Old Pipes

[MartinH]

I'm curious if there is anyone who collects really old pipes. I guess, my definition are pipes near the 100 year mark, or older. I was trolling ebay, and saw some cool pipes near this age, and am fascinated by their history. I'm not sure if there is an age limit after which you really shouldn't smoke a briar pipe, but since I'm a history buff, seeing a pipe from the Boer War at the beginning of the 20th century is just really cool.

I think the oldest pipe I have is from around 1960s. I think it's a leather covered Longchamp, straight billiard.

Martin

 

[MartinH]

Here is the pipe that caught my eye, but it's too rich for me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IRISH-ESTATE-PIPE-PETERSON-PATENT-2-BOER-WAR-1901-02-/360386892599?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e8bb9337#ht_989wt_1177

 

[sstodvictory]

Here is the pipe that caught my eye, but it's too rich for me.

Given the nomenclature and image on the pipe, I wondered if that might be Paul Kruger and not the surgeon himself, so I looked this up:

Information in the Q&A section of the auction page indicates that owners of these pipes sometimes claim that the image was carved by a POW. This is pretty creative thinking on the part of such owners. It doesn't seem likely to me that a POW of the 2nd Boer war would carve the ending date of the war on a pipe. Even stranger - would a British POW in an Afrikaaner camp, even under duress, carve an image of his enemy? Would an Afrikaaner prisoner in a British camp be allowed to carve an image of his leader?

Steve

 

[MartinH]

sstodvictory -

Good observations. I didn't even read the pipe's history on the ebay page. But what you say makes perfect sense. In seeing the pipe, I just thought someone had it made after the war, as memento or a badge of honor for making it through hell and back.

I too agree that a POW wouldn't carve the image of the enemy, and issue of the dates is curious as well. When looking at the detailed images, it struck me that the pipe was in a curiously excellent condition, as if it had been rarely handled. When you look at the metal work, it is as clearly legible as if it had just been made.

So, I don't know, either way, I'd never pay that kind of a price for something that has a murky past, especially of ebay. I've never googled it, but I'm curious to see now if there is a Pipe Museum, where you can see some really old pipes.

Anyway, it's all just a mental exercise. Back to the yard work.

Martin

 

[Airborne]

Hey Martin -

Here’s my oldest pipe and a little of its history.

This meerschaum originally belonged to my first wife’s (now passed away) great uncle. As far as I know, he was the only one who smoked it. He was from Dublin, Ireland and died of wounds suffered while fighting in WW1 with the British Army. The pipe was handed down to my mother and father-in-law and finally to me because I smoked a pipe and married their daughter (and none of the other family members wanted it). The carving is very good, but there’s nothing on the pipe or case to indicate who made it or where and when it was made. It has an amber stem, but there was a hairline crack in the shank so I took it to the Peterson factory in Sallynoggin (Dublin - I lived there at the time) in the early 80s sometime and had them put a band on it. I’m not sure that was the best thing to do in retrospect and to be fair, they were a little reluctant to do it. Also it needs a new set screw because the stem is completely loose. Lately I’ve been entertaining the idea of getting it fixed and smoking it, but I don’t know whether the heat would harm the bowl at this stage (any ideas?). I’m not a big fan of meerschaum or I would have had it fixed and smoking it by now. Because the owner died during WW1, the pipe has to be approaching 100 years old if not older.

All in all, it’s a pretty cool pipe!

 

[MartinH]

Very cool pipe. I'd love to have something that old!

Martin

 

[eggman]

Airborne, That is a very nice pipe. I love it. I do like my 2 meers. But they do smoke differant from my briars. But differant in a good way.

 

[sand18f]

Martin,
On occasion I make, old antique furniture for my family memebers. They have had people that wanted to buy some of those pieces, even after being told that the piece was not a "real" antique. It's hard to believe it, I know, but they would continue to argue even after being told, my dad made that two weeks ago. :roll:

Caveat Emptor.

I like old pipes myself.

Bill

 

[Smokntaz]

Very cool topic Martin and thanks for the pics and story Airborne.

I have couple of GBD's that have the metal rondelles (which were discontinued after 1981) that I believe are my oldest pipes.

 

[Thomas Tkach]

This came with a huge lot that I was given from a great uncle in law who was given it by a pipe smoking friend he met after he died. There are a lot of old pipes in the mix, but a few crappy ones and many are in need of a lot of TLC.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

I don't have anything that old, but I really like pipes from the first half of the 20th Century. Pre-Republic Petes and old Yello-Bole and Kaywoodies, etc.

 

[Bub]

Marty Pulver has some nice old English pipes on his web site
http://www.pulversbriar.com/english.html

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Mod Note: Moving this topic to Ye Olde Pipe Rack tomorrow. Just a heads-up to prevent confusion.

 

[landyandy]

I have a clay pipe marked Wain's and Stoke-on-Trent. I lived there up to 12 years ago. Stoke is a centre for pottery production so it has plenty of clay, so why not pipes. Wain's and pipes have not been made there for a very long time so I do not know how old this pipe is. I tried to post an image but do not have a web site, if I find a way I will post one later.

 

[landyandy]

Here is the clay pipe I was talking about