A Historical and Pictorial Guide To American Christmas
Pipes
1993-1994
The 1993 Christmas Pipe was my concept. I wanted to make the "Perfect
Billiard". A billiard while being the most common of pipe shapes has
a variety of subtle detail. There have been many successful billiards made
over the years. John and I selected a few of our favorites, the Dunhill
LB, a Barling, and a Ser Jacapo, and quantified the best features of each
pipe into our own. We noticed that the Barling had a slightly ovalled shank
which made the transition from shank to bowl very sharp and defined. A nice
touch. We like the slightly taller nature of the Jacapo and the graceful
round curves of the LB. Put it all together and walla, The Perfect Billiard!
Well. I thought it was a great shape and I still do. However, it was a commercial
flop. Not as bad as the 1990 but nothing could ever be that bad. We still
have quite a few left at all ends of the price spectrum. I guess I set my
sites too high, you'll have to decide for yourself!
The 1994 Christmas Pipe design was solely by John Hayes! To be honest
I didn't like it at first, though it did sell very well and was quite well
received. It's an apple bowl with a lovat shank, slightly bent. The shank
flares into the bowl in a smooth gradual transition. This generally goes
against my grain, as I like sharp defined transitions between the bowl and
shank and have generally thought of the latter method as sloppy pipe making.
Well, I admit to being wrong. The pipe was quite graceful and a good smoker.
I think I made over 80 pipes ranging from $85 in the sandblast finish to
$300. in a natural straight grain. A few of the high end pipes are still
available.
