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[[Image:Rossi_1886.jpg|left|thumb|The factory in 1886]]
[[Image:Rossi_1886.jpg|thumb|The factory in 1886]]
 
=== History ===
In the years around 1870 and still later the bulk of Italian pipes was made by time taking and laboriously manual work. Mainly based on families who sold their pipes to travelling purchasers handing them on to some wholesaler. Most pipes were still made of box or olive wood.
In the years around 1870 and still later the bulk of Italian pipes was made by time taking and laboriously manual work. Mainly based on families who sold their pipes to travelling purchasers handing them on to some wholesaler. Most pipes were still made of box or olive wood.


'''Ferdinando Rossi''' from Milan was one of the most important wholesalers for tobacco related goods of northern Italy. When he attended one of his pipe suppliers in Saint-Claude in 1880 he got hooked on the idea to establish this manner of industrialised briar pipe production in Italy as well. Rossi went abroad several times to buy the hardware here and there because the special features of machines for pipemaking were secrets - well kept by the French in those days. Many machines and tools had to be modified on Rossi’s defaults.
'''Ferdinando Rossi''' from Milan was one of the most important wholesalers for tobacco related goods of northern Italy. When he attended one of his pipe suppliers in [[Saint-Claude]] in 1880 he got hooked on the idea to establish this manner of industrialised briar pipe production in Italy as well. Rossi went abroad several times to buy the hardware here and there because the special features of machines for pipemaking were secrets - well kept by the French in those days. Many machines and tools had to be modified on Rossi’s defaults.




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Rossi is also credited with exemplary social features. The company maintained a well equipped hospital ward, the employees enjoyed large dining rooms and showers after work. There were shops where they could buy the products of some Rossi owned farms from the environment at subsidised prices. For the youngest children there was a kindergarten and the elder ones could spend their school vacations in a holiday camp named after the founder’s wife  Marisa.
Rossi is also credited with exemplary social features. The company maintained a well equipped hospital ward, the employees enjoyed large dining rooms and showers after work. There were shops where they could buy the products of some Rossi owned farms from the environment at subsidised prices. For the youngest children there was a kindergarten and the elder ones could spend their school vacations in a holiday camp named after the founder’s wife  Marisa.


From appr. 1946 up to the end '''Ferdinando Rossi II''', a grandchild of the founder, headed the company. But after World War II the world of the pipe changed dramatically. Especially in Italy,  where those big pipe factories mainly turned out pipes for the lower priced segments of  the international mass markets. The demand for these pipes shrunk considerably as more and more smokers turned to cigarettes. Rossi  got into this vortex as well. Little by little the number of pipes produced sank. This evolution was accelerated by the upcoming fame of pipes from Denmark. As well, new Italian brands established after the war like Castello, Brebbia or  little later Savinelli operated cleverer and thus were more successful.


So the decline went on through the 1960’s and 1970’s, even though Rossi offered more than 800 possible shapes in dozens of lines and uncounted finishes. Besides the completely machine made pipes there were also some lines of semi-freehands and even quite considerable freehands were made. But all these efforts  could not stop the fall anyway. Due to increasing financial difficulties Rossi closed down in 1985, just one year before the 100th anniversary.


"Ferdinando Rossi was one of the pioneers in bringing the production of briar pipes to Italy, a contemporary of Achille Savinelli. And though the two were competitors in business, in their private lives they enjoyed a close friendship. So it came to be that, just shy of a century after its founding, the Rossi family's marque came into the caretaking of Savinelli, after the former found itself unable to adapt to the changes in the post-WWII tobacciana market. This same old friendship is also one of the reasons why Savinelli has been keen to give the Rossi name new life, as Rossi by Savinelli, focusing on quality, affordable Italian pipes." ''Courtesy, [http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/rossi/index.cfm smokingpipes.com]''


=== Seconds: ===
* Montechristo


=== Dating Rossi pipes ===
From the beginning of its activity and until, surely, 1918, the most part of Rossi pipes was just marked with "REAL BRIAR", "VERA RADICA" or "BRUYERE GARANTIE" (or something similar): this can easily be explained by the enormous amount of pipes daily producted, which requires the fastest solution.


<center><gallery widths=300 heights=200 caption="BRUYERE GARANTIE" example, courtesy Doug Valitchka">
File:BruyereGarantie1.jpg
File:BruyereGarantie5.jpg
</gallery></center>


From, approximatively, Twenties, Rossi pipes were marked with "FRB" (Fratelli Rossi Barasso) or "MFRB" (Manifattura Fratelli Rossi Barasso), into an oval and above "OLD BRIAR" (or similar - sometimes, there was also "MFD. BY ROSSI", as "Manufactured by Rossi"); on the stem, there was generally the "R" letter in circle. However, "FRB OLD BRIAR" was mantained for the "traditional pipes" (for cheap models - see below), surely, to Sixties.


From, approximatively, the fiftieth anniverary (1936), pipes were marked with "Rossi" (in cursive font), with model name just under it; on the stem, there was "ROSSI" (for expensive models like "extra", which had the best quality; "racine", which was rusticated by hand; "extra grain", which was accurately sandblasted; "super", which had the best briar selection, and a limited production; "fiamma", which was the best selection of Sardinia and Greece briar, and a very limited production) or "R" in circle (for unexpensive models like "standard", "grana" and "FRB").


From, approximatively, Seventies, until 1985, Rossi pipes were marked with "ROSSI", into an oval (sometimes there was also "ITALY" on the shank); on the stem, there was "ROSSI". In these years, appeared the signature "Nino Rossi" (in cursive font): he was the last heir of the factory.


When Savinelli took back the production, it is said that first pipes had a twinbore mouthpiece, with "ROSSI" on the stem, and they were marked with "ROSSI" on the shank.
Today most of them had 6 mm or 9 mm adapter (also, for the most part, the stem was made by methacrylate, always with "Rossi" on the side).




<gallery widths=250 heights=185 caption="Example and details, courtesy Doug Valitchka">
File:Rossi01.jpg
File:Rossi07.jpg
File:Rossi08.jpg
File:Rossi09.jpg
</gallery>




=== A walk through the factory ===
<center><gallery perrow=4 widths=200px>
Image:Rossi_45.jpg|In one of the briar sheds
Image:Rossi_50.jpg|Briar stored at the saw mill
Image:Rossi_40.jpg|Presses for ebonite mouthpieces
Image:Rossi_75.jpg|Shop for metal fittings
Image:Rossi_55.jpg|Different steps of pipemaking...
Image:Rossi_60.jpg|
Image:Rossi_70.jpg|Staining
Image:Rossi_65.jpg|Polishing
Image:Rossi_80.jpg|Packing
Image:Rossi_85.jpg|Ready for shipping
</gallery></center>


'''A walk through the factory'''
=== Epilog ===


[[Image:Rossi_45.jpg]] In one of the briar sheds
* '''Alberto Paronelli''' (†), who had been Rossi's representative for Europe for decades, saved numerous memorabilia from the factory, which can be admired today along with over 4.000 selected Rossi pipes in the pipe museum in the neighbouring Gavirate.
 
* A part of the former giant factory was taken over by '''Giovanni Carollo''', who manufactures mainly order completions with 10 coworkers beside his own brand '''Molina di Barasso'''.
[[Image:Rossi_50.jpg]] Briar stored at the saw mill
* Some time ago the name Rossi re-entered the market. (At least at '''[http://www.wesleys.co.za/Rossi.htm Wesley's]''' of South Africa.) '''Savinelli''' took care of the name, saying that Achille Savinelli and Ferdinando Rossi were surely competitors in  business, but privately however very intimate friends. - The pipes feature a twinbore mouthpiece.
 
[[Image:Rossi_40.jpg]] Presses for ebonite mouthpieces
 
[[Image:Rossi_75.jpg]] Shop for metal fittings
 
[[Image:Rossi_55.jpg]] Different steps of pipemaking...
 
[[Image:Rossi_60.jpg]]
 
[[Image:Rossi_70.jpg]] Staining
 
[[Image:Rossi_65.jpg]] Polishing
 
[[Image:Rossi_80.jpg]] Packing
 
[[Image:Rossi_85.jpg]] Ready for shipping


<revive zone="8" align="right" caption="An excellent selection of Rossi pipes is available at Pipedia Underwriter, The Pipe Nook. Eddie Gray, Owner." />


From appr. 1946 up to the end '''Ferdinando Rossi II''', a grandchild of the founder, headed the company. But after World War II the world of the pipe changed dramatically. Especially in Italy, where those big pipe factories mainly turned out pipes for the lower priced segments of  the international mass markets. The demand for these pipes shrunk considerably as more and more smokers turned to cigarettes. Rossi  got into this vortex as well. Little by little the number of pipes produced sank. This evolution was accelerated by the upcoming fame of pipes from Denmark. As well, new Italian brands established after the war like Castello, Brebbia or  little later Savinelli operated cleverer and thus were more successful.
'''Contact Information:'''
  Laudisi Distribution Group (LDG): https://www.laudisi.com/rossipipes.cfm


So the decline went on through the 1960’s and 1970’s, even though Rossi offered more than 800 possible shapes in dozens of lines and uncounted finishes. Besides the completely machine made pipes there were also some lines of semi-freehands and even quite considerable freehands were made. But all these efforts  could not stop the fall anyway. Due to increasing financial difficulties Rossi closed down in 1985, just one year before the 100th anniversary.
[[Category: Pipe makers by nationality]]
 
[[Category: Italy]]
Seconds:
* Montechristo
 
 
----
 
 
'''Epilog'''
 
* '''Alberto Paronelli''' (†), who had been Rossi's representative for Europe for decades, saved numerous memorabilia from the factory, which can be admired today along with over 4.000 selected Rossi pipes in the pipe museum in the neighbouring Gavirate.
* A part of the former giant factory was taken over by '''Giovanni Carollo''', who manufactures mainly order completions with 10 coworkers beside his own brand '''Molina di Barasso'''.
* Some time ago the name Rossi re-entered the market. (At least at '''Wesley's''' of South Africa.) '''Savinelli''' took care of the name, saying that Achille Savinelli and Ferdinando Rossi were surely competitors in  business, but privately however very intimate friends. - The pipes feature a twinbore mouthpiece.
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