W. White Co Clay Pipe from Glasgow found...

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Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button

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My grandmother has moved to a nursing facility and my brother is moving into her house. We have been clearing out all of her things and my mother found a box containing a clay pipe. I remember this pipe from when I was about 5 or 6 years old (early 80's ). When my grandmother had her house re-sided, the workers found this pipe sitting inside the walls of the house. The house was build around 1907 so it at least dates back that far.

The only markings on the pipe are a "T" and a "D" on the bowl, the word "Glasgow", the word "W.WHITE" and one more marking that says either "T-73" or "T-7B". I kid you not when I say I have wanted this pipe for the past 23 years. Today, my mom gave it to me, knowing my interest in pipes. :D

I have no idea where to find more info about this pipe. I searched on Google but found very little. If anyone has ANY idea or knowledge of where I could find some more info I would be very appreciate.

I tried sniffing the bowl and it smells faintly of Navy Flake. Perhaps it belonged to one of Docks ancestors.

Just kiddin', D. :lol:

Thanks folks!

I'll try and get some better pics, I just got the pipe this morning so I snapped a few pics with my phone just now in my car.

edit: Image hosting seems to be down right now. I'll try and get those up later.
 
Looks like pics are working now...





The only article I have found with relation to W.White Pipes from Glasgow is from a Washington state source online:

"Scottish smoking pipe relic found at Norwegian Point

Finding a small, ceramic smoking pipe in the middle of a site trafficked by vandals is never a good sign. But if it dates back to the 19th century, it is cause for the Smithsonian Institute to celebrate.

The area surrounding Hansville’s Norwegian Point Park’s dilapidated flat-top buildings – once the target of vandalism – has been registered as historically significant all because of a little, white clay tobacco pipe, which now has a Smithsonian number attached.

The pipe is believed have been made by the Glasgow, Scotland firm of William White, said Glenn Hartmann, president and principal investigator for Cultural Resource Consultants, Inc., a private archaeological firm who handled a study of the site for Kitsap County, which owns the park and is creating a master plan to develop it.

Similar pipes were found in areas such as Fort Vancouver and are associated with the Hudson’s Bay Company, one of the oldest commercial trading companies in the world, which controlled much of the North American fur trade in the 1800s.

Because the pipe is marked with the city Glasgow instead of the country Scotland, the pipe dates back prior to 1891 when the U.S. mandated imported goods needed to be marked by their country of origin.

“We’ve bracketed it between the 1870s to 1891,” Hartmann said. “If we were going to guess, this could have been a fisherman’s camp,” he said. “But we didn’t find enough to tell a story.”

Hartmann said no Native American artifacts were found at the site.

The historic find will not halt any development of Norwegian Point Park, he said. The Kitsap County Parks Advisory Board voted unanimously in favor of moving ahead with the park’s passive projects at its meeting June 18 in the Greater Hansville Community Center."
 
BB, Very interesting, happy to hear you were reunited with such an amazing piece.
I just recently purchased almost the exact same pipe, I found it at my neighbors estate sale, I new him 21 years and he never mentioned anything about pipes at all.

My clay has the same T D markings on the bowl, the only other markings are on the left side of the stem, found is the word Germany. This pipe appears to be unsmoked, I'm looking forward to trying her out. I also have recently purchased a Williamsburg Pottery
tavern pipe, I got her on a Mothers day outing at Fort Stanwix in Rome NY this past weekend.

Please post if you find any new info on the T D clay,


Dan
 
I have a Whites Allsorbow in my collection, which was their attempt to combine clay with meerschaum. It smokes exactly like a clay with perhaps a bit less of that earthy flavor.

I downloaded a piece about this Scottish company's history, and unfortunately lost it the last time my computer crashed. I will do some more searching and if I can locate the article, I will post the link here as well as a pic of the pipe.

Mike Brissett
 
My wife an I like to metal detect in our spare time, one day this past July out on a local Cape Cod beach , I saw what appeared to be a piece of bleached out bone .Upon further investigation it appeared we discovered a Clay Pipe With the inscription SCOTLAND on one side and W.WHITE on the other , I'm going to try and up load a few pictures of it if that is OK?
Since we collect coins and rings I have no idea about pipes past my teen years in the 80's of course
but that another story










P.S. The inside of this pipe looks as if it has never been used!!!!
 
Fascinating, Ironheart! All great stories. I love the history and mystery behind it all.
 
W. White and Sons, according to this page, were in business between 1805-1955.

In an archaeological sense, that narrows down your search. Practically, 150 years is a big range. But it's something.
 
Well Like I said i collect coins and rings any one want this for their collection?. I'm afraid if the youngsters get a hold of it . This delicate pipe of at the least 55 years old , will be in many pieces, and not one nice piece as it should remain
 
That is really cool, Dont know much about clay but that is just the shizit bro!!!!! very nice indeed!
 




 QUÉBEC , ville de Joliette Repêché dans la rivière ! RIVIÈRE L'Assomption W.WHITE PIPE
 
William White had a business manufacturing clay pipes in Glasgow from the early 1800s. William died in 1855 and the business was continued by his son John Charles White.
William also had an older brother Thomas White who was a well known pipe maker in Edinburgh.
I have several White pipes in my collection.
He was my gr-gr-gr-grandfather.
The pipe factory building is still standing in Glasgow and part of it has been turned into a community cultural centre.
 
DeeGee said:
William White had a business manufacturing clay pipes in Glasgow from the early 1800s. William died in 1855 and the business was continued by his son John Charles White.
William also had an older brother Thomas White who was a well known pipe maker in Edinburgh.
I have several White pipes in my collection.
He was my gr-gr-gr-grandfather.
The pipe factory building is still standing in Glasgow and part of it has been turned into a community cultural centre.
Click to expand...
The company William White & Sons was of some interest to me, as my grandmother worked in the clay pipe factory around 1905.

By pure chance I occupied the upper two floors from 1976 to 1979 operating my printing business. Hence my particular interest in the building.

Here is a little information about the building: Number 42 Bain Street was built as a Clay Pipe factory in 1877.

The clay pipe factory was built by William White & Sons, in its day produced around 14,400 pipes per day in 700 designs. The building has a distinctive red & yellow facade, was originally intended to be stone, however costs determined otherwise. It closed its doors in 1955.

Around 1955 it was occupied by George C Fairservice Ltd. and was a printing company specialising in wedding stationery, at one point being the largest supplier of wedding stationery in Great Britain. It was owned by Frederick Lockwood LEVICK (still trading as George C Fairservice) with his son Harry Rome LEVICK continuing the business until about 1990.

Bain Street was named after Sir James Bain, Provost of Glasgow 1873-77.
 
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