MARXMAN Pipes, anyone?

[Briar Lee]

A Marxman pipe in today’s market is ridiculously undervalued,

This medium size Marxman Benchmade cost $23.50 delivered, today.

The briar is soft as butter. Like all other pre 54 Marxman pipes I own it’s an incredibly good smoker.

It’s well made, I see no fills, it’s light as a spiderweb, and somebody will be proud of this one for another hundred years after I’m gone home.

 

[didimauw]

You didn't luck out. You scored a beautiful Marxman. That is the ultimate contradiction in terms. LOL.

On an important note to anyone collecting these pipes, DON'T PURCHASE IF THE PIPE'S LOGO IS IN BLOCK LETTERS AND IT MENTIONS THE NAME OF A EUROPEAN COUNTRY. That is, if you are looking for pipe made by Marx. The pipes made by MasterCraft and use the Marxman name have block lettering logos and use a lesser quality vulcanite by a few degrees.

I own one of these pipes. It smokes just fine, but the finish is cheaper and the stem is a much lower grade. I've noted that other MC knockoffs are similar in quality and build.

Just my two cents. Take it for what it's worth.

I was looking at them last night again....and thinking about how u told me this. So if it just says imported briar, those are good? BB it if it says imported (country) those aren't great then?
I saw a lot like that, with block letters, not in the *?is it a fish?* Shape lol. Then got confused because they all say imported, other than the ones that state Algerian briar.

And the stem grade means a lot to me. I no longer deal with pipes with bad stem cutting or quality.

 

[didimauw]

Fired “The Alligator” this afternoon…

I choose some SG 1792 Flake from 2012. Seemed like a good choice, as the chamber on this is about 11/16” wide by 1.25” or so deep.

This pipe performs well. Smokes effortlessly. Nice even burn. It was obviously smoked quite a bit before I got it, but not abused.

Smoking at a leisurely pace, it yielded a 50 minute smoke. So good I gotta have another.

View attachment 205061

Is that plume? Bloom? Mold? DILLLIGAF?

LET’S GO!

We need pics of that gator in use please! . And that leaf in your hand is almost 90 percent bloom! Makes you wonder if you can just smoke just the bloom. (Was going to say crystals, but you can't put that in the same sentence as smoke).

 

[Briar Lee]

I was looking at them last night again....and thinking about how u told me this. So if it just says imported briar, those are good? BB it if it says imported (country) those aren't great then?
I saw a lot like that, with block letters, not in the *?is it a fish?* Shape lol. Then got confused because they all say imported, other than the ones that state Algerian briar.

And the stem grade means a lot to me. I no longer deal with pipes with bad stem cutting or quality.

As a general rule,

During the Marxman run from 34 to 54 if a pipe doesn’t have a nation of origin it’s made in the USA, and even better in the case of a Marxman it’s made in New York City by experienced old pipe crafters.

Before the war it could say Algerian briar, or nothing at all about briar, but during and after the war they read IMPORTED BRIAR because many pipes were NOT imported briar.

The production pipes all used vulcanite stems of decent quality.

The fancier high dollar Marxman pipes feature this very high quality stem.

 

[telescopes]

I was looking at them last night again....and thinking about how u told me this. So if it just says imported briar, those are good? BB it if it says imported (country) those aren't great then?
I saw a lot like that, with block letters, not in the *?is it a fish?* Shape lol. Then got confused because they all say imported, other than the ones that state Algerian briar.

And the stem grade means a lot to me. I no longer deal with pipes with bad stem cutting or quality.

Correct. True Marxman pipes say Imported briar but they don't have a country listed. And the logo has the shape of a fish.

 

[didimauw]

Correct. True Marxman pipes say Imported briar but they don't have a country listed. And the logo has the shape of a fish.

The more I see the simply carved ones, the more I like em. My Kaywoodie Rustica is similar except sandblasted as well. I like how they feel in hand. But some of these big briars that still show the beautiful smooth grain in between are great looking.

 

[telescopes]

I was looking at them last night again....and thinking about how u told me this. So if it just says imported briar, those are good? BB it if it says imported (country) those aren't great then?
I saw a lot like that, with block letters, not in the *?is it a fish?* Shape lol. Then got confused because they all say imported, other than the ones that state Algerian briar.

And the stem grade means a lot to me. I no longer deal with pipes with bad stem cutting or quality.

Authentic. Letter make an Arrow, not a fish, LOL.


MasterCraft

 

[telescopes]

My six panel must have been made in the USA as it doesn't have a country listed. However it does have the Block Letter and the cheaper lacquer finish.

 

[telescopes]

Authentic with classic pipe shape.

 

[craig61a]

My contention is that “Imported Briar” was a marketing tool to differentiate pipes made during the war (Hardwood, or some similar species of Erica Arborea) that for whatever reason may not have had the same level of acceptance of briar. Pipes were stamped “Imported Briar” well into the 1960’s.

 

[craig61a]

We need pics of that gator in use please! . And that leaf in your hand is almost 90 percent bloom! Makes you wonder if you can just smoke just the bloom. (Was going to say crystals, but you can't put that in the same sentence as smoke).

I posted it on another thread, but for your benefit, here it is…

 

[didimauw]

Authentic. Letter make an Arrow, not a fish, LOL.

View attachment 205076
MasterCraft

View attachment 205077

Interesting. An arrow! Very good! Hahaha

 

[craig61a]

Whew… two bowls of 1792 back to back. I’m a bit shagged and fagged and fashed…

 

[didimauw]

I posted it on another thread, but for your benefit, here it is…

View attachment 205080

It's much smaller than I thought! Looks nice and light actually!

 

[didimauw]

Whew… two bowls of 1792 back to back. I’m a bit shagged and fagged and fashed…

Those are the moments I work towards! Hahaha

 

[craig61a]

It's much smaller than I thought! Looks nice and light actually!

Yeah, there wasn’t anything to compare it to in the auction pics, but I thought it was going to be a bit larger myself.

As I mentioned, the chamber is about 11/16” wide by 1.25” deep, so I guess that would be about a group 2-3. Perfect for flake.

 

[milk]

So, am I right that the benchmade (and what’s the higher grade ones?) we’re one-of-a-kind pipes? Isn’t that odd for a factory? Or am I wrong about that?

 

[Briar Lee]

So, am I right that the benchmade (and what’s the higher grade ones?) we’re one-of-a-kind pipes? Isn’t that odd for a factory? Or am I wrong about that?

Marxman advertised the very top 400 was one of a kind, and hand made.

The old ads read all pipes were hand cut and mass production methods were avoided.

But if the lower grade pipes were entirely handmade I’d suppose they’d have bragged about it.

Maybe the stems on production pipes were molded and maybe the bowls were fraised on a machine. But there was a lot of hand work in every pre 54 Marxman.

They were luxury items, selling for many times what a common pipe sold for.

I think the key is this stem, or a variation of it.

The pipes that had these stems were likely hand made.

 

[milk]

Here you can see in the second picture where the seller thought it said French made but it’s “bench made.” It’s on the underside. You can make out that Marxman has the arrows and it says “imported briar.” The thing I didn’t notice before, because I’m so silly, is the initial “A.” I guess that’s the carver? But as to shapes, are you guys saying that there are other Marxman pipes of this exact shape? This is a line of pipes? I’m really looking forward to this. I haven’t smoked a pipe in three weeks because I’ve been sick (I tried once) but I’m finally better. I don’t know if I should start with this though. Blue Room Briard did a fantastic job and the bowl is like new. I don’t know if you can tell how little this pipe is.

 

[telescopes]

Here you can see in the second picture where the seller thought it said French made but it’s “bench made.” It’s on the underside. You can make out that Marxman has the arrows and it says “imported briar.” The thing I didn’t notice before, because I’m so silly, is the initial “A.” I guess that’s the carver? But as to shapes, are you guys saying that there are other Marxman pipes of this exact shape? This is a line of pipes? I’m really looking forward to this. I haven’t smoked a pipe in three weeks because I’ve been sick (I tried once) but I’m finally better. I don’t know if I should start with this though. Blue Room Briard did a fantastic job and the bowl is like new. I don’t know if you can tell how little this pipe is.View attachment 205132View attachment 205133View attachment 205134

It's not unusual to see smaller pipes like that fro that era.