What tobaccos did the great men smoke?

[jimbo44]

Tony Benn - St. Bruno
Clement Atlee - Will's Cut Golden Bar
William Conrad - Amphora Full Aroma (Red)
Aaron Spelling - Mixture#79
J M Barrie - Craven A ("the Arcadia" )and, later, John Cottons 1&2

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Basil Rathbone, the definitive Sherlock Holmes actor, smoked Wilke's No. 515.

That is also false. Jeremy Brett is the definitive Sherlock Holmes actor.
Come to think of it I don't believe I've ever seen anywhere what blend(s) Jeremy puffed on while playing Holmes.

 

[huntertrw]

"Shelby Foote smoked Edward G. Robinson's Pipe Blend, but he was also known to mix Carter Hall with it."
Richard Alley (the former owner of the now defunct Memphis (Tennessee) Tobacco Bowl, in an article titled "Shelby Foote's Pipe" as published in "Urf!") said, "I inherited Foote as a customer. His routine was that every six weeks or so he'd call and tell me he would be down that day, and I'd put his order together - two pounds of a tobacco I called Mello Mix and a few canisters of Edward G. Robinson pipe tobacco. He handled the blending himself. Sometime that afternoon, he'd pull up to the curb in his little white BMW, come in and pick up his package and then leave. I'd include an invoice and he'd mail a check within the week."
In a published interview titled "Shelby Foote, The Art of Fiction No. 158" by Carter Coleman, Donald Faulkner, and William Kennedy, and which appeared in "The Paris Review," they said this, in part, of him: "During the interview, Foote sat at his desk or paced to and fro in his slippers, frequently refilling his pipe from a humidor with a mixture of Half & Half and Edward G. Robinson tobacco."

 

[huntertrw]

"I don't know about Bing and Crooner, but I know a friend of mine saw Bing go into a tobacco shop in 1945 in La. Being a big Crosby fan, but a non-smoker, it was hard for him to stay in the shop, but he did see Bing buy a pouch of tobacco. He couldn't remember the name of the tobacco, unfortunately. It's very possible that Bing may have smoked more than one brand of pipe tobacco."
In his autobiography titled "Call Me Lucky" there is a photograph of Mr. Crosby in his dressing room, and on a table in the background is a clearly visible can of Hayward Mixture. A more recent Hayward Mixture can is shown in the image below.

 

[misterlowercase]

Great info Hunter,

many thanks.
Photo documentation is one of the best ways to really know.
I had never heard of Hayward Mixture, but it has an excellent entry on tobaccoreviews.com and I learned a good bit about it.
Also interesting is this newspaper article I came across while looking up HM,

complete with the Bing connection, circa 1947...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=R40hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CJgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2061%2C1765741
I would have speculated that he smoked house blends from Barclay Rex, Wilkes, and Ed Koplin's Original Tinder Box, or even grasped at straws that perhaps he was gifted certain baccy from either American Tobacco Company or Liggett & Myers, both of whom were show sponsors of his, so some concrete info is good to have.
Quick googbook browse gave hint to how generous and kind Der Bingle The Groaner King was. A brief description of him gifting a pipe and some baccy to a deserving soul:

Dr. George: An Account of the Life of a Country Doctor
The pipe he would have gifted would have most likely been a Merchant Service in his trademark shape, he bought them by the dozens to give away to adoring fans who wanted a memento.

Henry Mancini wrote:

I was interested in him for a reason other than music. I had never smoked cigarettes, but now I had begun to smoke a pipe. Bing was a pipe smoker. Wherever he went he had a pipe in his mouth, a great pipe with the thinnest stem I'd ever seen. Finally I said 'Bing, that's a very unusual pipe."
He said, "Yeah, Hank, it's called a Merchant Service pipe. I got it in London. I love it because it's so light that I don't have to take it out of my mouth when I'm making a golf swing."
He gave me one just like it.


Did They Mention the Music?

:

:
On JRRT, an interviewer once asked him of his favorite pipeweed, and this was the answer, I would have never guessed Troost!

Sir,
As a pipe smoker, and since I know you are one too, I have this simple question for you: what is your favorite brand of pipe tobacco?
Thank you in advance for your highly anticipated answer,
F. Smith
-
Dear F. Smith,
There are a lot of tobacco brands, some better than others (Van Rossem's brand is not bad). But of all the ones I know, I am tempted to say that my favorite should be one of the varieties grown in the Southfarthing of the Shire, like the Longbottom Leaf. But I am sure that no man will ever surpass (nor equal) the Hobbits in growing pipe-weed, which finally leaves us only dreaming about it!
Sincerely,

JRRT
http://www.dialogus2.org/enTOLK/pipetobacco.html

 

[jackswilling]

^^^ Good stuff. That and the Tolkien receipt are too cool. I am a Middle Earth Fan Boy.

 

[misterlowercase]

Howlin' Wolf apparently liked Edgeworth,

it looks like the Aromatic version...

The men who made this burner of a hot track were indeed great!!!!

:

:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7aq5MsaIL0

 

[huntertrw]

What pipe-tobaccos did Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) smoke? Perhaps many; however, according to the advertisement shown below, Player's Navy Cut was included in his rotation...at least for the purpose of commercial endorsement:

 

[huntertrw]

misterlowercase:
The advertisement which you posted above (and which is reproduced below) is puzzling to me. According to Jose Manuel Lopes in his book titled "Pipes - Artisans and Trademarks" Merchant Service was a, "...former English brand made by Merchant Service Ltd., a firm created by Herbert Merchant (d. 1944) and which later belonged to Holland Penny Limited. It was a favourite (sic) of the North American entertainer Bing Crosby."
In his book titled "Rare Smoke - The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Smoking" Richard Carleton Hacker noted that Mr. Merchant was once employed by Dunhill.
Accordingly, the question arises, who was Headley and French Limited, and how do they figure into all this?

 

[misterlowercase]

I went ahead and did a transcription of a very interesting tidbit.
An article read in Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine Vol.7 #2, the Ask Chuck section, which reprinted an excerpt from The Pipe Smokers Ephemeris, as written by Fred Janusek who had contacted David Holland of Holland Penny in 1980,

this is what Mr. Holland said:

"...but in fact the small business closed down some years ago. At one time most of the famous people in Hollywood bought their pipes from me, but the last customer I met in London was Danny Kaye a year or so ago when he bought some of my last pipes. The late and dearly remembered Bing Crosby used to have several made each year, including two silver-mounted special light-grain ones for his own smoking...In the best days, Karry Rose, Henri Mancini, Sam Lutz and so many Hollywood actors and producers used to smoke these pipes, but I think 'pirate' imitations stole my trade. You ask how it all started and I will tell you.
In about 1938 Bing Crosby was playing golf at St. Andrews in Scotland with Mr. Herbert Merchant, who was smoking a long, slim and finely balanced briar; Bing liked the pipe and asked Merchant to make him one, to which he agreed, and the pipes were thus supplied throughout the war and after. Merchant died in 1944, and to keep the story brief, I became director of the group that took over the old business. I was intrigued to see reference in the files to the Hollywood trade (by this time Bing's friends were also having the pipes made) and decided to resurrect the trade and if possible expand it without losing the personal custom element. My then chairman ordered me to close it down, but I disobeyed, and quietly had some pipes made to the original pattern by a small firm of craftsmen. The board didn't know what I had done, of course, and then I started a long period of wonderful correspondence and some meetings with American pipe smokers.
Some years later, the Herbert Merchant business was sold by my then Group, to Imperial Tobacco - one of the giants in the tobacco trade. When my chairman asked me what I wanted as my leaving gift, I asked for the Merchant Service pipe business. He was surprised and reminded me that it had been closed down years before; When I told him I had not carried out his orders but had kept the trade going, he was at first very angry, but then saw the irony of it all and forgave me. He arranged for the name and the rights to be sold to me for £1.
I thereupon took the USA registration for the Herbert Merchant name, which was in fact Merchant Service.
I formed a limited company with my partner, the Hon. Patrick Penny, and thus was born Holland Penny Ltd.
We opened swank offices in Berkely St. off Grosvenor, and for a time thought we were going to establish a top pipe shop, but we found we could not expand the business without endangering the personal custom factor, and before long closed the premises.
I bought the shares held by Penny. My craftsmen then stopped making pipes, and that was really the end of the business."

Perhaps "the Group" Mr. Holland mentions as him being director of, was, in fact, Headley & French?
The H&F advert is from Jan. 1950.
Wilczak & Tom Colwell in the book WMTP? has the MERCHANT SERVICE name listed as having been made by Merchant Service, or Headley & French, both located in England.
This document seems to indicate that H&F was voluntarily liquidated in 1952:

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39678/page/5627/data.pdf
That's all I got, and I'm speculating about Mr. Holland to have been working for H&F.
Hopefully, if Jon Guss happens to see this thread,

he would be able to fill in some blanks.

::

 

[huntertrw]

misterlowercase:
My thanks to you for this information! It seems that the plot is thickening. Now if only Mr. Guss will fill in the missing pieces...

 

[briarguys]

Interesting.

 

[foggymountain]

MaCarthur said he smoked whatever was at the PX. Basil Rathbone was Holmes for me. I can't watch anyone else in the role.

 

[irish]

I smoke Carter Hall. :D

 

[brass]

I Googled Merchant Service pipes but couldn't find one for sale. I think I might like to get one assuming they aren't priced ridiculously. Doesn't look like their is a demand one way or another, assuming they were marketed under the name "Merchant Servic".

 

[huntertrw]

brass:
Because of their association with Mr. Crosby, and the fact that they are no longer made, I believe that you will find that Merchant Service Special billiard pipes can be rather spendy. You might look for one with a silver band, and a fishtail bit. Mine has the latter (which according to Richard Carleton Hacker in his book titled "Rare Smoke - The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Collecting" was a rare option), but not the former (which most of Mr. Crosby's had), and is an excellent smoker.
Good luck in your search!

 

[dottiewarden]

Just check the ***What Are You Smoking *** threads to find out what great men are smoking!

 

[hierophant]

I smoke Pirate Kake, Nightcap and Gaslight. So...those 8)

 

[mcitinner1]

I love this thread, the older you get, the more you miss the old days. I remember well as a kid how everyone smoked anytime and anywhere.

 

[jguss]

Now if only Mr. Guss will fill in the missing pieces

if only i could! i can tell you a few things, although the company was such a minor player i haven't given it much attention.
i believe that the merchant in question was herbert william merchant (1887-1941). that's only a tentative identification. i picked him because the dates are about right, and because one of his legatees was percy john woods, who happened to be a cigar importer. of course this could be the wrong guy, and i know it doesn't square with the 1944 death date given above, but i think it's better than 50/50 he's the right man.
now on to more definite information. herbert merchant limited was incorporated in march of 1929. not coincidentally that's the year the business first appears in the london phone directory, listed as (you guessed it) a cigar importer. the business was located at 25 denmark street, where it remained throughout herbert's lifetime and beyond. after the war, in 1947, it relocated to 34 aybrook street, where it remained through at least 1967. by the early seventies it had relocated to Andover in Hampshire. note that by 1947 the company had branched out and was then listed as wholesale tobacconists and confectioners.
the story about der bingle ogling one of herbert's pipes in 1938 is interesting. it may well be true, but the timing seems a bit iffy to me. what i can say for sure is that the first year merchant's pipes are listed in the cigar & tobacco world annual price directory is in the june 1949 edition. that's not to say they couldn't have been sold earlier; just that they weren't in the trade price lists. likewise the first appearance i could find (bear in mind the data i consult isn't complete) of the various merchant pipe brands is in the 1949 fancy goods brands directory. these listings continued at least through the early sixties.
The specific pipe brands i found include "merchant ivory", "merchant service briars" (in five grades, and then later in a straight grain), "kent" (in shelled or plain), "aybrook" (clearly named for the new address), "longfellow", and "windsor". note that all these were apparently not necessarily sold in any given year; brands appeared and disappeared over time.
as for headley & french, your guess is as good as mine. they were clearly closely linked, and i suspect under identical ownership since the 1949 price list shows h&f's name above the merchant pipes, and the address is aybrook (i.e. the same as that listed for herbert merchant in the phonebooks). what i can say is that h&f was only listed in the phone books for a few years (1948-51), with the latter date being consistent with the liquidation notices in the london gazette. my personal guess is that the company may have changed hands a few times, with h&f being just one of the owners after the founder died.
final note: the implication that imperial never got herbert merchant is strange, since there are several documents that suggest otherwise (to name just one, the entity that was named "herbert merchant limited" was later renamed "imperial tobacco (imports) ltd".