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Bringing Dad’s Two Pipes Back to Life for his Daughter.

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by Steve Laug

At the end of last week, I received an email from Terrica in Florida regarding some pipes that she wanted me to clean up for her. I have included her first email below:

I would like to send my deceased father’s old tobacco pipes for cleaning. I will not be using the pipes but would like to get them cleaned up so I can keep them on display.

I wrote back asking what the pipes looked like in terms of condition. I also wanted to know her general wishes on the clean up and how far she wanted me to go with it. She responded as follows and sent photos of the two pipes that I have included below.

Thank you very much for responding. As you can see, these are very inexpensive pipes. My deceased dad likely purchased them at a local drugstore. I have no doubt that they have never been cleaned.

I will never be using them, but I would at least like them presentable. Thank you very much, Terrica

I took a look at the photos and was able to discern that the top pipe was a Medico Gold Crest Pot shaped pipe that had a thick cake in the bowl and was very dirty with grime ground into the finish. The stem, other than being very dirty did not have deep tooth marks. There was tooth chatter and grime on the vulcanite filter stem that would need to be cleaned up and removed. The second pipe was stamped Venturi and was made out of a resin that was used in The Pipe, The Smoke and the Venturi. This was a bent Billiard. It was dirty and had a cake in the bowl. The stem was also very dirty and had some tooth chatter on the surface.I chose to work on the Venturi first. The finish was dirty and there were nicks around the outer edge of the rim top. The rim top was very dirty with some lava build up and there was a moderate cake in the bowl. The stamping on the left side of the shank was clear but had a lot of dust in the stamping. The stem appears to be nylon rather than rubber but I am not sure. There surface as dirty and had some build up ahead of the button on both sides. There was some tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button edge. The pipe surprisingly did not have a stench of the tobacco that had obviously been smoked in it. The style of the build up/cake make me think of a drug store tobacco of the style of Prince Albert or Sir Walter Raleigh. I will certainly l know more once work on the second pipe. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition. You can see the cake in the bowl and the overflow of lava on the rim top. The photos of the stem show the tooth marks and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank to capture it. The left side read as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the look of the pipe.I decided to gather some background on the Venturi pipe. I knew that it was connected to The Pipe. I was pretty certain that it was made out of the same phenolic resin as The Pipe but in tis case it was without any bowl liner. Now to check out the site that is dedicated to The Pipe on other versions of the phenolic resin pipes that were issued by the same company. The site was operated by Doctor Billie Taylor. I turned to the section on the history of the brand to gather some information (http://thepipe.info/history/index.html). I quote from the site to garner the information I need.

Veteran pipe smokers were not enthusiastic about the pyrolytic graphite pipes, regardless of where they were made. They said the pipes smoked hot and wet and made the tobacco taste bitter. These may have been unfair criticisms because smokers of meerschaum and briar pipes build certain habits that reduce or eliminate the advantages of the pyrolytic graphite bowl liner. They packed tobacco in the bowl too tightly. They allowed a cake to build up and then scraped the bowl, damaging the liner. They puffed too vigorously, reducing the venturi effect of combustion in the liner. They used aromatic and strong tobacco blends which have much truer flavor in this kind of pipe than in others. Also, these pipes produce far less “goo” than briars or meerschaums, but do need to have a pipe cleaner run through them during and immediately after a smoke to control condensation. When this was done, instead of a collection of several pipes being needed to allow time for moisture to dry out between smoking each one, only one or two were necessary to provide a satisfactory rotation. When not, one of the important advantages of the pipes was lost. Either way, the experienced pipe smoker was unlikely to buy very many of the pipes.

Venturi, of course, tried very hard to increase the appeal of the pipe to the traditional pipe smoker and attract more new pipe smokers. One such attempt was called “the rare woods” collection. Eight rare hard woods, teak, mahogany, cocobolo, purple heart, sycamore, rosewood, Tasmanian Oak, and an ironwood, were plasticized in a vacuum chamber and used for the shell. Not many of these were manufactured. In fact, only rosewood pipes seem to have been actually manufactured. The teak. purple heart, and sycamore in my collection are prototypes.

Another attempt to improve sales was putting a pyrolytic graphite bowl liner in a genuine imported briar shell. Again, not many of these were made, apparently because “instant break-in” was not as popular as it had been hoped it would be. Both the Rare Wood and Imported Briar pipes prototypes were carved and machined in England before actual production was begun in a Los Angeles machine shop. Super-Temp also sent a few hundred pyrolytic graphite bowl liners to England for experimental installations. However, both models were ultimately entirely produced in the United States. There was also an attempt to market the bowl liners as a refurbishment and upgrade to traditional briar pipes.

In 1970, Venturi’s lease on its third floor space in the Hearst Building expired. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system was being constructed right under Venturi’s windows so, since most of its employees lived out of the city anyway, the company relocated to 1610 Rollins Road, Burlingame, California.

Also, about this time, Long sold his remaining interest in Venturi to Wes Myers and Bob Dailey moved on to found another marketing company.

A free-form pipe stand made of polyester resin was introduced in 1969. The PIPE ROCK, as it was called, was a pipe rest for one, two, or three pipes, sometimes with a hole for matches. The material is extremely light so the stands were weighted to about 2 pounds and then well-padded and leather covered on the bottom to protect the surface on which they rested. The hollows for the pipe bowls were smoothly finished while the exterior of the rack was a rough, rock-like finish. The PIPE ROCK came in a black and hot pink box with a holder/display stand and display card. The text on the card encouraged potential buyers to get this unique pipe rest. The one-position PIPE ROCK sold for $7.50, the two-position price was $8.50 while the three-position cost $10.00…

….Late in 1971 or early 1972, manufacture of a pipe made entirely of phenolic resin without any bowl liner was begun in an effort to reduce the price of the pipes and increase sales volume. These pipes were named the Venturi models and were priced about $5.00. These all-plastic pipes were successful and began to assume an ever increasing percentage of sales. They were offered in three basic shapes (Bent, Billiard, and Pot) of five colors each: Blue, Ebony, Green, Red, and White. Many of these pipes were sold in various promotional packages consisting of a bubble card which included a 2-ounce roll-up pouch of tobacco and a small brochure. Here a link to the packaging on the Venturi pipe (http://thepipe.info/history/bbblpcks.html).

Now it was time to turn my attention to the pipe itself. I started my work on it by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the first cutting head and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and removed all the remnants of the cake. I scraped the rim top with the flat edge of the blade at the same time and removed most of the thick lava build up. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped in 220 grit sandpaper. The walls look very good at his point in the process. I cleaned out the shank, the airway and the mortise as well as the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, hard bristle and soft bristle pipe cleaners. It was a very dirty pipe which just meant that it had really been enjoyed by the previous pipe man. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the lava on the rim top and overflow on the outside of the bowl with the soap. I rinsed the briar with warm water to remove the grime and debris of the scrubbing. It looked significantly better after the scrubbing. Once I cleaned the bowl with the soap it looked much better. I touched up the scuffs on the outer edge of the bowl with a black stain pen. Though it was still a little rough the black stain touched up the damage and blended it into the surround resin bowl.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar and not resin but I thought it would work to a deep shine to the resin finish. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the surface. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The bowl began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I set the clean and polished bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to try and raise the tooth marks. It surprisingly worked well. I filled in what remained with black rubberized CA glue. Once the glue repair cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. It was smooth and all that remained was to polish it. I wiped the stem down with olive oil and sanded the surface with the 2 x 2-inch sanding pads – 320-3500 grit pads to clean up the sanding marks on the stem surface. I wiped it down after each sanding pad and by the final 3500 grit pad the stem started to really shine.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I gave the stem a final polish with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish both Fine and Extra Fine. I rubbed the stem with them and then gave them a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this Venturi Bent Billiard with a nylon taper stem. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and then by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen it. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. This Black Venturi Bent Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61 grams/2.15 ounces. This first of Terrica’s Dad’s pipes is a beauty. Once I have finished the second one I will send them back to here. I look forward to hearing what she thinks of both of these resurrected beauties. Both should be great memories of her late Dad.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Cleaning up a sad “the Pipe” Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have hinted at the fact that my friend Steve from Dawson Creek included two pipes in his box of pipes for me to refurbish that I had relegated to a “not worth doing” category. One of these was a Hilson Fantasia – Resin bowl and shank with a meerschaum lining and a plastic pipe stamped “the Pipe” that has a pyrolytic graphite bowl lining and a phenolic resin exterior. When I was working on the last one, the Kriswill made Danish Crown pipe I thought I would just do a clean up on these two just to be able to send a clean batch of pipes back to Steve.

I decided to begin working on the pipe labeled “the Pipe”. I have never paid attention to these pipes and have actually never had one in hand until this moment. I have avoided buying them or even being gifted one of them. I just was not interested in this combination of phenolic resin and pyrolytic graphite at all. I am generally intrigued by the unusual as those of you who follow the blog know, but this one had no draw for me. It was a bit of a mess. The bowl had a crumbling cake that was uneven. It had flowed over the rim top leaving it a mess. The outer edge of the bowl had been knocked against hard surfaces to empty the bowl leaving behind characteristic dents and chips. The right side of the bowl and the entire shank was scratched with deep scratches that carried on up the stem. The top and underside of the stem was also covered with bite marks and tooth chatter. The pipe looked pretty sad with all of the damage. I wondered if I could make it look any better and to be honest, if there was a point to doing so.

I took photos of the pipe before I started for comparison sake. Once I was finished I could look back and see if my work had made any difference at all. I wanted to get a quick education regarding the manufacture and date of this brand of pipes. My gut feel was that it was a product of the 60s and 70s. I looked up the brand on Pipedia and found that it began in 1963. There was a good summary of the history of the brand there. The Super-Temp Corporation who started making plastic pipes with pyrolytic graphite bowl liners made it. They called them “the Pipe”. In 1965, Super-Temp contracted to market their unique pipes through Venturi, Inc., the company that sold Tar Gard cigarette filters. Colors and stripes were added to the pipes that were offered circa 1967. About 1970, THE SMOKE pipes were added to the line – they were non-traditional shapes with a less expensive bowl liner. Venturi pipes were added around 1972 – they had no liner in the bowls at all. The pipes were out of production by 1975 (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Super-Temp). If you would like to read more about the brand, including a comprehensive history visit Dr. Billie W. Taylor’s site http://www.thepipe.info/. He is a collector of the Super-Temp Corporation pipes. He is a source of incredible information if you want to tap into it.

I took a close up photo of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition of both. The cake is heavy in the bowl and overflowing onto the black rim. It is hard to see because both the bowl insert and the exterior of the pipe are black. You can also see the damage on the outer edges of the bowl.The stem damage was one of the most worrisome parts of this restoration. The scratches running both the length of the stem and across the stem had left deep marks. Underneath and on top of those scratches there was a lot of small tooth marks and chatter that would need to be sanded out. The scratches extended up the top side and partly up both the right and left side of the shank. There were even scratches on the right side of the bowl. It was almost as if the pipe had road rash from being dragged across concrete or asphalt. The stem was not vulcanite so it would be hard to polish. It was going to be an interesting part of the work on this pipe. The stamping on the left side of the shank was very clear and readable. It was deeply embossed and no amount of sanding to remove the scratching would damage it. The stem was held snug in the shank by a rubber grommet that fit over the tenon. This was replaceable as the rubber wore out and air leaked by. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and carefully took the cake back to the graphite bowl insert. I left a little cake to protect the insert and cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Using the knife I scraped the bowl back to bare walls and scraped the rim top free of the buildup of lava that was there.I scraped the top of the bowl with the edges of the Savinelli Fitsall Knife to remove the lava build up. Once I had the majority of it off I polished the rim with 1500 grit micromesh sanding pads to polish both the bowl insert and the rim top. I sanded the outer edges of the bowl to smooth out the damage to the edge of the bowl.I polished the entire bowl with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad using a damp cotton pad. I worked on the left side of the bowl and the top and left side of the shank where there were a lot of deep scratches running both vertically and horizontally on both. I polished the shank and bowl with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each pad with the damp cotton pad. When I finished with the 12000 grit pad I buffed the bowl on the buffing wheel using Blue Diamond to polish it further. The photos below tell the story. With the bowl finished for now, I turned to work on the horrendous damage to the stem. It was in rough shape as was seen in the above photos. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches. It took a lot of sanding but I was able to remove almost all of them on the top and underside of the stem. I ran a pipe cleaner through the stem to clean out any debris that might have been in the airway before continuing on the stem. I used black super glue to fill in the small tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem at the button. I sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper until the repairs blended into the surface of the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. After the final 12000 grit pad I gave it a last coat of the Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I had already spent quite a few hours working over the badly gouged and scratched stem and I was able to remove many of the scratches. I tried to lightly buff the pipe to remove more of them but the nylon stem resists buffing too much as it heats quickly and melts. I decided to call the pipe finished at this point. It was not going to get much better without many more hours of work that I am unable to give it. I buffed the bowl on the buffing wheel with Blue Diamond to buff out some more of the scratches on the shank and right side. I gave the bowl a buff with a clean buffing pad. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both fine and extra fine. I did not bother giving the stem a carnauba coat as it is plastic and the wax does not do much. I hand waxed the stem with Conservator’s Wax to polish it more. The finished pipe is far from perfect but it is better than when I started. I will box it up later this week when I finish the Hilson Fantasia I have left and then mail it back to Steve in Dawson Creek, BC. Thanks for looking.

 

Restoring a J. Rettke Patent Pipe from Washington, Missouri

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Blog by Steve Laug

This strange looking pipe came from Josh (misterzippo), a reader of the blog earlier this year. He sent me an email and photos some pipes that he thought I might want. As usual when you have incurable PAD there is always something that catches my eye. We fired some emails back and forth about the pipes and it did not take long to make a deal. I bought a Malaga Bulldog, a pair of Wally Frank Sandblast Filter pipes, a little Jost’s and this bizarre looking Rettke. There were a couple of things about the Rettke that fascinated me in terms of the history. The stamping of Washington, MO. made me think of Missouri Meerschaum Corn cob pipes which are also from there. I wondered about a connection. The stem is identical to a Medico/Grabow style stem and was made for a Medico paper filter. That also made me wonder if there was a connection to Medico. I will need to do a bit of research to see if I can unearth the connections. I have an unstamped Rettke and find it a fascinating piece of pipe history so I decided to pick up on from Josh. He sent along a photo of the underside of the bowl and shank to show the stamping on the pipe so I would know it was a true Rettke unlike my other pipe. I asked him for photos of the pipes that he had in hand so I could make a decision on which one that I was interested in. He sent along the photo below showing the four pipes that he had available for sale. I wanted something different from the unmarked one that I have which is rusticated. It is a lot like the third pipe in the photo below so I wanted a smooth Rettke. I looked over the pipes and asked him to choose one of the top two smooth pipes in the photo below and include with the other pipes I purchased from him. He chose well and when it got here I was thrilled with his chose. The one he sent was the first pipe in the photo. It has some really nice grain on it.From the photos I could see that the pipe was dirty but that is never really a problem. The tape measure in the photo shows that the Rettke is about 5 inches long with a taper stem. When the pipe arrived in Idaho, my brother took photos of it so that we would know the condition of the pipe before he started working on it. The finish on the briar looked good underneath the grime of the years. There was a cake in the bowl and a buildup of lava on the top of the rim. It was not possible to see what it looked like under the cake so after cleaning we would know if there was rim damage. The stem was made out of nylon and it had a lot of tooth marks and scratches in the surface and they were deep. It was going to take some work to fill them in and sand them out. Polishing the nylon stem is not a pleasant exercise. It takes a lot of work to get it smoothed out and blended together. The metal spacer was an integral part of the stem. It was rough was in good shape with light oxidation and some tooth marks on both sides near the button.Jeff took a close up photo of the rim and bowl and you can see the general condition of the pipe from that photo. This must have been someone’s favorite pipe and it must have smoked very well to have this kind of cake and tar build up. I was looking forward to seeing what was underneath all of that debris on the rim and in the bowl.The next two photos show the stamping on the bottom of the bowl. They are fascinating in that they not only identify the maker but they tell about his method of stamping the pipe. The second photo shows the date stamp and you can see that the patent date is on a bar and the bar was pressed into the briar leaving a faint imprint behind the date stamp. The stamping reads J. Rettke over Washington, MO. and next to that it reads Pat. June 12, 1962.There is some pretty grain on the piece of briar underneath the detritus of time. I was looking forward to making that shine.The next photos show the pipe from various close-up angles so that you can see the damage to the stem and the junction to the shank and stem. Jeff removed the stem from the shank and unscrewed the knurled silver coloured cap below the stem and took photos. It looked to me that the pipe was missing a stinger apparatus that attached to the knurled cap. The last two photos that Jeff included show the top and underside of the stem at the button. There were quite a few tooth marks and lots of chatter on both sides of the stem. When I saw that it was a bit of a pain because cleaning up these nylon style stems is difficult and time consuming.Jeff did his usual thorough cleanup of the pipe. I am coming to expect nothing less when he sends me pipes that have gone through his cleaning process. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer, scraped the bowl and the rim top with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to clear off the lava build up. He cleaned out the internals in the airway in the shank and the condensation chamber with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He cleaned out the metal tenon and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the briar and the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove all of the grime on the briar and the stem. He rinsed the parts under running water and dried it with a soft cloth. He soaked the stem in OxyClean to clean off the grime on the surface. When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it looked different than it did in the above photos. The rim top and bowl looked really good. The damage was minimal and very visible. The condition of the stem was much as I had expected. Before I started my restoration work on the pipe I decided to do a little research on the brand. I first turned to Pipedia where I found a short entry. I include that here as it confirmed that I was missing the 2 3/8 inch corkscrew device. I quote it in full with the link to Pipedia.

J. Rettke, Washington MO, PAT. June 12 1962. The silver colored thumbscrew below the stem unscrews and is a 2⅜” corkscrew like device. The company is now gone having been purchased by Missouri Meerschaum. This odd looking pipe is made of briar and has a lower chamber with a metal condenser and an upper chamber that contains a filter. The smoke leaves the bowl thru the lower chamber then into the upper and out the stem. It smokes dry and cool. It has a large bowl. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Rettke

The pipe was not included in my other usual sources so I dug a bit further to see if I could find more information on the brand and the maker. I wanted to know the links to Missouri Meerschaum or Dr. Grabow/Medico. I found an article in the Washington Citizen Newspaper from Washington, Missouri dated December 13, 1964. Here is the link. I included a photo of the news clipping below as well as a transcript of the article that I did using a magnifying glass. I also copied the photos for ease of reference. I have included them in the article transcript with the captions  http://digital.shsmo.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/WashCitz/id/21937/rec/1.

Julius Rettke Makes and Sells 3,000 Briar Pipes in Two Years

Julius Rettke spent 43 years making pipes. Two years ago he retired. What happened?

“I just couldn’t sit still. I had to do something.”

He went back to making pipes. He calls it a hobby and that’s what it is for him. He could sell his patent and there is no doubt that it could be made into a lucrative business. But Julius is interested in it only as a hobby. He is 74 years old.

He doesn’t advertise his pipes but has made and sold about 3,000 of them in the past two years. Each sells for $4.00. He has been told he could sell them for $8 to $12.

“I would rather sell them for $4. You know there are a lot of people that can’t pay more than that for a pipe.”

Hasn’t Promoted Pipes

His advertising has been only by word of mouth. He does burn his name and Washington, Mo., on the pipes. Most of his pipes have been sold in this immediate area, but he has had orders from all over the country. Many people give them as gifts. Several companies with chain retail outlets would like to handle his pipes.

Julius made his first pipe about nine years ago. It was made of pecan wood. He gave it to James L. Miller of The Missourian-Citizen to try out. The newspaper publisher at that time was a steady pipe smoker. He liked the pipe.

“That made me feel like others would be interested,” he said. But he was too busy with his job as a machinist at Missouri Meerschaum, where he spent 43 years helping to make corn cob pipes. After he retired he made several pipes out of cherry wood. But he soon found most pipe smokers preferred a briar pipe. Carl Otto, his former-boss, supplied him with briar roots and he made his first briar pipe.

“I took the first pipes to the Bryan boys (Harvey and Tom) and they like them. Before long people asked me to make pipes for them. That’s how I got started.

Does Work in His Basement

The work is done in Mr. Rettke’s basement of his home at Third and Market streets. He doesn’t work at it every day only when he feels like it. He likes to fish and that comes before his pipes in the summer.

What is the reason for the rather wide acceptance of his pipe?

“They claim it is a dry smoking pipe with no nicotine. It has protection against nicotine,”

Mr. Rettke received his patent on his pipe in 1962. What makes his pipe different from others on the market is the path the smoke takes from the bowl, and the passage of smoke through a twisted piece of aluminum, or a “whirler.” The smoke also travels through a standard filter in a standard hard-rubber stem. The “whirler” has a rubber tip that shows on the outside of the pipe under the stem. The “whirler” also can be used as a pipe cleaning tool. It pulls out easily for cleaning purposes.

Mr. Rettke: makes only one style of pipe. He buys his briar roots from a New York importing company. The briar roots are grown chiefly in Mediterranean countries. Most of the briar now conies from Greece and is several hundred years old. The briar itself is a shrub-like plant. The briar burl is cut into specific sizes and shapes and it is in an almost square form when Mr. Rettke receives it.

The manufacturing process in Mr. Rettke’s basement is illustrated in the accompanying photos.

No Production Schedule!

When he works at it, he can make about 10 or 12 pipes a day, he has no production schedule to meet! Things tend to get a little hurried around Christmas time since many people buy pipes for gifts.

When he received his patent, Mr. Rettke gave one of it to John Fowler, who is a career man in the Air Force, and to Wilson Schroeder of Washington, his two sons-in-law. Mr. Rettke’s son, Arthur Rettke lives in Clover Station. He is a carpenter and does some farming.

Mr. Rettke was born and raised in Warren County near Martinsville. He spent some time as a carpenter before going to work for Missouri Meerschaum.

Mr. Rettke was never a heavy smoker and never did smoke a pipe. He did smoke cigars for a period, but he gave that up long ago.

“It’s just a hobby with me. I never expected it to be anything else, but somebody should take it over after I’m gone,” he confided.

To me this is a fascinating article. It answered at least some of my questions. Julius Rettke had indeed worked for Missouri Meerschaum as a bowl turner in their factory. On his retirement he started making the pipes. He only made one style of pipe and never varied from the basic shape. He purchased briar from a company in New York. I wonder if he did not purchase it from S.M. Frank along with the premade Medico style stems and filters. I suppose I won’t ever know but it does fit the general information above.

Now better armed with information I turned my attention to the restoration of the pipe. I took it apart and took a photo. I was missing the “twirler” as Julius called the spiral condenser that sat in the condensation chamber below the bowl. Everything else looked good. He had chosen a beautiful piece of briar and laid out the pipe to fit the grain pattern really well. This would be a pretty looking pipe once it was polished.The nicks and scratches on the rim top and edges were deep enough that a light topping was warranted. I topped it on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on the topping board. I did not have to top it too much as continuous checking showed me when the surface of the rim was smooth.The stem was a mess so I decided to clean it and do some repairs to all the damaged spots with black super glue. It would take time for the glue to harden, so I applied it and gave it a quick shot of accelerator. The accelerator dried and turned to a white powder on the rest of the stem as seen in the photos below. I set the stem aside to dry and called it a night. I have to tell you; my strong dislike of nylon pipe stems is even more confirmed. They are hard to repair as dents are virtually permanent. Patching with black or clear super glue works but leaves shiny spots that are hard to blend into the rest of the material. Polishing to get a shine needs to be done by hand as a buffer, even with a light touch, melts the material and sends you back to the beginning. They are a pain. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad – not so much to give shine as to give more bite to the micromesh. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads and repeated the oil after each pad. The stem is slowly but surely getting a shine. (The shiny spots in the photos are not dents but super glue repairs.) I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a wet cloth to wipe off the sanding dust after each pad. The further I went with the micromesh the deeper the shine became. This is really a pretty piece of briar. I dry sanded with 3200-12000 and once more wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth. I took apart the other unstamped Rettke style pipe and removed the “whirler” from that one. I inserted it in the knurled cap that sat under the stem and took the following photo.I worked on the stem for several hours. I was able to smooth out the damaged areas but they show up in the pictures. They look like black dents or dips in the stem surface but they are actually the super glue repairs. The nylon is very hard to polish for me. Buffing on the machine is next to impossible without melting it. I polished it with polishing compound by hand and I gave the stem multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to give it some life. Once that was finished I called it done. I buffed the bowl with multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the bowl with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I put the stem back on the bowl and gave it a final hand buff. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautifully grained piece of briar and is lightweight and interesting to look at. Thanks for journeying with me through the history and the restoration.