The Brigham System has been on the market since 1938 when it was patented by Roy Brigham in Toronto, Canada. The original system consisted of a long aluminum tenon/filter holder into which fit a tube of untreated Rock Maple, which absorbed moisture from the smoke stream as it passed through the stem. Pipes from this… Continue reading A New System Stem for a Patent Era Brigham 229 Author
A fellow pipe lover here in Ontario sent me a couple of old friends for a bit of TLC. One of those pipes is this 1980's vintage Brigham 384 Squire. This round-bottomed bent brandy shape was introduced to the Brigham lineup in the 1970s and quickly became a fan favourite. This particular example was certainly… Continue reading Reviving and Re-Stemming a Vintage Brigham 384 Squire
I'm sneaking in a mid-week post this week. I just couldn't wait to share this one! It's not every day that a self-identified pipe geek like me gets to contribute to a new series by their favourite pipe maker, so when I was approached by the folks at Brigham about just such a project, I… Continue reading Everything Old is New Again
A filterless, or Non-System, Brigham pipe is a rare bird, indeed. The Toronto-based manufacturer sold non-system pipes alongside their patented Brigham System pipes featuring the Rock Maple Distillator from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s. By that time the vast majority of Brigham pipes sold were system pipes, so the non-filtered versions were quietly retired.… Continue reading Dent Removal and Some TLC for an Early 2000’s Non-System Brigham 530
Today I'm back digging around in the estate lot of pipes I purchased last summer. Along with the Brigham 5W1 I wrote about last time, the lot included another Brigham - an interesting 5-Dot Bent Brandy. I have pulled it out of the refurb box several times since I acquired it, trying to get a… Continue reading Restoring a Unique Brigham 5-Dot Bent Brandy
After slogging through a number of more complex restorations recently, I'm rather relieved that this week's Brigham 5W1 refresh is at the other end of the estate pipe spectrum. With no major dents, dings or missing parts, this 1990s-era pipe was in pretty good estate condition, though it needed some attention. Apart from a layer… Continue reading Refreshing an Interesting 1990s Brigham 5W1 Short Brandy
I'm asked fairly regularly about where and how I source the estate pipes featured in the blog. I have bought many individually or in small groups from antique shops and fairs, but every now and then I buy an estate lot. Last summer I did just that, bringing home a mixed batch of about 60… Continue reading Reclaiming a Damaged 1960s-vintage Brigham 229L Large Author
Here is another estate pipe from my box of refurbs-in-waiting. This Brigham 218 Pear had been buried at the bottom of the pile for some time when I dug it out and decided it was time to work on it. Here is the pipe as it looked when I brought it to the worktable. Although… Continue reading Freeing a Seized Stem and Freshening Up a 1990s Brigham 218 Pear
It's been a while since I worked on a pipe from my own box of refurbs-in-waiting, so today when I found myself temporarily in between other jobs, I dug through my pile of estate pipes and pulled out this 1990s vintage Brigham 303 Billiard. As you can see from this first series of pictures, the… Continue reading Reviving a 1990s Brigham 303 Billiard
Those of you familiar with the Brigham Shape Chart will already be aware that Brigham made many of the classic pipe shapes in a number of different sizes. Prior to the shift to European production, Brigham Billiards came in four regular sizes (Shapes 01, 02, 03 and 04) with several variants, including Tall, Chimney and… Continue reading Freshening up the Smallest of the Vintage Brigham Billiards – a 1980s 201
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