Brigham Pipes – A Closer Look at Dots, Dates and Markings: Difference between revisions

== Brigham Production Eras ==

*Post-Patent Era 1956 – 1969 (dates approximate)

*Canadian Era 1970 – 1980 (dates approximate)

*Italian Era 2007- Present      

The '''Pre-Patent Era (1906 -1937)''' covers the early decades between the company’s start and the invention of the now-famous Brigham Rock Maple filter system. There is almost no literature available from this period and stampings or other identifying features are unknown, though presumably the Brigham name was stamped on the pipes somehow. If you have a non-system Brigham pipe in your collection, it very likely hails from this time period, though a few non-filtered Brigham pipes were produced in the late 1990s.

[[File:BrighamArticle PatentEraStamps.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Patent Era Stamps]]

The patent on the Brigham filter system expired in 1955, ushering in the '''Post-Patent Era (1956 – roughly 1969)'''. The “CAN PAT” stamp was replaced by a “Made in Canada” stamp in block letters. The 1960s saw the introduction of new product lines, including the Norsemen and Valhalla series of rusticated and smooth (respectively) freehand-style pipes created to capitalize on the growing demand for Danish pipe shapes.

Around the late 1960s or early 1970s, at the beginning of what I’ve called the '''Canadian Era (roughly 1970 – 1980)''', the stampings changed again as Brigham moved to modernize its logo. Pipes are stamped with the 3-digit shape number and “Brigham” over “Made in Canada”. Note the two variants of this stamping.

I have dubbed the decades between '''1980 and 2000 the Late Canadian Era''', a period that saw several changes at Brigham that are of note to the collector. First, the traditional 8-grade pinning system (the famous Brigham “Dots” which denoted the quality of the pipe) was changed to a 7-grade system to simplify pinning (more on this below), and the Norsemen and Valhalla series were merged to form the President Series, which represented the very finest pipes coming out of the Toronto factory. Early pipes from this era (left, below) are stamped with a shape number and “Brigham” over “Canada”; later pipes (late 1980s+, on right below)) are stamped simply with a shape number and the Brigham logo.

'''The Transition Era (2001 – 2006)'''. The biggest change to hit Brigham since the advent of the Rock Maple filter occurred in 2001 when Brigham moved production from Toronto to Italy in an effort to both save on production costs and access a ready supply of skilled craftsmen. The product lineup was, not surprisingly, heavily impacted, with the most obvious changes being the switch from aluminum to plastic composite tenon/filter holders, and a sharp decrease in the number of pipe shapes available.

[[File:BrighamArticle 200 series smooth and panel.jpg|thumb|Early 2000s 200 series]]The 100 – 300 series pipes looked very similar to Canadian-made pipes and continued to be recognized by their traditional brass pin patterns. These lower series pipes were offered in 9 shapes.The 400 series disappeared temporarily, while the 500 to 700 series pipes, available in only 8 shapes, lost their brass pins and were identified only by their 3-digit shape numbers.

The '''Italian Era''' is the most recent period in Brigham’s long history of pipe making, beginning with the debut of the 2007 Brigham Pipe Series. Each of the 7 grades of pipes in the series was assigned a specific finish and name honoring Canadian history and heritage. Pipes in this latest series feature a factory bowl coating and are available in only 12 shapes, a far cry from the wide array of Brigham shapes released over its long history.