Interesting E. Wilke Estate Billiard

[huntertrw]

tppytel:
The lettering is clearly part of the wood.

 

[johnnyreb]

Hunter,
Did you hear back yet from Pipeworks & Wilke on the raised nomenclature?

 

[natenice1]

I collect E. Wilke briars and have a few raised grain, but can't get an answer either, fine old smokers came from the Wilke tobacco shop in NYC. In fact Carole Burns who has Pipeworks and Wilke now has their old recipes. It was run by two sisters Anna and Louisa Wilke whose father passed away suddenly and they inherited the shop. They sold to Elliot Nachwalter who was then married to Carole Burns, he kept the pipe business and she kept the tobacco and estate pipes, they are divorced. Due to high NYC rents they moved to VT. If you look at old GBD catalogs from the 40''s 50's and early sixties GBD shapes and Wilke shapes are exact. E. Wilke house pipes were made by GBD or Arlington and a few others not well known. E. Wilke straight line E. Wilke NYC are from the 1940's and 1950's ones that have E.Wilke on top of NYC are 60's and early 70's, Carole still has that stamp. If I'm in err on any of this please correct me. Some members of my pipe club remember it well, Hudson Valley Pipe Club, no one has ever seen a raised stamp either. E. Wilke pipes were never waxed, the Wilke sisters believed wax held the heat and didn't allow for a cool smoke!

 

[huntertrw]

johnnyreb:
I did contact Ms. Burns, but unfortunately she had no information regarding the raised nomenclature.
natenice1:
Per the information you supplied, my pipe must date from the 1960s to early 1970s as its raised nomenclature reads, "E. WILKE" over "N.Y.C."
You are correct about Wilke pipes being good smokers; I now have three, and all are champs.

 

[dmcmtk]

natenice1, good information on GBD and Arlington, I believe I have also read Wilke had some of their pipes made by Weber. They are good smokers. Do you have any Wilke pipes made by Steve Johnson (S. Johnson)? Some very nice hand mades.
Dave

 

[johnnyreb]

Hunter,
Too bad she wasn't able to help with information. If it's from the 1960's and into the early 1970's I'm at a loss as to how or why, really. Let us know if you learn anything at a later date.