Those are not mine. They belong to the Reverend. He acquired them from a pipe salesman in Omaha. He sold them for bargain prices to those on the forum who contacted him. I purchased one myself.
The Four Hundred Marxman Pipe Owner's Thread
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I've recently just gotten into Marksman, I missed an insane deal on one of their figural pipes, it was the camel. Sold for 25$
There are some true sorry assed Marxman pipes out there. At the same time, there are some equally brilliant pipes as well. I have 7 unsmoked traditional styled Marxman pipes still in the boxes. These are all pre 54s. I have one Jumbo as well as a Mel-O that are in rotation and have the unique Marxman rustication. They are both fine examples of rusticated Marxman pipes. I have two 400s. Both are excellent smokers and the gold bands are in good shape. I might be willing to sell the billiard 400 - it is not so large that one can’t clinch it. For that reason, I might not wish to sell. It has a straight saddle stem and is in excellent condition. It has a full one once diameter chamber opening. If you are interested we can discuss it via PM but the 400s, in excellent shape are true white whales. Any you find on eBay will be truly over priced or in rotten condition. Regardless, welcome to the world of Marxman. By the way, there is a fellow collector here but he is not particular and seems to love the ugly abused ones. Be cautious when trying to find a truly good Marxman.
@Briar Lee has the largest collection of Marxman pipes (and Pipes by Lee) that I know of.
If American factory pipes (of a certain age) is your thing, then he is your man
However Members @telescopes, @Parsimonious Piper and @Sobrbiker may give you a more balanced viewpoint of their attributes (and shortcomings)
This is sooooo true. Van is a great guy - but he does have a tendency to romanticize and oversell the value - intrinsic value - of anything he loves - especially if it is cheap and underlined by most.
Then there’s the whole steel wool issue
In general-
I do like my Lees, all three I have came from the counselor from Humansville. My Briarlee was from @telescopes via an eBay auction he forgot to take down.
They have open drafts, but the Lees I have have wide chambers and thinnish walls. None of mine have stingers, and I love the screw together stem fitment, works great in a field working environment.
My Briarlee Illustrious sees multiple smokes a day most weekdays and is treated in a manner that makes my cobs soggy and sour.
I was on the precipice of collecting Lee’s/Marxman etc, but practicality has brought me to “collecting” briars of a size/shape/stem that I like rather than chasing the sweet oil cured Algerian briars of an America past.
I hope the good solicitor sent you the stingers with those pipes. He keeps them all in a bowl in his garage.Then there’s the whole steel wool issue
In general-
I do like my Lees, all three I have came from the counselor from Humansville. My Briarlee was from @telescopes via an eBay auction he forgot to take down.
They have open drafts, but the Lees I have have wide chambers and thinnish walls. None of mine have stingers, and I love the screw together stem fitment, works great in a field working environment.
My Briarlee Illustrious sees multiple smokes a day most weekdays and is treated in a manner that makes my cobs soggy and sour.
I was on the precipice of collecting Lee’s/Marxman etc, but practicality has brought me to “collecting” briars of a size/shape/stem that I like rather than chasing the sweet oil cured Algerian briars of an America past.
Yes, the steel wool thing is something of legend.
A quality Marxman Jumbo works great in any collection. I had mine thoroughly refreshed by Briarville and it made a huge difference. It is indeed a sweet smoking pipe and I keep it in rotation.
The Mel-O stays in rotation as well - but it needed a lot of cleaning and drying - now,m it is an excellent pipe.
I find two good examples are more than enough - I have two top notch Lees - they have large bowls and excellent grain and have never been touched by steel-wool thank goodness. I have several other Lees I keep in Laughlin - they are most likely similar to what the good Missourian sold you - typical of Lees. They are fine enough smokers, but nothing like my top notch ones or my Marxmans.
If someone is thinking about a Lee or a Marxman, my advice is to ensure it has been lightly smoked and kept clean and dry. Look for quality grain - Lees and Marxmans weren't known for these two things and when you find one that has quality grain they tend to be in better shape and have a bit more attention to detail. Just my two cents.
I am so glad you have enjoyed the Briarlee. I always get a kick out of seeing it on the WAYS threads.Then there’s the whole steel wool issue
In general-
I do like my Lees, all three I have came from the counselor from Humansville. My Briarlee was from @telescopes via an eBay auction he forgot to take down.
They have open drafts, but the Lees I have have wide chambers and thinnish walls. None of mine have stingers, and I love the screw together stem fitment, works great in a field working environment.
My Briarlee Illustrious sees multiple smokes a day most weekdays and is treated in a manner that makes my cobs soggy and sour.
I was on the precipice of collecting Lee’s/Marxman etc, but practicality has brought me to “collecting” briars of a size/shape/stem that I like rather than chasing the sweet oil cured Algerian briars of an America past.
My Marxman collection. The top row first three from the left are my huge ones. An unsmoked Robert Marx 50th Anniversary followed by an unsmoked Imperial, then a 400, then two Royals (the one on the left I got courtesy of Telescopes) and the rest are Bench Mades and Jumbos. The pipe in the front row on the left is a Deluxe with a gold band. It's a modest collection but I'm pretty picky about my Marxmans.
That is an incredible Marxman collection. Thank you for sharing. wheee re did you get the 50th Anniversary. Those are quite rare.
I stumbled across it on Etsy. Felt very, very lucky and got it for a normal Four Hundred range price.
I finally laid hands on a Four Hundred of my own. It had lost it's 14K gold band and original stem and as my father used to say, "she looks like she's been ridden hard and put away wet". I'd love to share the blog post of the restoration for this Marxman but the moderators and the rules say, "nay". Perhaps I can share the link via PMs for those interested.
Attachments
Please cut and paste the relative important parts of your post here. It looks like you did a great job bringing that pipe back from the dead. Yes, please send me the links. By the way, how does it smoke. My guess is that this is a year three 400.
Cutting and pasting a 78 page blog with over 60 photos? I can try.
Hmm, here is the message I got - "Oops, an into some problems"
@NE Pipeteer - I am answering your questions here so everyone can appreciate what you have done with the pipe. First off, you did an amazing job restoring the pipe and the techniques you used as described in your blog were very professional. Kudos. The Letter E may actually mean it is a 5th year 400. I thought it looked like a C from the picture but I am glad you clarified. The stummel is in amazing condition given the hard use the pipe had in its past. As to the gold band... I have two 400s. The bands - if indeed 14K gold are a bit of a misleading misnomer. From speaking to others as well as my own observation, they are mostly copper and the gold dissipates with heat over time. They are all problematic to say the least so your choice of a plated gold band is probably for the best and will age in a way that is accurate to the original bands. I actually think they were rolled gold to be honest. At any rate, you now own a Four Hundred that has been faithfully restored. The saddle stem, keeping the replacement, was probably for the best as well because it too resembles the originals and seems to be a good quality vulcanite as well. Welcome to the club.
As for Van. @Briar Lee seems to have gotten banned for a while. My guess is that it was most likely due to political posting. No surprises. Hopefully he will be back. The ability to PM him was removed; that generally is a clue that a forced vacation has occurred. While I do appreciate him - I have learned to take what he says with a grain of salt... much of it is wild speculation - interesting as it is. He would agree with that statement so no talking out of turn here. I helped Van get his two Four Hundreds - one off of Etsy and the other through a source who had 14 Four Hundreds that I met at the Las Vegas pipe show several years ago. In fact, he has the largest one I've ever seen. I thought about getting it for myself, but I already have an extra large example so I want with a smaller one that I could actually smoke and walk around with as I used it. Van also has two examples of Marxman pipes that were made by Marx later in his life as commemorative pipes celebrating Marx's invention of the first free hand style pipes as a commercial product. Marx was an innovator who made many contributions to the pipe making and smoking industry. He invented the slow smoke contest as well. Again, welcome to the club.
Thank you for the kind words. I started blogging October 30, 2023 as something to keep me off the streets and out of gangs after I retired from a 32 year career of teaching high school science. Over the past year I have restored many Marxman pipes. They had always been a favorite and the history of the brand and marketing genius of Robert Marx made them even more interesting. Would you happen to have a reference to the article stating that Marx invented the slow smoke contest? I would like to include that in a future blog.
Club History - International Association of Pipe Smokers Clubs
International Association of Pipe Smokers Clubs
www.iapsc.net
I too am a retired educator of 37 years. Unfortunately, I am now busier than ever, LOL.
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Many thanks. That will certainly be included in the next Marxman restoration.