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Brigham Pipes – A Closer Look at Dots, Dates and Markings: Difference between revisions
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Brigham Pipes – A Closer Look at Dots, Dates and Markings (view source)
Revision as of 20:50, 12 April 2017
, 7 years ago→Conclusion
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[[File:BrighamArticle 2007BrighamSeries.jpg]] | [[File:BrighamArticle 2007BrighamSeries.jpg]] | ||
[[File:Brigham-4-7 Silhouettes.jpg|thumb|center|2007 Series Shapes]] | |||
[[File:BrighamPresidentBoardroom.jpg|thumb|150px|Brigham President “Boardroom”]]Brigham President Series pipes are still available, though the brass pins are gone, replaced with the now ubiquitous Brigham “B” logo in a circle, set into the top of the acrylic stem. The modern series is based on Scandinavian shapes that Herb Brigham enjoyed the most, in a variety of finishes named after “executive places” – locations you’d expect to find a CEO or company executive, including “Boardroom”, “Muskoka”, “The Country Club”, and “The Helm”. | |||
[[File:Brigham Giant.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Brigham Giante Semi-Bent Sandblast]]Not content to rest on their laurels, Brigham has recently introduced a new range of pipes, the Giante Series. As the name implies, these pipes are larger, designed to provide a longer smoke from a single bowl. They are available in three traditional shapes (Bent (Egg), Semi-Bent (Brandy) and Straight (Billiard)) and in either a reddish-brown smooth or black sandblast finish. All of them come with the Brigham Rock Maple filter system. | |||
== Conclusion == | == Conclusion == | ||
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.). | '''Daniel More, President of Brigham Enterprises Inc, acknowledges the difficulties facing the Brigham collector:''' | ||
''“You have correctly identified the challenge in pinpointing exactly when we used and stopped using certain stamps and pin configurations. I wouldn’t suggest this was the result of a lack of care or concern but rather the result of a production era approach. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense to keep track of when stamps were initiated and ceased use. It would save some of what I refer to as the antique Brigham road show. Haha.”'' | |||
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.). Unfortunately, there are very few pipe producers that created and maintained a foolproof method of dating their wares. (Dunhill is the obvious exception here, and their use of a date stamp on every pipe produced accounts at least in part for the collectible nature of vintage Dunhill pipes today.) | |||
Vintage pipe catalogs and other company literature can be of great value in establishing a production timeline for a particular pipe, though this is not always foolproof. 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. | |||
Incomplete information and undated literature are part and parcel of the pipe collecting hobby, and though it can be frustrating at times, the thrill of discovering a new pipe shape or finish variation more than makes up for any initial inconvenience in identifying that new acquisition. 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. | |||
I’ll now open the floor to you for comments or corrections. I would especially welcome any high-resolution digital copies of Brigham literature that would help verify or expand information in this paper. | I’ll now open the floor to you for comments or corrections. I would especially welcome any high-resolution digital copies of Brigham literature that would help verify or expand information in this paper. | ||
Thanks for joining me on this little 110 year trip. Until next time, Happy Piping! | Thanks for joining me on this little 110 year trip. Until next time, Happy Piping! | ||
== Sources: == | |||
#http://www.brighampipes.com | |||
#http://www.christianpipesmokers.net/viewtopic.php?t=7476 | |||
#http://www.rebornpipes.com/tag/brigham-pipes/ | |||
#http://www.pipephil.eu | |||
#Email from Daniel More, President, Brigham Entreprises Inc, April 2017 | |||
#Email from Brian Levine, former National Sales Manager, Brigham USA, February 2017 | |||
== Sources: == | == Sources: == | ||