Any ideas on this pipe?? (historical photo question here)

[1776J]

Greetings.

I've been intrigued by the pipe being smoked by the gent in this Dorthea Lange photo for some time and decided to post here and see if anyone has any idea of the possible make, etc. of that pipe? I'm looking for one of that same vintage,.. same style...etc.

Here's the photo and the pipe in the photo in question...

http://www.shorpy.com/node/921?size=_original

 

[Doc Manhattan]

Awesome picture! (Though it wasn't the pipe that held my attention so much... I was checking out his wife's stems, not the pipe stem!)

I don't want to get too 'CSI' about it, but the bowl is very shiny and in general the pipe seems either newish or recently maintained. It's probably his only pipe, maybe one of two. But look at his and his lady's attention to detail: the groomed moustache, their tidy hair, her spotless dress, in spite of their rough emcampment... maybe he didn't lovingly polish his briar each day, but I can imagine him taking it to the store for regular touchup maintenance and buffing. So the pipe may predate the picture substantially.

It was probably by necessity an affordable pipe, somewhere in the $1-$2 range, judging by this 1939 Wally Frank Catalog. Either an house-brand pipe from the tobacco shop, or the low-end of a large manufacturer.

The biggest hint would be a visible stem logo, of which there's none I can see. Maybe it's a replacement stem. Or perhaps the band (nickel or silver) is part of a repair--if there's a stem logo, the aftermarket band may be covering it. With the contrast in the picture, and a dark-finished pipe, markings on the wood are lost.

In any case, it's tricky, since a "house brand" pipe bought at the local tobacconist might've been made by a name-brand manufacturer. I have a very similar pipe of that era, made for a large chain tobacconist by BBB, but their logos appear only on the shank, not the stem.

 

[jeremyt]

Very cool pic !!! Good luck on your search.

 

[ftrplt]

His pipe may have been finished with a coat of varnish or shellac; hence the sheen. My first pipe, a Dr. Grabow (which I still have!) is finished this way. Smoked hotter than hell; briar can't breathe. I sand-papered the shellac off; touched it up with carnauba, and had a decent pipe! In terestingly, even though folks (mostly men, but lots of women) didn't have a lot (or maybe no!) of money; they still bought tobacco in one form or another. It was extremely inexpensive and provided a bit of pleasure during some extremely rough times. Ever watch the "Grapes of Wrath?" Lots of men smoking pipes and cigs; even "ol' Grandma" had her corncob going until she died!! FTRPLT

 

[Natch]

Notice the small bowl, by today's standards. Weren't tobaccos generally stronger (and certainly more expensive during the Great Depression) than is common today?

Natch

 

[MisterE]

Looks like a Dapper Dan man to me..... (Remember Where Art Thee Brother?)
Seriously, I havent the faintest....
But, it might be a great one for the Coffee Break Pipe in another thread...

 

[LL]

Until the Great Smoking Bust of a generation ago, 99.8% of the pipes made were simply TADs (tobacco access devices). They were widely available and absurdly inexpensive. At their popularity peak in 1949, one adult male in every five smoked a pipe. Tracking down a make or model from an old photo like this is virtually impossible without distinguishing marks or design features.

Having one made to match the pic should be easy, though. There are more solo carvers today than ever before.

Radney the Davis or someone like that would produce a far better pipe than the original, in fact, in terms of wood quality, fit & finish, etc.

 

[Al in Canada]

for some reason I look at the pipe and think "willard", who made pipes like that, including the metal ring. if the view was only slightly elevated you would be able to confirm this for they used a white dot on their stems, like some other English pipe company, but noticeably different form that other firm too.

Maybe you could find something in the old catalogues?

 

[Richard Hester]

Sir
Not 100% but I have a book on the history of custom-built pipes and it looks as though it could have been one of the early pipes he made with that kind textureing.
nice photo anyway
Best Regards
Richard