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

I have several dozen vintage Brigham pipes in my personal collection, and over time I have developed some fluency for identifying and dating the various examples of briarwork, both pedestrian and remarkable, with which I have been fortunate to become acquainted. My goal here is to present, as clearly as possible, a concise guide to decoding the stamps, markings and other features of Brigham pipes over seven distinct periods of production.

Data for this project has been gleaned from many sources, including, but not limited to, the “official” (if scant and sometimes confused) Brigham history published on the company’s website, other online resources such as pipe logo and markings site Pipephil.eu and forum posts by other Brigham enthusiasts, and, where available, vintage catalogs and firsthand examination. If there are flaws or faults in the information presented below, I assume all responsibility and would be thrilled to receive expert correction from confirmed and documented sources.

EDIT: In April of 2017, I received an email from Daniel More, President of Brigham Enterprises Inc, with his input on this paper, which I have incorporated into the information presented below.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, the Brigham Norsemen and Valhalla series of larger, Scandinavian-inspired pipe shapes carried their own configuration of Dots. These two series shared the same 6 shapes.

The Norsemen were fully rusticated and pinned with the old Brigham VIP 3 Dot horizontally aligned pattern, with the middle Dot larger than the other two. They were stamped with “9Wx”, where “x” indicated the shape number (3 through 7).

The Valhalla series of smooth or partially rusticated pipes were available in three grades, A, B and C, with C being the highest grade. A Valhalla pipe in Shape 6 could therefore be stamped “AW6”, “BW6” or “CW6” depending on grade. Dot patterns on the stem ranged from 3 dots (A grade) to 6 Dots (C grade).

The latest pipes to be offered without a filter belonged to Brigham’s Platinum Series, introduced in the 1990’s:

Except for the lowest three grades, pipes in the current (2007) Brigham series cannot be identified by brass pins or shape availability. All grades are available in 12 shapes, but are distinguished by their unique finishes and markings.

I hope this little treatise on Brigham pipes proves a useful resource for the identification and dating of pipes in your collection, or perhaps those you might wish to consider for a vacant space in your pipe rack. As you can see by the variations in stamps even within the same general period, it can be tricky to nail down the exact production time-frame for a given pipe.

Worn or imperfectly struck stamps confuse the game, as can such factory-floor practices as using up old stock during transition periods (For example, I have a Brigham President A Grade freehand sent out with a Valhalla B grade (4 Dot) stem.). Carefully archived notes and company catalogs are often the most foolproof method of dating your Brigham, but you’ll have to find some on the vintage market, as Brigham has proved itself more interested in making pipes than preserving records. I own several old Brigham catalogs, but none of them are dated – another unfortunate custom of the day shared by many makers until the late 1970s.