Bertram Pipe history -- long
BostonX
Pipe Store in Washington DC to both satisfy my curiosity and also
provide a reasonably accurate description of the store and its
pipes.I've been working hard at it for about 5 years, acquiring dozens
of pipes, and reading everything available here on asp. I've seen every
Bertram sold on e-bay in the last few years, I think. And I acquired an
early 1950s catalog of theirs, which was truly helpful. Here's what I
think I already know.
SHAPES and GRADES
Bertram did have shape numbers (the Prince, for example, is #153) but
seem never to have stamped them on the pipe. This was common among many
in-house pipe shops -- Ehrlich in Boston never numbered their pipes
either. (If you see an Ehrlich #25, that is the grade stamping for
Connoisseur pipes, the highest grade for Ehrlich, and retailing for $25
through the 1960s and mid 1970s.) I only know the shape numbers from
the catalog.
Bertram's numbering is almost certainly a grading/pricing system stamp.
This is obvious because I have many pipes in different shapes but all
with the same number. It's my belief that higher numbers equal higher
grades, though I an deducing this only by looking at my own samples. I
have seen lots of Bertram 25s and 40s, which are lower grades -- very
mixed grain, with a fair number of bald areas. I don't recall ever
seeing a fill (unlike the Ehrich pipes, which at the lower grades are
just loaded with putty.) Then comes the 50, which is a pretty good
pipe, though still the grain is usually not quite perfect. I've seen
one 80, and quite a few 90s, which are always very high grades, with
excellent grain. (Again, my 90s are in all different shapes.) The
Bertram "StrateGrain" I have is also stamped 90. I have seen one 95,
very high quality. I have also seen one 105 which was beautiful. It is
certainly possible that their were other numbered grades I haven't
seen, but the numbers seem to me clearly to be grades, not shape
numbers.
Then I have several truly spectacular straight grains that rival any
I've even seen from any manufacturer, and these are ungraded. They must
have been specimen pieces which were individually priced, so didn't fit
any of the existing price categories.
In the early 1950's catalog the grades were described in "groups", with
a lettering system (although I have never seen any letters on my
Bertram pipes.) I think the lettering, like the catalog pipe shape
numbers, never appeared on the pipes, and was used only for mail order
clarification, or perhaps internal sorting and storing. Here are the
groups, from lowest to highest. (With quotations from the catalog.)
C - Capitol "with imperfections that in no way impair the smoking
quality."
E - Envoy "with occasional briar spots that merge with the grain."
J - Judicial ""the Algerian Briar used in this group is no less than 50
years old, but is not as perfect and porous as older and more expensive
burls."
S - Senator ""Algerian Briar ranging from 100-150 years old."
D - Diplomat "choice selected burls having a high degree of porosity
and absorbtion."
EX - Executive "choice selected, centuries old, hand-turned and
finished." This was the highest standard grade.
Straight Grains were listed next, and these, I believe, might not have
always had a group designation or grade number. Several of mine do not.
Stamping was very often weak on the Bertram pipes I've seen (or maybe
they have just been buffed a lot) and stems had no markings at all.
TOBACCOS
Bertram sold at least 8 provate line pipe tobaccos at one point. These
were:
Bertram's Capitol Blend -- Burley, latakia, Virginia
Bertram's Senate Blend -- Irish shag tobaccos
Bertram's Congressional Mixture -- No Aromatics
Bertram's Diplomat -- Aged Virginia, Latakia, Perique, Turkish
Bertram's Envoy Blend -- English type, Turkish and Virginia
Bertram's Balkan Legation Blend -- Virginia, Yenidge, Dubeck, Yaki, and
Latakia
Bertram's Bouquet Blend -- Aromatic
Bertram's Personal Blend -- coarse cut Kentucky burley
I have never tried any of these tobaccos. Does anyone remember them,
and can they offer reviews or comparisons to tobaccos we might be more
familiar with?
STORE HISTORY
I don't know much here except the store went back to the mid 1800s and
there were three generations of Bertrams who ran it. I understand the
pipe making operations (at least at one point) were on the second
floor, and sales were on the first floor. At some point (maybe the
early 1970s) they were no longer producing their own pipes, but
outsourcing them, probably from Weber. rlich's in Boston did the same
thing, possibly a bit earlier (late 1960s, I think.)
When the last Mr. Bertram died his wife kept the store going for a
short while, and it finally closed in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
(Anyone have any accurate dates here?)
SMOKING QUALITIES
I have smoked a lot of these pipes, and never had a bad one. I don't
know what the fabled "Bertram Method" of seasoning/aging entailed, but
the pipes were spectacular. They never used stain or varnish, and the
wood (especially on the higher grades) seems similar to the fabled
briar used in pre-transition Barlings -- high-grade ancient and nicely
aged Algerian briar. These pipes develop a deep russet brown, almost
mahogany coloring with extended smoking. The bore is a bit more open
than most other pipes from that era, and there are never any metal
thingamabobs in the pipes.
In my estimation, (and this is admittedly just a personal observation)
they may represent one of the best bargains in estate pipes. Virtually
any Bertram with a 50 or higher grade will likely have sold in its time
for a price similar to a good Barling, Comoy, or Sasieni -- but you can
usually pick them up on eBay for a fraction of the cost of the more
collectable brand names.
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS
Please correct any of my misunderstandings and add anything you know
that I have ignorred or omitted. Thanks!
Stephen E. Williamson
grade 30. The grain is excellent and it smokes as well as any pipe that I
have.
If I can remember correctly, Bertram closed about the time I moved back to
West Virginia, in 1989 or so. I was in DC wandering around and went into
a pipe store that was going out of business. I can not remember if it was
Bertram's or another.
Laf
Stephen E. Williamson wrote:
I got two Bertrams. Both fantastic smokers. They just smooth things out
in a way I have not encountered with any other pipe. A friend gave them
to me and they where a bitch to clean. In fact, I have not really gotten
all the sour taste out but it doesn't seem to matter because it smokes
so damn well. Go figure.
H.
Kurt Slauson
think it would be a great addition to the page.
Kurt
Laf
BostonX wrote:
This was great. Thanks for posting your hard work. I have two berts and
I was always curious about them because they where such good smokers.
Yet, there seems to be so little info on the net about them.
Laf
Gene H
It's a nice pipe, but I get a bite from it, I think maybe a burn. I was thinking about saving the original stem, but adding a new
one that was more open on the end, almost like a Sasieni Fantail.
Any ideas?
Gene H
"BostonX" <dgde...@comcast.net> wrote in message news:1104968795.5...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
Mark Tinsky
A little very unimportant side note... It s kind of a long story
of how this came to be...... but sometime in the 80s Paul Mac Donald
of Ehrlichs aquired the equipment from the Bertrams factory. He
had planned to go into a pipe making partnership that didn t work
out and he retained the equipment from Bertrams.
He had it stored in a large warehouse near the canadian border. Upon
seeing such " hardworking/industrious" young pipe makers( me & Curt)
who at that time were selling him pipes. He offered the equipment to
us, FREE.
We rented the biggest U haul truck we could at the time and took tons
of equipment back to Pa. Frazers, Top Turners, up rights, French
wheels , beautiful tables, thousands of silver bands, stummels. You
name it and we got it. The deal was what we could n t haul we had to
arrange to be dumped as Paul was tired of paying rent on the stuff. We
got most of it but had to get rid of some of the most solidly built
work tables I ve ever seen.
Well that was about 20 years ago.... I can t say I have much left
except some of the tables which were too nice to leave in PA and I
had trucked to MT. I may have a couple of their stamps around too.
A word abut P Mac Donald. Without a doubt he
had the most integrity of anyone I ve ever met in business. I can t
thank him enough for the help and support he gave me in his years at
Ehrlichs. He had a great family he was very proud of and his sons f
followed him into the busines. Sady, he died a few years back. A
great yet quiet man.
MT
Robert Silverman
but when I left that setting and was cleaning out my desk I decided to also
throw out what was for me (and I am truly sorry to say this) the worst pipe
I ever smoked. It was blond in color, and it was very heavy. And it was
given to me by a faculty colleague who had relocated from an administrative
position from a Washington university in 1969.
I tried all kinds of latakia laced tobaccos, tobaccos bought at Smokers'
Haven, on top of Red Rapparee, and various Sullivan's mixtures, and others,
and inevitably the taste was just sour. Really sour. So over the years,
often when I had a different tobacco, I would take this out of my desk and
light it up. Well--it was never even reasonable.
As I said, I regret having said what I have in this note. We all know that
every manufacturer has a range of product quality, and I always regretted
when I was young and did not have many options when it came to purchasing a
pipe, that this one was a strike out.
Bob Silverman
"BostonX" <dgde...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1104968795.5...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
Kevin Pfeifle
Laf
Kevin Pfeifle wrote:
>
>
>Check out:
>
>http://www.vintagepostcards.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=VPC&Product_Code=ADVETO-J6607
>
>
>
Very cool!
H.
sl...@uniserve.com
smaller 50 The 30 is a bent dublin, the 50 a billiard and the other
smaller 50 a saddle bit billiard. Very fine smokers and nice briar.
There is a great article on the Bertrams in an edition of TPSE - the
Emphemeris - A Tom Dunn publication. It is about a year ago and gives
detail on Bertrams and a bit of history of the generation of Bertrams
who ran the shop and its eventual closure due to fire.. Very good
article. Maybe someone here can give the exact issue -- mine are in
storage so I cannot put my hands on it.
Steve
BostonX
for postage and photocopying if anyone could copy that article for me.
Or if someone has the technical abilities to scan and e-mail it, even
better.
I hope I didn't merely duplicate information that was already well
known.
-- Dave
sl...@uniserve.com
it for me. When he does I can send it via email to you. My email is
sl...@uniserve.com. Send me the addy and I will get it to you soon.
Steve