View source for Talk:Whidbey Islander Pipes

  Hand-cut Briars by Master Pipe Maker Travers LaRue were made in his shop " Virginia Tobacco and Pipe Shoppe " in Langley on Whidbey Island Wa. between 1972 and 1983. He used 125 year old Sardinian briar and 150 year old Grecian Plateau briar with or without burl top.  Trav custom designed free- hands or classic shapes. A sterling dot in the shank along with his signature marked his one of a kind designs and possibly one of the best smoking pipes around. Trav taught his son-in-law Charles Whitmore the trade and soon he became a pipe maker too. The shop produced a hand-cut from 75 year old Italian briar fraz bowls known as the "Whidbey Islander " These were mostly made by Chuck Whitmore that could be ordered with your own name inscribed. The shop was known for hand-blended 100% pure pipe  tabacco with only premium quality American and imported tobaccos. The most famous being  "Brown Crock ". The 1936 Hollywood Pipe Shop recipe smoked exclusively by Bing Crosby and loved by many. The family still has the recipe.