Mastercraft

Mastercraft is one of the pipe names that reached a wide audience in the mid-twentieth-century United States, though it was not a manufacturer in the usual sense. The brand was an import house that brought pipes made to order at factories in Europe and the Middle East to the American market under its own stamp, adding lighters, tobacco pouches, and similar accessories and distributing them wholesale. Its administration was based in New York for many years.

A Brand Without a Factory

Mastercraft had no bench and no carver of its own; every pipe bearing its name was the work of another workshop. According to the account, its stock included lines signed by Rossi, Brebbia, Santambrogio, GIGI, and the Rovera brothers from Italy, by Parker/Hardcastle and Orlik from England, and by Jeantet and Jima from France; meerschaum pipes from Austria's Strambach, a series made in Israel, Japanese lighters, and Hong Kong-made pouches also featured on the distribution list. This inventory rests on a single recollection and has not been cross-checked against independent trade records.

Such a structure means there could be serious differences in workmanship between two pipes bearing the same name. The clue is mostly in the stamp: the name "Mastercraft" set within a shield-shaped frame, alongside the phrase "Imported Briar" used for the briar, and often the country of production ("Italy," for instance). A silver-colored oval "MC" mark on the side of the mouthpiece and series names such as Executive Choice are also known traces; some examples bear the "Algerian Briar" stamp. The brand is said to have used Bing Crosby's face in magazine advertising; although this claim is widespread in pipe literature, it has not been confirmed against original advertising artwork.