Jack H. Weinberger JHW Pipes....

[droy1958]

Anybody familiar with these pipes? The bowl on this is 6.5" tall. Kind of different looking.....

[NeverBend]

Anybody familiar with these pipes? The bowl on this is 6.5" tall. Kind of different looking.....

Hi David,

I meant to respond to you weeks ago, sorry for the delay.

Jack Weinberger handmade his bowls (not the stems) in New Jersey in the 1970s and 1980s. Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar (American Smoking Pipe) apprenticed with him. The early American pipes looked a lot like Jack's although the boys turned more classic in shaping after I'd had a few drinks with them (and Mark remains a valued friend).

In the early 1980s we became Jack's top account. We had a show of his pipes in mid-1981 and sold 89 of them in one evening. Jack was shell-shocked (smile).

He used Grecian briar from Pepitas (not sure if that saw mill is still around). He made some interesting shapes like yours and while not a top tier craftsman, his pipes were good value and different. Your pipe was made from the outer edge of the burl, also called plateaux. I've seen and sold several like yours, it was a treatment that Jack did fairly often. Jack's showpiece was a set of pipes made to look like instruments that he displayed together.

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them if I know the answer.

Regards,

Pete

P.S. (edit) David, looking at the pipe closely, I believe I sold it to an Attorney in Brooklyn NY, I could be wrong (he made this shape several times), but the carving on the shank and the repair are consistent with the pipe I sold him. Can I ask where you got the pipe?

[Branzig]

Neat pipe!

Looks like it would be a bear to smoke though! Quite unorthodox, especially to clinch!

[Bruck]

Most unusual! But practical - you could smoke and pull weeds at the same time

[droy1958]

Hi David,

I meant to respond to you weeks ago, sorry for the delay.

Jack Weinberger handmade his bowls (not the stems) in New Jersey in the 1970s and 1980s. Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar (American Smoking Pipe) apprenticed with him. The early American pipes looked a lot like Jack's although the boys turned more classic in shaping after I'd had a few drinks with them (and Mark remains a valued friend).

In the early 1980s we became Jack's top account. We had a show of his pipes in mid-1981 and sold 89 of them in one evening. Jack was shell-shocked (smile).

He used Grecian briar from Pepitas (not sure if that saw mill is still around). He made some interesting shapes like yours and while not a top tier craftsman, his pipes were good value and different. Your pipe was made from the outer edge of the burl, also called plateaux. I've seen and sold several like yours, it was a treatment that Jack did fairly often. Jack's showpiece was a set of pipes made to look like instruments that he displayed together.

If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them if I know the answer.

Regards,

Pete

P.S. (edit) David, looking at the pipe closely, I believe I sold it to an Attorney in Brooklyn NY, I could be wrong (he made this shape several times), but the carving on the shank and the repair are consistent with the pipe I sold him. Can I ask where you got the pipe?

Thanks for the reply Pete. My friend bought this pipe along with a GBD Lumberman and a Nording for $75 at his pawn shop. He decided he wanted me to sell them and split the money. I got $219.50 in the auction of this pipe....

[droy1958]

Neat pipe!

Looks like it would be a bear to smoke though! Quite unorthodox, especially to clinch!

She wasn't a clincher for sure!...

[NeverBend]

Thanks for the reply Pete. My friend bought this pipe along with a GBD Lumberman and a Nording for $75 at his pawn shop. He decided he wanted me to sell them and split the money. I got $219.50 in the auction of this pipe....

Hi David,

If it was from a Pawn Shop then it's doubtful from the attorney I knew, unless he hit hard times (hope that he didn't).

$219.50? That was your half? Even if that was the full price, you did great. Reading between the lines, Mark Tinsky is a fine pipe maker, Jack was pretty sloppy.

Nice job!

Pete

- - - Updated - - -

Neat pipe!

Looks like it would be a bear to smoke though! Quite unorthodox, especially to clinch!

Good to see you Brandon!

You're absolutely right, terrible pipe to smoke (grin)

How's smokes?

[droy1958]

Hi David,

If it was from a Pawn Shop then it's doubtful from the attorney I knew, unless he hit hard times (hope that he didn't).

$219.50? That was your half? Even if that was the full price, you did great. Reading between the lines, Mark Tinsky is a fine pipe maker, Jack was pretty sloppy.

Nice job!

Pete

- - - Updated - - -




Good to see you Brandon!

You're absolutely right, terrible pipe to smoke (grin)

How's smokes?

It was the total, but got over three bills for the three pipes so no complaints. I also came across a couple racks of other pipes from the same source and there was a Root Briar in the mix that I sold. I can always use cash more than MORE pipes. I usually keep the cheaper pipes and sell what will bring in some grocery money....

[NeverBend]

It was the total, but got over three bills for the three pipes so no complaints. I also came across a couple racks of other pipes from the same source and there was a Root Briar in the mix that I sold. I can always use cash more than MORE pipes. I usually keep the cheaper pipes and sell what will bring in some grocery money....

Hi David,

I used to tell clients in the horse business, better to cry about the one that you sold rather than the one that you didn't. Same idea with pipes, every one has a price where they should be sold. No offense to Jack Weinberger (RIP), but this pipe was in that category.

There are ways to make a better smoking pipe that are quite specific, I've written about this in general terms, and made from a natural product (briar) there's no guarantee that any individual pipe will smoke well, only that they are better made to have the potential to do so. If you wish, run your finds by me and I can tell you if you might want to try smoking it before selling it.

And yes, groceries trump pipes (heresy!)

Pete

[droy1958]

Hi David,

I used to tell clients in the horse business, better to cry about the one that you sold rather than the one that you didn't. Same idea with pipes, every one has a price where they should be sold. No offense to Jack Weinberger (RIP), but this pipe was in that category.

There are ways to make a better smoking pipe that are quite specific, I've written about this in general terms, and made from a natural product (briar) there's no guarantee that any individual pipe will smoke well, only that they are better made to have the potential to do so. If you wish, run your finds by me and I can tell you if you might want to try smoking it before selling it.

And yes, groceries trump pipes (heresy!)

Pete

The Schiffsmakler Jürgensen I smoked earlier did OK, but did get a little warm because I was puffing too fast. The Sportsman pipe I'm smoking now seems to be doing good. I was just reading up on it on the Pipe Phil website and it looks like it could've been made by several different companies....

From Pipe Phil: According to Wilczak & Colwell, op. cit. SPORTMAN pipes could have been from A. Frankau (GB), Alex. Royan (GB), H B Saunders (GB), John Hudson Moore Inc. (USA, GB), Lorraine (USA) or Sasieni (GB).

Edit: I just figured out what the JHW pipe reminded me of. It was the head on the creature from the "Alien" movie....