Best of all, it won't see any steel wool nor will it be put to bed in a bucket in a tool shed, lol. Enjoy.
Show Us Your Briarlees
- Thread starter Parsimonious Piper
- Start date
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Some of my used pipes come with lettering rubbed down by steel wool, but most don’t.
This nice Briarlee Medium Slim Billiard has an imperfect strike on the stamping, but otherwise is in nice shape.
The entire Briarlee line was for cheapskates who wanted a Star Grade and settled for a Briarlee. They are all over fifty and most are old enough for Social Security.
You could burn one up in a year or two if you were a one pipe codger.
That is why I think Briarlees in good condition today are scarcer than Star Grades. They mostly were used up, and thrown away.
This nice Briarlee Medium Slim Billiard has an imperfect strike on the stamping, but otherwise is in nice shape.
The entire Briarlee line was for cheapskates who wanted a Star Grade and settled for a Briarlee. They are all over fifty and most are old enough for Social Security.
You could burn one up in a year or two if you were a one pipe codger.
That is why I think Briarlees in good condition today are scarcer than Star Grades. They mostly were used up, and thrown away.
Small-ish panel billiard. Couple chips I’m debating sanding out, but I was more concerned with getting the stem from green to black.
First Briarlee Bulldog I’ve found.
Just one pic to show pre-cleanup condition.
Just one pic to show pre-cleanup condition.
And another Bulldog, carved this time.
Internals still need a touch of steel wool.
Internals still need a touch of steel wool.
Bent egg with a diamond shank. Says Invincible, but the stamping clearly wasn’t.
that would make sense. Also even without a misread you could assume it was a typo.
A medium sized Illustrious Pot with a common Briarlee carving.
Briarlee’s Goodfellow was a Pete knockoff including something of a reservoir and a pseudo p-lip stem. This one has nice birdseye on one side and straights on the other.
A pipe like that couldn’t have been a drug store cheapie.
Makes you wonder how much better one would have to be to be stamped a Star Grade.
I’d never seen a panel Zulu. Apparently Briarlee made one.
Didn’t completely restore the rim because I didn’t want to reshape it.
Didn’t completely restore the rim because I didn’t want to reshape it.
Such a nice looking example.
Lee put out Strollers under both the Lee and Briarlee brands, though I’ve only seen the former in a catalog. They were typically medium to large bowls with short stems—lightweight and made for clenching. This one, quite oddly, has a full length stem. I understand not shortening the stem of a Prince. I don’t understand stamping this one “Stroller.” But I do like it anyway.
For comparison with a typical Stroller—a tall, stubby Billiard—the Prince is 6” long and has the usual medium bowl.
For comparison with a typical Stroller—a tall, stubby Billiard—the Prince is 6” long and has the usual medium bowl.
I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a Stroller for a while now to no avail.
At least now I know not to buy a prince Stroller sight unseen-that thing looks bigger than my Briarlee Illustrious!
At least now I know not to buy a prince Stroller sight unseen-that thing looks bigger than my Briarlee Illustrious!
Supposedly the Opera shape was intended to create a lower profile in a suit jacket pocket. At any rate, the oval bowl is interesting and is one I hadn’t seen from Briarlee. A dark contrast highlights the grain but also makes a couple fills more obvious.
This small-bowled churchwarden fills another shape gap in my collection. Needed a little TLC, but nothing drastic.
Left a little rim char to remind me someone loved it before I found it.
Left a little rim char to remind me someone loved it before I found it.
