Having some of that Abingdon I mentioned last night in a 40's era Sterncrest 14k. These came with solid (not plated) 14k bands and were premium pipes in their day, although the parent company (LHS) disappeared in the late 50's, leaving little behind except their marketing and the pipes that show up on eBay.
I used to buy old banged up LHS/Sterncrest pipes for $1-10 apiece and restore them for myself. I became enamored with the earlier production from them years ago, and built a sizable brand-focused collection. I even came into one of their tobacco shop countertop displays that I repurposed into a wall cabinet to display my favorite 30 pipes from the collection. Some day I might get it down here, but left it with Slagle because it has a fragile glass front that I didn't want to risk shipping.
Early production from the company was - and still is today, most of a century later - fantastic. Like many others at the time, business decisions led to a drop-off in quality during their final decade.
Sent via Caribbean smoke signal
