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Restoring a Unique Comoy’s Pebble Grain 603 Modern Bent Poker
Blog by Dal Stanton
When I saw this pipe on the eBay auction block, I wanted it! I was drawn initially by two factors – first, it was a Comoy’s Pebble Grain. Secondly, I had never seen a Comoy’s with this shape – a very nice Bent Poker and classy to boot! Or was it a Poker? The seller’s tagline said: Details about Comoy’s Pre-Cadogan Pebble Grain Lightweight OOM Paul 609 Made In England. Uh, Oom Paul? Here is what I saw:
Despite the confusing information which I decided I would sort out later, I was able to dodge last second bidders and land this beautiful, blasted Comoy’s Pebble Grain Bent Poker. This Comoy’s has been in my ‘Help Me! Basket’ here in Bulgaria for some time waiting to unravel the confusion. Now, fast forward to a recent visit to Bulgaria of my wife’s sister and her husband, Sarah…
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Recommissioning Another L. J. Peretti of Boston: An Oom Paul Sitter
Blog by Dal Stanton
After restoring my first two Oom Pauls (see: LINK) from the L. J. Peretti Co., Tobacconist of Boston, this is the next Oom Paul that came to Bulgaria in the Peretti Lot of 10 I acquired off the eBay auction block. I posted the picture of the 10 (below) on my favorite Facebook pipe groups (The Gentlemen’s Pipe Smoking Society, Old Codgers Smoking Pipe, Pipe Smokers of America, and Tobacco Pipe Restorers) letting interested pipe men and women know that except for one, the Oom Pauls would be available for personal collections. All the Perettis restored and placed with new stewards benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria, an effort to help women and girls (and their children!) who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. This L. J. Peretti Oom Paul Sitter from the Lot of 10 has been commissioned by a pipe man in neighboring…
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Recommissioning a Sculpted Gourd Calabash for a Man Serving His Country
Blog by Dal Stanton
Last year, when my wife and I were in the US for some months for our periodic furlough reconnecting with friends, family, and sponsors of our work in Bulgaria, I was also trying to connect with pipes – I love the search! As I’ve done many times before, I was trolling through the eBay offerings. I came across a listing for a lot of pipes, which the seller described as: Huge Lot Of 66 Smoking Pipes Pre-Owned Pre-Smoked and Deeply Loved. The further description was that the Lot of 66 was a donated item, that the collection belonged to one owner, and they repeated that the collection had been “Loved”. There were several other pictures providing break downs of the overview below. As you might expect, I started going through the pictures to see what I could see – the seller said that they were…
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An Unexpected Find in Athens – A Savinelli Oscar Aged Briar 614
Blog by Dal Stanton
When I first laid my eyes on this Savinelli, I didn’t realize it was a Savinelli. I was in Athens, Greece, tooling through the Monastiraki market area at the foot of the Acropolis, next door to the Forum. As I explored I found one shop nestled on a tree-covered side street with a table set on the front sidewalk with all kinds of paraphernalia. It drew me like a bee to pollen! Two congenial men were sitting behind the table conversing in Greek. I assumed they chatted about all manner of life, family, politics…, and what is usually the case, as I drew near, their conversation stopped, and the English began. As I perused the table with strategic disinterest, I saw one pipe on the table that did not grab me too much. The shop owner asked me if I was interested in pipes? I said…
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Two of Boston’s L. J. Peretti Oom Pauls Recommissioned
Blog by Dal Stanton
With all pipe man honesty, what could I do? What would you do if faced with this staring at you on the eBay auction block?
J. Peretti Co., all, looking back at me! – the pipe name that I had unintentionally started collecting and liking a lot. The seller was from Everett, Massachusetts, near Boston’s L. J. Peretti Co. Tobacconist, second oldest Tobacconist in the US. Even though Peretti Tobacconist is more known for their 1000s of custom blends of tobacco which I have enjoyed (see below presents from last Christmas from my daughter-in-law!), they have also produced pipes over the years bearing the Peretti name. It became obvious to me that this seller had Peretti estate pipes which had belonged to a pipe man who loved Peretti pipes, and I was attracted to the Lot for all the Peretti shapes that I do not yet…
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An Italian Croc Skin Zulu and a Bear of a Meer Lining Repair
Blog by Dal Stanton
This Zulu caught my eye along with a striking, Comoy’s Royal Falcon bent Bulldog on the UK eBay auction block. I have always been attracted to the canted stummels of both Dublin and Zulu shapes. They strike me as pipes with a bit of attitude! The second thing that caught my attention was the exquisite, tight crocodile skin-like texture of the rustification. When I first took the Zulu out of the ‘Help Me!’ basket, I wasn’t quite sure how to best describe the pattern. Initially, I was thinking maybe, pine cone – mainly because of the tight, uniform design. I showed it to my wife for her first impressions. Without hesitation she said that it was iguana or crocodile skin… I chose the croc description because it seems to go better with the Zulu motif! Of course, the final selling point was the Meer lining. That…
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Refreshing a ‘Faux’ Mastro de Paja Poker
Blog by Dal Stanton
One of the great things returning to Bulgaria after 6 months in the US, was again reuniting with our colleagues, fellow team members – our family in Bulgaria. One of those reunions was in Bulgaria’s second largest city, and arguably one of the most beautiful, Plovdiv, declared to be the ‘European Capital of Culture’ in 2019 by the EU. I met with our team working there, and one of my team members, Brett, confided that he had something for me in his flat. When we arrived, I was not expecting what he pulled off the top shelf of the bookcase, waiting some months for my return to Bulgaria. What I saw was a massive Poker with an eye-catching brown-swirl acrylic stem. The shank was joined with the stem by an attractive silver ensemble – stem extender joining a shank ferrule. As frosting is to cake, I…
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A Pipe for Vanity – a Stanton for a Stanton
Blog by Dal Stanton
I suppose it IS vain to restart my restoration operations after 6 months with a pipe bearing my name. In my recent travelogue blog, ‘There and Back again – to Bulgaria’, I described what I called my ‘Vanity Pipe’ as one of the 105 pipes I acquired during our 6 month US visit. I came across this name-sake while trolling eBay’s offerings. I hadn’t come across a ‘Stanton’ before and so I decided to place a bid. As it turned out, I was the only Stanton bidding on the Stanton and claimed my Vanity Pipe with no competition.
Name aside, the medium sized billiard looked to me like he was a hearty pipe – I will see if he’s a good smoker. Yet, if the heavy use, thick cake, and banged up stummel is any indication of the former steward’s affections, I would say…
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There and Back Again – to Bulgaria
Blog by Dal Stanton
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sward have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on the meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known
— Bilbo Baggins
These words, ascribed to Bilbo, penned by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Hobbit, captured Bilbo’s thoughts as he came over the rise and his eyes again canvassed his beloved, Shire – home again. I borrow the sentiments he so well expressed after my wife and I returned to Bulgaria, our home, after about six months traveling in the US. We visited sponsors of our work in Bulgaria, and renewed ties with family and friends – AND not to go unmentioned, we also celebrated the addition of two beautiful granddaughters during this…
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The Pipe Steward 