LHS
L & H Stern (LHS) of Brooklyn, New York. The company’s famous logo is in a diamond. These pipes are high quality production pipes. The L&H Stern Inc. was established by Ludwig Stern (1877-1942) in 1911. His brother Hugo (1872-?) acted as vice-president & secretary. The firm moved to 56 Pearl St. Brooklyn in 1920. It closed down in the 1960s. LHS was one of the main pipe supplier for US soldiers during WWII.
- Patents, courtesy Doug Valitchka
In a 1944 catalog there were various model names made by LHS, and they included: Ultra Fine, Sterncrest, Certified Purex, Purex, a Patented Purex, Sculptured Purex, Purex Superfine And other line names: Barrister, Marwyn, Park Lane, Radmanol, and Warwick.
Many of their later Sterncrest pipes featured silver bands and some were made with 14kt. gold bands as well.
- LHS Sterncrest examples with details and nomenclature, courtesy Doug Valitchka
- LHS Superfine example and details, courtesy Doug Valitchka
- LHS Park Lane example and details, courtesy Doug Valitchka
- Various LHS examples and details, courtesy Doug Valitchka
The "Diamond" series appears to be their high-end line. They had a different logo which was 3 diamonds in a row, larger in the middle. They also had Allbriar models (stem and bowl both made of briar) in the Diamond line, and these tended to have a screw type fitment with stinger, like Kaywoodie or Dr. Grabows.
- Promo photos from a vintage stereo-scopic slide reel that appear to be from the L&H Stern factory lobby, courtesy Dave Gossett
- Promo photos of various displays, including the Special Make, the highest grade LHS. Extremely large sized and costing as much as $25 in the 1940's. Courtesy Dave Gossett
- Pipes examples and details, courtesy Dave Gossett collection