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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
'Love the way they look, but I find them a little too theatrical for me to smoke. However I do like the shape in briar. Peterson makes a good one in their Donegal series.
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,760
13,785
Humansville Missouri
This is my current Calabash, which is not a best quality pipe, but an excellent smoker.

The meerschaum bowl isn’t removable. I removed lava from the top that exposed some very tiny surface cracks on top of the rim of the bowl, which haven’t yet deepened.

I’d appreciate anybody that can decipher the hallmarks on the sterling silver ring to let me know who made this, and when.

It does seem to be made of a real gourd, and has a good vulcanite bit.

This was made for the man who wanted a real calabash and not a Sherlock Holmes prop to have an affordable, smokable pipe, but there’s no way to clean the inside of the gourd.1A2FDA49-23A5-4491-9223-4F03A33CE49E.jpegF6CE2683-08A4-417A-A7DB-0936C247374C.jpegCE49BC2F-AC8D-485D-9A48-16E4C8672E53.jpeg

E0EA9C20-6F3A-4E7D-8149-1B0173ED89AC.jpeg9951619F-A8C8-42BC-AED2-7FEB91F40953.jpegA4AF5721-53B4-45B8-BCC8-4CA262F34BE4.jpeg
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,760
13,785
Humansville Missouri
The silver looks like Birmingham 1910.

View attachment 99996
Wow!

It sure does look like Birmingham 1910.

Hsllmarks don’t lie.

When I got this pipe, that sliver mount was coal black, the top was solid black across, but the high grade vulcanite bit didn’t need much polishing.

This is one of the joys of our hobby.

By common agreement Lee switched over from a 7 pointed star to a 5 pointed star about 1950.

So this pipe must be over 70 years old.

34ECE8ED-655F-4221-8C4A-FDB727B5102F.jpeg5FA52D3D-6F26-4B1B-B272-0D21285BED76.jpegDCDC1C1E-840C-4080-889A-C2C29E8BC989.jpeg
Pipes are like nice firearms, in that they don’t really change, and they can last for centuries if well kept.
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,756
30,563
71
Sydney, Australia
Wow!

It sure does look like Birmingham 1910.

Hsllmarks don’t lie.

When I got this pipe, that sliver mount was coal black, the top was solid black across, but the high grade vulcanite bit didn’t need much polishing.

This is one of the joys of our hobby.

By common agreement Lee switched over from a 7 pointed star to a 5 pointed star about 1950.

So this pipe must be over 70 years old.

View attachment 99998View attachment 99999View attachment 100000
Pipes are like nice firearms, in that they don’t really change, and they can last for centuries if well kept.
I thought the OP was about (gourd) calabash pipes.

How the hell did it morph into a post on Lee pipes ? We do understand your obsession, and sympathise,
BUT !! :)

@Briar Lee , I wonder if your calabash had a silver "cap" originally ?

The fact that you can't remove the bowl to clean the gourd chamber has stopped me from chasing older calabashes such as yours.

I have a calabash (with a removable bowl) which I bought new in '70s-'80s. I gave the gourd chamber a cotton ball and alcohol soak for 24 hours. You should see the amount of tar that came out. It smokes so much "cleaner" now.
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,760
13,785
Humansville Missouri
I rechecked the hallmark, and there is no doubt at all it’s Birmingham 1910. The anchor and the lion are from that series, and some blocks don’t use the letter “l” but 1910 does, exactly like that one.

It “appears” much newer than 111 years old.

The inside of the gourd couldn’t cake, but over time it certainly would gunk up. I added a couple of ounces of Everclear, shook it around, let it set a bit, shook it around, and it drained our brown,,,,but not black.

It didn’t change the draw any at all. A lot of people before me, have done that.

I also own a 1942 Winchester Model 12 that looks like it came from a vacuum sealed time capsule, and another 1907 Lefever I Grade shotgun that is almost as cherry, as this 1910 Calabash.

As the roosters crow this morning I’m looking at this Calabash, mentally asking it, where did you come from, what’s your story, what tales could you tell?

But it never says a mumbling word.:)

DELLA AND THE DEALER

Hoyt Axton


Some things will remain forever, a silent mystery.
 

irishearl

Lifer
Aug 2, 2016
2,146
3,762
Kansas
This is my current Calabash, which is not a best quality pipe, but an excellent smoker.

The meerschaum bowl isn’t removable. I removed lava from the top that exposed some very tiny surface cracks on top of the rim of the bowl, which haven’t yet deepened.

I’d appreciate anybody that can decipher the hallmarks on the sterling silver ring to let me know who made this, and when.

It does seem to be made of a real gourd, and has a good vulcanite bit.

This was made for the man who wanted a real calabash and not a Sherlock Holmes prop to have an affordable, smokable pipe, but there’s no way to clean the inside of the gourd.View attachment 99990View attachment 99991View attachment 99992

View attachment 99993View attachment 99994View attachment 99995
As to cleaning the inside of the gourd, that was a real issue for me at the time I had my only gourd calabash. Over time, the oils/tars(?) developed unattractive dark staining at the base of the gourd. I hung onto it though til the bowl ended up cracking.
 
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That Guy

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 8, 2021
509
1,649
Central Florida
smoking_ssnews_oldkingcole-jpg.100083
 

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Jun 9, 2018
4,012
12,928
England
A Dunhill Calabash from the collection
View attachment 100074
That's a gorgeous bash?.
There's a Dunhill from 1917 on ebay but $2,250 is a little rich for my blood.
 

mortonbriar

Lifer
Oct 25, 2013
2,651
5,658
New Zealand
Any tricks for a loose cork gasket? I never smoke mine because I bent over one time and the meer dropped out and got a little chip. I am not too precious about these things, but I have procrastinated on smoking it again until I have stopped procrastinating on fixing the meer in a little tighter.