Vintage American Pipes

[Red Leader]

G'day to you all -

I've been doing a deep dive with regards to vintage (1960ish and older) American made pipes, and while of course been learning plenty about Grabow , Kaywoodie and MM, I'm curious about other brands I may not be aware of. I know of Willard in addition to those mentioned, but that is about it. What else am I missing? Are there other classic American pipes (mainly production, but open to older customs as well) that I should know about?

I've got a few Grabows and a newly made Kaywoodie coming my way (excited), but still looking to learn all that I can about American pipes of yore.

Thank you for helping to add to my knowledge!

 

[leonardbill1]

Wilke is a good maker to look into.

 

[kcghost]

Custom-Bilt come to mind.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

For me, Kaywoodie.

 

[philobeddoe]

I’ve had good luck with both Custom-Bilt and Marxman pipes.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Weber, KB&B, , Dinwoodie, Yellobole, mid production Jobey.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Custom-Bilt come to mind.

You have to know the era with those. They've been produced all over.

 

[mso489]

Edwards made some good pipes, including their Benton brand and one or two others. I bought mine as Iwan Ries house pipes, oil cured Algerian briar, light weight with big chambers. Then for a while, IR had Savinelli house pipes, and they are now sourced from Genod. The Bentons have aged well and smoke well. IR always sourced good house pipes, in an intelligent effort to start new pipe smokers out with good pipes, in hopes that they'd come back for tobaccos and additional pipes. It worked with me.

 

[lraisch]

G'day to you all -

I've been doing a deep dive with regards to vintage (1960ish and older) American made pipes, and while of course been learning plenty about Grabow , Kaywoodie and MM, I'm curious about other brands I may not be aware of. I know of Willard in addition to those mentioned, but that is about it. What else am I missing? Are there other classic American pipes (mainly production, but open to older customs as well) that I should know about?

I've got a few Grabows and a newly made Kaywoodie coming my way (excited), but still looking to learn all that I can about American pipes of yore.

Thank you for helping to add to my knowledge!

Schulte's was a pipe store in NJ who made their own pipes (I believe they also had some made elsewhere but stamped with their name). At one point in the early 20th century, I believe there were a number of pipe makers in the Newark/Hoboken/Jersey City area.

 

[RobNYC]

WDC - William Demuth Company.

 

[camaguey]

Malaga , Schoenleber , Wally Frank , Tom Howard , Weber , etc.

 

[sablebrush52]

Check out Bertram, which were sold by a high end tobacconist in Washington DC. They're often referred to as the American Dunhill because of their quality of manufacture. Also well worth investigating are Ehrlich's pipes.

 

[OzPiper]

Member @Briar Lee has been known to wax lyrical about Pipes by Lee. ?

 

[Alejo R.]

Each of the catalog retailers, for example Wally Frank, had a plethora of brands. Surely many were made in Europe, but others would be American. I think the list would be almost endless.

 

[camaguey]

You can add Fieldstub , Barclay Rex , Cellini and others. I always compared the old american pipes to the old american cars. They were reliable for what they were designed. They were affordable. However , if you want to drive a Ferrari or RR , you have to pay another price. Your old Chevy would take you to the same places than Ferraris. The experience may be different , but they both would perform for what they were designed.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Barclay Rex

All I've seen of those were house pipes made by other manufacturers. I had one that was made by Savinelli.

 

[camaguey]

On the other hand , i have seen old barclays made by american hands.

 

[Chasing Embers]

On the other hand , i have seen old barclays made by american hands.

Yep, but like other tobacconists, rarely by an in house carver so they aren't really Barclay Rex pipes.

 

[Puff nstuff]

I have a few interesting American pipes that I bought secondhand, a Briarcraft panel billiard, a Middleton's bulldog, and an E. A. Carey Magic Inch coachman. They are all beautiful pipes and excellent smokers. I have a Jobey as well, a solid, handsome poker, but I haven't smoked it yet. Carey typically have nice briar stummels but they use a proprietary 'filter' system that utilizes a stem that many don't like. I find it comfortable, and it works fine with the sleeve installed.

 

[Red Leader]

Wow, I really appreciate all these leads. Some I forgot (Wally Frank / Yello Bole) and others I haven't ever heard of. Was Briar Lee / Pipe by Lee an American pipe? I have see some of Briar Lee's posts but didn't know about where they were made. They were on my radar, but now perhaps even moreso.

Currently I have a small collection of mostly vintage American pipes - Dr Grabow, Willard, Yello Bole, MM, and LHS. Really, really want to try a 4-hole stinger Kaywoodie - I'm already a believer and haven't even had one in my hands yet ha! Also a Linkman's era Grabow (or...a few) to add to the collection as well. The LHS must have come from the 1942-1944 timeframe, because when I got it, I was surprised to learn that is was a 'brian grain painted' wood pipe, which would only make sense if it was made during the time when shipments of briar were suspended. What is funny is that I actually got an old Grabow as well that, like the LHS/Park Lane, was standard wood but brian grain painted! Sadly, it was burned out on the bottom (undisclosed) so I returned it, but the fact that they were painted wood didn't really bother me - more of a fascination due to the historical nature of their being. Now I know how to spot the grain 'paint' decently well.

Going to continue my deep dive w/ these brands listed above. It definitely makes sense to me that many local pipe shops would either source a house brand, or even made some of their own pipe. Big fan of that idea and history, so keep any names coming, and thank you!