8/13/2023 0 Comments Tinderbox pipes![]() Part of the attraction were the famous pipes handmade by Kolpin himself. Later it moved to its current location in 1948 where it began serving the many Hollywood celebrities living nearby. A few include the Tinder Box Unique, made by Charatan, Christmas Pipes by Ascorti, and the Tinder Box Noble and Exotica, made by Shalom Pipe Factory, Mauro Armellini did make the Verona and Napoli lines.Įd Kolpin, Jr., opened a small tobacco, pipe, and cigar store in Santa Monica, the Tinder Box, in 1928. The store, eventually sold to a Canadian conglomerate, eventually reached 200 retail outlets by 2007, and in the 40 years it operated on a large scale a great number of pipes were made for The Tinder Box by well respected makers. The Tinder Box was the chain of tobacco stores started by Edward Kolpin, Sr., who carved Ed’s Hand Made pipes. I turned to Pipedia for more information on the potential pipe makers for the company ( ). All the other identifying stamps are the same. The only difference is the one I have is stamped Vintage instead of Old Bruyere and is a shape 91 instead of a 61. The pipe I am working on is stamped like the second one, the Bulldog below. I found a listing with three examples shown in the screen capture below. I remembered that The Tinder Box Tobacconist had several pipe companies in Europe make pipes for them so I looked them up on Pipephil’s site ( ). Jeff also captured the remnants of the Tinderbox logo stamp on the topside of the taper stem and the Hand Finished stamp on the underside. The next photos show the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a sense of the grain on the pipe. The stem looked very good under the oxidation. Jeff always takes some photos of the bowl and rim from various angles to show what it looked like. I like to have an idea of how the pipe was smoked before we got it and what the bowl and rim top looked like. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. On the underside of the stem it was stamped HAND arched over FINISHED. The Tinder Box logo was stamped on the topside of the taper and was faded and only the frame was clear. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides at the button. The shape number 91 was at the shank/stem junction. On the underside it was stamped MADE IN LONDON ENGLAND. The pipe is stamped on the topside of the shank and read The Tinder Box Vintage. The finish was filthy with grit and grime ground into the surface of the briar. There was a thick cake in bowl and lava on the rim top and the inner bevel. It was a nice looking Canadian and would look even better once cleaned up. It had an interesting rich brown finish that really highlighted some nice grain around bowl. We purchased the pipe on an online auction from Vanceburg, Kentucky, USA. But the Labour Day weekend is almost over and I have time to work on at least one more pipe so why not this one. Maybe I just wanted a change of pace for a while. It is not a particularly tough restoration so I am not sure why I was dragging my heels. The new location is twice the size as the mall store which allowed us to not only greatly expand our selection of quality products, but to make access to our shop much more convenient for customers.I have had this next pipe sitting in a box next to my desk for several weeks now and finally decided this afternoon to work on. In 2009 the Tinder Box broke with it's historical roots and moved to a fantastic new location on Hosmer Street right along I-5 in Tacoma. The store in the Mall was small, but always crammed with wonderful products. The Tinder Box in Tacoma first opened in the Tacoma Mall 42 years ago where it served Washington for decades, with it's outstanding customer service and great selection of cigars, pipes, and tobaccos. We offer in house engraving and a pipe repair service, but we are best known for our superior customer service and vast industry knowledge. We carry a huge selection of premium cigars, pipe tobaccos, briar and meerschaum pipes, hookahs, hookah tobacco and accessories, humidors, cutters, lighters, pipe accessories, and gifts. The Tacoma Tinder Box is a traditional pipe and tobacco store.
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