My Dad's Old Pipe Collection

[c.ortiz108]

Hi all,

I was just reading the thread about estate pipes and it inspired me to go dig my dad’s old pipes out of the garage where they’ve been sitting for about 15 years. He smoked pipes and cigars pretty much constantly for most of his life. He gave up in his 60s when his doctor told him his mouth was cured like a ham (!). He was born in 1923 so some of these must be pretty old, and marks are mostly worn away. I’m a cigar smoker so know absolutely nothing about these or pipe smoking in general. That's probably about to change, though...









Sorry for lousy quality - my camera broke and my phone is pathetic. From what I can tell, from left to right in the top picture:

1. Comoy’s Guildhall 126
2. “The” in cursive, then GU---- (maybe “Guildhall” again, but a totally different pipe), then LONDON PIPE in small capitals underneath. The number on the other side ends with 9, maybe -49?
3. just says “Made in London England” on the bottom
4. JOHN’S. Has a silver band that says “Sterling London.” Looks especially old.
5. Hardcastle’s British Made Old Bruyere Giant, 801
6. just says IMPORT LONDON ENGLAND on the bottom
7. can only make out SU-- on one side, and it looks like 125 or J2S on the other
8. Mariner 85 USA in kind of amateurish engraving. Not very old looking.
9. same fonts as #2, “The” in cursive then “As?------ward”?, and 89 on other side.
10. broken one in front – has a mother-of-pearl type stem with square sterling band. Savinelli, with lowercase cursive “de” underneath, and 519 KS ITALY on the other side.
11. Meerschaum in padded red leather case – can’t find any markings.

I tried one a few years ago with some “Burley English” tobacco I got from a good smoke shop. The stem tasted so bitter and sour and generally disgusting I couldn’t smoke it for more than a puff or two.

So, is there enough info here to tell if these are good pipes? Are they valuable? Are they worth restoring? Is that expensive, or can I do it myself? The stems are pretty nasty at the mouthpiece, with teeth marks and decades of my dad’s saliva built up by the looks of it.

I’m guessing this is a slippery slope, but my cigar hobby has got me curious about pipe smoking.

 

[javajunkie]

so, guildhall is a comoy's second, and hardcastle is a dunhill third (?), IIRC. i would honestly try just simple cleaning, and smoke them yourself. you have more than a full rotation for a rigular pipe smoker, AND they are part of your family history, which is golden.

also, the one with the broken stem can possibly be cut down and re-banded? either have someone d the work, or research massively first. but don't pitch it, it may still be tenable.

 

[danmdevries]

Grrr has some good informative photo posts detailing the process of restoration. Dig em up and give it a try with the roughest of the lot. If you succeed, move down the line. Save the one you like the mos for last, so you do that one once you've figured out the tricks that work best for you.

 

[danmdevries]

I believe theres a few places you can send em for restoration too, if you're not willing to risk your hands at a new process

 

[rdomfoto]

I'm about to undergo my first pipe restoration when I am on vacation in a week and a half. I'll let you know if I found it difficult as well as any thoughts about what I wish I had known before I started.

And I could not agree with Java Junkie more - they are part of your family history so you should definitely try restoring them and smoking them.

 

[c.ortiz108]

Thanks, guys. Yeah that's the plan - restore and smoke.... Assuming I will even like pipes once I start. :crosseyed: Then again if there was anything really valuable I wouldn't mind letting one or two go.... My sister took one as a memento so I'll need to check it out next time I'm there, and maybe trade one of the rougher ones for it, if its a good one.

Good idea to start on the worst one first. I'll check out Grrr's posts, and maybe also wait for a report back from you, rdomfoto before I get started.

Rotation, huh? I was wondering why he needed so many pipes, and was trying to figure out why he'd decide to smoke one over another! I mean with cigars you have all kinds of wrapper, brands, vitolas.

As for tobacco, I got this Burley English blend from a nice smoke shop in Old Town San Diego, about 3 years ago. It's a little dry, but can I bring it back to life and smoke it?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Hell of a collection there! The dry 'baccy can be spritzed with some distilled water to liven it back up, but should be just fine. I smoke cigars more than my pipes, but I do enjoy the pipes a bunch. Best of luck

 

[plumber1965]

Not a pipe smoker Yet??? well I digress. I would say go grab yourself a cheap cob and see if you like pipes then you can decide if you want to restore and smoke or restore and display or not even restore. I think it is really cool that you have these old pipes from your dad though. as everyone else has said keep it in the family.

 

[c.ortiz108]

Not a pipe smoker Yet??? well I digress. I would say go grab yourself a cheap cob and see if you like pipes then you can decide if you want to restore and smoke or restore and display or not even restore. I think it is really cool that you have these old pipes from your dad though. as everyone else has said keep it in the family.

That's an idea.... depends on how difficult it is to restore one of these, I guess. It's a lot more appealing to smoke one of them with all the history. I'm sure the only reason I smoke at all is because of my dad - all that second-hand smoke, I guess!

I restored his old humidor, too - it was lined with rusty enameled metal so I just covered it with cedar sheets and it works great. It was an anniversary gift to him from my mom in 1960 and has an engraved metal plate - "Darling, Happy Anniversary" - just a few years before she turned on, tuned in, dropped out, and divorced him!

Hey, while I'm here, I remember my dad complaining that they'd stopped importing his brand of pipe tobacco. All I remember is that it came in a larger size dark blue can (like coffee-can size) with maybe some kind of English crest on it. Any idea what it could be? I know, I know - this is like when I used to work in a sci-fi bookstore and people would come in and ask, "I'm looking for this book... I think it has a spaceship on the cover...." Finding his cigar brand was easier - there was an old JdN band in the humi.