Who Is H.G.P. of Barclay Rex Fame?

[Ducreapa193]

As a New Yorker and Dunhill lover, the "LC" model pipes of Barclay Rex and the supposed ex-Dunhill pipecarver, H.G.P. that worked with them has been an obsession fascination. I have finally sourced a good condition, at least I hope so, Barclay Rex LC... so score for me!!!

But that still leaves me with the questions...Who is H.G.P.? I have a working theory I've concocted after far too coffee and research last night but:

A. Maybe this is a non-issue and someone already knows who Barclay Rex's H.G.P. is?
B. Maybe no one cares but me?
C. If not A or B, perhaps I can get help from the knowledgeable folks here?

For my Dunhill experts in the room: Do you know any french factories or carvers who carved the "LC" shape and supplied them to Dunhill? Were these carvers/factories in Paris?

Thanks Ladies and Gents...

 

[SBC]

@TheIronMonkey, we have a friend.

 

[greeneyes]

I'd read the Pipedia entry on this before running away with the "Dunhill theory."

I did a little digging and it doesn't add up, and updated the page accordingly.

Barclay Rex - Pipedia

pipedia.org

 

[SBC]

Also: Shhh...

This has been discussed, if "discussed" at all, only by hints and riddles, faint references and knowing looks, in dark corners on quiet nights. It is a dust-covered volume left on the shelf time out of mind, known by few, pulled out by none. Do not be too hasty to cast light on this secret.

 

[Ducreapa193]

I'd read the Pipedia entry on this before running away with the "Dunhill theory."

I did a little digging and it doesn't add up, and updated the page accordingly.

Barclay Rex - Pipedia

pipedia.org

I've read it quite a few times greeneyes! I'm not looking to make the Barclay Rex LC a Dunhill second...I'm looking for information to support my theory that maybe...it's possible that one of the French carvers who made LC stummels and sold them to Dunhill to stem...might have come to NY by way of Ellis Island...and also sold stummels to Barclay Rex? If that is the case...when one finds the name of a Parisian pipe maker, who according to Ellis Island records made that journey around the time Barclay Rex was working with H.G.P., who also stamped pipes the exact same way your new 1920's Barclay Rex "LC" is stamped... I could be batshit and wasting time but maybe it's worth a look, sir?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

@TheIronMonkey, we have a friend.

It’s funny, I was just looking at my H.G.P. pipe the other day as I was organizing a bunch of pipes in sunglasses cases in order to make room for the electrician to do work at the house. I regret not buying an H.G.P. with a white dot stem on eBay last year when it was offered to me.

 

[Ducreapa193]

Barclay Rex HGP LC Model stamping


H. Gerin of Paris stamping


H. Gerin travels to NYC from Paris?



Kinda looks like Barclay Rex slapped some extra nomenclature on a Gerin pipe

 

[greeneyes]

So, around 1919 the pipemaker H. Gerin emigrated to the United States and made briar pipes stamped "H.G.P." that were then sold (and sometimes stamped) by the Barclay Pipe shop? It would be nice to see evidence of "H.G.P." appearing as a trademark in use elsewhere other than in advertising by Barclay Pipes.

Similarly, "H. Gerin of Paris" was in the pipe business with A. Lichtblau in the 1870s, so I think he would have been retirement age by 1919. But the urge to start again anew strikes us all at any age, so it's entirely possible.

J'ai enfin réussi ....... a insérer des photos

Bonjour a tous, J'espère que ces photos prises avec ma tablette qui est d'un âge certain (tout comme le bonhomme que je suis) vont vous dire quelque chose. En

www.alanoblebouffarde.com

Journal officiel de la République française

www.google.com

 

[sablebrush52]

Any chance the initials stood for "Heckuva Good Pipe"?

 

[greeneyes]

H. Gérin in a 1902 French general commerce directory, listed among his contemporaries, including: Gambier, Lichtblau, Sommer, Marechal-Ruchon, Deguingaud, and Delacour (I wonder if Commoy-David is the Comoy family?).

 

[chilllucky]

Any chance the initials stood for "Heckuva Good Pipe"?

The way SBC is talking, I would guess it stands for Harry Gryffindor Potter, and that if one were to collect the pipes and arrange them into the correct pattern, it would open a portal to another dimension.

 

[sablebrush52]

H. Gérin in a 1902 French general commerce directory, listed among his contemporaries, including: Gambier, Lichtblau, Sommer, Marechal-Ruchon, Deguingaud, and Delacour (I wonder if Commoy-David is the Comoy family?).

View attachment 374423

Coming from Jura, it could well be.

 

[VDL_Piper]

In my farming gig HGP stands for Hormone Growth Promotant which makes your cows convert feed to beef better. Maybe in this case it means your pipe will convert tobacco to smoke better