Old Tom Howard Pipe

[tuold]

Tom Howard was a vaudeville and radio entertainer back in the day who also made pipes. I believe I've seen posts from other forum members who have some of his pipes, so when I saw a pipe listed on ebay with "Tom Howard" stamped on it, I offered my five buck bid and waited. Nobody else was interested so it's mine!

Yep, it's pretty dirty but I think it will clean up just fine.
Here's an article about Mr Howard from a 1947 Popular Mechanics magazine.
Tom Howard - Pipe Hobbyist

 

[tuold]

Here's the "after".
It was an easy clean up even though I had to use the "freezer" trick to get the stem off. I'm going to like this little pipe a lot.

 

[kcvet67]

I'm not really a big fan of nosewarmers, but that's a nice looking one. Loved the Popular Mechanics link, I used to have several boxes of 1940s & '50s vintage PMs that got lost in a cross country move years ago. I cried over the loss, they were a great read.

 

[lonestar]

Really enjoyed that article, and that's a neat little pipe you got.

 

[wyfbane]

Great Score! I love my Tom Howard pipe. Yours cleaned up really nicely!

 

[tuold]

wyfbane, I'd love to see what yours looks like. After reading everything I could find on Tom Howard I'm pretty sure he didn't actually carve this particular pipe. The pale blue dot on the stem is kind of strange and there are some references to Tracy Mincer being the actually maker, using Howard's name to sell pipes. The other tip-off is that Howard says in the article that he against any "plumbing" in his pipes (stingers, filters, etc) that get in the way of the draft. My pipe has a metal stinger in the stem.
At any rate, I really like the way this pipe smokes and feels in my hand.

 

[klause]

Beautiful pipe, and cracking clean-up - really nice job.
I love to see these old troopers brought back to service.

 

[newbroom]

I like the pipe, inner tube and all. Does Tracy Mincer use them?

The Popular Mechanics link got me looking at all 305 pages. Imagine that! I think it was a monthly magazine too.

The advertisers amazed me. Many recognizable BRANDS remain today.

I can remember driving on cloth belted rubber tires.

I saw that in 1947, according to that piece, oil was going for $350 a barrel. I wasn't even born in 1947, but I was driving by 1964 and I can recall gas @ $.35 a gallon.

Today's oil prices per barrel are listed @ $105.00....a third of its value in 1947 dollars. Gas? $.35 vs. $3.50.

 

[johnnyreb]

It turned out very nice, tuold!

 

[tuold]

newbroom queried:

I like the pipe, inner tube and all. Does Tracy Mincer use them?

Well I just did a Custombilt image search and didn't see anything like that. Sorta blows my theory out of the water.

 

[tbradsim1]

Tu here is a Tom Howard, been haveing it quite a while, 4 1/2 inches long, looks like it never had a stinger, says imported briar. Quite wide at the top of bowl approx 3 inches.

 

[crazypipe]

That is a great looking old pipe, and the clean up you did came out great too ::

 

[scottgaran]

Beautiful! Finding something that no one else appreciates is so cool!

 

[tuold]

Thanks, Teddy and scottgaran,
I preside over the "Land of Misfit Pipes" to paraphrase that old Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer cartoon. I've got my second "The Doodler" pipe coming in and I see another Tom Howard on ebay I wouldn't mind having.
tbradsim1, your Tom Howard is massively impressive! It must be the mothership pipe all the other THs come from.

 

[newbroom]

Brad, that pipe is not a bulldog, or a rhodesian, but rather a mastiff.

 

[mso489]

That Tom Howard cleaned up so well! Nice find. A fin (lingo for five bucks) is an appealing price.
That's an amazing Rhody, brad. Is that off ebay, or is it one you bought new? One of a kind.

 

[tbradsim1]

MS that one was on the bay a good while back, no one bid on it and I said to myself damn that a piece of history so I jumped, love the floral shape of the rim.

 

[tbradsim1]

. Rim.