in splatters of no less than two types of paint and had a chunk of the stem with the stinger broken off in it. Dad obviously used it a lot until the stem broke. It looked so bad I almost threw it out, but it had a nice shape and one not already in dad’s collection, so I decided to sand off the paint. Underneath the paint was a thick, maroon-tinted finish that came off easily enough, revealing some attractive straight grained burl. After polishing it up I decided it was too nice to toss so I mailed it off to a pipe shop to have a ¼ bent replacement stem fitted. I was glad dad didn’t throw it away and neither did I. Unfortunately, the US Postal Service managed to do what dad and I did not: They lost it. Below are the only pictures I have of dad’s old Dr. Grabow: The stummel before I mailed it off to the USPS black hole, and the old tenon and stinger I removed from the shank prior to the clean-up. I would have dearly liked to have smoked it.

 

[Joe H]

I recently saw a very similar pipe on Ebay. It appeared to be a Dr. Grabow Riviera shape #65 from about the same time frame as my dad’s old pipe. The Riviera was the next step down in quality from the already humble Savoy models in the Grabow line-up back in the day. The thing that piqued my interest was that, based on the dark photos, the Ebay pipe appeared to be unused.

Gathering up my pretty basic photo editing skills, I lightened up portions of some of the photos. It looked like the pipe had done a session on the famous Dr. Grabow pre-smoking machine and never saw a bowl-full of tobacco again. In the lightened up photos, the stem spade showed up looking yellow, indicating a push stem with condenser/stinger. An unused 60 or 70 year old pipe that’s almost identical to the one the USPS lost? For $19 including shipping, I had to find out.

 

[Joe H]

The pipe arrived yesterday and sure enough, it’s an unused, many decades old Riviera #65. My first impression was that it’s very light in the hand, possibly my lightest pipe. The next impression was that it’s no beauty queen. I wiped down the exterior and a single pipe cleaner was enough to confirm its unused condition. There are a few fills that can be seen through the dark brown coating. The shank is oval and quite thin at the top and bottom. The stem’s tenon is slightly wider at the stinger end, maybe as a result of the stinger being pressed into the vulcanite over the decades. It seems unnecessarily tight going in but once completely in the stem is a bit too loose for my taste. I’ll have to address that.

As small as the pipe is, (chamber is 3/4" width x 1 & 1/2" depth), it provided a surprisingly long smoke. I swapped out the stinger for my dad’s (it fit perfectly of course) and tried it out yesterday with a cherry aromatic while doing some yard work. In consideration for the length of time the pipe sat unused, I smoked it slowly and allowed myself plenty of re-lights. Still, I was surprised when I got to the bottom after 90 minutes and there was still a bit of unburned tobacco in the dottle. I’ve read that after the Grabow pipes were pre-smoked, the chambers were given some sort of black powdery coating. It looked that way on my pipe. I think I could detect traces of that coating in the taste of my first smoke. I’m looking forward to the next smoke. Before that, I plan to do a refinish to make the pipe a bit more Savoy like. It’s a decent little pipe with no real value except as a worthy addition to dad’s drug store pipe collection (see picture 1). It’s the third pipe from the left. I’ve already sanded the bowl top to see what the briar looked like under that dark brown coating. I prefer the lighter wood even if it does show the fills more. I’ll probably try a maroonish stain to emulate the look of dad’s Savoy.

Below I’ll post some pictures of the pipe (picture 2) and my smoking location after the yard work was completed (#3). It’s a tree house in my back yard I built for the kids years ago. Sitting on the front deck is possibly one of the nicest places to enjoy a quiet smoke I can imagine. Sorry for the long posts, I don’t get pipes very often so I thought I’d document this process here.

 

[anotherbob]

This thread is intended to be part nostalgic ramble, part pipe-review and partly a bunch of pipe pictures because, who doesn’t like looking at pipe pictures?

I’ve posted previously that most of my small pipe collection came from my dad. He was a typical blue-collar pipe man of his day (1921-2010) with a variety of drug store brands that include Kaywoodie (his favorites), Medico, Yorkshire (a Sears brand) and at least one Dr. Grabow. Unfortunately, I never got to smoke his Grabow. While cleaning out his old house after he passed away, I found the stummel of a Savoy in what I believe was shape #65, probably from the late 1950s. My age estimate is based on where it was found and what was with it as much as the pipe itself. It was a slightly open Dublin with an oval shank with stamping on the top (“Savoy” over “Dr. Grabow”) and bottom (“Imported Briar”). It was covered in splatters of no less than two types of paint and had a chunk of the stem with the stinger broken off in it. Dad obviously used it a lot until the stem broke. It looked so bad I almost threw it out, but it had a nice shape and one not already in dad’s collection, so I decided to sand off the paint. Underneath the paint was a thick, maroon-tinted finish that came off easily enough, revealing some attractive straight grained burl. After polishing it up I decided it was too nice to toss so I mailed it off to a pipe shop to have a ¼ bent replacement stem fitted. I was glad dad didn’t throw it away and neither did I. Unfortunately, the US Postal Service managed to do what dad and I did not: They lost it. Below are the only pictures I have of dad’s old Dr. Grabow: The stummel before I mailed it off to the USPS black hole, and the old tenon and stinger I removed from the shank prior to the clean-up. I would have dearly liked to have smoked it.

love the old Grabows the new ones don't do it for me. But the older ones are just nice. Or in other words that's a pretty pipe I would feel honored to smoke if it was in my collection and not yours .

 

[Piping Abe]

I enjoyed reading your posts. You went the extra mile to recapture what your Father had. Hopefully his Savoy turns up one day.

Grabows are some of my favorite pipes. They are a working mans pipe. Wishing you many happy smokes in yours

 

[FurCoat]

Man I hope your Grabow shows up but in the mean time congrats on a fine pipe. I have "a few" Grabows in my collection.

 

[FurCoat]

I'll add that when my boys started smoking pipes I bought them a Dr. Grabow Grand Duke, because every pipe smoker should have at least one in their stable. My first pipe was a Grabow and so was there's. I also gave them each a 14oz tub of SWR. A match made in heaven.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The last three pipe and tobacco shipments I've sent out to members here were lost or destroyed. I'm afraid to send out anything at this point.

 

[PipeIT]

So sad, Dad’s pipe lost, sorry to hear.

Wow, tree house, holy crap, that looks like a small studio, or one bedroom cabin. Looks like someone could live in that thing. LOL

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Joe H]

Thanks for all the comments, insight and encouragement!

Yes, the tree house is pretty nice - it's wired for electricity and has a heater and lights. The house wifi reaches it as well. Even in the Alaskan winters I've spent overnighters with the kids when they were younger. Now it's a great get away when a little solitude is in order. Sorry to hear about all the lost pipes Chasing Embers, maybe the USPS has a lost pipe smoking club going. I completely agree about having a Grabow in one's collection; I was surprised dad didn't until I found the one documented above. The USPS said (after I enquired at six months lost) that it was unrecoverable because I no longer had the tracking number. No matter, I've got one now that will still remind me of dad, plus seven others of his, so all is good.

Since I have the luxury of such a small pipe collection, I can spend a lot of time tweaking individual pipes to suit my own preferences. And since my pipes are all old and inexpensive, I have no worries about damaging their value. They’ll only ever be of sentimental value to me, and possibly some family member in the future.

With that in mind, I started the first step in refinishing this old pipe today. I noticed that the model #65 seemed to have changed over the years. The earlier version had straighter bowl walls and a stouter stem. The second incarnation had a more rounded bowl and slimmer stem. Dad’s version was the former, and my Ebay pipe is the latter. My first step was to take a rasp to the Ebay pipe’s bowl to give it a more Dublin like outline. I’m happy with the result. Once I sand off the rest of the finish and smooth things out it should look a lot more like my dad’s earlier version. See the pictures below. There’s nothing I can do with the stem except Oxyclean it to remove some of the oxidation. I’ve not attempted that before, but I’ve got a couple of other stems to practice on before this one gets a bath.

I’ll post the occasional update as the pipe gets closer to completion. I’ve got some bulk match Edgeworth Ready Rubbed and Prince Albert (I think those were the brands used in the Grabow pre-smoking machine) to smoke in it as I progress. It truly will get broken or broken in by the time I’m done with it!

 

[SRider]

Glad to see Grabows getting love. I have a couple nicer pipes but, I always seem to find myself reaching for a Grabow.

 

[bent1]

I’ve seen a number of old Dr G’s posted on forums, will have to look at the CORPS show in Columbus this summer. Your experience is similar to how I started collecting Kaywoodies, dad had a couple as did a family friend.

 

[Joe H]

Thank you for the comments, I’m glad to have a Dr. Grabow now in my rotation. Kaywoodies were my dad’s favorite and I’m glad to have some of his as well. I’ll have to post pictures of them one of these days.

Today I finished the Grabow’s stummel in the Savoy maroon color I remember from dad’s pipe before I cleaned it up (and postal guys lost it). I was able to save my pipe’s factory stampings but it was tough; they were stamped after the thick brown finish was applied and barely penetrated into the actual wood. It required a delicate touch but was worth the effort. I also oxy-cleaned the stem – that was a surprisingly satisfying process and the stem now shines like new. I still need to fabricate an aluminum spacer since that was standard on the Savoy, and I’ve seen a few Rivieras with the spacer as well.

I smoked it today with my cherry aromatic but this time without the stinger (picture 1, below). I think it smoked a little better for me without. It’s a fun little pipe and I’m glad to finally have a Grabow in my codger collection. The second picture I copied off the internet of a Savoy with the maroon finish Dr. Grabow sometime applied. The third picture is my pipe with the maroon finish with stains instead of the Grabow thick glaze. It still needs a little polishing and maybe a bit of darkening, but that will happen with use anyway, so time will tell. I’ll probably post a final picture after I add the spacer. I want to get this project finished by Father’s Day so I can smoke it in honor of my dad.

Thanks for letting me share this process with like-minded people who appreciate the old American factory pipes.

 

[OverMountain]

I live not too far from the Grabow plant in the blue ridge mtns of NC. Glad they are still turning out pipes. Grabow to me is the blue collar, working man’s pipe. They still make a good truck pipe and my Grabows spend a lot of the summer going fishing. Sorry to hear about USPS. Your collection looks great!

 

[Joe H]

Thank you, OverMountain. The collection has a little bit of this and that thanks to my dad. It’s hard to imagine I’ve been smoking some around 30 years. I’ve only got three bowls of my mish-mosh cherry aromatic blend into the Dr. Grabow, but it’s already getting a nice toasted cherry pie smell my wife and kids like (me too).

This should be my last post because today I fitted an aluminum spacer to the stem like dad’s Savoy had and that pretty much finishes up this little project (picture 1). I like the reddish brown wood tint; it’s not too outlandish but is a bit different than anything else in my collection. The wood grain isn’t amazing but there’s some bird’s eye, tiger stripes and a star-burst that covers the right side of the bowl (picture 2). Its certainly more interesting than the dark brown stain that was on it a few days ago. The stem hardly looks decades old and the re-shaped bowl profile more closely matches the version my dad had before it disappeared. It’s a Riviera but with visual cues from the old Savoy line. I’ll call this one a Saviera!

Thanks for letting me spend so much time describing this fairly low-end pipe. It’s not fancy, but it’s light and smoke really well. It’s a great addition to my OTC collection. Thanks for reading!

 

[joeman]

I live not too far from the Grabow plant in the blue ridge mtns of NC. Glad they are still turning out pipes. Grabow to me is the blue collar, working man’s pipe. They still make a good truck pipe and my Grabows spend a lot of the summer going fishing. Sorry to hear about USPS. Your collection looks great!

I was just up in Sparta 3 weekends ago, visiting the man responsible for the Grabow Uniques (1959/60) and the Grabow Continental shapes (1960 - 64). He's still kicking and smoking a pipe. I used to organize yearly tours of the Grabow factory until they shut that opportunity down several years ago, due to insurance concerns. That was truly a joy, with that old custom factory equipment running and people finishing and stemming Grabows. Good times.

 

[kcghost]

You do have an interesting collection of Grabow's.

 

[OverMountain]

I was just up in Sparta 3 weekends ago, visiting the man responsible for the Grabow Uniques (1959/60) and the Grabow Continental shapes (1960 - 64). He's still kicking and smoking a pipe. I used to organize yearly tours of the Grabow factory until they shut that opportunity down several years ago, due to insurance concerns. That was truly a joy, with that old custom factory equipment running and people finishing and stemming Grabows. Good times.

Would love to have seen this. How old is he now?

 

[renfield]

The old Grabows are nice. Even better when there’s a personal connection.

 

[Joe H]

How cool to have led annual Dr. Grabow factory tours! I’m envious but always impressed with the depth of knowledge and experience on this web site.

I completely agree about having a connection to the pipes one smokes. I had a really good relationship with my parents, but being a boy growing up in Alaska with an interest in the outdoor life, I was certainly closer to my dad. While we camped or fished or went out shooting, mom tended to the house. Probably an unfair situation and I wish I’d known then what I know now, but they are both long gone and I do have keepsakes from both that give me joy to own and to use. It’s definitely nice to have a collection of dad’s old pipes in fine smoking order that I light with dad’s old Zippos. Even some of the tobacco that gets used is my dad’s old stuff re-hydrated one way or the other. I like to think the smell of his aromatics is drifting up to heaven when I smoke, and imagine mom scolding him for teaching me to smoke those stinky old things.