Makes me wonder if it started out as a bulldog.
Show Off Your Lee Pipes Here!
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Wow, just wow.
If pipes could talk.
My capsule summary of what I believe, and can’t remember where I read it, is that prices increased when the inlaid stars were changed from 7 to 5 points, to five bucks per star. But I now believe I was wrong to think $3.50 One Star pipes came first. There is a good possibility that incredible 5 pointed inlaid Two Star only cost $5 brand new, and not $10.
Whatever it cost, the 5 pointed star era pipes I’m convinced were the highest tide of quality at Lee.
That’s a mere Two Star. On the day it was made, it was three grades below the best Lee Five Star.
That is Pre War Kaywoodie high grade quality.
The difference between 1940 and 1950 consumer prices, can be summed up by an old family album I have stored someplace in my father’s Grade A milk barn.
Like a lot of Scottish immigrant Campbellite families, my father’s family was prosperous but frugal. My father talked of how hard the Depression was showing me photos of a brand new home, and brand new 1932, 1936, and 1940 Ford V-8 cars with lots of chrome, and smiling hired hands and hired house girls dressed to the nines, made by a local studio photographer. The same series of photos include big Hereford bulls that look like the Missouri State Fair Champions and Reserve Champions they were, and huge dairy cows and modern milkers and all the buildings have fresh paint.
I asked Daddy why, that if 1936 was such a drought year and times were so lean poor Uncle Elmer sold out to Aunt Eva his 60 acres for $3.50 an acre and moved to the State of California where he and Aunt Cora both worked just like a slaves in the fields near Bakersfield (and he never saw Humansville again) they could afford a brand new 1936 Ford V-8 and hired hands and hired girls?
Daddy just said, before the war cars were cheap, only $500 and the old one was always worth about half as a trade in. And he also said before the war a hired hand was only a fifty cents to a dollar a day (plus room and board) and a hired girl maybe half that much. After the war you couldn’t keep hired hands, after they learned they could make a dollar an hour in Springfield.
Then he’d show me the 1950 Ford, and say that one cost $1,500, but the 1940 trade in was worth $500.
Before the war, and after the war, had to have made a huge difference in the quality of $5 pipes, you know?
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I was very lucky to get a beautiful pipe. A Lee pipe, fantastic. I'm still deciding whether to smoke virginias or latakias mixes. Since I don't really know what can fit you better.
That is a good lookin' Lee! You've got yourself a piece of pipe history right there.
Congratulations
Take some 4/0 steel wool, or else some jewelry cleaner, and see if the stars will polish up to a shiny gold color or else rub off. Either way, that is a middle run 5 pointed star Lee, which I consider the pinnacle of Lee quality. It might have gold inlaid stars, or it might have stamped stars with fake gold. It’s desirable either way.
Dear friend Lee. Thank you for the recommendation. I am very happy to have this beautiful pipe, made by you. I am very grateful that this piece has fallen into my hands. I send you a big hug from Spain. God bless you.
Your pipe, I believe is what I call a chunky Pot, and has extraordinary grain as often found in middle run Star Grade Lees.
It would smoke any tobacco you like, but when it was new the most likely blend used in it was American “over the counter” blends found in grocery stores.
If there is one OTC American blend available in Spain, I’ll bet it’s Half and Half.
Tobacco Reviews | Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) - Half & Half Regular
www.tobaccoreviews.com
Enjoy.
@Briar Lee , Jon’s pipe is actually a third generation Lee. Unfortunately it only had the foil stars, but what a good smoking pipe it is. I wouldn’t use steel wool on that pipe as it was already professionally reconditioned by Rich at Briarville.
It is and early incarnation of the third generation as it has a screw on tenon.
Welcome to the world of Lee pipes @JOHN72 As @Briar Lee so correctly stated, a Lee pipe is a sweet smoker. He has perhaps the biggest collection of Lee pipes. To clarify, he collects them and never made them. @Parsimonious Piper has the most interesting collection by far. It is a nice club to belong to.
It is and early incarnation of the third generation as it has a screw on tenon.
Welcome to the world of Lee pipes @JOHN72 As @Briar Lee so correctly stated, a Lee pipe is a sweet smoker. He has perhaps the biggest collection of Lee pipes. To clarify, he collects them and never made them. @Parsimonious Piper has the most interesting collection by far. It is a nice club to belong to.
Thank you dear friend Douglas. There are good people in this crazy world. And I was fortunate that this grateful and good person offered me this magnificent and mythical pipe. Sometimes those good people make me cry with emotion. Damn I'm a fucking cupcake, I'm starting to get melancholy.
Enjoy it in good health. The small things in life are what really matters, and those are definetely worth getting emotional over.
@JOHN72 you are an amazing person. I always enjoy your takes of life on the other side of the pond. Your Lee will give you MANY amazing smokes long into the future. Life is Good.
I don't, but I wish I do actually. I saw one one smokingpipes.eu once, but I don't browse enough Ebay to have had a chance to buy one. It would be fun getting one though, just for the Lee Experience.
I am the one who most likely purchased that pipe. It is a beautiful one to be sure.
My suggestion is to purchase one with the in laid gold stars. That would be either first or second generation. Be careful not to purchase one that has been abused or smoked without being properly cleaned over time.
There are some excellent examples out there and when you find one, you’ll have a decent pipe for sure.
A short Lee primer:
1. First run and middle run Lees had actual jeweler’s gold stars inlaid into the stems. The first ones had 7 pointed stars and then the middle run 5 pointed stars.
2. Early and middle run Lees are the highest quality. Usually no visible fills, little stain, never varnished, and always very tight, attractive grain.
3. The final run of Lee pipes sees ever decreasing quality. The first sign is stamped stars, instead of inlaid stars. Some last run Lees only have stamped stars, otherwise full Lee Star Grade quality. Then you’ll find a few small fills, then heavier staining, then varnish, then a cheaper Kaywoodie type mortise, then push stems, and today I saw on eBay a NOS push stem Lee with a honey lined bowl. This is why the safe choice for your first Lee is a 7 pointed star. Those were always inlaid. Most 5 pointed star pipes with gold stars still shining were inlaid, but a few are the first stamped stars.
4. Do not overpay. There is no collector interest in Lee pipes and may never be. Wait until you find a good one.
I agree that the safe choice is ALWAYS the 7 pointed star pipe. However, with experience it is possible to recognize the difference between a second generation and a third generation 5 pointed star Lee. The second generation 5 pointed star Lee is ideal. Examine the pictures carefully. Stamped stars will show wear and will show evidence of pealing. It is not that these pipes are of less quality. They aren’t. In fact, there is a certain Spaniard we all know and appreciate who has a third generation five pointed three star Lee pot bowl that is an exceptional smoking pipe. So go for it. Who knows, you might even persuade a certain hillbilly to part with one or two. But if you go to buy one, please don’t go for the over smoked burned out poorly maintained Lee. It just isn’t worth it. Lastly, send it to Briarville for a good cleaning an ozone treatment. You’ll then have a pipe you will be proud to post on the WAYS thread. By the way, Briarville is currently cleaning pipes for just $25.
Welcome @JOHN72 indeed. We’re a quirky lot.
And thank you. Among the 100 or so Lees I’ve acquired there are around 40 distinct shape/stem variants, with duplicates having different grades or finishes. Still hunting for that elusive 4-star.
Maybe we can get @Parsimonious Piper to share some pictures of his more unique and very unusual Lees. He has animal shapes and some with metal sleeves. By the way, @Briar Lee bought that elusive 4 Star Lee several months back. I was a sleep at the wheel that day. But you have a few one star Lees. Those are hard to get for sure.
I think my 5 pointed star Four Star Bulldog is in the glove box of my Chrysler, or maybe my Suburban.
It has slightly “better” briar than this otherwise identical 7 pointed star Three Star Bulldog, sitting on my desk.
That pipe cost $40 this summer and was barely used at all.
Any Lee, will spoil you.
The Three Star grades are only a pinch better than Two Star grades, and the top Four and Five Star grades have a difficult time being better. They are, but by inches.