- Thread starter
- #2,321
Just one from the Coffee Table tomorrow.
But it’s an especially nice one, with a longer story I hope you all enjoy.
Happy puffs!
But it’s an especially nice one, with a longer story I hope you all enjoy.
Happy puffs!
The Codger Cabin
- Thread starter Columbo
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #2,322
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
Here’s a beautiful post-War story about the once world-famous Bertram Pipe Shop, “The Nation’s Pipe Maker”.
(Credit to the great The American Legion Magazine)
If there was one American pipe maker during the golden codger era that surpassed Kaywoodie in world-renowned quality — and some would say bettered Dunhill’s best — it was Bertram. Founded in Baltimore in the Nineteenth Century, and later relocated to Washington, D.C. at the start of the Twentieth Century, this small family-owned custom shop supplied the highest profile celebrities, magnates and world leaders of the day with high end pipes and top-grade, custom-blended tobaccos.
Bertram graded its pipes by number, equalling the sales price in dollars, with the grading going up to “120” (and with some uncertainty over what the highest grade ones sold for). An upper-grade Bertram, using the very finest aged Algerian briar, was as good a pipe, or better, than any artesian-made pipe today. Bertram also sold the best cigars available, delivering Churchill his favorite one-dollar Cuban R&Js when visiting Washington in the 1940s. Truly an old codger’s paradise.
Bertram is another of those legendary pipe institutions that we eventually lost (in the 1970s, after third-generation Sid, interviewed in this wonderful American Legion story, passed on). But the enduring high quality of Bertram pipes is attested to even today by those who have the pleasant honor of restoring them.
And for some of us, the name Bertram evokes more than great pipes. Puffing a Bertram 80, while fishing off a Bertram 31 thirty miles out, is my idea of heaven.
(Image credits to streetsofwashington.com)
(Credit to The Pittsburgh Press)
Bertram's Pipe Shop on 14th Street - http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2012/01/bertrams-pipe-shop-on-14th-street.html
Bertram - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bertram
Bertram pipes – rebornpipes - https://rebornpipes.com/tag/bertram-pipes/
Here’s a beautiful post-War story about the once world-famous Bertram Pipe Shop, “The Nation’s Pipe Maker”.
(Credit to the great The American Legion Magazine)
If there was one American pipe maker during the golden codger era that surpassed Kaywoodie in world-renowned quality — and some would say bettered Dunhill’s best — it was Bertram. Founded in Baltimore in the Nineteenth Century, and later relocated to Washington, D.C. at the start of the Twentieth Century, this small family-owned custom shop supplied the highest profile celebrities, magnates and world leaders of the day with high end pipes and top-grade, custom-blended tobaccos.
Bertram graded its pipes by number, equalling the sales price in dollars, with the grading going up to “120” (and with some uncertainty over what the highest grade ones sold for). An upper-grade Bertram, using the very finest aged Algerian briar, was as good a pipe, or better, than any artesian-made pipe today. Bertram also sold the best cigars available, delivering Churchill his favorite one-dollar Cuban R&Js when visiting Washington in the 1940s. Truly an old codger’s paradise.
Bertram is another of those legendary pipe institutions that we eventually lost (in the 1970s, after third-generation Sid, interviewed in this wonderful American Legion story, passed on). But the enduring high quality of Bertram pipes is attested to even today by those who have the pleasant honor of restoring them.
And for some of us, the name Bertram evokes more than great pipes. Puffing a Bertram 80, while fishing off a Bertram 31 thirty miles out, is my idea of heaven.
(Image credits to streetsofwashington.com)
(Credit to The Pittsburgh Press)
Bertram's Pipe Shop on 14th Street - http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2012/01/bertrams-pipe-shop-on-14th-street.html
Bertram - Pipedia - https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bertram
Bertram pipes – rebornpipes - https://rebornpipes.com/tag/bertram-pipes/
Fantastic read!
- Thread starter
- #2,325
For those deep-diving into estate Bertrams, some more on the iconic brand, from another commentator on a Google forum in 2005 (credit to poster "BostonX", all errors in original):
groups.google.com
"I'm trying to compile and verify enough information about the Bertram
Pipe Store in Washington DC to both satisfy my curiosity and also
provide a reasonably accurate description of the store and its
pipes.I've been working hard at it for about 5 years, acquiring dozens
of pipes, and reading everything available here on asp. I've seen every
Bertram sold on e-bay in the last few years, I think. And I acquired an
early 1950s catalog of theirs, which was truly helpful. Here's what I
think I already know.
SHAPES and GRADES
Bertram did have shape numbers (the Prince, for example, is #153) but
seem never to have stamped them on the pipe. This was common among many
in-house pipe shops -- Ehrlich in Boston never numbered their pipes
either. (If you see an Ehrlich #25, that is the grade stamping for
Connoisseur pipes, the highest grade for Ehrlich, and retailing for $25
through the 1960s and mid 1970s.) I only know the shape numbers from
the catalog.
Bertram's numbering is almost certainly a grading/pricing system stamp.
This is obvious because I have many pipes in different shapes but all
with the same number. It's my belief that higher numbers equal higher
grades, though I an deducing this only by looking at my own samples. I
have seen lots of Bertram 25s and 40s, which are lower grades -- very
mixed grain, with a fair number of bald areas. I don't recall ever
seeing a fill (unlike the Ehrich pipes, which at the lower grades are
just loaded with putty.) Then comes the 50, which is a pretty good
pipe, though still the grain is usually not quite perfect. I've seen
one 80, and quite a few 90s, which are always very high grades, with
excellent grain. (Again, my 90s are in all different shapes.) The
Bertram "StrateGrain" I have is also stamped 90. I have seen one 95,
very high quality. I have also seen one 105 which was beautiful. It is
certainly possible that their were other numbered grades I haven't
seen, but the numbers seem to me clearly to be grades, not shape
numbers.
Then I have several truly spectacular straight grains that rival any
I've even seen from any manufacturer, and these are ungraded. They must
have been specimen pieces which were individually priced, so didn't fit
any of the existing price categories.
In the early 1950's catalog the grades were described in "groups", with
a lettering system (although I have never seen any letters on my
Bertram pipes.) I think the lettering, like the catalog pipe shape
numbers, never appeared on the pipes, and was used only for mail order
clarification, or perhaps internal sorting and storing. Here are the
groups, from lowest to highest. (With quotations from the catalog.)
C - Capitol "with imperfections that in no way impair the smoking
quality."
E - Envoy "with occasional briar spots that merge with the grain."
J - Judicial ""the Algerian Briar used in this group is no less than 50
years old, but is not as perfect and porous as older and more expensive
burls."
S - Senator ""Algerian Briar ranging from 100-150 years old."
D - Diplomat "choice selected burls having a high degree of porosity
and absorbtion."
EX - Executive "choice selected, centuries old, hand-turned and
finished." This was the highest standard grade.
Straight Grains were listed next, and these, I believe, might not have
always had a group designation or grade number. Several of mine do not.
Stamping was very often weak on the Bertram pipes I've seen (or maybe
they have just been buffed a lot) and stems had no markings at all.
TOBACCOS
Bertram sold at least 8 provate line pipe tobaccos at one point. These
were:
Bertram's Capitol Blend -- Burley, latakia, Virginia
Bertram's Senate Blend -- Irish shag tobaccos
Bertram's Congressional Mixture -- No Aromatics
Bertram's Diplomat -- Aged Virginia, Latakia, Perique, Turkish
Bertram's Envoy Blend -- English type, Turkish and Virginia
Bertram's Balkan Legation Blend -- Virginia, Yenidge, Dubeck, Yaki, and
Latakia
Bertram's Bouquet Blend -- Aromatic
Bertram's Personal Blend -- coarse cut Kentucky burley
I have never tried any of these tobaccos. Does anyone remember them,
and can they offer reviews or comparisons to tobaccos we might be more
familiar with?
STORE HISTORY
I don't know much here except the store went back to the mid 1800s and
there were three generations of Bertrams who ran it. I understand the
pipe making operations (at least at one point) were on the second
floor, and sales were on the first floor. At some point (maybe the
early 1970s) they were no longer producing their own pipes, but
outsourcing them, probably from Weber. rlich's in Boston did the same
thing, possibly a bit earlier (late 1960s, I think.)
When the last Mr. Bertram died his wife kept the store going for a
short while, and it finally closed in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
(Anyone have any accurate dates here?)
SMOKING QUALITIES
I have smoked a lot of these pipes, and never had a bad one. I don't
know what the fabled "Bertram Method" of seasoning/aging entailed, but
the pipes were spectacular. They never used stain or varnish, and the
wood (especially on the higher grades) seems similar to the fabled
briar used in pre-transition Barlings -- high-grade ancient and nicely
aged Algerian briar. These pipes develop a deep russet brown, almost
mahogany coloring with extended smoking. The bore is a bit more open
than most other pipes from that era, and there are never any metal
thingamabobs in the pipes.
In my estimation, (and this is admittedly just a personal observation)
they may represent one of the best bargains in estate pipes. Virtually
any Bertram with a 50 or higher grade will likely have sold in its time
for a price similar to a good Barling, Comoy, or Sasieni -- but you can
usually pick them up on eBay for a fraction of the cost of the more
collectable brand names."
Bertram Pipe history -- long
"I'm trying to compile and verify enough information about the Bertram
Pipe Store in Washington DC to both satisfy my curiosity and also
provide a reasonably accurate description of the store and its
pipes.I've been working hard at it for about 5 years, acquiring dozens
of pipes, and reading everything available here on asp. I've seen every
Bertram sold on e-bay in the last few years, I think. And I acquired an
early 1950s catalog of theirs, which was truly helpful. Here's what I
think I already know.
SHAPES and GRADES
Bertram did have shape numbers (the Prince, for example, is #153) but
seem never to have stamped them on the pipe. This was common among many
in-house pipe shops -- Ehrlich in Boston never numbered their pipes
either. (If you see an Ehrlich #25, that is the grade stamping for
Connoisseur pipes, the highest grade for Ehrlich, and retailing for $25
through the 1960s and mid 1970s.) I only know the shape numbers from
the catalog.
Bertram's numbering is almost certainly a grading/pricing system stamp.
This is obvious because I have many pipes in different shapes but all
with the same number. It's my belief that higher numbers equal higher
grades, though I an deducing this only by looking at my own samples. I
have seen lots of Bertram 25s and 40s, which are lower grades -- very
mixed grain, with a fair number of bald areas. I don't recall ever
seeing a fill (unlike the Ehrich pipes, which at the lower grades are
just loaded with putty.) Then comes the 50, which is a pretty good
pipe, though still the grain is usually not quite perfect. I've seen
one 80, and quite a few 90s, which are always very high grades, with
excellent grain. (Again, my 90s are in all different shapes.) The
Bertram "StrateGrain" I have is also stamped 90. I have seen one 95,
very high quality. I have also seen one 105 which was beautiful. It is
certainly possible that their were other numbered grades I haven't
seen, but the numbers seem to me clearly to be grades, not shape
numbers.
Then I have several truly spectacular straight grains that rival any
I've even seen from any manufacturer, and these are ungraded. They must
have been specimen pieces which were individually priced, so didn't fit
any of the existing price categories.
In the early 1950's catalog the grades were described in "groups", with
a lettering system (although I have never seen any letters on my
Bertram pipes.) I think the lettering, like the catalog pipe shape
numbers, never appeared on the pipes, and was used only for mail order
clarification, or perhaps internal sorting and storing. Here are the
groups, from lowest to highest. (With quotations from the catalog.)
C - Capitol "with imperfections that in no way impair the smoking
quality."
E - Envoy "with occasional briar spots that merge with the grain."
J - Judicial ""the Algerian Briar used in this group is no less than 50
years old, but is not as perfect and porous as older and more expensive
burls."
S - Senator ""Algerian Briar ranging from 100-150 years old."
D - Diplomat "choice selected burls having a high degree of porosity
and absorbtion."
EX - Executive "choice selected, centuries old, hand-turned and
finished." This was the highest standard grade.
Straight Grains were listed next, and these, I believe, might not have
always had a group designation or grade number. Several of mine do not.
Stamping was very often weak on the Bertram pipes I've seen (or maybe
they have just been buffed a lot) and stems had no markings at all.
TOBACCOS
Bertram sold at least 8 provate line pipe tobaccos at one point. These
were:
Bertram's Capitol Blend -- Burley, latakia, Virginia
Bertram's Senate Blend -- Irish shag tobaccos
Bertram's Congressional Mixture -- No Aromatics
Bertram's Diplomat -- Aged Virginia, Latakia, Perique, Turkish
Bertram's Envoy Blend -- English type, Turkish and Virginia
Bertram's Balkan Legation Blend -- Virginia, Yenidge, Dubeck, Yaki, and
Latakia
Bertram's Bouquet Blend -- Aromatic
Bertram's Personal Blend -- coarse cut Kentucky burley
I have never tried any of these tobaccos. Does anyone remember them,
and can they offer reviews or comparisons to tobaccos we might be more
familiar with?
STORE HISTORY
I don't know much here except the store went back to the mid 1800s and
there were three generations of Bertrams who ran it. I understand the
pipe making operations (at least at one point) were on the second
floor, and sales were on the first floor. At some point (maybe the
early 1970s) they were no longer producing their own pipes, but
outsourcing them, probably from Weber. rlich's in Boston did the same
thing, possibly a bit earlier (late 1960s, I think.)
When the last Mr. Bertram died his wife kept the store going for a
short while, and it finally closed in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
(Anyone have any accurate dates here?)
SMOKING QUALITIES
I have smoked a lot of these pipes, and never had a bad one. I don't
know what the fabled "Bertram Method" of seasoning/aging entailed, but
the pipes were spectacular. They never used stain or varnish, and the
wood (especially on the higher grades) seems similar to the fabled
briar used in pre-transition Barlings -- high-grade ancient and nicely
aged Algerian briar. These pipes develop a deep russet brown, almost
mahogany coloring with extended smoking. The bore is a bit more open
than most other pipes from that era, and there are never any metal
thingamabobs in the pipes.
In my estimation, (and this is admittedly just a personal observation)
they may represent one of the best bargains in estate pipes. Virtually
any Bertram with a 50 or higher grade will likely have sold in its time
for a price similar to a good Barling, Comoy, or Sasieni -- but you can
usually pick them up on eBay for a fraction of the cost of the more
collectable brand names."
There's some fine examples out there to be had.
Reborn Pipes has several from 20 through 55 for very reasonable prices, though I purchased from another location.
I bought an unrestored Lovat 50 and an ungraded tapered Billiard that is gorgeous.
Reborn Pipes has several from 20 through 55 for very reasonable prices, though I purchased from another location.
I bought an unrestored Lovat 50 and an ungraded tapered Billiard that is gorgeous.
Great...now I want a Bertram pipe
- Thread starter
- #2,329
Fantastic post, brandaves. Please post more!
The cabin is the place for frolics and detours.
Kilroy6644
Smoking a corn dog in aviators and a top hat
I found an old Bertram bulldog in an antique store several years ago. I'd never heard of them before, but I was pleasantly surprised at what I learned when I looked them up. It's always nice to realize you struck gold. I should smoke it more.
- Thread starter
- #2,331
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
- Thread starter
- #2,332
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
It's been a long week. I just might ...
It's been a long week. I just might ...
Is that an owl in the bottom right corner?
- Thread starter
- #2,334
Hard to believe these are still around, but this one is from Etsy!
Hard to get a feel for the size with that perspective, 10-12 inches as a display for a bar?
Looks like about 12 inches, maybe slightly larger by an inch or two. Made of composition paper, like paper mache. It's just the front, the back is open kind of like a mask. Could be stood on a bar or hung on a wall.
- Thread starter
- #2,338
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
- Thread starter
- #2,339
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
- Thread starter
- #2,340
From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
