Question Regarding Recent Meerschaum Purchase
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Looks good!
I suspect there's not a "they" to it, as manufacturers differ and have for some time- maybe forever!
Any idea as to maker?
I suspect there's not a "they" to it, as manufacturers differ and have for some time- maybe forever!
Any idea as to maker?
Nope. No clue unfortunately. There are no markings. It came from an estate sale and it smelled like it had been sitting in an attic or garage for years. It cleaned up nicely though (took some effort) and smokes great. I can tell it must've been a constant companion for someone. I've never owned a Meer with the metal fittings like that before so was curious. Thanks.
It doesn't look like a constant companion, more like it's barely smoked. Still, it looks great!
I have a confession to make in regard to that. It had coloring on it from years of use. I was using Everclear to clean out the bowl and it got on the outside of the bowl and smeared the coloring. So I wiped the whole thing down and that's why it looks that clean. There was a ton of gunk in the stem as well. It took a long time to clean that pipe, but it turned out great. I was more concerned about the smoking qualities of the pipe and it smokes great. There was no lingering ghost either. I think that pipe sat for many years before being sold.
That is very fascinating! That brings up some questions about the nature of meerschaum coloring. How, I don't know. It would be interesting to see if the coloring returns after some smoking or if it is entirely removed. You don't happen to have any photos of it uncleaned?
Yes, this is what it looked like when I received it. I was surprised when the Everclear smeared the outside. I didn't expect that. It was an accident, but I didn't realize that would happen. I bet it would color again with smoking. Maybe? I guess I'll find out. The cracks shown don't affect it at all. It's cosmetic. It smokes great and no problems. I only paid $5 for it and $5 shipping. Well worth it. lol
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About thirty years ago there was a meerschaum pipe specialist in Springfield Missouri with a tobacco shop across from Battlefield Mall. The man was knowledgeable of his trade, but more savvy with marketing to the mothers, sisters, sweethearts and wives of pipe smokers. His shop was bustling with women buying high dollar pipes every time I visited.
He was a most distinguished appearing and immaculately dressed silver haired man, with a handsome dark haired son as his sidekick who looked just like he did, with about half the mileage.
Old Dad sat there on his throne, with the largest and most beautiful meerschaum I’ve ever seen, out there in front of him. It was a huge, broad, sitter colored all the colors of the rainbow, and intricately (but not extensively) carved. When a customer admired that pipe, the old man would say I have ones of the same grade and quality for sale, and behind him on the top shelf of a glass case were thousand dollar meerschaums.
But he’d caution, that such huge pipes were impractical, and that high grade meerschaums needed careful resting, and if smoked too much could be damaged thereby.
Then he’d have his son being out several $200 or $300 grade smaller meerschaums, and the ladies couldn’t resist.
How I found the shop, was my mother pointed out the place as we visited Battlefield Mall once, as where she bought the Bekler carved meerschaum she gave me on my 30th birthday.
His pipes came with a lifetime inspection and replacement of the plastic thing that joins the pipe together, she said.
And of when I visited, the old man had a huge array of high end old estate pipes he’d show the gentlemen,
He claimed the plastic tenon joint was the perfect way to join a meerschaum to the stem. If I remember right, it was a sixties invention, now universal.
He charged and got full retail price, but he never cheated anyone. He could grade a meerschaum and show customers the difference between the pipes.
And for the men that bought his high end meerschaums, he wanted trade in briars, but only good ones.
One of the only regrets I have in life, was that I didn’t spend a thousand for one of his top shelf pipes. I had the thousand, just not the will to part with it, for a pipe.
He was a most distinguished appearing and immaculately dressed silver haired man, with a handsome dark haired son as his sidekick who looked just like he did, with about half the mileage.
Old Dad sat there on his throne, with the largest and most beautiful meerschaum I’ve ever seen, out there in front of him. It was a huge, broad, sitter colored all the colors of the rainbow, and intricately (but not extensively) carved. When a customer admired that pipe, the old man would say I have ones of the same grade and quality for sale, and behind him on the top shelf of a glass case were thousand dollar meerschaums.
But he’d caution, that such huge pipes were impractical, and that high grade meerschaums needed careful resting, and if smoked too much could be damaged thereby.
Then he’d have his son being out several $200 or $300 grade smaller meerschaums, and the ladies couldn’t resist.
How I found the shop, was my mother pointed out the place as we visited Battlefield Mall once, as where she bought the Bekler carved meerschaum she gave me on my 30th birthday.
His pipes came with a lifetime inspection and replacement of the plastic thing that joins the pipe together, she said.
And of when I visited, the old man had a huge array of high end old estate pipes he’d show the gentlemen,
He claimed the plastic tenon joint was the perfect way to join a meerschaum to the stem. If I remember right, it was a sixties invention, now universal.
He charged and got full retail price, but he never cheated anyone. He could grade a meerschaum and show customers the difference between the pipes.
And for the men that bought his high end meerschaums, he wanted trade in briars, but only good ones.
One of the only regrets I have in life, was that I didn’t spend a thousand for one of his top shelf pipes. I had the thousand, just not the will to part with it, for a pipe.
Looks like that was just surface coloring. I'd never use alcohol on meerschaum, but try a quick flush with hot water. Almost immediately, if there's color under the surface it will show. Then disappear as the pipe dries.
I live in Fordland, but work in Springfield. Whereabouts was this place in relation to the mall?About thirty years ago there was a meerschaum pipe specialist in Springfield Missouri with a tobacco shop across from Battlefield Mall. The man was knowledgeable of his trade, but more savvy with marketing to the mothers, sisters, sweethearts and wives of pipe smokers. His shop was bustling with women buying high dollar pipes every time I visited.
He was a most distinguished appearing and immaculately dressed silver haired man, with a handsome dark haired son as his sidekick who looked just like he did, with about half the mileage.
Old Dad sat there on his throne, with the largest and most beautiful meerschaum I’ve ever seen, out there in front of him. It was a huge, broad, sitter colored all the colors of the rainbow, and intricately (but not extensively) carved. When a customer admired that pipe, the old man would say I have ones of the same grade and quality for sale, and behind him on the top shelf of a glass case were thousand dollar meerschaums.
But he’d caution, that such huge pipes were impractical, and that high grade meerschaums needed careful resting, and if smoked too much could be damaged thereby.
Then he’d have his son being out several $200 or $300 grade smaller meerschaums, and the ladies couldn’t resist.
How I found the shop, was my mother pointed out the place as we visited Battlefield Mall once, as where she bought the Bekler carved meerschaum she gave me on my 30th birthday.
His pipes came with a lifetime inspection and replacement of the plastic thing that joins the pipe together, she said.
And of when I visited, the old man had a huge array of high end old estate pipes he’d show the gentlemen,
He claimed the plastic tenon joint was the perfect way to join a meerschaum to the stem. If I remember right, it was a sixties invention, now universal.
He charged and got full retail price, but he never cheated anyone. He could grade a meerschaum and show customers the difference between the pipes.
And for the men that bought his high end meerschaums, he wanted trade in briars, but only good ones.
One of the only regrets I have in life, was that I didn’t spend a thousand for one of his top shelf pipes. I had the thousand, just not the will to part with it, for a pipe.
Thanks. I'll give that a try. I was using the Everclear on the inside of the bowl to get rid of the old musty smell it had. It worked, but then some dripped off of the paper towel I was using and made a run on the outside of it.
Beeswax is slightly thermochromic. An unsmoked pipe will show a temporary color change when exposed to warm water as well.
Strangely enough, my meerschaum does not color noticeably when exposed to warm water.
His shop was east across I think the center entrance to Battlefield Mall in a little strip mall.
Another key to his success was a very popular styling salon (Beauty Shop in Ozarkese) was in that same strip mall, and women were in and out of that little strip mall constantly.
When the customer walked in the shop, to the right was the distinguished silver haired man with the huge glass display case full of high end meerschaums and a glass counter, and in front was an island where that ridiculously large and impossibly beautifully colored meerschaum sat, and the dapper, handsome son greeted customers.
They carried tobacco and new briar pipes, ashtrays and other such accoutrements found in tobacco shops.
But that enormous meerschaum sitting out on that island sold more meerschaum pipes to women than can really be imagined.
Interesting. I would have liked to have seen it. There's a Just for Him down by the mall. I like to go in there every so often and browse their tobacco. Sometimes you can find some of the hard to get stuff that's always sold out online.
First picture is before and the second is after a hot water rinse.
It is an bent billiard AKB which I bought in January and has been smoked every other day since then, I would guess 50-100 bowls, but I haven't counted. It's coloring slowly but surely, but there doesn't seem to be any than a very small difference between the before and after pics. It's not as colored as some are but according to other sources that shouldn't matter much in this experiment.
It’s been over twenty years since the meerschaum merchant at Springfield closed, but he used to have beautiful charts where he’d show the customers (mostly women) how meerschaum was graded and sorted for quality.
All the meerschaum pipes he sold came from a region in Turkey around Eskisehir. But each mine and the product of the same mine varied in purity, the whiter the better, and therefore meerschaum is graded according to color.
He’s then point out, that just like diamonds, color wasn’t the only factor in quality. There might be an occlusion of some other mineral in an otherwise extremely high grade of meerschaum.
His wares, of course, varied as to grade but each one had no occlusions or flaws.
He had a jeweler’s loupe to prove it.
Even thirty years ago, $300 wouldn’t buy a very big diamond.
But it would buy one heck of a good Beckler carved meerschaum pipe, and a perfect one at that.
The customers would sometimes ask how long it took to color that huge, beautiful meerschaum he smoked. It was all the colors of the rainbow on top, fading to a translucent brown on the bottom and stem where all our pipes color first.
He said he smoked it all day for over two years, until a meerschaum rep came and said he was near to damaging it.
So clenched in his teeth, was one of the three hundred or so dollar grade meerschaums he sold by the dozens.