Often when we think of family heirloom pipes what comes to mind is Grandpa’s collection of Patent-Era Dunhills or a complete set of Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipes, but the truth is that the vast majority of pipes sold during the Golden Age of pipe smoking (roughly the 1950s through to the 1970s) were relatively inexpensive, factory-produced pipes. Two such inherited briar smoking companions arrived at the shop recently – today’s Medico VFQ Foursquare Pot, and an LL Bean Bent Billiard I will cover in another post. Both pipes had belonged to the current steward’s father.

The VFQ line was a mid-grade pipe in the Medico catalog, made by the SM Frank Co, originally from imported briar and later from Brylon, a blend of briar dust and synthetic resin developed by SM Frank in 1966. The example on the bench today is made from briar, which helps date its production to…