Dating and Collecting

A correction to two Canadian-patent records in the Dunhill dating guides: the registration numbers, grant dates, and validity periods of the Vernon joint and the flanged inner tube.

An online auction listing described a pipe as a 1923 Dunhill ES, but the stem writing and the body's proportions did not match. The case is cited as an example of how far stamp reading can take you.

The founding of Caminetto in Cucciago in 1968, its break-up in 1979-80, and its production resuming in 1986; dating from the mustache emblem on the mouthpiece and the shank stamps.

Comoy's pipes have no mark giving the production year directly; dating rests on the shape of the brand stamp, the origin stamp, the three-piece 'C' inlaid on the mouthpiece, and the series name.

Comoy's pipes carry no year code; the date is narrowed by reading together the shape of the brand wording, the frame of the origin stamp, the inlaid mouthpiece mark, and, where present, the silver band's hallmark.

The Cantù-based Castello workshop's stamp system: placing a pipe in its period by reading the Mi Reserva wording, the K grading, the number inside the castle, and shop codes together.

A method for reading a Charatan pipe's production period from the shape of the mouthpiece, the CP stamp, the shank wording, and additions to the shape code. Period boundaries and where the sources disagree.

How to date Dunhill pipes made before 1921, when the brand began striking a small year digit on the shank, using the city line, patent number, finish name, and secondary stamps.

Methods for narrowing the age of tinned pipe tobacco produced in Britain, using the ℮ mark, tax stamps, importer address, tin shape, and label wording.

Loewe pipes carry no year code; dating is inferred by layering the layout of the shank stamps, the presence of a series name, the switch from a shape name to a three-digit number, and the assay mark on the silver band.

A rough dating guide for placing Peterson pipes into approximate periods using their origin stamps, silver hallmarks, and lettering style.

The chain of events used as the basis for dating Dr. Grabow pipes: from M. Linkman & Co., founded in Chicago in 1892, through the move to North Carolina in 1943, to the last change of ownership in 2006.

A method for narrowing a Dunhill pipe's production year by looking at when its finish name began, whether it carries a special series stamp, and the small year suffix struck on the shank.

A method for narrowing a Dunhill pipe's production year using the patent numbers struck on the shank, the shape of the brand stamp, and the year code introduced in the early 1920s.

The differences among three shapes sitting at the margin of Dunhill's standard shape list — Don, Duke, and Opera — their stamp numbers, and their traces in the records.

The scope and limits of a compiled guide that dates Kaywoodie pipes by cross-referencing factory catalogs, the clover-leaf stamp on the mouthpiece, and shape-number conventions.

A testimony-based article published in 1998 that attempts to date Charatan pipes from stamp and stem details, and the debate it sparked among collectors.

How the distinction between invention patents, design registrations, and trademarks matters for dating pipes; the scope and limits of 19th-century US records, and how a stamp gets tied to a document.

The stamps struck into the shank and the logos set into the stem are the primary evidence linking a pipe to its brand, quality grade, and period of manufacture. This entry explains the types of markings and how to read them.

A stamp made in England in the early twentieth century, whose layout closely echoes Peterson's patent pipes and which is known from only a handful of surviving examples with a forked-slot mouthpiece.

The subsidiary lines the London firm Sasieni sold under separate names beneath its flagship Four Dot series, and how these pipes are dated from the distributor's name, shape number, finish name, and shank stamp.

The evolution of Dunhill's replacement pledge, known by the white spot on the stem, from its unlimited 1910 form to its one-year form in the 1920s, and how this change relates to year-code stamping.

The origin story of the small white dot on Dunhill mouthpieces, and the stamps, finishes, and shape records that set this brand apart for collectors.

John C. Loring's compilation of pipe tobacco tins from the 1930s through the late 1960s, organized by maker, tin type, weight, and date; the condition codes on knife-lid tins and the cardboard and glass packaging of the war years stand out.

John C. Loring's compilation gathering pipe tobacco tins from these two decades in a single table, by maker, tin type, weight, and date, along with the special date abbreviations found in the Dunhill and Rattray's rows.