I've wanted to get my wife a birth year pipe for some time, but finding a pipe from 1939 is difficult and even if I could find a Dunhill, I'm sure it would be out of my price range. I've been looking for a Peterson "Made in Eire" for some time, but they're hard to find and I can't seem to find one of them at a reasonable price either.
So I came across this old Italian pipe that the seller said was stamped 1939, and I thought well, maybe it's the pipe shape, or maybe it's really made in 1939. I figured my wife would like it for Christmas, so I bid on it. Ok, the good news is that no one else bid on it, so I got it for only $.99 plus shipping. The bad news is that the seller couldn't read the stamping right and it's actually stamped 1935! I still don't know if that's the year it's made or not. In fact I don't know much of anything about this pipe. I can't seem to find anything online about the maker, or what it is, as all references take me to the ebay auction page of the pipe.
So it was a bust as far as a birth year pipe for my wife, but I guess it's still an interesting pipe. It appears to be nice briar, has an oval bowl, a gold band with some kind of stamp on it, and a horn stem with a red dot on it. It's stamped "Universale Brevettato Superigienico, No.3, Radica 1935, Bro 263.551". Lot of stampings for a little pipe. It also seems to be some kind of system pipe as it all comes apart with a black plastic? part that screws into the shank, and an aluminum tenon that goes into that. There seems to be some kind of well under the draught hole in the shank too. I've never seen this kind of set up before on a straight pipe, and still don't know if it's an old pipe or not. I haven't cleaned it up yet, and it doesn't seem to have been smoked too much, so it shouldn't be a lot of work. But I've never had a pipe with a horn stem before and am not sure how to clean it up.
Any info or help on this pipe would be appreciated, as I'm kind of in the dark about it. I've posted some pics below.
So I came across this old Italian pipe that the seller said was stamped 1939, and I thought well, maybe it's the pipe shape, or maybe it's really made in 1939. I figured my wife would like it for Christmas, so I bid on it. Ok, the good news is that no one else bid on it, so I got it for only $.99 plus shipping. The bad news is that the seller couldn't read the stamping right and it's actually stamped 1935! I still don't know if that's the year it's made or not. In fact I don't know much of anything about this pipe. I can't seem to find anything online about the maker, or what it is, as all references take me to the ebay auction page of the pipe.
So it was a bust as far as a birth year pipe for my wife, but I guess it's still an interesting pipe. It appears to be nice briar, has an oval bowl, a gold band with some kind of stamp on it, and a horn stem with a red dot on it. It's stamped "Universale Brevettato Superigienico, No.3, Radica 1935, Bro 263.551". Lot of stampings for a little pipe. It also seems to be some kind of system pipe as it all comes apart with a black plastic? part that screws into the shank, and an aluminum tenon that goes into that. There seems to be some kind of well under the draught hole in the shank too. I've never seen this kind of set up before on a straight pipe, and still don't know if it's an old pipe or not. I haven't cleaned it up yet, and it doesn't seem to have been smoked too much, so it shouldn't be a lot of work. But I've never had a pipe with a horn stem before and am not sure how to clean it up.
Any info or help on this pipe would be appreciated, as I'm kind of in the dark about it. I've posted some pics below.
