Troves of Unsmoked Aged Pipes

[mso489]

About a year or two ago, a stash of old Hilson pipes surfaced and was apparently sold off. I can't remember if these were entirely finished pipes or if they were carved bowl and shank briars awaiting stems, but they had been sitting around for decades after a Hilson factory closed. Lately, quite a quantity of Ropp pipes have arrived on the market after being discovered in the Chacom factory, as reported by smokingpipes.com. You'd think in a relocation or sale of an entire brand, someone would take these valuable assets in custody and sell them off for quick cash, to liquidate the property. This seems to happen fairly regularly. Anyone have any idea why pipes are vulnerable to being left unfinished and/or unsold? I don't expect to see a sale of old unused Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and Saturns any time soon. Why pipes?

 

[michiganlover]

FYI, those Hilson pipes are still sold by P and C under their Crown Acheivement name.

 

[maxx]

I've wondered where all those unsmoked Ropp pipes on eBay came from. Are the prices fair?

 

[romeowood]

Anyone have any idea why pipes are vulnerable to being left unfinished and/or unsold? I don't expect to see a sale of old unused Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and Saturns any time soon. Why pipes?

A couple boxes of hundreds of stummels is a lot easier to misplace than a couple hundred (or even a couple) Pontiacs, for one. :lol:

 

[gloucesterman]

I suspect that the record keeping of the day is at the base of the problem. Inventories probably didn't reflect where in the process a particular group of stummels were. When the sale took place they were simply overlooked and left behind. Given that we have two known cases, it seems likely both had similar issues. Partially finished product probably wasn't distinguished from raw stock until it reached the final product stage if even then. It's doubtful that the value of a couple hundred stummels would have amounted to any significant change in the overall value of the assets nor would their absence in the inventory be noticeable to the seller or the buyer. In the day of computer driven accounting systems it seems hard to believe but not so many years ago inventories were done by hand and at many firms only once a years so they could close their books.

 

[mso489]

Good point. Not too many misplaced Pontiacs hiding in factory storage areas. Also, it may be that the technicians and others who know what the pipes or briars are, all high tail it to find new work, and the folks who clean up and close out the premises only know to box it up and pack it away. Still, you'd think the money men would be scouring the premises for anything of value. I guess they just slap the big locks on the doors and consider the job done. Any inside knowledge out there, how you sequester a few thousand pipes for forty years? It's kind of amusing, and also weird.

 

[seacaptain]

I don't expect to see a sale of old unused Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, and Saturns any time soon.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-16/where-worlds-unsold-cars-go-die

 

[gloucesterman]

In the end it could be as simple as the movers just didn't take them or the employees that were adversely affected made sure they weren't found. It will be interesting to see if anyone has something more concrete.

 

[mso489]

Whoa, check out that link on seacaptain's last post on this thread! Vast prairies of old new automobiles unsold and sitting in the weather. Amazing. People know where these are but can't use or buy them. Like the mountains of discarded cell phones other places, and old computers, etc. etc. I bet some of those orphaned pipes are great smokers once landed in the right hands. Anyone own a Hilson or one of the old rediscovered Ropps? I have a straight Ropp apple, but I believe it is of fairly new vintage, last five years anyway, though it may have sat in Iwan Ries for a while.

 

[woodsroad]

This smacks OF BS to me. The lack of any verifiable, factual information on the site, and the overwhelming gobs of postulation just scream bullshit.
There are huge lots all over the world were cars are temporally warehoused en route to dealerships. At times, they will pile up when there is an unexpected slump in sales. I suspect that this is what we are looking at here.
Here...I'll look this up...
Ah!
http://www.snopes.com/photos/automobiles/unsoldcars.asp
http://jalopnik.com/that-zero-hedge-article-on-unsold-cars-is-bullshit-1578124255

 

[lestrout]

IIRC, back in the day (early last century), Kaywoodie, DrG and St. Claude factories produced thousands of pipes a week (each), if not a day. Without modern Just-In-Time methods of inventory and distribution, it doesn't surprise me that troves of a few hundred pipes might be found here and there.
hp

les

 

[woodsroad]

I've often wondered what happened to all of the stummels from the Borup, DK Stanwell factory.

 

[brass]

One of my fishing buddies, a chemical engineer, worked for a Fortune 500 Chemical Company. His last few years was spent in asset management and recovery. It was not unusual for him to find warehouses with inventory that were completely forgotten and off the books.
The army has lost track of tanks, if you will pardon the pun. I guess when you'e worth billions, a few million here and there are crumbs.

 

[woodsroad]

I lost my keys last week.

 

[seacaptain]

This smacks OF BS to me. The lack of any verifiable, factual information on the site, and the overwhelming gobs of postulation just scream bullshit.
There are huge lots all over the world were cars are temporally warehoused en route to dealerships. At times, they will pile up when there is an unexpected slump in sales. I suspect that this is what we are looking at here.
Here...I'll look this up...

Just an article I found. I have no vested interest in it.

 

[woodsroad]

Didn't blame you, seacaptain, just sayin'