Dr. Grabow Wartime Pipe? Pic Heavy

[agnosticpipe]

I came across this Dr. Grabow pipe that looked much different than any I had seen before. While not looking exactly good, it had different wood and features that I'd not seen. I haven't restored it yet, and not sure I will if it has more historical worth as is. Why do I think it's a WWII era pipe? First, the wood doesn't look like briar to me. The grain is wrong, it has remnants of a colored finish on it rather than a stain, there is no metal anywhere, and rather than screw in stem it has a push stem. I don't know what the white band is made from, probably plastic. I've also seen an ad from 1942 featuring Ripley's Believe it or Not, and one of those pipes looks to have the same band.
So am I right in thinking this might be a Dr. Grabow made during WWII? I can't seem to find out much info on what type of wood they might have used, but I've heard that Mt. Laurel was one that was used, and maybe Mesquite wood. Anyone have something like this?

 

[mso489]

I have several pipes in Mountain Laurel carved by the North Carolina craftsman Jerry Perry, and I think this could be that. He does attractive work in the wood, but it shows somewhat less grain than this, but what grain there is looks somewhat like this. I must say, it is every bit as durable as briar and at least with Perry's pipes, I'd put this on an equal footing. It's worth noting that both Dr. Grabow, in Sparta, N.C., and Jerry Perry, in Colfax, N.C., are located in the Western part of the state where Mountain Laurel would be available.

 

[papipeguy]

mso489 is spot on with the mountain laurel being used in WW II pipes. US makers could not get briar in those years.

 

[pagan]

Not sure of the wood but that is a good looking pipe :puffpipe:

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have a patent era (early '40s) Linkman's Dr. Grabow, but is briar, and has the screw in tenon/stinger. Can't wait to see that one cleaned up Orley. Very interesting piece!
My Linkman's

 

[colorduke]

Nice looking Grabow.

 

[reverendsasquatch]

Wow...I had no idea they made pipes out of mountain laurel! That stuff is just a bane to me when fly fishing small streams. I will look upon it with new respect!

 

[tuold]

Very nice!
Pipedia has information on pipes made from mountain laurel. Trapwells, Breezewoods and Custombilts have been made from it. Here's my Trapwell made by D&P Pipe Works which became Sparta Pipe Works and then Sparta Industries.

The Breezewood I own is a terrible pipe. It has a plastic stinger which would need to be cut off to smoke acceptably. It's a collector's item now.

 

[snagstangl]

I don't think Custombilt branded pipes were from mountain laurel. They did make a line of pipes, called a Caroleer, made from mountain laurel. I have a breezewood with a glass stinger as well.

 

[ejames]

So am I right in thinking this might be a Dr. Grabow made during WWII? I can't seem to find out much info on what type of wood they might have used, but I've heard that Mt. Laurel was one that was used, and maybe Mesquite wood. Anyone have something like this?

Yes,you are correct,it is a WW2 era Mt. Laurel pipe. Many were hand painted ( I believe) with a tinted lacquer to give the appearance of grain as MT. Laurel usually doesn't show nice grain. These are seen in several configurations,they can be push stems with either plastic or aluminum stingers,screw stems with one piece stinger. etc. A very few Grabow pipes were made of Manzanita and were stamped West Coast briar.
I just sold my collection of Mt.Laurel and other non briar pipes a few weeks ago. It included (mostly) Grabow,HLT, Van Roy,Trapwell,Medico,Smoke Master, D&P and Monterrey (KB&B).
Mt. Laurel is lighter than briar and is more likely to burn out but it smokes just fine.Leave a little cake in it and smoke it cool and it will hold up. I had one D&P in rotation for about 2 years.

 

[mso489]

ejames, you are more informed on this than I, and have owned more Mountain Laurel Pipes. But just to report on my experience, I have smoked these (three of them) beginning with one in 2002, and don't see signs of even beginning burnout, despite the fact that I do not build cake; I wipe out the bowl after each smoke so there is a good thin layer of carbon but no visible decrease in bowl size. These pipes have been comparable to briar, and to the briar pipes by the same carver. I'm a moderate smoker with a lot of pipes, so take that into account. But for my purposes, burnout is not a problem.

 

[ejames]

I say that because of the number of burnt Mt. Laurel pipes I have seen. Some were pretty bad,others not so bad,while others showed no signs of burn out.Mt. Laurel is not as hard or dense as briar which in my mind would make it less heat resistant. The burn out could have caused by different things,soft piece of wood, flaw in the chamber,or the way it was smoked and or abused. I'm a firm believer in a thin cake in any wood pipe--just a little added insurance.