A Historical and Pictorial Guide To American Christmas
Pipes
1991-1992
The 1991 Christmas Pipe was in a sense a no brainer design wise. We
simply took a shape Curt had come up with in 1990 and we advertised as one
of our catalog shapes. Those of you familiar with these shapes will recognize
it as an 001B. It's a very light pipe that really shows off grain and there
was no debate as to its acceptability as in previous years which saw us
pouring through catalogs and pipe shapes in search of a unique and widely
acceptable design. It was one of the few shapes that was completely sold
out within months after Christmas. It is no longer available with the Christmas
Pipe stampings but can be purchased as an 001B.
When John came up to the shop in the summer of 1991 he more or less
had the Christmas Shape with him. It was a pipe we had made as a unique
shape previously that one of his customers had liked and suggested as a
Christmas Pipe. I wasn't so sure. I didn't think its appeal would be universal
enough. Also it was a fairly large pipe and not that easy to make. I think
I argued for another design but in the end gave in. The entire shape run
of 90 pipes sold rather briskly proving I 'm better at making pipes than
marketing them!