Show Off Your Dr. Grabow Pipes Here!

[tuold]

A very nice trio of Doc Grabows there! LHS pipes and Dr Grabow pipes make up most of my estate collection.

 

[ejames]

Nice looking Grabows gents! Dave, I have a smooth twin to that 39 sitting down in the shop. It's unsmoked, all it needs is a light buffing. It's been down there at least a year. If I remember correctly I got it from Joe M. It, and a 69 are the only two Viscounts,other than those on my Skyliner, that I have kept.Sold or traded off the others.It will eventually go on the Skyliner providing the clips will hold it.

 

[tuold]

Here's a Dr Grabow Meer lined pipe i just cleaned up. It's stamped "Made in Italy" and does not have the signature Grabow spade.

 

[danielplainview]

An Italian Grabow? Good looking pipe. I've never seen a Grabow stamping in that font before.

 

[tuold]

I found this info on RJ's Doctor Grabow Pipe Info

Meerschaum Lined were originally imported from M. Gasparini in Italy for Dr. Grabow. Sparta finally figured out how to do them and only imported the "plugs" later. Early Dr. Grabow Meerschaum Lined were stamped "Italy" with no Spade. After 1989, Sparta got rid of Italy and added the Spade.

It's not a bad pipe but it is a little bowl heavy.

 

[tuold]

Here's something a little different. I saw this on ebay forlorn with no bidders. It was listed as an "Adventurer" pipe but I recognized the shape right away as a Dr Grabow Viscount Continental No 24. Now it's in my collection!

I found references to similar Adventurer pipes in other forums but nobody seems to know when they were made and why.Maybe it was some sort of coupon deal.
The other side is stamped, "Ajustomatic" and the patent number 2461905 which belongs to Dr Grabow.
Looks to like it's right out of the box unsmoked.
Do you Grabow experts have any information on Adventurer pipes?
Edit- Just saw the posts above mentioning Adventurers.

 

[danielplainview]

Nice catch tuold. That's a great shape.

 

[tuold]

Just had a little six panel Lark fly in recently.

 

[danielplainview]

Starfire TR

Westbrook

Linkman's 9733

Starfire 69 S

Viscount 69 S

 

[ejames]

Nice group Dave ! I really like the TR and the 33 !!

 

[ejames]

Just had a little six panel Lark fly in recently.

I like panels!!

 

[alexnorth]

Where do you all find these beautiful grabows?! I was looking at 4noggins but they only carried a few

 

[tuold]

You can find them on ebay and at antique stores. They usually need some amount of restoration and cleaning.
Here's what might be a good starter pipe if you are interested:
Dr Grabow Omega
Check out Youtube for pipe restoration videos as well as numerous posts in these forums on the subject. It's a fun hobby and a good way to keep your PAD under control for a reasonable cost!

 

[mcitinner1]

I read up a little on a Dr Grabow forum, that this Westbrook is the only coupon pipe that came with the orange spade. They came in all shapes and smooth or blasted. How unusual is this one do you think?

 

[ejames]

I read up a little on a Dr Grabow forum, that this Westbrook is the only coupon pipe that came with the orange spade. They came in all shapes and smooth or blasted. How unusual is this one do you think?

The Hillcrest was the most popular of the RJ Reynolds coupon pipes so you'll see more of them than the other lines that were offered by RJR. But,don't see a lot of the 84-84L Canadians.

The Hillcrests were rusticated not sandblasted. They have what Grabow guys call "double carving". There are several deep grooves cut into the wood then it is finished with a wire brush to produce those smaller grooves. It's the same rustication used on Viscounts and some of the early Golden Dukes. Other lines,such as the Starfire and Berwyck are wire carved--but not double carved. Nice Hillcrest! And they were the only line to have an orange spade.

 

[mcitinner1]

Thanks Ejames for replying, I was hoping you would see my post. The pipe is a Westbrook though, and what you said about wire carved is also what I read on the Dr G forum.

 

[mcitinner1]

James are you familiar with the guy that goes by Ted on the Dr Grabow Forum? He said he ran the Sparta business and retired in 1991. I was just reading a thread from December of 2012 where he talked about Westbrooks. He said that the Sparta factory bought millions of pipes from several European factories in 1964 when the big surgeon general's report on smoking came out. He went on saying that in 1971 most of them where still in stock.

 

[ejames]

James are you familiar with the guy that goes by Ted on the Dr Grabow Forum? He said he ran the Sparta business and retired in 1991. I was just reading a thread from December of 2012 where he talked about Westbrooks. He said that the Sparta factory bought millions of pipes from several European factories in 1964 when the big surgeon general's report on smoking came out. He went on saying that in 1971 most of them where still in stock.

Yes,I've known Ted for about 8 years or so and have stayed at his place a couple of times while attending the DGCF "convention" in Sparta,NC. He retired as President and COO of the Company. He also ran the Mastercraft division after Mastercraft was merged with Grabow. I don't recall a post where he talked about buying large quantities of pipes from Europe, although Grabow did have some of their cheaper lines (Lark,Duke and Riviera) made in Italy for a while and also some meer lined pipes. During the mid 60's Grabow production was at it's highest--seems like it was in the millions of pipes per year--don't quote me on that--check with Ted. During that time Grabow was the largest buyer of briar blocks in the world. If I remember correctly they tried to maintain an inventory large enough to allow the briar to age for 2 years before using it.

You might be surprised though to see what is still in that factory--that has been there for years.
Don't know if you know,but I go by Ozark Southpaw on the Grabow forum.

 

[mcitinner1]

James the Ted post where he mentions buying pipes from Europe is on page 2 in this thread. It doesn't say he bought the pipes, but the company did.
http://pipesmokersforum.com/community/threads/dr-grabow-westbrook-pipe.23874/

 

[ejames]

OK, he was talking about Mastercraft. Mastercraft never made any pipes but bought them from many different companies,both in the USA and Europe. Some were stamped with the Mastercraft name,others had the pipe companies name and Mastercraft acted as a distributor for them.

After UST bought Grabow and Mastercraft and more or less merged them at Sparta many of their pipes were made by Grabow in Sparta.
Part of his post from that forum-- notice he said that most of the Mastercraft inventory was still there in 1971.

Without a picture I can't be certain about your pipe, but am 90% certain that it was made in 1964 or 1965. When the 1964 Surgeon Generals Report on Smoking was issued, Mastercraft bought millions of pipes from English, French and Italian suppliers to meet the demand. Most were still in inventory in 1971. Some of the worlds finest makers were Mastercraft suppliers. Fratelli Rossi, Federico Rovera, Orlick, Hardcastle, Mario Gasparini, GIGI pipe, Shalom/Alpha...... there are dozens more.

There's still some pipes there,some from the Mastercraft days I'm sure-- and others, but not nearly as many as there was in 1971. I have a Canadian made Brigham that was bought at the DG factory.