VAN ROYs

LokoMac8 · VAN ROYs

VAN ROY pipes are an interesting lot. At first, they seem to be a pipe wholly of their own line and made by the Vanroy Company in New York. Their first seeming tie to our Dr. Grabow history, is that they were AJUSTOMATIC threaded pipes.

Sometime during or after the time Dr. Grabow pipes became a part of HL&T, the Van Roy pipes, like the Royalton, became LINES of Dr. Grabow pipes. The interesting thing here, is that they lost their Ajustomatic stems and became either push stem or push filter stem pipes and the Dr. Grabow pipes became the EXCLUSIVE pipes featuring the Ajustomatic stem.

I have several Van Roys, including one pre-Grabow one that is Ajustomatic and seems to be a HL&T shape. The others I have/had all SEEMED to be Italian made pipes, with s different "Dr. Grabow" name stamp, with or without an "Italy" stamp, a different "IMPORTED BRIAR" stamp and lastly, something that I would like to know.

These later Dr. Grabow VAN ROY pipes, that I believe are all made in Italy, have familiar looking shapes, but that I do not believe are HL&T shapes. I need TED's discerning eye and comments about these. A photo of the one I just smoked is below. In the photo, my untrained eye had tried to assign in a Dr. Grabow shape, but after I studied it some more, I really do not think it is a match. TED, did the maker have their own shapes, or were they trying to follow the HL&T shapes at all?

Another Van Roy I have I also tried to assign a shape number to, but again, I do not think that it is really a match:

The two pictured Dr. Grabow VAN ROYs are the better of the ones I had. One of the others was so poor, that when I did a fairly gentle cleaning of the pipe, all the fills came out! It was such a horrific sight that it is actually one of the few pipes that I could bear to throw straight into the trash! --RJ--

ted

Mac, Somewhere on the Forum someone posted a picture of the factory in Sparta from the 50's. I can't find it tonight, but am sure there were two names painted on the building. One was Royalton and the other was VanRoy.

These have always been a mystery to me and no-one ever explaned them.
None were made after 1966, and by then the names on the building had been painted over.

You've done a great job of numbering the shapes. The 73 I would have gotten, but the 92S I wouldn't have remembered.

I have looked at them and, like you do not believe they are HLT/Grabow/Sparta shapes. The bowl on both seem to "tip" forward a bit more than more current shapes and they just don't look right.

In these "standard" shapes....apples, billiards, dublins, pears, ...it is difficult to tell pipes from different suppliers. Italians had their own shapes and their stummels were made in a different manner from ours. So far as I know, all the Sparta standard shapes were made by ....First turning, shank turning, and trimming.
No other exotic method. Italians did a version of first turning, and then a contraption more like a hand frazer or a pentagraph (duplicating) machine, and much much more sanding.

I'd like to learn more about these and Royalton (pre - ted). Thanks

Mike Leverette

http://books.google.com/books?id=...=PA179&dq=%22van+roy+pipes%22

The above 1944 Popular Mechanics ad does not mention the adjustomatic feature; so maybe this will help with the dates.

P.S. - Love that bulldog in the ad!

steverino

Mike - thanks for posting the Popular Mechanics link - amazing stuff - lots of pipe ads and all kinds of "info".

Mike Leverette

I just noticed; on page 191 of the same magazine is an advert for HL&T's Royalton Crown pipes.

drbridges

Probably one of the most complex stem joints on the Royalton Crown. 1944 & Henry L. appears still in NY, while papa David is in SC making laurel pipes.

NC

ted

NORTH CAROLINA......Thank you...ted

LokoMac8

LokoMac8

ted

We should live so long......and find someone from Racine and Laramie or Ozone Park that has...ted

mike t · van roy

i have a van roy arista model got it unused from ebay 2 or 3 years ago in the box with sock and info it is the adjustomatic. the brochure is dated 1946

drbridges

The Ajusto Van Roy makes me suspect HL&T of NY was making them. Just hard to believe Lavietes would have allowed any competitor use of his patented design.

mike t · van roy

the address on the the brochure for repairs is the empire state building

drbridges

Yes, and Van Roy Pipe Co. obviously wasn't making pipes in the Empire State Bldg. That housed the front office. The pipes probably were made in Ozone Park.