Colossus Pipe Factory (C.P.F.)

Colossus Pipe Factory is a pipe brand used in New York over a period stretching from the last quarter of the nineteenth century into the early years of the twentieth. It is known less by its name than by the three-letter stamp struck on the shank end of the pipes: C.P.F. Rather than an independent workshop, the brand existed as a product line run by the firm Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy.

Working Out the Name

What the letters C.P.F. stood for went unknown for a long time, and different readings circulated among collectors. The letters' meaning has been documented thanks to a question-and-answer exchange preserved in the trade press: in the 23 August 1899 issue of The Jeweler's Circular, a reader asks who makes the briar pipe stamped C.P.F.; the answer given states that the letters stand for Colossus Pipe Factory, and that the work is carried out in New York by Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy. This single line is the clearest period record confirming the tie between the brand and the firm.

A different reading of the letters has nonetheless been debated. In an archaeological study on Pacific Northwest fur trade and clay pipes, it has been suggested that the letters could also be read as "Colossal Pipe Factory," or might even point to C.P. Fenner, a figure in the tobacco trade of the era. For this reason it is accepted that the same letters seen on tobacco products other than pipes cannot always be tied to Colossus, and that the question calls for further research.