Questions About Both Mountbatten and Digby Pipes.

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Bax Burley

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Jul 20, 2021
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Hello all,

I searched the forum and found some old discussions about these, but not the specific answer to these questions and I was hoping someone might know. Pipedia doesn't have exact dates.

1. Does anyone know how long Charatan continued to use the Mountbatten name for seconds/apprentice pipes? I read something about them being more common pre-Lane (pre-1960), but did they continue to use the name into the '80s?

2. Pipedia says GBD started offering Digby pipes in 1976. Does anyone know how long they continued to make them? 1976 is the only year I can find. Does anyone know how to date these?

Thank you in advance.
 
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ssjones

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May 11, 2011
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2. Pipedia says GBD started offering Digby pipes in 1976. Does anyone know how long they continued to make them? 1976 is the only year I can find. Does anyone know how to date these?
I would also not that this is incorrect. I have a 1966 GBD dealers catalog that shows Digby pipes. Where did you see this on Pipedia? (I don't see it anywhere in the GBD section)

Ah, I see:

"They appeared, in the 1976 catalog, in either a smooth walnut finish or a dark sandblast."

I would interpret that as in that particular catalog, those finishes were offered. Versus the Digby line was introduced in 1976.

The Digby line is NOT shown in a catalog from the 1950's (which includes a line price list)
 
Last edited:

jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
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Al’s right; it’s more than a five year window. I can’t tell you when the Digby was introduced or withdrawn from production, but I can say it was available by 1950 (based on a newspaper advertisement) and continued to appear in industry price lists at least through 1979. There’s a strong suggestion that a Digby was made before WW2 and reintroduced between the late 40’s and 1950.
 
Last edited:

jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
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Al, here’s the relevant part of the 1951 edition of the RTDA:

EC407DEA-6204-4633-B2CC-AD08A69D81DB.jpeg

I also saw a newspaper ad from 1950 stating the Digby was “available again”, which in context implies a production hiatus due to WW2:

F4255346-5BDC-4254-B75A-E1B30B074E9A.jpeg

And another ad from 1941 supporting the idea that the Digby dates from before the war (few if any new pipes were introduced during WW2):

A6B3F98A-CE27-4013-A0FF-D5211C99F949.jpeg

Sorry these ads are in snippet form but I let the subscription lapse. I think however the data is clear.
 

jguss

Lifer
Jul 7, 2013
2,413
6,215
Does anyone know how long Charatan continued to use the Mountbatten name for seconds/apprentice pipes? I read something about them being more common pre-Lane (pre-1960), but did they continue to use the name into the '80s?

In reference to your Mountbatten question: forum member, occasional poster, and quondam Charatan cutter Ken Barnes would know the answer.