On the Importance of Beauty

[Briar Lee]

I just spent $22 on what might be the ugliest Marxman I own, yet.




Marx advertised each Jumbo and Benchmade were “bench made” according to the particular piece of briar.

The carver decided to make a quarter bent square shank Bulldog and the stamps were too wide for the shank, so he made stab at it and called it good.

Somebody bought that pipe for five dollars when he could havs bought a beautiful, flawless Kaywoodie Super Grain, and he liked it.

Do bad looks turn you off buying a pipe?

I view ugliness as a buying opportunity when buying Pre 54 Marxmans.

Oh my, I just noticed a little window the carver put between Imported and Briar.



There’s a crown (not unusual pre war) and under varnish (?) to the right that looks like a B, which means it cost $7.50, as an extra large Jumbo.

Early Marxman pipes were rough and ready.

 

[OzPiper]

Sorry, I don’t do ugly

Oh ! I have over 40 Bulldogs
Some find them ugly.
I just love them.

Beauty is in the eye …………

 

[didimauw]

I hate the look of new pipes. I buy them in hopes they get dingy, dirty, dinged and dented.

 

[warren]

How frivolous!

 

[verporchting]

Yup, that’s an ugly pipe. I wouldn’t have bought it for $5 when it was new because it just doesn’t work for me, but obviously someone did and from the looks of it they enjoyed it thoroughly. I hope you get as much from it as they did! Happy smoking.

 

[dunnyboy]

Granted beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I wouldn't buy a pipe I personally found ugly.

 

[newbroom]

I've enjoyed smoking estate pipes. I'm not into pristine. I also think there's something to be said about older pipes that have been smoked. I mean, Grabow sold pipes pre-smoked.
I've got about a dozen or so unsmoked pipes. The nicest one is a Roma Dublin-ish half bent. The only new pipes I've smoked in the last 10 yrs have been from Missouri Meerschaum, or gifted from Shikano53. He's made and sent me two pipes. They're both terrific.
The funny thing is that I reach for the 'beaters' because they smoke well and have already acquired the character of a useful existence. But, I've wrecked a few of these with various mishaps and felt as if I'd lost a pet dog.

 

[telescopes]

Just because a pipe was made by someone and just because it was sold to someone, it doesn't mean that the pipe shouldn't be thrown into a dumpster.

 

[fireground_piper]

I get folks by these for a number of reasons but if I look at a pipe and the maker couldn’t even stamp their mark on it with any real concern, then I’d assume that same level of detail went into the rest of the pipe.

If it was a new pipe, it shouldn’t even see the light of day. But it’s an estate pipe, so clearly you can sell anything.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Well, it definitely qualifies as ugly, but how does it smoke?

 

[yanoJL]

Gotta love that stamping that bridges from stummel to stem. I'm starting to think that Bob Marx was a drinkin' man.

 

[Briar Lee]

I get folks by these for a number of reasons but if I look at a pipe and the maker couldn’t even stamp their mark on it with any real concern, then I’d assume that same level of detail went into the rest of the pipe.

If it was a new pipe, it shouldn’t even see the light of day. But it’s an estate pipe, so clearly you can sell anything.

The typical Jumbo or Benchmade from forties and early fifties Marxman production is hardly ever a smoothly polished work of industrial art like a Lee or Kaywoodie.

But the later pipes are 100% top level carving and polish and fit.

The early day ones smoke as well, but they weren’t very pretty.

 

[bassbug]

Beauty is only skin deep.....but ugly goes right down to the bone and what you have there has even penetrated the marrow.

 

[OzPiper]

Beauty is only skin deep.....but ugly goes right down to the bone and what you have there has even penetrated the marrow.

Ah !
That might explain why the "that shall not be mentioned" flows

 

[Peterson314]

I think it's the prettiest, most functional turd I've seen today.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

If it smokes well & you enjoy it…definitely worth the spent. ️

 

[HeavyLeadBelly]

I’ve restored exactly one pipe, a 1950s era Peterson. It’s a great smoker but never again. I’ll buy an estate pipe but I won’t buy one that looks like it’s been smoked to hell and back.

 

[bullet08]

First impression is rather important. I wouldn't scream at an ugly girl for a sex.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

First impression is rather important. I wouldn't scream at an ugly girl for a sex.

See, there is no one in the world who wouldn't sleep with an ugly girl. It is merely that they just wouldn't want their friends seeing them sleep with an ugly girl... even though their friends have probably already slept with the ugly girl.

I think Buddha said that.

 

[bullet08]

See, there is no one in the world who wouldn't sleep with an ugly girl. It is merely that they just wouldn't want their friends seeing them sleep with an ugly girl... even though their friends have probably already slept with the ugly girl.

I think Buddha said that.

I said I wouldn't scream at them. Didn't say anything about the actual deed x) Tho, never been that desperate.