Max Schulte / Schulte’s Smooth Bulldog Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Schulte’s was an American pipe tobacconist, located in New Jersey in the second half of the 20th century. Like many pipe stores, Schulte’s sold house brand pipes, but unlike most pipe stores, many of these house brand pipes were made by the store’s owner, Max Schulte. Similarly to a few other American pipe tobacconists, like Boswell’s, Schulte himself would divide his time between sales and both restoring and making pipes, during which time he served as a teacher in the craft to a young Jack H. Weinberger.

After handling a good few Schulte’s pipes in the last few years, it’s become clear to me why Max Schulte became a minor icon of post-war American pipe-making. This bulldog, for example, is very classically inclined as far as shaping goes, but the grain quality is better than about 99% of the output of the classic Anglo-French makes. With its dense straight grain rising up the sides of the bowl, transitioning to bird’s-eye exactly at the bead-line, the pipe could pass for a Dunhill Dead Root or a Comoy’s specimen—especially with its virgin stain. Bulldogs are notoriously finicky, too, as far as traditional shapes go, making this one even more impressive.

This Schulte’s is also completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.82″ / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 0.98″ / 24.89mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g