And the coat you were wearing when you posted it ? Haha!
MARXMAN Pipes, Anyone?
- Thread starter shermnatman
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
No… ignore what a certain person told you. It was made in New York. Check the catalogue picture above.
The Dunboro is an entry level pipe. Noticed it states the briar is “aged” in ground. That’s marketing terms for we didn’t age it much after it was cut. Mine was clearly more cheaply made.
@towhee89 - My Dunsboro looks similar to my other traditionally shaped Marxman pipes in terms of finish and workmanship. .
I did understand the Dunsboro and Morocco were their lowest tier.
The pipe is $15 so no big deal
Looks like it would shoot the mouthpiece across the room if you're not careful
It was made in New York if not marked France or Italy. Look close on the stem.
It has three unusual features.
First, it’s marked Geniune Briar.
Second, the Dunsboro in the catalog is described as walnut colored from a special oil curing process. That one is not walnut colored.
Third, there’s a shape number. It’s a Marxman beyond doubt, but I’ve not seen any Marxman with a shape number.
Last edited:
Both my dunsboros are that color. Many of my traditional shaped Marxmans have codes. I don’t know what your getting at?
I'm actually curious , what the codes are on your pipes. This Dunsboro would be the first USA pipe I have with a code, so just genuinely curious.
None of my New York Marxmans have codes, and I own a lot of them. Neither do Lees.
I have a Dunsboro but it was well used,and lots of color.
Here’s what I’m getting at.
That pipe is listed on eBay, with no origin.
It’s varnished. It has a silver ring.
There’s no arrow on Marxman. It’s stained.
But notice it says imported briar.
I own a few Real Briar pipes, but that was a brand name.
After WW2, the vast majority of USA made pipes read imported briar, if they are. It was expected.
The curious one he’s buying says Geniune Briar.
It could have been one made by Louis Cowan, a way to seperate the hand mades from the imports.
Last edited:
Here’s another oddity.
In some of the catalogs there’s a $2.50 Select Grain. The same ones say each Benchmade and Jumbo is hand cut, no choice of shapes.
Here are a $2.50 Select Grain and $5 Benchmade both machine cut. Look how much redder and darker the Benchmade is.
The Benchmade has fills, the Select Grain is perfect.
From January 1951 until the treaty in middle 1953 Truman imposed price controls.
But Marx could go right on selling lesser quality Benchmades and Jumbo for $5.
And, he started some different method of oil curing, because they’ll color in just one smoke.
The Korean War price freeze might easily account for the stamped star Lees.
In some of the catalogs there’s a $2.50 Select Grain. The same ones say each Benchmade and Jumbo is hand cut, no choice of shapes.
Here are a $2.50 Select Grain and $5 Benchmade both machine cut. Look how much redder and darker the Benchmade is.
The Benchmade has fills, the Select Grain is perfect.
From January 1951 until the treaty in middle 1953 Truman imposed price controls.
But Marx could go right on selling lesser quality Benchmades and Jumbo for $5.
And, he started some different method of oil curing, because they’ll color in just one smoke.
The Korean War price freeze might easily account for the stamped star Lees.
I have a very large collection of unsmoke Marxmans. Marx, if anything could be said about him, was if anything - inconsistent in size, naming, staining, etc. trying to conjecture a rule that works for Marx is like spitting in the wind. Stating something as fact or using it to determine a fact is pointless. My Royal that I owned defied everything about the Royals shown in the catalogue. But it was clearly stamped a Royal. Sometimes, Marx just did stuff. He clearly wasn’t in to tossing a pipe away because it didn’t meet some standard.
Really it's a nightmare trying to pin down exact stuff for these.
That’s what I call a classic, hand carved Jumbo.
Top pipe is Korean War Jumbo—-colored in one smoke.
Bottom pipe is Korean War AAA “gimmie” promotional. Join AAA get a Marxman.
I can generally determine pre and post 54s. There does seem to be a group of pipes that seem to fit their own classification - perhaps transitional. My 6 panel would fit that catagory. The stem has an M on it, but Marxman is in block letters. Clearly stained and cheaper vulcanite. But no country of origin. I suspect but can’t say for certain that some fish logos are pipe from that traditional period. Perhaps as the shop was transitioning. I just don’t know and won’t suggest otherwise.
This Benchmade was a failed 400 attempt.
Marx did what he did.
But what he likely could not do, was have stamps made. When we see a certain stamp, Marx had to commision it, unless there was tool and die shop in the factory.
Every stamp on a pipe is part of the cost. There’s a reason for them.
We know now a little girl polished her grandfather’s Marxman pipes.
Louis Cowan had stamps.
Logically they’d be different than Mastercraft’s
The Marxmans j see most are classic Benchmades and Jumbo that are A size (some with or without the A) and hand carved.
This guy right here.
Even a 400 is not expensive like a rare British pipe.
If we could write a book maybe they’d be expensive as Custom Bilts.
What just fascinates me, is a 29 year old in 1934 launched a pipe company with his wife Helen and they got away with it!
In the late forties Marx was bragging to dealers he was spending $200,000 a year on advertising. Which is why we see all those advertisements for sale on eBay.
When I first started law school top tax rates were 70%. In Marx’s heyday they were 87- 90%.
Marx bought all those ads with ten and thirteen cent dollars.
Then he sold out and only paid capital gains rates.
And mid 1953 was a perfect time to sell.
After the treaty there was a nasty little recession by our standards, but nobody in a recession knows how it ends.
People today complain about income tax:
Xxx
Subject to the following maximum effective rate limitations: [year and maximum rate (in percent)] 1944-45 –90; 1946-47 –85.5; 1948-49 –77.0; 1950 –87.0; 1951 –87.2; 1952-53 –88.0; 1954-63 –87.0.
Xxx
Remember though, the wealthy have always had good accountants and lawyers and can afford the best politicians for sale.
But how America functioned with those rates is still a mystery to me,
This guy right here.
Even a 400 is not expensive like a rare British pipe.
If we could write a book maybe they’d be expensive as Custom Bilts.
What just fascinates me, is a 29 year old in 1934 launched a pipe company with his wife Helen and they got away with it!
In the late forties Marx was bragging to dealers he was spending $200,000 a year on advertising. Which is why we see all those advertisements for sale on eBay.
When I first started law school top tax rates were 70%. In Marx’s heyday they were 87- 90%.
Marx bought all those ads with ten and thirteen cent dollars.
Then he sold out and only paid capital gains rates.
And mid 1953 was a perfect time to sell.
After the treaty there was a nasty little recession by our standards, but nobody in a recession knows how it ends.
People today complain about income tax:
Xxx
Subject to the following maximum effective rate limitations: [year and maximum rate (in percent)] 1944-45 –90; 1946-47 –85.5; 1948-49 –77.0; 1950 –87.0; 1951 –87.2; 1952-53 –88.0; 1954-63 –87.0.
Xxx
Remember though, the wealthy have always had good accountants and lawyers and can afford the best politicians for sale.
But how America functioned with those rates is still a mystery to me,
Last edited: