Put this in your pipe and smoke it! DiMola finds vintage briar tobacco pipe on trash pick up job in Queens

Briar pipe found on trash pick up job in Queens, NY -- right next to 1940s briar pipe ad!

I like most of the antiques I find, but it’s hard to find ones that are this smokin’.

I found this briar tobacco pipe when I was on a trash pick up job in Queens, NY. From what I’ve read, most pipe smokers actually prefer the briar pipe to other types of pipes, such as meerschaum, clay, calabash, corncob, metal pips, pipes made from synthetics, and hookahs. Although tobacco pipes are still extremely popular today — nearly 30 million are manufactured nationwide — briar pipes are still highly prized among collectors.

Pipes made of briar — which is an extremely slow-growing Mediterranean White Heath tree root burl — became popular in the late 19th century, as clay pipes became less and less prevalent. They’re fairly cheap pipes but can get pricey; today, you can buy them for anywhere from $20 to more than $350. Their quality is based on a variety of factors, such as the color, grain and age of the wood, as well as how well it is crafted. Pipes of the highest quality are made of burl that is at least 50 years old.

Briar is cut from the root burl of the tree heath (Erica arborea)

When I brought the briar pipe back to my office, I remembered the issues of New York Daily News circa 1940s (I mentioned them in one of my older posts). Oddly enough, I found an ad for a pipe almost identical to mine! I love when I find different antiques on different jobs that end up relating to each other — and in turn, end up telling their own story.

Pipe diagram, taken from StarfirePipeWorks.com.

DiMola Bros Rubbish Removal
1640 Summerfield St.
Ridgewood, NY 11385
Phone: 718-326-6969
Fax: 718-326-7979
NGDimola@aol.com / http://dimolabros.com

~ by DiMolaBros1956 on May 11, 2011.