The McLardy bulldog

My restored Samuel McLardy bulldog

As a lover of history I browse through e-bay searching for antique pipes once in a while. I very much like the thrill of owning and smoking a 100+ year old pipe, I see it as some sort of time machine. While enjoying such a smoke my mind drifts off and I think about how the world looked like when the pipe was made, who the previous owners were and what stories it could tell if it could speak. So on one of my searches I stumbled upon a gorgeous antique bulldog shaped pipe with a beautifully decorated silver rim and ring in almost pristine condition. Unfortunately the mouthpiece was missing. Probably it was made from amber and had broken a long time ago. Despite that I decided to bid on the pipe and to my delight I won! I asked Frisian pipe-maker Meindert if he could clean up the antique bulldog and make a new mouthpiece for it. He rose up to the challenge.

$_57In the meanwhile I looked up the silver-marks because I wanted to be sure of the production year and the company who made it. Dating the pipe proved to be simple, Birmingham marks from the year 1890! Holy crap, 125 years old! 1890.. The Sleeping Beauty ballet with music by Tchaikovsky was premièred, the second Sherlock Holmes novel (The Sign of the Four) was published, famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh died, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was published, American writer H.P. Lovecraft was born and the folding carton box we all know today was invented by Robert Gair. However, the maker of the antique bulldog was a bit more difficult to discover. Luckily the triangle logo on the shank with the letters “S Mc L” inside set me on the correct path and soon I found its creator: the Samuel McLardy company from Manchester.

McLardy advertisement

McLardy advertisement

The McLardy company thanks its existence to the entrepreneurial spirit of 1 person: Samuel McLardy, born in Glasgow in 1842. He was the son of a tobacconist who also produced his own clay pipes. In the paternal shop he must have learned the profession of pipe-maker. Shortly after his 20th birthday he decided to move to Manchester to start his own company. There is remarkably little known about the history of the factory. On an old advertisement it says “established 1865” so since then there must have been a steady growth. Within a couple of decades there was a massive production of clay pipes. Around 1895 the factory owned over 500 moulds which meant yearly production was around 5 million pipes! Similar to that of Dutch factory P. Goedewaagen & Zoon in that period.

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McLardy catalogue cover

Over time we find Samuel McLardy at different locations. Before 1880 that was Miller Street number 16 in Manchester and it is there where the shop grew to the size of a factory. In 1890 the company moved to Shudehill number 67 where it remained active until after 1910. At the new address they occupied an imposing factory building that you can see on the cover of an old catalogue beside this text. Such factory-illustrations have to be taken with a grain of salt, because often they are grossly exaggerated. The building had a high façade that could accommodate show rooms and an office and there were 4 floors for production and storage. After WWI we find McLardy headquarters in Swan Buildings at number 20 of the Swan Street but they also had several workshops at other addresses and that was certainly true for the pipe-making shops. It should be noted that these changes of address meant no large migration because they were close to each other.

McLardy clay pipe

McLardy clay pipe

The successful growth led the company to expansion, initially for the sale of products of their own. But shortly after 1900 a rapid decrease of the interest in the clay pipe as a smoking device in Western Europe brought many traditional pipe factories in financial problems. The widening to trading house was an option to overcome this problem and the Samuel McLardy company successfully implemented this. These trading activities were supported by the then new communication means such as telephone and telegram, both stated on the cover of the catalogue. There you can also see: “Importer of Tobacconists Fancy Goods”. So initially they became importer of all kinds of items sold in the tobacco industry. 

McLardy briar pipe

McLardy briar pipe

With those items, for example beautiful briar pipes with silver mounting and buffalo horn mouthpieces, access was gained to the best specialist stores. With this activities the company increased its market share. A process that also was not strange for other firms. The production of such wooden pipes took place both in England and in the French Saint-Claude, once the global centre of the pipe production. By the way, the English briar industry and that of Saint-Claude was closely intertwined because the same families acted as an investor. About the export of the company not much data is known. Although finds of McLardy pipes in Canada, Australia and most of the West African coast proved that there was a substantial trade overseas.

McLardy briar pipe

McLardy briar pipe

During and after WWI the trade function at McLardy was widened further. The latest catalogue from the 1920’s mentioned this expansion. The activities of the company had been changed beyond recognition: they handled leather goods and fancy articles such as bags, handbags and purses in crocodile leather and calfskin. This assortment was soon expanded with collarboxes, writingboxes, school bags and baskets. But also with photo-frames, firescreens, postcards albums  and cigarettes albums. Other articles were clocks, framed paintings or engravings, lithographs, all kinds of mirrors and toys (including dolls and mechanical toys like trains). In short, the wholesale business of all conceivable industrial products without any limitation. Initially that seemed successful until the curtain quite suddenly fell for the McLardy company in 1929. The precise reason is not known, though the year points towards the Great Depression.

Polished bowl

Polished bowl

Back to Meindert. When he received the pipe he marvelled at its beauty and went to work. Before I knew it he had carefully removed the thin silverwork from the bowl and shank and slightly polished the ancient briar. I also asked if he could drill the smoking channel a little wider for a better draft. With steps of 0.1 mm he slowly broadened the channel until it had a diameter of 3.8 mm. Trusting his eye and experience he stopped there, fearing he would take to much “flesh” of the pipe. But the most intricate part of the restoration was drilling out the screw-thread from the mortise. Back in the days one screwed the mouthpiece onto the pipe. This may sound as blasphemy to some but I wanted a “modern” push/pull stem.

Pipe with aluminium tube inside

Pipe with aluminium tube inside

One evening I got a phone call, it was Meindert. I heard his slightly timid voice and knew something had gone wrong.. Earlier he was drilling away the screw-thread from the mortise and despite him being very careful his worst nightmare came true. The shank cracked. Luckily he was able to fix it with 2-component glue but he did not trust it completely. So he glued an aluminium tube inside the mortise to extra strengthen the fragile briar walls. The good news was that the crack would not be visible because the silver ring would cover it.

Making the stem

Making the stem

Another tricky job was the creation of the stem. The bulldog shape is pretty because of its flawless lines that go from the shank through the stem onto the end of the mouthpiece. Meindert had to re-create that but lacked the necessary tools that pipe-factories and professional pipe-workshops have to make the sharp angles, which made him somewhat nervous. “Round I can do, but those sharp angles.. Difficult..” I told him I trusted him and that he would surely pull it off. I send several pictures how the stem should look like so he had some reference examples and crossed my fingers. Some time later my patience was rewarded. Meindert succeeded in making the angles by placing the stem in the bank-screw and meticulously filing away the acrylic material. Yes, acrylic, not ebonite. It is Meindert’s favourite stem-material to work with and his acrylic (that he gets from Janzen Pfeifen) is of the highest quality.

McLardy tobacco-cutter

McLardy tobacco-cutter

I already knew I wanted to write a blogpost about the McLardy bulldog so while Meindert was slaving away I was doing some research about the brand on internet. There I came across a English antique-site which had a very interesting item: an old tobacco cutter for plugs, cakes and ropes made by… Samuel McLardy! The price was ok so I immediately bought it. When I was with Fred on the Inter Tabac fair in Dortmund this year they had such a cutter at the stand of DTM. It was used for the slicing of samples for their  Salty Dogs plug. We both admired the tool and I silently vowed to buy one if I ever got the chance and the price was right.

IMG_2521When the restoration of the McLardy bulldog neared its completion I mailed Meindert that I would pick up the pipe at his place together with my good friend Ed. Ed loves handworks and all the machinery and tools that comes with it. So I asked if Meindert was willing to show some of his skills when Ed and I were there and being a proud Frisian he said “sure”! In the car on the way there I was pretty nervous because I did not saw the finished result. Luckily I was not disappointed when we arrived. Meindert succeeded in placing back the beautifully decorated silverwork and given it an extra polish to make it shiny like a new pipe. Also the stem turned out to be very well made and I breathed a sigh of relief. Meindert had measured up the bowl and found a similar pipe on the internet so he had a clue of the dimensions of the stem. Briefly worded: I was a happy man!

The rest of the pleasant afternoon we spent talking and Meindert showed Ed how he did things. As a former metal worker he even was able to simply sharpen the edge of the tobacco cutter I had brought with me. Back home I tried it out on some Fayyum Kake and it worked like a charm. Meindert had put some of his biological smoking-paste on the inside of the bulldog bowl and I don’t know it was because of that, but I had a very satisfying smoke. I am just glad the pipe is “alive” again and hope it survives for another 125 years.

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The Frisian prince

Typical town in Friesland

In the Northwest of the Netherlands the province of Friesland is situated (“Fryslân” in the Frisian language, yes they do have their own language). A lot of Dutch people go there on vacation because of the beautiful nature (lots of lakes and canals) and peace and quiet. Friesland is one of the less-densely populated provinces in the Netherlands. It is also well-known for ice-skating, a lot of champions come from Friesland and if there is a very cold winter the famous Elfstedentocht is organized. And it is in a small village in the heart of “Fryslân” where pipe-maker Meindert lives.

Meindert

Meindert

Meindert is 64 years old, a long time pipe-smoker, retired and a Frisian man in heart and soul. That means he is proud, honest, righteous, loves to be on the water, works hard and takes no bullshit from no-one. Working with his hands is also something that is in his blood. His father was a professional carpenter who could make anything out of wood and was not afraid of showing the tricks of the trade to his son. Also for years Meindert was a maintenance mechanic at a local factory and one of his hobbies was being a radio amateur so for that he build small and big antennas. Unfortunately he got problems with his heart and after having seen the gates of Saint Peter twice he was forced to slow things down. But Meindert is not the man to take it easy and do nothing. So through Fred, a member of the Dutch/Belgian pipe smokers forum and Dutch importer of Mr. Brog and Country Pipes he got into pipe making about 8 months ago. That was something which required little physical effort and was perfectly suited for the still recovering Meindert.

One of the early Meindert pipes

One of the early Meindert pipes

On the forum he posted several of his finished pipes and although some of them lacked a certain finesse I could clearly see that Meindert had talent and skills. After making a couple of prince-shaped pipes (my favourite shape) I decided to ask if he could create one of those for me. But I wanted to test the man. I did this by asking if he could make one of the most challenging shapes in my eyes: the 8-side panelled prince. This because it is a combination of symmetry (all corners must be 45 degrees from each other) and flowing elegance. Gracefully Meindert accepted the challenge and got busy.

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Corrections from my side

One of the best things about him is that he can accept constructive criticism. Some pipe-makers are headstrong, have a sort of impenetrable ego which holds them back from getting better. I know sh*t about wood-working and all the machinery (I was born with 2 left hands) but I do know something about flowing lines, symmetry and cohesion in a design. And Meindert is very handy but could learn a bit more about flowing pipe shapes and the little details that comes with such. So he was ready to accept criticism from my side when he send the first pictures of the prince-making process. I would look at them, make corrections in Photoshop and tell him why I did that. For example he mailed me a photograph of the unfinished bowl and by putting lines, arrows and digitally reducing excess wood I could let him know what to do. Of course he was not able to always precisely do what I asked but with every correction he made the pipe got better. The devil is in the details and boy, I sometimes was a real demon. But Meindert never did bulge under my pressure, kept eager to learn and continued delivering the goods. And how good he was was proven when Fred made a visit. Meindert showed him my prince and told him that getting every panel to look exactly the same was a tough job. Fred looked amazed at the pipe and told that such pipes normally are made in machines in pipe-factories where the angle of cutting can be programmed. Something I did not know. So in fact I asked Meindert to be as precise as a machine. And he came damn close!

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Aqueduct

At the beginning of last week Meindert informed me that he had almost finished the pipe. The only thing left to be done was the bending of the cumberland stem but I thought it was a good idea to do that when I was with him. Of course I was going to pick up the pipe myself. I am a bit ashamed to say this, but I have never been in Friesland before. I grew up in Brabant in the South of the Netherlands so for a long time Friesland was almost like an exotic country to me. However, now I live in the province of Overijssel and that is quite a bit closer to the North of my country. Last Friday I took a day off and drove to the heart of “Fryslân”. An enjoyable ride if I may say so. When I drive to Brabant where the head-office of my work is located the roads are always busy and often I get caught up in a traffic jam. The journey North was deliciously quiet with nice far stretched views of the countryside. Suddenly I saw in the distance something that looked like a train slowly passing over a viaduct. When I came closer I noticed to my amazement that it was not a train, but a large river boat which gradually floated above the highway. What I had seen was an aqueduct, something which exists for a long time but was new to my eyes in this form. So strange to see a big ship above you.

DTM_Mellow_MallardAt exactly 2 o’clock I arrived at a petrol station in the village where Meindert lives and phoned him up. This because he lives at the waterside where no car can come. Soon he came walking out of a small side-street and gestured me to follow him. We arrived at the back of his home and shook hands. So nice to see him after all our e-mails. He guided me into the renovated shed of his house which was divided in 2 parts: his working room and the computer room. We sat down in the working room and lit up a pipe. *Pheww* “You are smoking latakia right?” Meindert asked. “I like aromatics myself, I never understood why people like the smell of burned rubber.” “Well, the taste is vastly different than the smell, believe me” I said. Luckily we don’t all have the same tobacco preferences. But I knew Meindert liked a sweet smoked so I brought a couple of aromatic tins that he could keep. In return he had some tobaccos for me which included the Mellow Mallard made by DTM. A blend I did not know but after smoking a couple of bowls I now really like!

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Remember the 3 golden rules: light, space and warmth

Soon the lovely wife of Meindert boldly defied my latakia fumes and brought a cup of coffee which gave me the opportunity to look around the working space. What really struck me was how tidy and organized it was. All the machines were clean and every hand-tool had a logical place and was neatly attached to a wall or placed in a tray. I complimented him with this because I know that some other pipe makers have pretty chaotic working rooms. “One of the first things I learned when I had a working space were the 3 golden rules: light, space and warmth.” Meindert said. “Light because you have to able to clearly see what you are doing. Space as in not having a big room but having the space to be able to properly do your job. Warmth because you can’t work well with cold muscles.” What I also liked were all the old hand tools that Meindert inherited from his father. Where for example a lot of pipe makers use machinery to make their stems Meindert uses his father’s tools. All handwork.

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Heating up the stem for bending

After the second cup of coffee it was time to see what I have came for, my panelled prince. It was smaller than I thought but nonetheless I was pleasantly surprised. It looked better than on the pictures! The acrylic cumberland stem still was straight so Meindert got to work by lighting a candle. Huh? Is he praying for good luck this way or…? I know that pipe-maker Vandaahl uses some kind of industrial blow dryer to heat up the stem for bending. It turned out that Meindert was warming up the stem the old fashioned way. Very tricky and when I nervously looked at him he had to laugh, relax! At bit above the candle-flame he slowly rolled the stem of the pipe around and around with a steady hand. Suddenly I saw that a part of the stem became flexible and Meindert carefully bended it following my directions. I made a comment before that he had a tendency to bend his prince-stems too close to the shank so while I looked over his shoulder he asked if it was ok. Ehhrrr.. Yes?

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Checking the bend

When the stem had cooled down I was able to properly examine the pipe. Damn! The bend could be a bit more but worse, the stem was crooked, it had a deviation to the left. So Meindert heated it all up again and made the correction. Hmm, better but there was a tiny bump on top. No problemo, some fine sanding paper took care of that. But still the bend could be more. Heating, bending, arghh! A good bend but once again crooked! Really, if I were Meindert I would have kicked myself out of the door. But he stayed ice-cold and once again bended the stem. Perfect! I breathed a sign of relief while Meindert buffed the pipe to a shiny whole.

IMG_0812Oh wait! I almost forgot, I still had to perform my pipe-cleaner test. That means that when I fold one of my pipe-cleaners it has to pass the smoking channel pretty easy. And it didn’t.. I asked which drilling diameter was used. “The one Peterson uses (Meindert is a huge Peterson fan), 3.0 mm.” Ahh.. That explains.. Fortunately making the drilling wider was no problem. 3.1 mm, 3.2 mm.. “Meindert” I said “please make it 3.5 mm, that should do the trick.” And indeed with 3.5 mm my pipe-cleaner went through the smoking channel effortlessly. I told him that you also get a better draft with 3.5 mm and thus a better smoking experience. Meindert thought that was very interesting and he is going to experiment with it.

The finished prince

The finished prince

The rest of the afternoon went by too fast. Before I knew it it was 6 o’clock and I had to go home. We shook hands again and I hit the road. The next day I smoked the panelled prince for the first time and I was delighted! The bit felt very comfortable between my teeth, not too thick and also not too thin, just perfect. Of course smoking a pipe for the first couple of times is not really fun because a layer of cake still has to form inside the bowl. But nonetheless I was impressed about the smoking qualities. I also kept looking at the pipe form every angle. I am sure almost every pipe-smoker sometimes takes the pipe out of his mouth and admires it. I sure did that with Meindert’s pipe and am still doing it.

Meindert has to take things slowly because of his health. So if you are interested in him making a pipe for you (he makes about 1 pipe per week) please contact me and I will connect you through.

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