Tom Colwell of Who Made That Pipe? - where is he now?

[highwindows]

Hello everyone,

As some of you may know, in the days before Pipedia (and the mass adoption of the internet), there was a compendium of pipe information created by Tom Colwell and Herb Wilzcak, called Who Made That Pipe?
It's very interesting, and a real achievement given how difficult it still is to get pipe history right, even with our immensely advanced information systems compared to the old days.

When I was given my copy of WMYP, I was also given a binder filled with Tom Colwell's letters to and from various pipe groups, companies, and persons - not photocopies, but the original letters themselves. The previous owner simply did not have a reason to keep it.

I've been sitting on it for some time, and to be honest, I'm not sure what to do with it. It's a fascinating trove of bits and pieces from the world of pipes in the mid to late 20th century (mostly British stuff), but it's also someone's personal letters - someone I do not know. I've wanted to share some of these documents for a while, but I haven't because it strikes me as an invasion of privacy.

Does anyone know anyone who knew Mr Colwell? I imagine he is not of this world anymore, but if I had the blessing of someone with the right authority on this matter, I might be more inclined to share what I have.

Thanks for reading

hw

 

[kcghost]

Tom Colwell is listed as "a broken pipe" by the CPCC. It didn't give a year of his death for it was after 1997. I don't imagine he would object to some of his letters being published, Go to pipedia.org and if they can you specifics on him.

 

[jguss]

My understanding is that Prof Colwell is deceased. If that's true you could contact the family if possible to get their permission, or you could just decide for yourself after reflecting on the nature of the material. My view would be if it's clearly private correspondence not to publish it; if it's clearly related to the pipe world I might. It's going to be a judgment call and since you have the material you'll have to make it.

 

[chilllucky]

@dino is a long time member of these forums and the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club. He is the likeliest person here to have known Tom if he was a CPCC member. PM him and ask!

 

[highwindows]

thank you all, i will contact dino and ask what he thinks.

 

[daveinlax]

Tom had a table at the Chicagoland Pipe Show every year. He sold his pipes as is from paper grocery bags. I have all my yearly CPCC membership rosters buried deep in the davecave back in WI. I bought a book once from Bob Herbert that had a note from Tom Dunn to Tom Caldwell as a book mark.

 

[huntertrw]

I posted the following on January 10. 2015 in a thread titled "Who Made That Pipe" (book):

I just purchased this book from Mr. Reuven Wopschall who currently holds the rights to "Who Made That Pipe?" He is currently offering new-old-stock copies for sale on eBay under the Seller name Pondercreekstudio.
According to an e-mail message which I received from Mr. Wopschall, Mr. Wilczak was his great uncle (his grandmother's half-brother). He also stated that he has, "...hundreds of unbound copies, which I've since had punched and bound. Worth noting, when these were printed back in the '90s, my uncle and Mr. Colwell didn't use a publishing company, but simply had them printed at a local copy shop." He also stated that, "I still have all of the original research notes for the book on 3x5 cards, and hope to one day release an updated edition adding my own research, assuming I live long enough."

Perhaps Mr. Wopschall might be interested in this correspondence.

 

[huntertrw]

On January 11, 2015 I received the following from Mr. Wopschall:

"...I've had a few problems with copyright infringement, and usually a short email takes care of it, although in 2012 I had to go so far as to pay an attorney to issue a cease and desist letter when an eBay seller refused to stop selling copies he was printing.
"Yes, I'm a pipe smoker, and a pipemaker as well, although lately I've been too busy with unrelated work to offer any pipes for sale online. My great grandfather, Jacob Gilman, owned tobacco shops in Los Angeles and Pasadena, CA, when I was a boy, where he also made a few pipes, and he was kind enough to allow me to help in his shops. His father and grandfather were not-very-well-known pipemakers in Poznan, Poland, with trading connections to the St. Claude pipe works in France, so the family history with pipes spans six generations, maybe seven. My assumption is that my ancestors began making pipes because it was one of the occupations not prohibited to our tribe by law or by trade union exclusivity.
"As for Who Made This Pipe, Second Edition, if all goes as planned it will be finished in 2016. The tables will be considerably expanded, and will include when possible the dates of production, names of owners, and cities where the makers were located. Oh, and although I'm leaving the original introduction intact, it will be followed by a lengthy essay on European pipe history."

 

[georged]

Occasionally, an oyster contains a pearl.

So it is here on kevinsboard.com.

 

[dino]

@dino is a long time member of these forums and the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club. He is the likeliest person here to have known Tom if he was a CPCC member. PM him and ask!

Sorry, I don't remember Tom Cowell as a club member. Those who might have remembered him are also gone.
However, other long-time members Craig Cobine or Paul Bender might have information.

 

[chilllucky]

To be clear: I don't know that he was a member of the CPCC. I was just making the suggestion based on the "broken pipe" notice refered to above.

 

[highwindows]

I posted the following on January 10. 2015 in a thread titled "Who Made That Pipe" (book):

I just purchased this book from Mr. Reuven Wopschall who currently holds the rights to "Who Made That Pipe?" He is currently offering new-old-stock copies for sale on eBay under the Seller name Pondercreekstudio.
According to an e-mail message which I received from Mr. Wopschall, Mr. Wilczak was his great uncle (his grandmother's half-brother). He also stated that he has, "...hundreds of unbound copies, which I've since had punched and bound. Worth noting, when these were printed back in the '90s, my uncle and Mr. Colwell didn't use a publishing company, but simply had them printed at a local copy shop." He also stated that, "I still have all of the original research notes for the book on 3x5 cards, and hope to one day release an updated edition adding my own research, assuming I live long enough."

Perhaps Mr. Wopschall might be interested in this correspondence.

That's very interesting. It doesn't seem like pondercreekstudio is still active on ebay. Do you happen to know any other way to contact him?

 

[driftedshank1]

Tom might have been a member of the NY Pipe Club. He usually had a table at the shows that occurred in Newark, N.J. and other venues which may have preceded Newark. I'm sure many members of the NY Club knew Tom well, incuding Rich Esserman, Lou Zizholz and other old timers like me.

I've heard his home was filled with thousands of mostly inexpensive factory made pipes from all over the world. At the NY show he always had many boxes of used and and sometimes unsmoked factory pipes that were reasonably priced. Bob Herbert filled that space as well. I don't know what happened to his amazing inventory when he passed several years ago.

Tom loved Virginia flakes from the UK as I recall. I knew him to be a gentle, very kind fellow who truly loved our hobby. He treated everyone , to my recollection, with courtesy, patience and respect.

 

[huntertrw]

A search of the name Reuven Wopschall on duckduckgo brought up the fastpeoplesearch.com Website that shows nine records. You might pursue those and see if you may contact him.

Good luck!

 

[highwindows]

Tom might have been a member of the NY Pipe Club. He usually had a table at the shows that occurred in Newark, N.J. and other venues which may have preceded Newark. I'm sure many members of the NY Club knew Tom well, incuding Rich Esserman, Lou Zizholz and other old timers like me.

I've heard his home was filled with thousands of mostly inexpensive factory made pipes from all over the world. At the NY show he always had many boxes of used and and sometimes unsmoked factory pipes that were reasonably priced. Bob Herbert filled that space as well. I don't know what happened to his amazing inventory when he passed several years ago.

Tom loved Virginia flakes from the UK as I recall. I knew him to be a gentle, very kind fellow who truly loved our hobby. He treated everyone , to my recollection, with courtesy, patience and respect.

That's lovely to hear. And while I won't post any of the documents for the moment, I can confirm that he did indeed enjoy virginia flakes from the UK, which he procured by mail correspondence with some of our famous tobacconists.

 

[highwindows]

A search of the name Reuven Wopschall on duckduckgo brought up the fastpeoplesearch.com Website that shows nine records. You might pursue those and see if you may contact him.

Good luck!

OK I will have a look, thank you. I did not known such things still existed.

 

[highwindows]

A search of the name Reuven Wopschall on duckduckgo brought up the fastpeoplesearch.com Website that shows nine records. You might pursue those and see if you may contact him.

Good luck!

I'm afraid I'm having no luck with fastpeoplesearch. It appears to be blocked in my location (Europe), and instead offers a different website that one has to subscribe to in order to use. Quite disappointing, but thank you for the tip either way. I will post messages on the other forums to see if I get any more leads.

 

[denholrl]

I've referred your posting to Vernon Vig who might have more information for you.

 

[highwindows]

I've referred your posting to Vernon Vig who might have more information for you.

Sorry, didn't see this until now. Thanks so much. If he needs an email address, feel free to message me.