Resale Shop Find - Vintage Tanganyika Meerschaum Pipe
ghostsofpompeii
Master
Don't really know much about this pipe but I found it in a resale shop in seemingly good condition for $14.00 so I thought I'd pick it up. It's actually a little bigger pipe and bowl than I usually smoke but very nice looking and should clean up well. The stem has the maker Tanganyika as well as an elephant logo. I did what research I could and discovered it's apparently made for African Meerschaum rather than Turkey making it a bit different in texture. Don't know if it's worth more than I paid for it but it's the first Meerschaum pipe I own that isn't carved. Also it appears to have a bit of a cake forming in it and what I've heard building a cake in a Meerschaum isn't advisable. But I planned on reaming it and cleaning and sanitizing it anyway. It was one of the few shops I've seen with a wide variety of pipes. Seems one guy came in and sold his entire collection. And nothing was going for higher than $19.00 with many going for only $6.99. If I didn't already have a few already coming in the mail I might have picked up a few more. I settled on two. The other is a smaller one that I'll eventually post as well. But this one seemed the most intriguing, and thought someone here might know more about the pipe and maker. The tag supplied by the owner suggested it was vintage cira 1955 or thereabouts.
Comments
<<Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation is a company that formed in 1955 by Kenyan businessmen from Nairobi after the discovery of a meerschaum mine relatively close to the surface on Kilimanjaro. The meerschaum is tougher, less porous, and cheaper than the Turkish variety. Another mine was soon discovered in Sinya, in the famous Amboseli Game Park. The company, previously based in Arusha (Tanzania), became an associate of a Belgium firm, but closed some years after. It produced the Caveman, Countryman, Kiko, Killimanjaro, Sportsman, Townsman, and Wiga brands. It maintained a link with GBD for the making of the GBD Block Meerschaum series, and after its closure, the English firms, London Meerschaum and Manx Pipes (Manx Meerschaum) continued producing with African meerschaum.>>
Also look at: https://rebornpipes.com/tag/tanganyika-meerschaum-pipes/
And from what I gather from perusing https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=tanganyika+meerschaum, you got a good deal there.