Vintage Pipes

[sparrowhawk]

We really are a special brotherhood. A few days ago I was browsing through an Etsy shop that specialized in pipes and related tobacco accessories. I came across a cast aluminum pipe ashtray that seemed to come from the art deco period; it was reasonably priced. I get the ashtray in a few days, polished flawlessly--and I also got a bag of goodies along with the ashtray, about a dozens bowls worth of different aromatic tobaccos, a pack of Macbarron pipe cleaners, and lastly, a horseshoe nail that could serve as a pick and tamper. No extra charge; it all came with a modest, though classy, ashtray for my desk.

The proprietor of the shop has the memorable name of Shea Hemingway; take a look at Vintage Pipes, you won't be disappointed.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Can you post pics?

 

[crashthegrey]

I am often weary of Etsy dealers, thanks for the nice story about a good one.

 

[mikethompson]

Sounds like a nice score on the ashtray. Yes we will need pictures please!

 

[crashthegrey]

Ugh, wary of, or leery of, but not weary of. Sometimes weary with, but I need to pay more attention.

 

[elpfeife]

I have dealt with Shae a lot. He is top notch. I have bought some very nice pipes from him and I use his services to clean and spruce up my pipes. He has never failed to do an outstanding job. He has my two thumbs up recommendation!

 

[sparrowhawk]

I didn't know Shea worked over pipes. Thanks for the tip.

 

[usrkain47]

Shae is a great friend of mine who I have done A LOT of business with. We regularly talk tobacco and pipes as well as send each other baccy though admittedly he sends me more than I him. Truly a fantastic all around guy and friend. Don’t hesitate a second to do business with him.

 

[eaglewriter1]

Post some pictures if you get the ashtray. There are some nice shops on etsy selling pipe stuff, from hand made ash trays to tampers etc. I have yet to buy something because for me shipping is ,depending on the sho,p more expensive then the article itself but there is certainly some nice stuff to be found.

 

[ashdigger]

Shea is top notch. Spectacular service.

 

[mikethompson]

I've searched Shea Hemingway on etsy and couldn't find anything. Are posting links allowed in this case?

 

[voorhees]

I've searched Shea Hemingway on etsy and couldn't find anything. Are posting links allowed in this case?

Me as well.

 

[sparrowhawk]

His Etsy shop is Vintage Pipes. See the heading, "Vintage Pipe Wares" for a photo of the cool ashtray and goodies I got from Shea.

 

[techie]

I've searched Shea Hemingway on etsy and couldn't find anything.

Probably two reasons for not finding the shop: For one, his name is not Shea, but Shae. And two, his shop name is VintagePipes, so if you put in Vintage Pipes, you will get listings for vintage pipes from all sellers. If you put in VintagePipes you will get a results page and the question "Did you mean the shop VintagePipes?"
I had an excellent experience with Shae after purchasing one of his custom Missouri Meerschaum pipes, which is a real beauty for a cob. Read his description of one of these and you'll learn how much work he puts into them. However, I asked him where he gets the stems for these cobs, because I wanted acrylic stems for two of my other cobs. To make a long story short, he ended up making me two custom stems for these other cobs of mine, and the workmanship is outstanding. He did this for me even though he doesn't offer custom stems.
And as others have reported, when I got my package (even the packaging was done professionally), I was surprised by all the extra goodies in the box, including three tobacco samples which included a McClelland!
Just wanted to share my great experience, and I will certainly be purchasing other items from his Etsy store. His customer service was top notch, and he has lots interesting and unique items for us pipers.
Here are his photos of my custom Mark Twain and the two stems he made for my MM Country Gentleman and MM General. I selected the colors out of wide range available, and he kindly put a slight bend in the longer one for my General.

 

[mso489]

An aluminum art deco ash tray, unusual. It always fascinated me the way Grumman went from building aircraft fuselage during WWII to building aluminum canoes, to use the aluminum molding/crafting/riveting technology. I think the canoes are still made, nice light weight and they handle nicely too.

 

[drydock]

Shae is the best. Has sold me a couple custom cobs--excellent communication from start to finish. I've also purchased an older Castello sea rock from him and would (and have) purchased from him again with zero worries.