Why Algerian Briar was Highly Regarded

[Briar Lee]

I’ve had the best time tonight reading late forties issues of Pipe Lover’s Magazine.

A subject covered in depth in the November 1948 issue was Algerian briar, then considered the best.

https://pipedia.org/images/7/7f/PL_NOV_48smaller-file.pdf

Why Algerian briar was so highly prized then was the soil along the coast where the heath shrubs grew was so poor and exceptionally windswept the plants had to struggle to survive, making for superlative density which was claimed made sweet smoking pipes. Algerian briar required about three years to cure, and the best was then aged for several more.

The Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) was so brutal and violent it effectively destroyed the harvesting of Algerian briar on a commercial scale.

Algerian War - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It’s been over 60 years since Algerian independence and time enough for briar to have regrown, and there might be old growth briar left not harvested.

Something to think about, when you see an old pipe stamped Algerian Briar.

They were proud to stamp it.

 

[huntertrw]

In referring to Dunhill's experimentation with Algerian briar to make smooth-finished pipes, the late John C. Loring in his booklet titled The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After, wrote, in part, "...Algerian briar is among the most beautifully grained, unfortunately it is also amongst the softest..." He further states, in a footnote that, "Pipe manufacturers such as Barling that air cure their briar rather than oil cure it like Dunhill, have never had a problem using Algerian briar for smooth finished pipes."

One of my favorite pipes is a Rogers Select apple that is made from Algerian briar. Not only its wood pretty, but it smokes remarkably well - a "magic" pipe, if you will, that will handle most any tobacco with aplomb.

 

[milk]

In referring to Dunhill's experimentation with Algerian briar to make smooth-finished pipes, the late John C. Loring in his booklet titled The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After, wrote, in part, "...Algerian briar is among the most beautifully grained, unfortunately it is also amongst the softest..." He further states, in a footnote that, "Pipe manufacturers such as Barling that air cure their briar rather than oil cure it like Dunhill, have never had a problem using Algerian briar for smooth finished pipes."

One of my favorite pipes is a Rogers Select apple that is made from Algerian briar. Not only its wood pretty, but it smokes remarkably well - a "magic" pipe, if you will, that will handle most any tobacco with aplomb.

I wish we could have a list of what each famous shop used - historically. I guess some are known; some famous brands disclose where they get their briar and what they do to it.

 

[Briar Lee]

I’ve known since I was a child, listening to the timber men that visited with my father, that for the Independent Stave Company at Lebanon, Missouri to accept a load of white oak timber for bourbon barrels that had to be white oak grown in places I was forbidden to explore. A quick growing white oak growing in a lush pasture or a fence row wasn’t going to get past the inspector at the gate, and the timber men could tell the difference.

When it was regarded as the best, there had to be a system in Algeria where the briar harvesters knew there’d be an inspector that only bought the best, and rejected all less than the highest grade.

The heath shrub would be regarded as a trash tree if it grew here, and without any doubt has to be the enemy of Algerian cattle ranchers and farmers today.

But in the wild and forlorn hills of Algeria overlooking the Mediterranean the best briar in the world is still growing.

It could be harvested, if a market system could be set up again.

 

[Grangerous]

Dense and Sweet Algerian Briar? I keep hearing Ricardo Matalban’s voice touting the “rich Corinthian leather”.

C’mon. It was marketing strategy. Corinthian cows are just cows. Algerian dirty tree root balls are tree root balls.

 

[Briar Lee]

Dense and Sweet Algerian Briar? I keep hearing Ricardo Matalban’s voice touting the “rich Corinthian leather”.

C’mon. It was marketing strategy. Corinthian cows are just cows. Algerian dirty tree root balls are tree root balls.

There are about twenty different species of oak trees in the Ozarks and Independent Stave only bought one kind, and only those that were perfect for whiskey barrels.

When the bloom was on the rose of the Algerian briar industry had to be very selective about what they exported.

Ever notice when you buy an old pipe stamped Algerian briar it’s not stained?

In 1939 the American pipe factories made 30 million pipes. Kaywoodie made about a third of those.

They sort of had it figured out, you know?

 

[MCJ]

Great article on Algerian briar, along with some other fun articles in that issue too. I also just love intact copies of old magazines like that. So many enjoyable things:

--Q&A and Editor columns covering many of the same questions as we do today on forums like this
--Advertisements, especially those showing prices back then: Blending tobaccos all offered for under $2 per 8 oz can (except for the "astronomical" price of $3.50 for 8 oz of Turkish Yenidje). Highway robbery!
--Fun glimpses of a "politically incorrect" (but simpler and seemingly happier) past, such as the article and photo reporting on the Boston University Student Pipe Club's acceptance of women... What next???!!!

Good stuff this...

 

[Grangerous]

They sort of had it figured out, you know?
[/QUOTE]

They had it figured out alright. — Just like PT Barnum.

 

[Briar Lee]

They aren’t worth much unless they have a prestigious maker’s brand on them.

Here is about as Algerian as they can get.

Rogers Standard
Reserve Briar
Made in Algeria

$15 delivered




It was likely made in Algiers, which I first learned of listening to my mother recite the old maudlin poem Bingen on the Rhine.

That’s a lot of marketing hype, for fifteen bucks.

• Bingen on the Rhine​

  • 
    A SOLDIER of the Legion lay dying in Algiers,There was a lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears;But a comrade stood beside him, while his lifeblood ebbed away,And bent with pitying glances, to hear what he might say.The dying soldier faltered, and he took that comrade's hand,And he said, "I nevermore shall see my own, my native land:Take a message, and a token, to some distant friends of mine,For I was born at Bingen, -- at Bingen on the Rhine.
    
    "Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd around,To hear my mournful story, in the pleasant vineyard ground,That we fought the battle bravely, and when the day was done,Full many a corpse lay ghastly pale beneath the setting sun;And, mid the dead and dying, were some grown old in wars, --The death-wound on their gallant breasts, the last of many scars;And some were young, and suddenly beheld life's morn decline, --And one had come from Bingen, -- fair Bingen on the Rhine.
    
    "Tell my mother that her other son shall comfort her old age;For I was still a truant bird, that thought his home a cage.For my father was a soldier, and even as a childMy heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild;And when he died, and left us to divide his scanty hoard,I let them take whate'er they would, -- but kept my father's sword;And with boyish love I hung it where the bright light used to shineOn the cottage wall at Bingen, -- calm Bingen on the Rhine.
    
    "Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping head,When the troops come marching home again with glad and gallant tread,But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye,For her brother was a soldier too, and not afraid to die;And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her in my nameTo listen to him kindly, without regret or shame,And to hang the old sword in its place (my father's sword and mine)For the honor of old Bingen, -- dear Bingen on the Rhine.
    
    "There's another, -- not a sister: in the happy days gone byYou'd have known her by the merriment that sparkled in her eye;Too innocent for coquetry, -- too fond for idle scorning, --O friend! I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest mourning!Tell her the last night of my life (for, ere the moon be risen,My body will be out of pain, my soul be out of prison), --I dreamed I stood with her,and saw the yellow sunlight shineOn the vine-clad hills of Bingen, -- fair Bingen on the Rhine.
    
    "I saw the blue Rhine sweep along, -- I heard, or seemed to hear,The German songs we used to sing, in chorus sweet and clear;And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill,The echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still;And her glad blue eyes were on me, as we passed, with friendly talk,Down many a path beloved of yore, and well-remembered walk!And her little hand lay lightly, confidingly, in mine, --But we'll meet no more at Bingen, -- loved Bingen on the Rhine."
    
    His trembling voice grew faint and hoarse, -- his grasp was childish weak, --His eyes put on a dying look, -- he sighed, and ceased to speak;His comrade bent to lift him, but the spark of life had fled, --The soldier of the Legion in a foreign land is dead;And the soft moon rose up slowly, and calmly she looked downOn the red sand of the battle-field, with bloody corses strown;Yet calmly on that dreadful scene her pale light seemed to shine,As it shone on distant Bingen, -- fair Bingen on the Rhine.
    
    Caroline Norton

 

[didimauw]

They aren’t worth much unless they have a prestigious maker’s brand on them.

It's sad how that works these days. I have a Kaywoodie, that's made out of the exact same material, yet 1 tenth of the price of a Dunhill. Lol

 

[Grangerous]

Briarlee, your enthusiasm for fine briar is infectious. Whether I’m a believer or not matters little, the beauty of briar pipes is not lost on me. — I just picked up a mid 70’s GBD. My collection grows alongside my PAD.

Maybe one of these days one of my acquired pipes will stand head and shoulders above my others, but until then, I remain a skeptic.

Couple your enthusiasm and Cosmic’s insistence that he can “taste warm briar” and between the two of you a cult may be born.

I enjoy your posts. Beautiful pipe you’ve got there! Keep em coming!

 

[orvet]

I have one Algerian Briar which is all that is stamped on the pipe. It's a small Canadian, carved finish with a dark stain but it is an excellent smoke! Consistently a good Virginia or va/per pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I've got one made of Algerian and one made of Albanian. No real difference in smoking than Greek.

Algerian


Albanian

 

[Briar Tuck]

Dense and Sweet Algerian Briar? I keep hearing Ricardo Matalban’s voice touting the “rich Corinthian leather”.

C’mon. It was marketing strategy. Corinthian cows are just cows. Algerian dirty tree root balls are tree root balls.

I remember those commercials! The Corinthian leather was 100% marketing fluff.

There is something with the location of the briar though. There is briar growing in California that is botanically identical to that of the Mediterranean. Kaywoodie attempted to utilize it during the scarcity of briar during WWII and it was found to be inferior to the Mediterranean briar, despite being the same plant. The growing conditions apparently have a major effect on smoking quality.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I remember those commercials! The Corinthian leather was 100% marketing fluff.

There is something with the location of the briar though. There is briar growing in California that is botanically identical to that of the Mediterranean. Kaywoodie attempted to utilize it during the scarcity of briar during WWII and it was found to be inferior to the Mediterranean briar, despite being the same plant. The growing conditions apparently have a major effect on smoking quality.

Surprised no one has reopened the American meerschaum mines.

 

[Briar Tuck]

This is my only Algerian Briar, a Jeantet Preference.

 

[Briar Lee]

I remember those commercials! The Corinthian leather was 100% marketing fluff.

There is something with the location of the briar though. There is briar growing in California that is botanically identical to that of the Mediterranean. Kaywoodie attempted to utilize it during the scarcity of briar during WWII and it was found to be inferior to the Mediterranean briar, despite being the same plant. The growing conditions apparently have a major effect on smoking quality.

In those old Pipe Lover’s Magazines they hadn’t quite given up yet on Mission Briar. You can read where they were still harvesting (using bulldozers) what was considered brush from fields in California and aging it two years, then shipping it out by the boxcar load to be made into pipes.

Again, this is why if it was imported briar, after 1939 the American makers never failed to tell you, it was imported briar. The vast majority of affordable pipes after about 1943 in the USA were mission briar if you were lucky, or mountain laurel or fruit wood otherwise. And if it was imported briar, after awhile it was leftover imported briar. That’s why hand carved pipes were so popular, using up every block.

But here’s one that has a stamp of the coastline of Algeria in front of BRIAR.



We are all the product of our upbringing. While my mother and Harry Hosterman’s wife Wilda Mae and his daughter Nona Fern were in the house baking pies and preparing meals thirty steps away at the Grade A milk barn Harry was holding court on how stave bolts had to be made of only the choicest white oaks found deep in Spout Spring Hollow, on high ground where they had to fight to grow.

His son Alva bragged when the inspector at Lebanon saw Harry’s truck he’d flag him past, with a smile.

The failure of Mission Briar was likely more about men harvesting it using bulldozers during a wartime boom, than the quality potential of the best Mission Briar.

The success of Algerian briar was because of the rigorous inspections of colonial French briar inspectors.

 

[mso489]

The U.S. pipe maker Edwards produced Iwan Ries house pipes in the 1980's and 90's in the Benton series, and they were billed as oil-cured Algerian briar. I have three of them bought new years ago, and I will say, though they were moderately priced, they have been durable, retained their appearance, and smoke well. I have a Canadian, a billiard, and a small Oom-Paul, all smooth. They are certainly good examples of why Algerian briar is held in esteem.

 

[bullet08]

Let's not forget Algeria was a miserable place under French colony before its current misery. What makes you think they were so happy to go dig out the briars for their European conquerors?

 

[didimauw]

In those old Pipe Lover’s Magazines they hadn’t quite given up yet on Mission Briar. You can read where they were still harvesting (using bulldozers) what was considered brush from fields in California and aging it two years, then shipping it out by the boxcar load to be made into pipes.

Again, this is why if it was imported briar, after 1939 the American makers never failed to tell you, it was imported briar. The vast majority of affordable pipes after about 1943 in the USA were mission briar if you were lucky, or mountain laurel or fruit wood otherwise. And if it was imported briar, after awhile it was leftover imported briar. That’s why hand carved pipes were so popular, using up every block.

But here’s one that has a stamp of the coastline of Algeria in front of BRIAR.

View attachment 194727View attachment 194728View attachment 194730

We are all the product of our upbringing. While my mother and Harry Hosterman’s wife Wilda Mae and his daughter Nona Fern were in the house baking pies and preparing meals thirty steps away at the Grade A milk barn Harry was holding court on how stave bolts had to be made of only the choicest white oaks found deep in Spout Spring Hollow, on high ground where they had to fight to grow.

His son Alva bragged when the inspector at Lebanon saw Harry’s truck he’d flag him past, with a smile.

The failure of Mission Briar was likely more about men harvesting it using bulldozers during a wartime boom, than the quality potential of the best Mission Briar.

The success of Algerian briar was because of the rigorous inspections of colonial French briar inspectors.

What tobacco do you store in the peanut jar?