WDC Estate Fraternity Pipe - Phi Kappa Alpha

[klause]

Tuold, that's great stuff - thanks very much.
It's interesting to see the dates getting pushed out - I wouldn't have guessed they'd still be popular that late in the century
Any chance of a pic of your acquisition?

 

[tuold]

Here it is as it appeared on ebay. Not an impressive pipe by any means, but interesting to me for its historical/cultural value. I haven't done anything with it yet.

 

[klause]

Impressive, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I like it, a lot - these old pipes, with their simple elegance really strike a cord!
The historical and cultural significance adds to the pleasure of owning, and more importantly, smoking these old pipes - the contemplation that naturally arises when holding and smoking them can be quite transporting. I hope it brings you much pleasure, Tuold.
Back to the advert - there is a wealth of information in that one page. I would never have considered the effects of the Great Depression on something so trivial as a class pipe.

 

[tuold]

Here are some roguish young gentleman, perhaps college students, showing off their smokes. Note the guy in the middle with the churchwarden.

 

[buroak]

Klause, You might also be happy to know that WDC was considered good enough in the 1920s/1930s (I think) to make BBB pipes in America for the American market. I have an old ad to that effect, but I will have to find it to verify the date.

At long last I have found and photographed the relevant advertisement. The seller claims the ad is from 1927.

 

[klause]

Fan-flipping-tastic!!!!
I love this stuff, and how all these little threads all come together to enhance our knowledge and understanding - we're getting the bigger picture.
Thanks Buroak - I really appreciate it.

 

[buroak]

Klause, You are quite welcome. I wish I had been able to post this while the discussion was fresh.

I love this stuff, and how all these little threads all come together to enhance our knowledge and understanding - we're getting the bigger picture.

For me this ad raises more questions than answers. I have never seen a WDC-made BBB pipe. Or, maybe I have. Would such a pipe have any markings to identify it as an American production BBB? Would the absence of a stamp denoting a made-in-England BBB become evidence that a BBB was made in the US?

 

[dmcmtk]

Very interesting about the BBB-WDC connection!

 

[klause]

Buroak, the more we know the more we realise we know so little. But every little helps, and spurs us on to ask more questions and find more answers - its all part of the interest.
Onwards!

 

[torque]

If I'm not mistaken, misterlowercase has one of the Demuth made BBB pipes. I can't find the thread where he posted the pictures but maybe he will repost them in this one. His is marked as a Hesson and has the Hesson thread system (not to be confused with the Hesson Guard which is a different system).

 

[buroak]

Klause, I agree. The absence of mystery would leave our hobby with a lot less charm.
Torque, I hope misterlowercase will resurface and post the pictures here. I have a couple of WDC Hesson pipes. They are, of course, not marked BBB, but seeing Hesson-marked WDC pipes first turned me on to the possibility of a WDC-BBB connection.

 

[torque]

I have two of the WDC branded Milano Hessons (and one Hesson Guard), one of which is the best smoking pipe that I own. William W. Hesson engineered pipes are some of the best that WDC put out IMO.
I also hope mlc posts more pics of his BBB, it's a beautiful old pipe with a pencil shank and long, thin stem with the original diamond BBB logo (like the one in your add). Lovely old instrument and I drooled on my desk when I saw it.

 

[buroak]

Torque, What is the difference between the Hessons and Hesson Guards? If I remember correctly, the Hesson Guards were filter pipes, but that is a big "if".

 

[torque]

You can see an example of a Hesson Guard if you click on the link in my signature. I'll post a side by side picture of the two systems after I get home from work. That will really highlight the differences in the two systems that Mr. Hesson is credited with developing.

 

[buroak]

Torque, I do not see a link.

 

[torque]

Torque, I do not see a link.

Yeah, the forum doesn't always post my sig, which is kind of odd. Direct link below.
Partial WDC Collection
Below is the promised picture of both the Hesson and Hesson Guard systems.
Top: This is the Hesson Thread system that you would find in the Demuth manufactured BBBs and a lot of the WDCs from the 20s and 30s.
Bottom: The "Hesson Guard" system, and what most people think of when talking about a WDC Hesson style pipe. There are a ton of these that show up on ebay weekly. mlc has stated his belief that this system replaced the threaded inner tube while I suspect they were manufactured during the same time period, or at least had some overlap. I base this on some old court records that state the Wm. Demuth Co. took possession of the license for the Hesson patents from an Albert Freeman, somewhere around 1927. This tells me that WDC had access to both patents simultaneously and that one was not developed after the other, rendering the former obsolete. I could be very wrong in this regard but that's my best guess.
The Hesson Guard is a pretty unique system and rather innovative for it's time IMO. The inner tube, as you can see from the picture, has a rounded crimp on the end. This "nose" butts against the bowl drilling and the mortise extends all the way through the shank to the drilling. A cork plug was fashioned so that the OD of the plug was the same diameter as the mortise and had a hole through the middle that allowed for a press fit of the inner tube. The plug was also just a tiny bit longer than the "free space" in the mortise so that it compressed slightly when the metal tennon was fully inserted. The metal tennon was then glued into the shank and (assumedly) clamped until the adhesive set. The idea was that the cork would compress around the end of the inner tube (that butted to the bowl drilling) and seal the exit of the bowl so that any condensate could only go into the aluminum tube. Since the entire smoke stream was contained within the metal tube, it could be cleaned easily with a pipe cleaner without ever having to break the pipe down, since the cork seal never allowed any moisture into the shank. The patent (1855600) is a little hard to read, but once you get the jist of the system it's actually some pretty interesting stuff.

 

[torque]

If I remember correctly, the Hesson Guards were filter pipes, but that is a big "if".

To this query, the majority of the WDC filter pipes were the "Royal Demuth", "Aristocrat", and "Gold Dot". There was one other model I can't think of right off the top of my head (I've seen old ads that show four models total), but those constitute the majority that were produced to take the paper filter. You will see A LOT of royal demuths come up for sale on ebay, less of the other two models. My gold dot actually came from xrundog that posts here on the forums.

 

[torque]

And I found the original thread where the BBB "Hesson" was posted. This thread is a fascinating read in it's own right.
Early Sandblasted Pipes - Many Unknowns Yet Remain

 

[buroak]

Torque, Thanks for taking the time to post pictures and provide a detailed write-up. Thanks also for hunting down MLC's WDC-BBB pictures.
The Hesson Guard system was quite elaborate. I am amazed at the labor-intensive engineering of many early 20th century pipes. How has the cork held up on your Hesson Guards?

 

[torque]

How has the cork held up on your Hesson Guards?

It didn't, LOL. I had to break the adhesive on mine to get the stem off, so I feel pretty sure it was "all original". There was a lot of tan colored dust that fell out when I got the stem broke loose, that I can only assume was dry rotted natural cork. Keep in mind that these Hesson Guards can be very old. Ferdinand Feuerbach is credited with bringing the Hesson Guard system into production for WDC, and he left the company to go to work for SM Frank in 1919. Some of these pipes can be close to 100 years old and I'm sure they didn't have synthetic cork at that time. I can't imagine many still have the cork plug intact at this point. Would be kind of cool to turn some cork to size and try to restore one to original.