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== Brief History == | == Brief History == | ||
Frederick Charatan created the brand in 1863 and opened a shop in Mansell Street London and later moved to Prescott Street. It was a small family business with limited production until the 1950's when Herman Lane assumed distribution for the U.S. in 1955 and Charatan became hugely popular in the states. In the | '''Frederick Charatan''' created the brand in 1863 and opened a shop in Mansell Street London and later moved to Prescott Street. It was a small family business with limited production until the 1950's when Herman Lane assumed distribution for the U.S. in 1955 and Charatan became hugely popular in the states. In the 1978/79 Lane sold the company to Dunhill and the Prescott Street factory closed in 1982. Thereafter the fame and quality of the make declined. The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 - 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950 and Lane apparently had some influence starting around 1950, but it was not until 1955 that Herman Lane became the sole distributor for Charatan’s in the United States. This can be documented in a “biography” written for Herman G. Lane titled “Leaves from a Tobaccoman’s Log”. | ||
Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane's influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 60's and early 70's. | Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane's influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 60's and early 70's. | ||
'''Charatan after Charatan - the more recent history''' | |||
In 1988 Dunhill sold the rights to the Charatan name, trademark and shape chart - there was hardly more left over to sell - to '''James B. Russell Inc.''' (Upper Saddle River, NJ). Russell had made his Charatan pipes in Saint-Claude, France. [[Butz-Choquin]] is said to be the manufacturer. Now, Saint-Claude made pipes are surely not bad per axiom, but these Charatans were woefully poor counterfeits of the "real" ones and quite a flop in sale. | |||
When J.B. Russell went out of business in 2002 Dunhill re-purchased Charatan and called on '''Colin Fromm''' of [[Invicta Briars]] and [[Castleford]] fame to produce Charatan freehands now. Since Colin Fromm and his foreman Colin Leeson, both belonging to the small number of English pipe artisans skilled in making high-end freehand shapes, had already been making exquisite freehands for Dunhill for a couple of years in Chatham, Kent. | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Chara_n1.jpg| | |||
Image:Chara_n2,.jpg| | |||
Image:Chara_n3.jpg| | |||
Image:Chara_n4.jpg| | |||
</gallery> | |||
To say the least, these Colin Fromm made Dunhill Charatans show impeccable craftsmanship and feature great smoking characteristics at very reasonable prices. (BTW a Colin Fromm made Dunhill Dunhill asks 3 - 4 times the pice. At least.) But eventhough one might say that a Charatan by Dunhill is as original as a Bugatti by Volkswagen is. | |||
== Miscellaneous Notes == | == Miscellaneous Notes == | ||