VanRoy

Revision as of 08:39, 22 December 2020 by Magna (talk | contribs) (Magna moved page Van Roy to VanRoy)

The VanRoy Pipe Company, originally located in the Empire State Building in New York City, began as its own pipe company, and the originator of the Ajustomatic feature better known from its later use in Dr. Grabow pipes. No evidence can be found of their existence prior to October, 1944. When Henry Leonard & Thomas Inc. moved to Sparta, North Carolina in 1953, in addition to purchasing the rights to the Dr. Grabow line, they also purchased other New York pipe firms, including the VanRoy company. After moving to Sparta, HL&T at some point revived the VanRoy name for a cheaper line of pipes, but the later pipes did not have the ajustomatic feature, and instead a push tenon.

October, 1944 Advertisement
Courtesy Doug Valitchka

The stem logo for VanRoy was a fleur de lis, originally filled, and the pipes were marked as patent pending for the early ajustomatics. In 1949 the pipes began to carry a patented stamp, with the 2461905 patent number representing the 1949 patenting of the ajustomatic feature, as well as a stamp stating "Magic Cake", but no fleur de lis was on the stems. After 1953, pipes have been seen with a fleur de lis again on the stem, but an open design, not a filled one.

According to the 1944 ad there were 4 models offered, as follows:

  • ARISTA... 3.50
  • BARD... 5.00
  • COURIER... 7.50
  • DUMONT... 10.00