E. Wilkes pipes
W.A. Smith
am curious about... if this was a NY company that made pipes, still in
business, overall quality...etc. thanks!
Robert Siegel
era. Located on Madison Ave., they specialized in their own tobaccos and
pipes long before it was common in the industry.
During my time, the store was run by the Wilke sisters who'd taken over for
their father and ran it for decades. I'm not sure, but it's certainly
possible they ran the shop from the 40's or 50's until the 80's.The business
seemed to thrive with them in charge, even though it was clearly a "man's
business" during this period.
Along with selling mostly unstained Wilke pipes, they also manufactured
their own blends of pipe tobacco. One of the most famous was Royal Scot a
crumbled flake. I'm not sure how the store and the tobacco production
facility were related originally, but I am sure that in the 1980's Wilke
owned Subrug Tobacco who made Royal Scott and the other Wilke blends.
Like many NYC shops of its era, Wilke specialized in briars bearing their
name. It was a period during which several highly talented pipemakers lived
in the tri-state (NY/NJ/CT) area, and made pipes for many NYC shops. (Wilke,
Barclay-Rex, Connoisseur, etc). At least in a regional sense, these pipes
have always been highly regarded, and they fetch nice prices in the estate
market. Of course, I'm referring to the hand made pieces, which tend to be
quite large. If you have one that's the size of a Dunhill group 5, that's
not what I'm talking about.
Sometime in the 1980's the Wilke shop was sold to Elliot Nachwalter, who
also owned a shop in Manhattan, and had had some success as part owner of
Briar Workshop years earlier. Nachwalter closed the Wilke Madison Avenue
store and consolidated the two businesses as Pipeworks at Wilke or Wilke at
Pipeworks, in his tiny shop on 55th street. And thus disappeared a New York
pipe smoker's institution. Nachwalter may still market the Subrug (Royal
Scot, etc.) tobaccos from his home/workshop in Vermont.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Rob Siegel
Marble Arch, Ltd.
"W.A. Smith" <smit...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:39AC5F2F...@erols.com...
Harry165
still readily available. Carol Burns is great to deal with. See "Pipeworks &
Wilke" at www.vtpipes.com. I have smoked their tobacco for almost 40 years.
Harry
LDaneman
little history.
The little shop on Madison Avenue was purchased by a Stanley Becker, a jewish
NY lawyer. Some pipes were left over from Wilke's hey-day, . . . I forget the
name of the Italian pipemaker who did extra-large art deco shapes.
Through the 80's the old (80+) tobacconist still blended up on the 4th Floor
and I have fond memories of 'time-traveling' with him. The 524 blend was better
than Dunhill, and the 400 was pretty good as well. The key was an unflavored
golden Cavendish and a dark fine cut Cavendish in the 524.
I started a new pipemaking workshop in Philadelphia for Wilke's concession shop
in John Wanamaker's department store. Our pipes made national news and we
shipped tobaccos to European customers. My pipes sold from $65 to $1000 but our
main pipemaker was Stephen Johnson. Last I heard Steve worked for Zino
Davidoff.
Steve made some sweet smoking pipes and I smoke a few of my own make with the
Wilke stamp, but still own a couple by Steve as well.
I was fired under dubious circumstances. The management of Wanamakers hated me
since I successfully marketed Eltron razors when they failed, pens, and really
hit the roof when I began blending a men's fragrance.
Wilke in Philly folded less than a year after my departure into the perfume
business and the New York shop was sold soon after that. I heard Wilke finally
vanished after the buyer was hit with unpaid employee taxes and was bankrupted,
but that is just a rumor to me, . . . I don't know if that is true or not.
Most the Wilke pipes are not especially good, mass-manufactured by a factory
whose name escapes me. Unless made by the old Italian fellow (an indented tenon
is usually an indication of his make) or by Steve Johnson, . . . well just
forget it.
A grand history in the 20's through 50's. The 60's brought on a slow demise.
Mark Tinsky
ldan...@aol.com (LDaneman) wrote:
> the
> name of the Italian pipemaker who did extra-large art deco shapes.
>
>
> whose name escapes me. Unless made by the old Italian fellow (an indented
> tenon
Does the name Joe Cortegani ( sp?) ring a bell? MT
LDaneman
Thanks also to the update on Nachwalter and the new source in New England.
The pipes made in Philly by Steven Johnson were stamped E. Wilke and HANDMADE
and we added a step stamping the year and serial number. An extra-large
billiard with a square stem that I made is marked "82000".
I used to have the recipe for the tobaccos but the new Wilke can rest easy
because my files were lost a long time ago! I think I will go back to the
website and order some 524 and see if their blend is true to the original.
I spent 5 yeas with Wilke and while the number of famous customers was greater
in its heyday, I did see some big shots from time to time when visiting the 400
Madison shop.
While trying, I wll never forget John Wanamakers in Center City Philadelphia
and the times I had their when I was in my mid-20's. Good memories.
LDaneman
mass-produced by Weber pipe company. I think anyway. Trying to remember the
name of that company. They were crap and that's why I set up the new pipemaking
shop on the mezzanine level at Wanamakers. It was in the original teak paneled
Tobacco Shop John Wanamaker used to hang his hat and coat in.
Was lost when they enlarged an underground parking garage.
brews...@gmail.com
cciaffone
> My father had a special blend mailed to him in a tan can from the Wilie sisters, starting when he was overseas in the Korean Warand at least for half a century. In the final years, the quality seemed to go down a bit: lots of small twigs in with the tobacco.
>
Really lovely.