Wally Frank, a True American Icon

[Mike N]

I’ve been searching for a 1960s Wally Frank pipe and got this one on eBay for $75. It arrived today and smoking it is a true pleasure.

Here’s a link to more info: Wally Frank - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Frank

(click on images to enlarge)

 

[Chasing Embers]

If you're a fan of Castello, you'll have more to love about Wally Frank. He promoted them and kept them from going the way of the dinosaur back in the 1950s.

 

[Mike N]

If you're a fan of Castello, you'll have more to love about Wally Frank. He promoted them and kept them from going the way of the dinosaur back in the 1950s.

Indeed, I am such a fan. Thx

 

[Mike N]

I picked up this new old stock Wally Frank Dublin with ebonite stem on eBay last night for $40. I can‘t wait to smoke it.

According to Pipedia:

” (Wally Frank’s) numerous private-label pipes were made by many makers, including Charatan, Sasieni, Weber, and many others. *** In addition to importing pipes, he had many pipes made in his own name and also employed pipemakers like Peter Stokkebye, Svend Bang, and Ed Burak(who later became the owner of Connoisseur)

Shop photo below from Pipedia.

 

[jpmcwjr]

The Wally Frank store in Midtown Manhattan was my go-to eons ago.

"Don't Smoke Paint" was a placard there that caught my attention,

 

[huntertrw]

The fact is I was simply born too late, for I would have loved to try Mr. Frank's Yule Blend pipe-tobacco which he offered at Christmas each year from 1933 to 1960. Being an aromatic fancier, I believe that I would have liked it.

According to Richard Carleton Hacker, in his book The Christmas Pipe, "...Yule Blend came in a specially produced 3 oz. airtight 'Humo-Crock'..." He further states, "The tobacco itself was a heavy aromatic, 'likened to the flavor of a Plum Pudding' according to one 1938 ad. The blend consisted of flue-cured Virginia, Carolina Cavendish, Macedonian Kavalla and British 'Shropshire Twist'. Each May this mixture was packed into thousands of individual Humo-Crocks where it was aged for 8 months. The round ceramic sealed containers were then brought out and put on the market at Christmastime. To quote from a pre-war Wally Frank ad, '...Since our supply is limited, we have decided to put the blend out once a year at holiday time so a man can get the most enjoyment from it. We feel that if a pipe smoker will sit back after the plum pudding of his Christmas dinner and fill his pipe with this delicious blend, he will feel a full measure of contentment and enjoyment...'"

 

[huntertrw]

Mike N:

Lovely pipes, both. I hope that they prove to be good companions for years to come!

 

[chumleeroy]

I picked up this new old stock Wally Frank Dublin with ebonite stem on eBay last night for $40. I can‘t wait to smoke it.

According to Pipedia:

” (Wally Frank’s) numerous private-label pipes were made by many makers, including Charatan, Sasieni, Weber, and many others. *** In addition to importing pipes, he had many pipes made in his own name and also employed pipemakers like Peter Stokkebye, Svend Bang, and Ed Burak(who later became the owner of Connoisseur)

Shop photo below from Pipedia.

I almost bought this, Now I'm having the opposite of buyers remorse.
Awesome score!

 

[samuelgawith01]

I picked up this new old stock Wally Frank Dublin with ebonite stem on eBay last night for $40. I can‘t wait to smoke it.

According to Pipedia:

” (Wally Frank’s) numerous private-label pipes were made by many makers, including Charatan, Sasieni, Weber, and many others. *** In addition to importing pipes, he had many pipes made in his own name and also employed pipemakers like Peter Stokkebye, Svend Bang, and Ed Burak(who later became the owner of Connoisseur)

Shop photo below from Pipedia.

Nice piece of wood. My first ever pipe was a Wally Frank from their shop on main Street in Huntington, Long Island NY in late 1980.