Help Identify

[jakep]

Pics of Pipe
Hello All!
My name is Jake, and as you can see I'm a new member to the forum.
I'm just turning 60 soon and am wanting to start smoking a pipe.
I have inherited this pipe from my mothers father some years ago and it's been sitting since then on a shelf in my office awaiting this day. It of course has great sentimental value, as my grandfather was a very special man to me.
So I am wondering just for the sake of knowledge, not that I intend to ever sell this pipe, as to what it is in terms of its history and its value.
I've done some research on the BBB pipes but cannot find this exact model. Year of manufacture? Value/place in the production line of the time?
Thank you,

Jake

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi Jakep
Could you post the image here or with a photo hosting site like imgur? No way am I going to create an account to view an image.
Instructions for posting on the PM site can be found here

 

[jakep]

Please bear with me for a moment as I try to figure out how to edit my post.
I attached the wrong link
For some reason I cannot find an edit link on my post.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Oh my, an heirloom piece is certainly enough to be excited, and Britain's Best Briars are nothing to sneeze at. Can't wait to see it!

 

[jakep]

For now, this should be the proper link.
I still can't see an edit selection on my original post, though there is one on my second post in this thread.
https://primgaard.myportfolio.com/
Any ideas as to why there is not an edit link in the original post, but there is in subsequent posts?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Lovely piece!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Any ideas as to why there is not an edit link in the original post, but there is in subsequent posts?

Edit expires after 10 minutes.

 

[jakep]

Well then, OK
If there is a moderator handy I would ask that you could copy my link from my third post to my first post. Thanks

 

[dmcmtk]

Jake, I'm going to say pre-war ~ 1930's. From the pipedia BBB article, parts of which are translated from French,
"In the Thirties, the top-of-the-range one becomes "BBB Best Make" with alternatives like "Super Stopping" and "Ultonia Thule". The BBB Carlton, sold with the detail with 8/6 in 1938, is equipped with a system complicated [made] out of metal, [a] system which equipped [was used on] the BBB London Dry too."
https://pipedia.org/wiki/BBB
So a metal filter/stinger system. NB: be very careful removing the mouthpiece from the pipe the first time.

 

[jakep]

Thanks Dave, yes I found that bit as well.

I am hoping that there is someone here with a bit more specifics if possible.
My grandfather was Danish and was part of the underground in WWII helping to get the Jews out of Denmark to Sweden.

He was a pharmacist and later became the head of Bayer & Bayer for Denmark. An extraordinary man he was.
I suspect that he could have afforded the very best pipe of the time, but he was a modest man as I recall. He died when I was just a mixed up high school kid and too stupid to appreciate what he had to offer me. What a shame.
It's funny how these little inconsequential material things become a link to our past. However nice they may be, they pale in comparison to what they at times represent.

 

[dmcmtk]

I've made an inquiry to someone who may know more.

 

[jguss]

Hi Jake,
Let me start by saying how much I honor your grandfather for his stand during WW2. The Danish resistance to Nazi attempts to identify, marginalize, and attack the local Jewish population is well known. I'm sure you're proud to be connected with it in such a personal way.
As for the pipe, it's a beauty. As near as I can tell the London Dry was introduced by Frankau (the maker of BBB) near the beginning of the Depression; at any rate 1931 is the first year it appears in industry price lists and 1932 is the first year it appears in the Index of Pipes, Pouches and Fancy Goods. The last year it appears in each of those publications is 1941, from which I infer that it was dropped during the War and not revived afterwards.
Pricing for the pipe was near the bottom of the top tier, if that makes any sense. The BBB Best Make Ultima Thule was Frankau's top of the line at 15/-, followed by the Best Make at 12/6. Then came the Super Barrage and your London Dry, each priced at 10/6, after which at least ten other models were made in prices from 7/6 all the way down to a single shilling.
So your pipe was almost certainly made in the 1930s. That's a reasonably good outcome in terms of determining date of manufacture. To narrow it further you generally either need a pipe with hallmarks, or a dating stamp (pretty much limited to Dunhill and Parker), or a model that had a briefer lifespan.
As for value in today's market, I doubt it's very high. On the one hand the shape is pretty desirable. On the other the BBB brand continues to be more or less under the radar compared with Dunhill, Sasieni, Charatan and Barling.
Hope all that is helpful.
Regards,

Jon

 

[jakep]

Hello Jon,
Thanks so much for your kind and informative response.
Your thoughts on my grandfathers efforts are much appreciated. I often wonder as I reflect on history as to whom I might have been in similar circumstances.
Many people lived outside the walls of concentration camps and did nothing, choosing to look the other way.

I say this not to pass judgement, but to reflect on who I am and what I would have done versus what I would hope I would have done.
The bravery of those who stood against evil is truly inspiring.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
Now, to your response as to the pipe that I am now the proud owner. Thanks so much for your insights.
Yes, the "near the bottom of the top tier" makes perfect sense, and is very much what I would expect from my grandfather.

He had the means to live a more affluent life than he did, but his choices in life in such matters where a reflection (I believe) with the character of a man who would stand as he did in the war.
To have a pipe made it the time of the great depression is a unique thing in my mind. Something to cause one to reflect on our relative good times and abundance.
Cheers my friend, and thank you for your time!
Jake