Some interesting Charatan info

[monbla256]

Having bought and smoked Charatan's since I bought my first one back in 1972, ( I have 15 bought btwn '72 thru '79) I found this catalog of their pipes from 1970 which I thought might be of interest to some here. Besides listing all the various styles and models available at that time ( it was mostly the same thru the '70s) their is a price list as well. They were a reasonably priced pipe at that time though they were on the higher end than GBD's or BBB's and many of the Comoys sold then. They were priced a little below Dunhill's at that time though they were the first manufacturer to retail a price ABOVE $100.00 Hope you Charatan folks enjoy!

http://www.tecon-gmbh.de/info_pages.php?pages_id=121%3FosCsid%3D093163f4f79f9136b21700ce1bdf1f80&language=en&osCsid=28818b9eab896a9fc57621f11a90566a

 

[Frost]

Very cool. Charatan definitely had some great shapes. Nice price reference too.

 

[Brewdude]

Enjoyed the link monbla. Thanks for posting it.

Got one Charatan in my collection. Think it's from the 70's. Canadian.

Haven't smoked it much. Got it as an estate. Very clean.

Perhaps I'll break it out tomorrow.

Thanks for the prompt.


Cheers,

RR

 

[BurgundyRed]

Thanks Monbla256, that was very helpful. Interesting site. Anyone do business was Esterval's Pipe House?

 

[sisyphus]

1969 manufacturer's retail prices, taken from the 33rd edition Tobacco Retailers' Almanac:

Charatan Special $35.00-45.00
Charatan Distinction $50.00-55.00
Charatan Executive $60.00-70.00
Charatan Selected $75.00-85.00

Dunhill Shell $22.50-35.00
Dunhill Root $30.00-45.00

GBD Pedigree $50.00
GBD Virgin $30.00
GBD New Era $22.50

Sasieni Four Dot $25.00-50.00 (many variations in between)

Loewe Centurion $25.00

BBB Virgin $17.50

Orlik Supreme $17.50

Charatans were always pretty high. The original 'artisan' pipe I suppose, when you're talking about Distinctions and higher anyway.

 

[KevinM]

I stumbled across a Charatan nugget the other day. Mountbattens are widely considered Charatan seconds. As the owner of several Mounbattens which I bought as new, well, several decades ago, I accepted this idea. But on an Internet board, one fellow asserted that Mountbattens were actually the work of Charatan "apprentices," which explains the quality briar and general lack of flaws. I have no way of knowing if the assertion is true, but I'm willing to believe as the owner and smoker of 'em.

 

[sisyphus]

I stumbled across a Charatan nugget the other day. Mountbattens are widely considered Charatan seconds. As the owner of several Mounbattens which I bought as new, well, several decades ago, I accepted this idea. But on an Internet board, one fellow asserted that Mountbattens were actually the work of Charatan "apprentices," which explains the quality briar and general lack of flaws. I have no way of knowing if the assertion is true, but I'm willing to believe as the owner and smoker of 'em.

It's true, before they were allowed to advance to making Belvederes and Free Hand Reliefs, Charatan apprentices made Mountbatten pipes. I even saw a quote once that broke down what ratio of apprentices there advanced to the stage where they let them make Mountbattens, and how many of those survived to make pipes with Charatan on the shank.

 

[Anonymous]

The Charatans, in particular, cost more but were tougher to break in. My favorite of the Charatans – a Diplomat – initially delivered harsh overtones, no matter what was smoked in it. It finally yielded, becoming a go-to pipe in which I smoked Balkan Sobranie Original Mixture. It, too, has a permanent place on my rack.

http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/category/pipes?currentPage=6

:face:

 

[Brewdude]

Interesting prices.

I also remember paying about .28/gal for regular gas during the gas wars back then. I'd normally spend $2 for a half tank, or if I was feeling flush I'd spend $3 for 3/4 tank. Having the gas jockey do a "filler-up" at $4/tank was normally beyond my modest means!

So a pipe that cost as much as some of the below listed Charatans or even Dunnies would have been a bit of a flutter back then!



Cheers,

RR

1969 manufacturer's retail prices, taken from the 33rd edition Tobacco Retailers' Almanac:

Charatan Special $35.00-45.00
Charatan Distinction $50.00-55.00
Charatan Executive $60.00-70.00
Charatan Selected $75.00-85.00

Dunhill Shell $22.50-35.00
Dunhill Root $30.00-45.00

GBD Pedigree $50.00
GBD Virgin $30.00
GBD New Era $22.50

Sasieni Four Dot $25.00-50.00 (many variations in between)

Loewe Centurion $25.00

BBB Virgin $17.50

Orlik Supreme $17.50

Charatans were always pretty high. The original 'artisan' pipe I suppose, when you're talking about Distinctions and higher anyway.

 

[monbla256]

Back when I was in my senior year in high school, 1965, I remember paying $.14 / gal for regular gas for my Triumph Tiger Cub that I rode. $.50 would fill it up for a week :evil:

 

[deepbass9]

...Triumph Tiger Cub....:evil:

Nice :afro:

 

[Smoker99]

Started smoking pipes in the sixties. My best pipes by the early seventies were GBDs I paid $19.50 for. My wife put a Charatan Executive straight grained pot on lay away in 1972 and gave it to me for Christmas. She paid $90 dollars for it, $5 at a time. That was a lot of money at the time.

 

[CharlG]

This was really interesting, thanks!

 

[riff raff]

Interesting to see the comparisons between pricing of Charatans, Dunhills and GBD's.

 

[Anonymous]

BBB Virgin $17.50

Pre-Cadogan BBB Own Make Virgins are among the finest (and rarest) of collectable Britwood. They could get so much more for AAA stummels by selling them under the table to Dunhill than from finishing & selling them as BBBs, that's where most of them ended up.

:face:

 

[Charmowitz]

While we're tracking down great Charatan tidbits on the internet, does anyone have any leads on where to find Tad Gage's authoritative 2003 article on the subject? While Ivy Ryan's is everywhere, Gage's seems to have disappeared.