"NOW WHY DID YOU PUT THIS HERE? I MEAN WHO IN THE HECK WANTS TO LOOK AT ADS?" 

Well, gee- I don't really know. There are pictures of pipes in the ads. If you want to look at 'em, go ahead. If not then pass 'em by. I made 'em into thumbnails so you won't have to wait for large graphics to load unless you wish to view a particular ad. I've also included some specifics on the pipes involved. Also, as you progress from page to page in the ad gallery you may notice the addition of certain brands and the subtraction of others, which represents a true time line in the history of the company.

The Ashton pictured was one of the pipes offered for sale at the 1996 RTDA and was not chosen there (a surprising number of superb pipes are not chosen at various RTDA trade shows simply because folks that come after the first day think all the good stuff is gone). It became mine after the show, and although I smoke it I deem it as part of the Ashton Collection. Future Ashton ads will show other pipes in the Ashton Collection

Of the two Il Ceppo pipes pictured the bent is in my collection and is regularly used. The straight paneled billiard is unused.

The two Radice pipes with perspex mouthpieces are from the Radice twin bore series. Both are unused. I particularly wanted to show folks how this unique mouthpiece worked and so stole an idea from a long ago GBD series.

The two Becker & Musico pipes pictured above are another thing entirely. The ad is an older one- first used in 1999- and I sold the pipes to a shop shortly after they were photographed. Since that time I have been semi-inundated with requests for the same shapes. The prince shape in sandblast is not so difficult, but I have yet to see another smooth bulldog with a unique silver band like the one pictured.

The Ashton ad above, showing the zulu- it's a mistake. Not that the pipe is a mistake, but the copy is a mistake. It's really a PebbleShell- giving that gnarled appearance that only a PebbleShell can. And I'm the one who's responsible for the mislabeling. Sorry!

The Becker ad is really a re-creation of the original Becker ad seen in the old PipeSmoker magazine in the early '80's (the original can be seen on the BECKER page). Same pipes, but not the same background material and not quite the same positioning.

The Il Ceppo ad is the first to show 1) a sandblast with the olive wood treatment that Franco Rossi frequently uses, and 2) a smooth Il Ceppo pipe. Folks seem to like the sandblast very much, but don't know a lot about the smooth Il Ceppo pipes- because there aren't very many.

The Radice ad shows more of the Radice twin bore series with clear lucite mouthpieces. The twin bore series is available with black mouthpieces as well, depending on your preference.

Ad Gallery...continued