Over the
past year I have been slowly but surely working through the Malaga pipes that Jeff and I purchased from George Koch’s (pictured to the left) estate through his daughter Kathy. She has been wonderful to work with and is a faithful reader of the blog. Recently she was going through her files and came across a wealth of Malaga Pipe Shop documents and thought of Jeff and me. We are the recipients of that material and I want to share them here.
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That reminds me of KC’s Fred Diebel’s catalogs and price list from the early 70’s. Fred was also a pipe maker. I miss that kind of service and THOSE PRICES!
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They were good people to work with. My favorite part is how they describe how to get maximum enjoyment from the pipe. Thanks for sharing.
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Kathy, thanks so much for making this material available. I’m in Auburn Hills, and did business with Steve K. right up until they closed shop. I’ve accumulated a fair collection of Malaga’s and am always on the lookout for more. I still come across old ones at the Royal Oak flea market occasionally. I think I’ve got pipes from all three generations of carvers, although it’s a bit hard to sort out who made what. Steve’s mom (Elaine?) was in the shop on weekends as I recall, and I still have a couple of the pipe socks she made for new Malaga’s.
As you say, good people to work with. I think Steve worked hard to keep things going, but the burden of spiraling tobacco and cigar taxes finally proved to be too much.
Not many realize that Steve/Malaga did a ton of work “behind the scenes” doing repair work for many other shops in the area. I recall chatting with him at one point and expressing my frustration at the delay getting a a repair back from a fairly prominent local tobacconist, because “the repair guy was backed up with work”. Steve grinned, asked me a few details and said, “Pipe’s repaired. You’re not getting it back because “the repair guy” hasn’t been paid in months for the work he’s already done. Tell him to pay his bill and he’ll get his repairs back.” 🙂
I miss the shop – it was a great place to visit, see what was new off the bench, and just chat.
Thanks again,
Jim Dunne
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Thanks Jim. Great to read this
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Jim, it’s been fun to revisit, and super to read your post with more of the personal details, thanks for taking the time to share!
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Brilliant post, Steve!
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Thought you would love it Alex. There is info there I have never seen before
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