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Dunhill: Difference between revisions
→Pipe Workshop
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<blockquote><q>Bob Winter joined Dunhill to handle pipe-repair work in 1909: he came from F. Charatan & Sons Ltd (of which company an account will follow). He was keen on the idea in the back of Dunhill's mind that a factory should be started, and introduced Joe Sasieni (also from Charatan), an amber and meerschaum worker, who joined the team for 50s a week, on 7 March 1910.</q> '''Balfour''', Michael, Alfred Dunhill, One Hundred Years and More (Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1992).</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>Bob Winter joined Dunhill to handle pipe-repair work in 1909: he came from F. Charatan & Sons Ltd (of which company an account will follow). He was keen on the idea in the back of Dunhill's mind that a factory should be started, and introduced Joe Sasieni (also from Charatan), an amber and meerschaum worker, who joined the team for 50s a week, on 7 March 1910.</q> '''Balfour''', Michael, Alfred Dunhill, One Hundred Years and More (Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, 1992).</blockquote> | ||
<blockquote><q>He had continued to make headway as a tobacco blender, though, until 1910, he was still without a pipe to do justice to the quality of his blends. The calabash and finely carved meerschaum pipes in his | <blockquote><q>He had continued to make headway as a tobacco blender, though, until 1910, he was still without a pipe to do justice to the quality of his blends. The calabash and finely carved meerschaum pipes in his showcases were too fragile for everyday use, and customers had long been complaining about the taste of the cheaply varnished Algerian briars which, as I pointed out, were about all any tobacconist had to offer.</q> '''Dunhill''', Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979).</blockquote> | ||
Alfred doesn't mention to anyone, Mary reports, but he was investigating the pipe maker's craft from end to end. Alfred Dunhill enticed Joel Sasieni away from Charatan (including Joe Sasieni who was to form his own distinguished pipe company in 1918. The first five Dunhill pipemakers all came from Charatan) and opened a small pipe workshop of his own at 28 Duke St on 7 March 1910. - two rooms upstairs providing the humble beginning. The focus was to use the finest quality briar, and expert craftsmanship to make pipes that would provide a superior smoke, and last a lifetime. The cost would reflect these principals, which was against the current trend of inexpensive pipes of lesser quality (the Bruyere finish is first introduced). | Alfred doesn't mention to anyone, Mary reports, but he was investigating the pipe maker's craft from end to end. Alfred Dunhill enticed Joel Sasieni away from Charatan (including Joe Sasieni who was to form his own distinguished pipe company in 1918. The first five Dunhill pipemakers all came from Charatan) and opened a small pipe workshop of his own at 28 Duke St on 7 March 1910. - two rooms upstairs providing the humble beginning. The focus was to use the finest quality briar, and expert craftsmanship to make pipes that would provide a superior smoke, and last a lifetime. The cost would reflect these principals, which was against the current trend of inexpensive pipes of lesser quality (the Bruyere finish is first introduced). | ||
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<blockquote><q>From St. Claude, a small town in the Jura mountains which is the French home of the briar pipe industry, Father could obtain the wood he wanted. But from the day he began to study the effect of sunlight on immature bowls in his shop window, he had become obsessed with the subject of wood, its nature and the business of seasoning it. This is why it had taken him three years to evolve the heat treatment processes that are peculiar to the Dunhill pipe and which have a fundamental effect on its smoking properties and on the lasting, natural finish that is given to its grain.</q> '''Dunhill''', Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979).</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>From St. Claude, a small town in the Jura mountains which is the French home of the briar pipe industry, Father could obtain the wood he wanted. But from the day he began to study the effect of sunlight on immature bowls in his shop window, he had become obsessed with the subject of wood, its nature and the business of seasoning it. This is why it had taken him three years to evolve the heat treatment processes that are peculiar to the Dunhill pipe and which have a fundamental effect on its smoking properties and on the lasting, natural finish that is given to its grain.</q> '''Dunhill''', Mary, Our Family Business (The Bodley Head - Great Britain, 1979).</blockquote> | ||
Loring also defended, at this time, that Dunhill Bruyere pipes were generally finished from French turned bowls until 1917, when the Calabrian briar started to be used, but not completely. Only in 1920 did Dunhill take the final step in its pipe making operation and began sourcing and cutting all of its own bowls, proudly announcing thereafter that "no French briar was employed". | Loring also defended, at this time, that Dunhill Bruyere pipes were generally finished from French turned bowls until 1917, when the Calabrian briar started to be used, but not completely<ref name=jcl5>Loring, J. C. (1998) The Dunhill Briar Pipe - The Patent Years and After, The Beginnings (pp. 2-3). Chicago: self-published</ref>. Only in 1920 did Dunhill take the final step in its pipe making operation and began sourcing and cutting all of its own bowls, proudly announcing thereafter that "no French briar was employed". | ||
Mr | Mr Hener and Mr Tim Rich believe that in the beginning the pipes were obtained from English wholesalers. | ||
<blockquote><q>I understand that the pipes sold in the period since the opening of the Duke street store in 1907 until opening of his own manufacture on 7 March 1910 were obtained from English wholesalers, possibly from wholesaler Alfred J. Nathan (for the less expensive varnished qualities made from Algerian Briar) and from Adolph Posner (for more expensive Straight Grains). As to the manufacturing origin of those early pipes and if they were manufactured in the UK, France or otherwise, I have no knowledge.</q> '''Hener''', K. S., Product Line Director - The White Spot Smoker's Accessory Division and Walthamstow site.</blockquote> | <blockquote><q>I understand that the pipes sold in the period since the opening of the Duke street store in 1907 until opening of his own manufacture on 7 March 1910 were obtained from English wholesalers, possibly from wholesaler Alfred J. Nathan (for the less expensive varnished qualities made from Algerian Briar) and from Adolph Posner (for more expensive Straight Grains). As to the manufacturing origin of those early pipes and if they were manufactured in the UK, France or otherwise, I have no knowledge.</q> '''Hener''', K. S., Product Line Director - The White Spot Smoker's Accessory Division and Walthamstow site.</blockquote> | ||