Jost's

[mattia76]

So I picked up 3 Jost pipes last week at an estate sale here in St. Louis.
Two of them are Jost Supremes and my favorite is a long group-1 billiard, covered in birdseye, called a "Jost's Olde English Supreme" that was made in England. It looks really cool and smokes like a dream and it's got me wondering about this shop.

I live in the Dogtown neighborhood of St. Louis and I'm wondering if anyone can tell me some of the history of Jost's. I know it was here in town, but when was it open? Where was the store? What do you remember about it?

I've seen the excerpt about Ms. Henry A Jost being one of 60,000 American Women Pipe Smokers which also talks a bit about the store, but I was wondering if anyone had anything else. Catalogs? Ads? Memories?

Thanks!

 

[mark]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of information available other than a reference to "Bill Collins" who was a pipe repairman who worked for Jost and may have produced pipes under the Jost name, and One reference to Jost being an English produced pipe.another mention I found was a pamphlet :

Jost,Henry J. Booklet "Life Story of Henry J.Jost" (1960's) ,,,,listed by Dock (member of BoB) when he disolved his pipe ephemera collection.



A pair of Jost pipes are shown at the site below, also the stampings
http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/logo-j2.html

with this information listed underneath the pics:

Proprietor of the tobacco shop: Mrs Henry A. Jost. She was a pipesmoker.
Artisan: Harwey Raspberry
Jost's Pipes are closely tied to Comoy. Many of Jost's pipes have the standard Comoy shape number and the "Made in England " in a circle. If the Jost's pipe doesn't have the "Made in England " it is probably made by Harwey Raspberry.

Harwey Raspberry is a typo,,should be Harvey Raspberry,,,,,

Mrs Henry A. Jost is mentioned here,,,http://www.pipedia.org/index.php?title=Jost

Jost
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"The Eclectic Shopper," a round-up of shopping columns published in the P-D in the early '70s; it's full of descriptions of the milliners and watch repairmen who plied their trade in the city 30-odd years ago. Here's an excerpt from the "Pipes" chapter: "Mrs. Henry A. Jost, proprietor of Jost's Pipe and Tobacco Shop, is one of the 60,000 American women who smoke pipes. Mrs. Jost believes that that many men and women pipe smokers don't know how to smoke a pipe - 'even if they have smoked for 35 years.' She and Harvey Raspberry give lessons in the shop. There are two comfortable chairs in the corner of the shop where a smoker can sit and have his smoking progress checked under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Jost or pipemaker Raspberry."

Bill Collins was a local pipemaker in St. Louis, Missouri. His artisan's name was Jost. Jost was a pipe and tobacco store in St. Louis, Missouri. Jost employed a pipe repairer and maker named Bill Collins.

The shops last location was at 6th and Olive under the spiral ramp for the Famous and Barr parking lot. The shops wall were lined with glass display cases for pipes. There was a regulator clock on the wall that ticked with a rhythm that reminded you that pipes were to be smoked patiently and slowly. One of their best selling tobaccos was Old Virgina. A wonderful unique lacey ribbon cut virginia with latakia.

Retrieved from "http://www.pipedia.org/index.php?title=Jost"

Maybe there's enough info here to get you started researching ,,,,

 

[Larry 1964]

I graduated from high school in 1964 and had a summer job with McDonnell Aircraft in downtown St. Louis. The Jost pipe shop was close by. Wanting to look older I went in to buy a pipe. An old (remember I was 17) black man waited on me. It was Harvey Raspberry. He selected a pipe and tobacco for and proceeded to teach me how to smoke it. Every day at lunch I went to the shop and he and I would smoke. That went on for four weeks. It was a great time!

I only smoke occasionally now. Usually I smoke one of my dad's old pipes - a Jost Olde English Supreme.

 

[mattia76]

Larry,
That is a fantastic story. I still hold on to the the first Jost I ever bought-which also was an Old English Supreme that I found at an estate sale here in St. Louis 5 years ago. That old shop, and Harvey Raspberry, touched the lives of a lot of people.

I have about 8 Jost pipes now.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I graduated from high school in 1964 and had a summer job with McDonnell Aircraft in downtown St. Louis. The Jost pipe shop was close by. Wanting to look older I went in to buy a pipe. An old (remember I was 17) black man waited on me. It was Harvey Raspberry. He selected a pipe and tobacco for and proceeded to teach me how to smoke it. Every day at lunch I went to the shop and he and I would smoke. That went on for four weeks. It was a great time!

I only smoke occasionally now. Usually I smoke one of my dad's old pipes - a Jost Olde English Supreme.

Great first post, Larry. And a nice story. thanks for sharing.