Thank-You Mr. Wortzel!

[huntertrw]

Dear Mr. Wortzel:

Just a note to thank you for helping nostalgic pipe-smokers like me by continuing Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed and Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend during your tenure with Scandinavian Tobacco Group/Lane Limited. I do not know what the future holds for these two favorites; regardless, I truly appreciate your standing up for them (and those of us who love them) as long as you did.

Sincerely,

HunterTRW

 

[dd57chevy]

Dear Mr. Wortzel:

Just a note to thank you for helping nostalgic pipe-smokers like me by continuing Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed and Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend during your tenure with Scandinavian Tobacco Group/Lane Limited. I do not know what the future holds for these two favorites; regardless, I truly appreciate your standing up for them (and those of us who love them) as long as you did.

Sincerely,

HunterTRW

What is the context for your note of thanks @huntertrw ?
Did I miss a memo ? Or does this fall under the category of wishful thinking ?
Inquiring minds want to know...........

 

[huntertrw]

With the changes afoot I do not know what will become of Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed nor Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend, and was simply thanking Mr. Wortzel for his championing of them in the past.

 

[dd57chevy]

I'm not familiar with the Edgeworth blend , but I'm curious -anyone know if the EGR recipe is a secret . proprietary product , or could another company start turning it out if they deemed it profitable ?

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm not familiar with the Edgeworth blend , but I'm curious -anyone know if the EGR recipe is a secret . proprietary product , or could another company start turning it out if they deemed it profitable ?

Anyone with the talent for creating a match could disassemble EGR's components, have an analysis made ti determine the flavorings, and create a match. The cost would be a consideration, as recouping it could be questionable. EGR was headed for the scrapheap years ago and was only saved from oblivion by the efforts of jiminks.

 

[huntertrw]

The Edgeworth brand was created and manufactured by Larus & Brother Company, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia, and was introduced in 1903. Sliced Edgeworth was the company's first product, and was the first pipe-tobacco to be nationally advertised. Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed was introduced in 1912.

Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed featured White Burley and had a molasses casing. It was rightfully advertised as "America's Finest Pipe Tobacco."

Larus & Brother Company, Inc. continued in business until 1974.

As for Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Mixture, it was a proprietary product manufactured by Greenfield & Winther of San Francisco, California, and was launched in 1946. However, at least one competent tobacco-blender, Sutliff, subsequently created a match to it. If they did it, I do not see why another could not.

 

[dd57chevy]

As for Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Mixture, it was a proprietary product manufactured by Greenfield & Winther of San Francisco, California, and was launched in 1946. However, at least one competent tobacco-blender, Sutliff, subsequently created a match to it. If they did it, I do not see why another could not.

This is one of the drawbacks of living in a state without a big city .. Des Moines is 2 hrs away & has a population of roughly 500,000 . Not enough of a market to support an independent blending outfit .

 

[AroEnglish]

I don’t know if Leonard had anything to do with EGR sticking around. My understand is that it was created/re-created by Sutliff and saved from being cut from their lineup through the efforts of @JimInks. My understanding is this happened some time ago, certainly before STG owned Sutliff.

Jim, did Leonard have anything to do with EGR? Any info on EGR’s history would be appreciated too.

 

[romaso]

The Edgeworth Match is a favorite. Still time to stock up!

 

[dd57chevy]

I don’t know if Leonard had anything to do with EGR sticking around. My understand is that it was created/re-created by Sutliff and saved from being cut from their lineup through the efforts of @JimInks. My understanding is this happened some time ago, certainly before STG owned Sutliff.

Jim, did Leonard have anything to do with EGR? Any info on EGR’s history would be appreciated too.

I've always been curious why @JimInks always uses the "pre-2013EGR" disclaimer in the What are you smoking thread........

 

[MisterDearly]

I didn't see those two blends on the announcement of surviving blends. The only Sutliff survivors were a couple of aromatics. I would bet that both of them are on the chopping block--just like Mixture 79.

 

[JimInks]

I don’t know if Leonard had anything to do with EGR sticking around. My understand is that it was created/re-created by Sutliff and saved from being cut from their lineup through the efforts of @JimInks. My understanding is this happened some time ago, certainly before STG owned Sutliff.

Jim, did Leonard have anything to do with EGR? Any info on EGR’s history would be appreciated too.

Leonard did not work for Sutliff, so he had no role to keeping EGR alive. Same goes for the Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match or any Sutliff products. Leonard was working for Lane, so he wouldn't have worked for Sutliff at the same time. Hunter is just stirring things up for his own amusement because I know he knows better.

I've always been curious why @JimInks always uses the "pre-2013EGR" disclaimer in the What are you smoking thread........

I mention the date of the tobacco I am smoking fairly often in my posts. It doesn't mean anything else. In the case you mentioned, I wasn't sure when the EGR tub was manufactured so all I could do is note that it was an earlier production than I indicated.

 

[huntertrw]

Leonard did not work for Sutliff, so he had no role to keeping EGR alive. Same goes for the Edgeworth Ready Rubbed Match or any Sutliff products. Leonard was working for Lane, so he wouldn't have worked for Sutliff at the same time.

JimInks:

I never wrote that Mr. Wortzel worked for Sutliff. He worked for Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Lane Limited and, yes, he was responsible for keeping Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed alive.

I was wrong about his involvement in your beloved EGR, and for that I apologize to you, Mr. Wortzel, and the other members of the Forums.

 

[newbroom]

 

[sablebrush52]

Thanks for reposting this interview with Leonard Wortzel. It's a long interview, but for those willing to go the distance it offers a clear picture of what the pipe tobacco market is, VS what pipe tobacco enthusiasts think it is. Forums are a bubble, an echo chamber, and don't represent more than a tiny fraction of the pipe smoking population.

The interview continues to cover the realities of the primary goals of a large publicly traded business, vs a boutique operation, the complexities of translating a blend to a new production environment, the realities of trying to sell off equipment, potential resurrection of some discontinued blends, and a whole lot more.

The host is charming, though he tends to go on and on without actually adding much beyond his first few sentences. On the other hand he doesn't often interrupt his guest, which is to his credit. Wortzel is pretty straightforward about the whole "shitty" business, including his own surprise that Sutliff was ordered closed so quickly.

 

[JimInks]

JimInks:

I never wrote that Mr. Wortzel worked for Sutliff. He worked for Scandinavian Tobacco Group, Lane Limited and, yes, he was responsible for keeping Edgeworth Ready-Rubbed alive.

I was wrong about his involvement in your beloved EGR, and for that I apologize to you, Mr. Wortzel, and the other members of the Forums.

Leonard was responsible for bringing back Edgeworth Ready Rubbed, but so were we. As you may remember, you reached out to me some years back, and asked me to help convince Lane to bring it back into production. I did what I did for EGR, and Leonard read the threads, and decided to bring Lane Limited Ready Rubbed in to production for a few short years.

 

[AroEnglish]

I've always been curious why @JimInks always uses the "pre-2013EGR" disclaimer in the What are you smoking thread........

I don’t quite follow what you mean.

 

[dd57chevy]

I don’t quite follow what you mean.

I misunderstood @JimInks . I incorrectly inferred that he was saying there was some sort of change in the blend after 2013 ,

 

[AroEnglish]

Leonard was responsible for bringing back Edgeworth Ready Rubbed, but so were we. As you may remember, you reached out to me some years back, and asked me to help convince Lane to bring it back into production. I did what I did for EGR, and Leonard read the threads, and decided to bring Lane Limited Ready Rubbed in to production for a few short years.

So was it Lane who was making EGR or Sutliff? I’m a little confused

I misunderstood @JimInks . I incorrectly inferred that he was saying there was some sort of change in the blend after 2013 ,

That makes sense.

 

[Skippy Piper]

So was it Lane who was making EGR or Sutliff? I’m a little confused

It was Lane who made Edgeworth Ready Rubbed, though Sutliff did make an EGRR match after Lane discontinued it. In any case I sure hope they bring it back! STG's Lane division would do well to reissue some old blends to fill in some of the gaps in the market left by the shuttering of Sutliff.


Edit: Oh wait, I think you were asking about Edward G Robinson, not Edgeworth Ready Rubbed! That was Sutliff who made that one. I still want Edgeworth back though!