Announcing the Brigham Pipe Shape Chart Project

Hi everyone,

I’m putting out this short mid-week post to announce a new project – the Brigham Pipe Shape Chart!

Over its 100-plus years of production, Brigham has put out a boggling array of pipe shapes from classic Billiards and Bulldogs to Freehands and more exotic experimental pipes. This means that there’s almost always a new shape to add to the collection, but how do you know if you’ve got ’em all?

This project aims to catalog as many shapes as possible and, ultimately, produce a reference chart much like those available for other pipe brands.

And this is where you loyal and enthusiastic DadsPipes readers come in! I NEED YOUR PIPES! Well, ok, I need information ABOUT your pipes.

If you’ve got a Brigham pipe in your rack, or know someone who does, please consider sending me the specs –

1. the shape number, if there is one (if not, I can try to match it to a pipe that does),
2. a general description of the pipe (billiard, tankard, bent, straight, saddle/taper stem, round/oval/square shank, etc),
3. the measurements – overall length, bowl width & height, chamber bore & depth)
4. a clear pic of the pipe in profile (show me those Dots!),
5. a clear close-up pic of the pipe’s stamps. and
6. any other unique feature of your Brigham – perhaps you’ve got a non-system Brig in your rack?

I would also be interested in receiving clear, high quality scans or photos of both vintage and modern Brigham catalogs and other promotional material. One catalog can fill in a lot of blank spaces in a shape chart!

This is going to be a real crowd-supported, reverse-engineered sort of project, as even the great folks at Brigham don’t have a comprehensive list of the pipe shapes they’ve produced over more than a century, but I have faith in the power of the Internet and the Brotherhood of the Briar!

Ultimately, the Shape Chart will be published here on the DadsPipes blog as a freely-available resource to Brigham collectors and enthusiasts around the world. All contributors will be credited, so be sure to put your name in the email – unless you wish to remain anonymous (I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want your friends to know about your awesome Brigham pipes, but hey, that’s up to you.)

I will post a preliminary shape chart as soon as things hit critical mass and I can get the raw data massaged into some semblance of organization. You can help by spreading the word to other pipe communities online and in your local areas. The wider we can cast this net, the more Brigham pipe shapes we’ll catch!

Please send your Brigham submissions by email to:

thebrighamproject@gmail.com

Big thanks in advance to everyone who sends in a submission, whether it’s one pipe or an entire collection. Your pipe may be the one that fills a hole in the shape chart!

Watch for updates to the Project soon, and Happy Piping!