Ben Wade History
aaus...@gmail.com
London England, shape 33, with BEN WADE stamped in white on the stem.
This looks to be a very old and well used pipe, and after a thorough
cleaning it now smokes beautifully, especially latakia blends. I did a
little research on the Ben Wade mark and could find very little, save
for a post on ASP penned by Freddy Vegas:
"Disclaimer: This tale is accurate to the best of my knowledge and is
the accumulated info I heard hanging around my grandfather's shop some
30
years ago ... so if it's slightly off and anyone feels like correcting
me
there with be no offense taken. Here goes .......
The Ben Wade name and pipe has a long and colorful history. The
original Ben Wade pipe company was considered on par with the likes of
Charatan and was considered by some, including Charatan, to be the #1
competitor. When the principal of the Ben Wade pipe company died, the
company and name was sold to Charatan. The original Ben Wade pipes were
super nice ... most were drop dead gorgeous classic English styles.
They'd
probably be high grades by today's standards. Excellent smokers and a
steal
if you can get one in today's market. They can usually be identified by
a
small BEN WADE stamp in white lettering on the stem itself.
Once Charatan acquired Ben Wade they basically sand bagged the
name
and assimilated the hard assets. A few years later Charatan was looking
for
an avenue by which to sell their pipes that hadn't made "the grade" by
their
standards. This was the first resurrection of the Ben Wade name. Ben
Wade
pipes of this era were based on a lot of basic and some classic
Charatan
shapes. Most had a fill or two (maybe three+). The fill that was used
at
that time was very good and not nearly as obvious as some of today's
fill.
Today we see mostly putty but back then you'll see a lot of clay type
fills
which matched the briar better and colored with the briar. Charatan era
Ben
Wade pipes can usually be identified by the BEN WADE stamp on the
shank,
Charatan shape # stamps and characteristic Charatan shapes. These pipes
are
excellent smokers too and can by found at very reasonable prices. They
were
after all made from Charatan's excellent (IMO) Grecian briar and high
standards.
Enter Lane Limited, Charatan's US distributor, and the freehand
boom
of the late 60's early 70's. Lane, under the auspices of Dunhill,
wanted a
freehand pipe. Their first venture was the HARCOURT which had limited
success. They were made by various carvers including Erik Nording and
Preben
Holm. Preben, being the savvy business man he was, finally struck a
direct
deal with Lane to be his ( Preben's) US distributor. Wasn't that easy
unfortunately. Preben AND his name was already under contract with a
small
NY firm. Preben was looking to get out but Lane wasn't looking for a
fight.
Thus the second resurrection of the storied Ben Wade name. Preben made
1000s
and 1000s of his pipes for Lane under the name Ben Wade and Lane had
them a
field day selling them. It was a HUGE success and win fall for Lane.
Lane
eventually discontinued the line due to strained relations with the
wild and
charismatic Preben. Preben was a party animal but that's a whole nother
story. It was said that Lane had a 2 to 3 year supply of pipes AFTER
the
arrangement ended. Ben Wade pipes, made by Preben Holm for Lane
Limited,
were mostly freehands with an occasional somewhat traditional pipe
thrown
in. Most were mid grades with a bunch of high grades mixed in that
were
equivalent to Preben's own high grades. These Ben Wade pipes can be
found
readily in most of the mid grades on various sites and on ebay while
the
high grades tend to be elusive. These Ben wade pipes are also excellent
smokers and a great value.
So you see, you really can't go wrong buying ANY Ben Wade pipe
from
any era or incarnation. You'll be buying quality and one of the most
colorful histories in all of pipedom. FreddyV"
This is an old post and I was just wondering if anyone had any more
information to offer, particularly specific dates, or corrections to
the paragraphs above. I think it would be nice to have an accurate
history with timeline of this interesting brand, though all its
numerous incarnations.
Andrew Austin
aaus...@gmail.com
"Pipes bearing the label Ben Wade were made in Leeds, England, at least
as early as 1922. The Leeds company was purchased by Charatan in 1965,
which itself had been purchased by Lane Ltd in 1962. In this period,
production of Ben Wade pipes in the UK moved to London from Leeds."
Andrew Austin
rj_tray
"Glengary" on left shank, & "Made in Leeds England, 374" on the right.
The information I've found stated it's a Ben Wade pipe thanks to Premal
at Smokers Haven & posts on pipes.org. It has a georgeous, tight flame
grain with some birdseye on the heal of the front panel. If this is
indicative of Ben Wade production, wow.
Sagiter
was destroyed in a German air raid in 1944 so anything labeled Leeds must
made be prior to this.
Neil
--
Neil Flancbaum
Craftsman
Home of the Ultimate Pipe Bag
http://www.smokinholsters.com
"rj_tray" <rj_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1157132483.7...@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
Dave @ The Piperack
> "Glengary" on left shank, & "Made in Leeds England, 374" on the right.
> The information I've found stated it's a Ben Wade pipe thanks to Premal
> at Smokers Haven & posts on pipes.org. It has a georgeous, tight flame
> grain with some birdseye on the heal of the front panel. If this is
> indicative of Ben Wade production, wow.
What you have, sir, is an original Ben Wade, and it should also bear the
"signature" stamp. In other words, it's not stamped "BEN WADE" in block
letters, but rather in script.
Dave Z.
Dave @ The Piperack
> a
> small BEN WADE stamp in white lettering on the stem itself.
This is also true of the Charatan-era pieces.
<SNIP>Charatan era
> Ben
> Wade pipes can usually be identified by the BEN WADE stamp on the
> shank,
> Charatan shape # stamps and characteristic Charatan shapes.
This may have been true at some point, but I know for a fact that the shape
numbers did not always correspond. Don't get me wrong, they were certainly
Charatan shapes, they were just stamped with a different shape number. Why?
I have no idea. They probably had a good reason for it at the time.
>Enter Lane Limited, Charatan's US distributor, and the freehand
> boom
> of the late 60's early 70's. Lane, under the auspices of Dunhill,
> wanted a
> freehand pipe. <SNIP>
>Preben AND his name was already under contract with a
> small
> NY firm. Preben was looking to get out but Lane wasn't looking for a
> fight.
> Thus the second resurrection of the storied Ben Wade name. Preben made
> 1000s
> and 1000s of his pipes for Lane under the name Ben Wade and Lane had
> them a
> field day selling them. It was a HUGE success and win fall for Lane.
> Lane
> eventually discontinued the line due to strained relations with the
> wild and
> charismatic Preben.
An interesting side note is that even after the relationship was terminated
with the original distributor of Preben Holm pipes, Lane Limited did not end
up with the rights to the name. Instead, the pipes bearing the Preben Holm
name were distributed by CAO. It should also be noted that, for the most
part, the Ben Wade stamped pieces had corresponding lines that had the
Preben Holm stamp. There seems to be some confusion on that point, with
many folks thinking that the Ben Wade pieces were seconds, or of some sort
of lesser quality. This is simply not true. The name stamped on the pipe
had to do with which distributor's order was being filled, not grading
issues. True, you may find many mid-grade pieces stamped with the Wade
name, but this was due to the fact that Lane was a much larger player and
had a larger distribution network, therefore selling more pipes under the
Wade name than CAO did under Preben's name.
<SNIP>
I hope this is helpful.
Kind Regards
Dave @ The Piperack
www.thepiperack.com
Toll-Free: (800) 670-PIPE
Psyktek
various pieces of information. I have a numbr of Ben Wade pipes, both
conventional and freehand, but have never thought to ask any questions
about them.
Looks like I'll use the holiday to check the stampings more carefully.
Bob
Robert
Are you referring to the nomenclature on the stem or the shank? I have
a Ben Wade (in script) with Straight Grain Natural, Hand Made in
Denmark stampings on the shank but a crown on the stem.
Also, I have heard that there is no way to tell if one has a Ben Wade
actually made by Preben Holmes but I did hear of a story that he liked
to carve grooves on the side of his bowls and I've noticed many Preben
Holme pipes similar to mine.
Robert
rj_tray
Here's a few pictures:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/campyhead/Mscl/gg7.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/campyhead/Mscl/gg4.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a271/campyhead/Mscl/gg1.jpg
Dave @ The Piperack wrote:
Ron
"rj_tray" <rj_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1157177783....@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
jlruble
<aaus...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1157092166.2...@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
> Here's a little something from another eBay auction:
>
> "Pipes bearing the label Ben Wade were made in Leeds, England, at least
> as early as 1922. The Leeds company was purchased by Charatan in 1965,
> which itself had been purchased by Lane Ltd in 1962. In this period,
> production of Ben Wade pipes in the UK moved to London from Leeds."
>
> Andrew Austin
>
>
(I have between 15 and 20) but some of that was new to me.
SCOTTY
