Home visiting family for the holidays, and bought this old pipe at a thrift shop today.
A bit of good luck for me, as I've been to this particular store dozens of times over the years (not a chain, just a local operation) and never seen a single pipe before today. They had some (probably deceased) guy's whole collection, but the stems were all ruined on every one except this one and another that they wanted way too much for.
By ruined, I mean that the old fellow looked to have been in the long-term habit of physically gnawing on the end of his pipe stems until they broke. Several others were more intact and had actually interesting shapes, but he'd burned out the rims and scratched off half the finish on them. He absolutely TORTURED his pipes.
Needless to say, I rescued this one at the price of $10 (probably about what the thing is worth, I'd guess).
The stem's oxidation isn't too bad, and I personally find it a handsome shape, besides actually feeling lovely in the hand and comfortable in the mouth (I love a good saddle bit stem).
It's a Fader's Natural, which according to Pipedia was a store brand from a chain called Fader's Tobacco Stores and that it was made in Italy and probably dates from the 1960s. Anyone else have a pipe like it on here?
My beloved Grabow Golden Duke is included in the first picture for size reference.
Probably gonna clean it up a little and put it through its paces after dinner with some Lane HGL before bed.
A bit of good luck for me, as I've been to this particular store dozens of times over the years (not a chain, just a local operation) and never seen a single pipe before today. They had some (probably deceased) guy's whole collection, but the stems were all ruined on every one except this one and another that they wanted way too much for.
By ruined, I mean that the old fellow looked to have been in the long-term habit of physically gnawing on the end of his pipe stems until they broke. Several others were more intact and had actually interesting shapes, but he'd burned out the rims and scratched off half the finish on them. He absolutely TORTURED his pipes.
Needless to say, I rescued this one at the price of $10 (probably about what the thing is worth, I'd guess).
The stem's oxidation isn't too bad, and I personally find it a handsome shape, besides actually feeling lovely in the hand and comfortable in the mouth (I love a good saddle bit stem).
It's a Fader's Natural, which according to Pipedia was a store brand from a chain called Fader's Tobacco Stores and that it was made in Italy and probably dates from the 1960s. Anyone else have a pipe like it on here?
My beloved Grabow Golden Duke is included in the first picture for size reference.
Probably gonna clean it up a little and put it through its paces after dinner with some Lane HGL before bed.
