Billie W. Taylor II, Ph.D.
Collection

Author the pipe

California Style

pipe photo
The value of pipe #174 is 55 points.
55 points description

Barry Milroad was at the New York Pipe Club Swap Meet in September, 1999. I met him at the social on Friday night and he said he had several the pipe that he might be willing to part with. I suggested that he bring them the next day and we would see if we could make a deal. He said he would be there first thing Saturday morning. By four the next afternoon I had given him up, but he trundled in about ten after four. He had a tale to tell of flat tires and a night spent locating the pipes. Altogether, there were 13 of these pipes, only three of which were duplicates of pipes already in my collection. His were only smoked a few times and are in mint condition so they all join the collection. His contribution has enhanced the collection considerably. Thank you, Barry! Years later, I got an example of an new-in-the-box California Style Author, so this one has moved to the Pipes for Trade page.

One good tale often leads to another. Mike Zanutto, Operations Manager of SuperTemp, e-mailed me to buy an example of a the pipe that he could use in creating a "Wall of Fame" for the company. I wouldn't sell any but gave him this one and two others in exchange for his promise to send me photos of the wall when it is completed. And then came the bonus! It turns out that there are still a few employees who worked on the pipe back in the day and were quite willing to share their memories with us. Before he even received the pipes, Mike had garnered important new information about the early days and promised to ask around further. Oh, wow!