1941 Geo. Yale Tobacconist Catalog + Bonus British Ephemera

[misterlowercase]

Today was a good postbox day, along came a 1941 George Yale catalog I had recently found, in original envelope with assorted loose sheets and etc. --- also was lucky to also get an old Martin's catalog and a couple of trade journals from 1924 and 1949...
...here are a few selected pages from the glorious paper:

 

[mcitinner1]

Thank you Minister for the cool views into our tobacco past.

 

[georged]

MLC, your Tobacco Time Machine is awesome. Absolutely, insanely awesome. :D :D :D

 

[dcrguns]

Thanks, love these posts about pipes and tobacco from the past!

 

[sablebrush52]

Fantastic! MLC provides another very valuable and interesting post.
One item that caught my eye was in the "pipe hospital" ad where stem replacement is priced at 50¢ for vulcanite and 75¢ for para rubber. Barling stems have been described as being made from para rubber and I assumed that it was another term for vulcanite. Evidently it was something different. If anyone can explain the difference between vulcanite and para rubber, I'd like to have it.

 

[thefalcon]

Very nicely done as usual Brother, congrats on your new Ephemera!

 

[georged]

Barling stems have been described as being made from para rubber and I assumed that it was another term for vulcanite. Evidently it was something different. If anyone can explain the difference between vulcanite and para rubber, I'd like to have it.

Para rubber refers to the type of plant that the latex came from which was used to make it. There are a number of them in Nature, but the Para (sometimes spelled Parra) variety is the only one that can be managed as a domestic crop---i.e. raised on farms---while the others must be tracked down and tapped in the wild. Those varieties haven't been commercially viable since the colonial era in Africa ended after WWII.
Since the catalog was printed in 1941, though, and "native" latex extracted from vines in the Belgian Congo (as it was then called) was considered inferior to the purer Para type that came from (mostly) South America, I suspect the price difference reflects perceived quality.
Whether the contaminants & etc in raw latex actually make a difference in the final rubber, I have no idea. (I would think it's like crude oil grades... what you start with doesn't matter, the dirty stuff just requires more refining/distillation.)

 

[kcghost]

Just a wonder post , mlc!! :worship:

 

[misterlowercase]

Yeah,

some interesting stuff.
I've been on the lookout for this era of a Geo. Yale catalog and finally found one, although a bit tatty, it came with various loose sheets, the Sasieni flyer, a tobacco blending sheet, and a couple of other neat loose sheets, all in the original envelope.
I've not had a chance to really sit down and absorb this stuff yet, but I was stoked to see upon quick scan that Samuel Gawith showed up with Grouse-Moor & Skiff being both available, a fact that I thought was very cool.
The McKinnell advert was charming just because I love archaic language,

I had no idea what it meant,

google says:

Guid gear gangs in sma' buik.
Good things come in small packages.
The literal meaning is "good stuff goes in small book".
A close equivalent in standard English would be, "Good equipment goes in small bulk" and the whole proverb means that something can be small and yet of good quality.
more concisely:
Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 122:

Gude gear gangs into little bouk. -Mod.: guid gear (gangs) in sma' (little) buik, applied to a small but capable person (Abd.27, Slg.3, Edb.1, Ayr.8, Wgt.4, Rxb.4 1954).- †(2) Stuff for eating or drinking: food or drink; crops, grain, etc.

The story about the engineer slugging out the ciggy machine was funny.
Finding a small article about Louis Orlik was a delight.
Rest assured that if I ever come across a copy of The Episodes of Ebenezer Phizzletop,

that I will instantly obtain it if within a reasonable threshold --- I am a huge City de Luxe fan!

I'm not rich or fanatical enough to pay $200 though,

here's a copy if anybody may be willing!

http://www.theukrarityshop.com/2043.htm
Regarding para rubber,

it was definitely in vogue during the pre-war time it seems, even Kaywoodie used the terminology, and BBB, and many others too I'd reckon...
...I remember this great looking Yenson where I shamelessly requested that the op sell it to me right there in the thread!

With box which notes that the pipe uses "super para vulcanite"...

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/info-on-yenson-and-h-simmons
::

 

[rfernand]

Oh man, this post wins the Internet today.

 

[jmatt]

MLC - I've been here a while, but not a big poster so you might not have ever even noticed my screen name before. But I've read many of your threads and look forward to each new find from you. Thanks for doing what you do. Your collections of tobacciana literature are spectacular. I love the glimpses into the past. So thanks!!!!!

 

[pipesinperu]

Great post! I thought the "odd shaped pipes" were especially interesting. I wouldn't have guessed the "banjo" had been around so long.
Also, the "Boer" looks like what we would call a hawkbill nowadays, which is still a relatively odd/rare pipe. The name "Boer," along with the oom paul, makes me curious as to why the South African influence was so marked in the pipe smoking world that multiple shape names were taken from there.

 

[prndl]

I love this stuff.
Oh yea, I want one of those P-358's.

 

[misterlowercase]

Thanks for the kind words gents.

::
jmatt -

of course I remember you, you were part of the GLPease crawl, plus your avatar invokes an intense visceral response in me when I see it, conjuring massive earthquake rumbles of the time when I went to the NHRA Southern Nationals - it was totally intense!
dublinesque -

great eye with the Boer and its hawkbillishness.

As for the S.A. influence, I would speculate that the English were especially emotionally invested in the country due to the Boer War, both from the early 1880's and the larger episode at around the turn of the century, which was a time when the British briar pipe industry was still in its formative stages --- I'd love to hear more on the subject too though.
An interesting sidenote,

re: the Martins Carlyle pipes,

couldn't help but to notice that they call their traditional billiards the "French shape".

*note

The phrase "all your base are belong to us" has an interesting history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us
8)

 

[misterlowercase]

inadvertent double post



(posted in wrong thread)

 

[jmatt]

MLC - if you enjoyed watching it, you should imagine the sensation from the driver's seat. And I only ever made 2400hp. The REAL big boys are now pushing 10,000hp. But anyway - cheers and thanks!

 

[ssjones]

Warning - Warning Will Robinson - Too much to take in at one setting, visual overload.
I want a Shamrock P946 Prince!

 

[brian64]

Warning - Warning Will Robinson - Too much to take in at one setting, visual overload.

+1 on that ... but another truly magnificent post MLC.
Those old prices are always fascinating. It's amazing how valuable federal reserve currency used to be.

 

[jensen]

Misterlowercase.

thank you for letting me know that the old unused Critic pipe I receieved today

is a Delacour pipe.

I have put it in the freezer to get it apart

 

[deathmetal]

The name "Boer," along with the oom paul, makes me curious as to why the South African influence was so marked in the pipe smoking world that multiple shape names were taken from there.

South Africa was once a frontier much like the American West was. Now it seems to be a failing society, but once, it was where the up-and-comers went to make a name for themselves.
I like that "Bull Moose" pipe. MLC, thank you for posting!