A Broadcaster Billiard Renovation

Written and Photographed by 

John M. Young

I have no recollection of when or how this pipe came to me.  I am sure it was part of some estate lot probably back around 2020.  It sat languishing in a box with other pipes that I deemed uninteresting.  Perhaps it was due to the heavy lacquer that covered it or its relatively dainty build.  While looking through that box it was rediscovered and placed into another box,  This new home also contained a boxed Hardcourt opera style pipe and a boxed Trapwell “Worlds Best Briar” pipe.  This must have been an upgrade on the interesting scale.  I eventually discovered it again.  This time I examined the pipe more thoroughly and noticed that the grain under all that stain and lacquer looked pretty.  I decided to take a break from pipes of the 1940 and work on this neglected maybe-a-beauty.

Here is what I was looking at.

The history of Broadcaster is actually the history of the Penn Tobacco Company and Henry Leonard and Thomas Inc. (HLT).  Broadcaster was a brand of pipes only available as coupon pipe from Penn via the coupons included in packages of pipe tobacco.  Penn produced the tobacco while HTL produced the pipes for Penn.  Pilehil.eu explains this and three other lines of pipes below.

“Brand of the Penn Tobacco Company formed in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania in 1901 by Russell Uhl († 1914) and Henry Weigand († 1942). Bruce Peters was a Treasurer of the company.

There were four pipes in the line offered by the company: the Bruce Peters (top of the line), the Silver Mac Duff, the Vox Pop, and the Broadcaster. The pipes were manufactured for Penn by Henry Leonard & Thomas, manufacturers of Dr. Grabow pre-smoked pipes.”

(http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b8.html#brucepeters)

Who was this Penn Tobacco Company, you ask.  That is another story of company buy-outs and sales.  One of their largest selling brands was Kentucky Club pipe tobacco.  According to https:  //www.tobaccoreviews.com/

“Original Kentucky Club pipe mixture. The label on the tin reads as follows: “White Burley – recognized as a better tobacco since 1867 – makes Kentucky Club the smooth, mild, satisfying pipe smoking brand with the grand aroma. An aromatic that you, and the family too, will enjoy. “Kentucky Club’s White Burley blend never tires your taste. Its delightful flavor, enjoyable taste, satisfying mildness, and grand aroma give you the greatest enjoyment in pipe smoking.”

Notes: Kentucky Club was introduced in 1934 by Penn Tobacco Company of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. In 1943 The Bloch Bros. Tobacco Co. of Wheeling, West Virginia bought the company. In 1969 it was purchased by general cigar. In the late 80’s it was purchased by John Middleton Inc. of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where it was last blended.”  (https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1171/john-middleton-inc-kentucky-club/?pagenumber=2&orderBy=tr.UpVotes)

To make the matter slightly more confusing these sales appear to have had little effect on the day to day operations of the business.  According to Troy W. (pipe restoration blogger at https://baccypipes.wordpress.com/) in a piece he did on a Bruce Peters pipe, 

“The Penn Tobacco Company was formed in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania on January 1st, 1901 by Russell Uhl and Henry Weigand. Mr. Uhl died April 4th, 1914 when he committed suicide by jumping into the Susquehanna River. (Side-note: Uhl held a number of patents for an all-glass screw-on mason jar top.)Henry Weigand continued to run Penn Tobacco until his retirement. During the 1930’s John H. Uhl was company president. Mr. Weigand died November 15th, 1942 and Penn Tobacco was sold to Bloch Bros. the following year. Among the companies more notable brands are Kentucky Club and Willoughby Taylor. The Wilkes-Barre operation was carried on until 1948, when the entire operation was moved to Wheeling, West VA, headquarters of Bloch Bros.

The paperwork I have with my Bruce Peters and Vox Pop’s both list them as coming from Penn Tobacco of Wilkes-Barre. However, another document I have states that pipes were introduced for sale by Bloch Bros. in 1948. Since the Kentucky Club and other pipe tobacco brands were still being manufactured through the 50’s, it would seem that the Penn Tobacco Company continued to operate as a separate entity, although owned by Bloch Bros.

I believe these pipes could only be purchased as promotional items using coupons from the company’s pipe tobaccos. On the “Certificate of Retail Value” accompanying my Vox Pop, the minimum value is set at $3.50.””  (https://baccypipes.wordpress.com/2017/01/28/penn-tobacco-co-bruce-peters-bench-made-coupon-pipe/) 

Though Kentucky Club is no longer blended there remain a couple of match blends:

HEARTH & HOME MID-TOWN DERBY CLUB AROMATIC available from pipesandcigars.com and Kentucky Club Aromatic (Alternative) available from wvsmokeshop.com

Now back to the dates for the Broadcaster on the desk beside me.  When was this pipe crafted?  The final piece of evidence is the “PAT. RE. 21209” on the Broadcaster’s shank.  

This is the same number and stamp used on my HTL Royalton Crown Billiard pipe.  Though the type is different I think it is safe to assume HTL was the manufacturer. 

This stamp refers to the patent of a cigaret holder and pipe stem granted in 1943 to a Henry J. Levietes (AKA Henry Leonard) ((https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/2313648).)

Well if we use the 1948 date from the Troy W. information above and the PAT. RE. 21209 stamp and the  fact that HTL was consumed by Mastercraft on October 21, 1969 (see my blog A Henry Leonard and Thomas Royalton Crown Billiard Restoration for a more complete history of HTL) we can safely say that this Broadcaster was from the 1948-1960s.

Now lets get on to the restoration of this Broadcaster.  The pipe appeared to be unsmoked or only smoked a couple of times.  If it had been smoked, someone had reamed the top portion of the tobacco chamber.  The internals were pretty clean but not unused clean and the stem did show very slight teeth chatter.  The finish on the pipe was thick lacquer over a dank reddish walnut stain. The rustications were still sharp and not worn by frequent handling.  Overall the little pipe was darn near new.  I thought the best course of action would be to ream the tobacco chamber, clean out the internals, strip the existing finish, sand/micro-mesh and polish the whole pipe.

The reaming of the tobacco chamber could hardly even be called a reaming.  It was more of a scraping and sanding with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.  I didn’t even bother photographing it as it was so uneventful.  

I did want to see which solvent would affect the finish though.  First attempt was with 99% isopropyl alcohol on a make-up pad.  That led to cleaning the finish.  No softening nor dissolving.  Next up, acetone.  I wetted a make-up pad with acetone and started wiping the bottom of the stummel.  The pad darkened and was removing the finish.  We have a winner.  The rustication was very sharp and constantly snagged on the cotton make-up pad creating a fluffy mess.  I decided to drop the stummel into a bath of acetone and

watch the first hour or so of a movie.  This would give the acetone time to dissolve the finish and me to give the hounds some of the attention that their ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) constantly demands.  By the way, the movie RED, 2010 is entertaining.  After an hour and 20 minus I paused the movie to check on the stummel.  

The shine and finish causing the shine were dissolved.  I used a nylon brush with frequent dips into the acetone to scrub the rusticated areas of the stummel.  The whole thing felt cold and wet from the acetone.  Hmm, I should probably finish that movie and let this stummel evaporate off the acetone.

Side note:  Red 2 is not quite as good as the first one.  It was still entertaining but I had no trouble focusing on the restoration.  The first movie probably would have had me focusing on the movie not the pipe. 

Due to the volatility of acetone the stummel was dry and returned to room temperature after about 20 minutes.  It was still dark from the original stain. 

I wanted to see if alcohol would leach any of the stain from the briar.  It didn’t.  I thought, “I wonder if I can sand the surface off this stummel and achieve a contrast stain look?”  I used the 600 and 1000 sanding sponges to remove the outermost stained briar.  The results were looking promising.  I had to take care to avoid the stamps as much as possible.  I did not tape over them as I did not want a blocky CENSORED look. 

“Hmm, how much of the exterior can I take off while retaining the dark stained softer wood?”  I kept at it until I was pleased with the appearance of the stummel.

I know why the craftsmen at HTL covered the briar with dark stain and thick lacquer.  It’s obviously faster and easier when mass producing factory pipes but, what a shame.  The removal of the thick finish also revealed a few areas that could use some filling with cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.  I decided to only fill the deepest scratch.

The others were left as battle scars.  The deep scratch was filled by applying a small line of CA in the scratch then pressing a pinch of briar dust into the CA filled scratch.  The CA cured almost immediately with the briar dust and was sanded smooth with the 600 and 1000 sanding sponges. 

Another side note:  Wow, that acetone sure does dry out the skin.  My oldest daughter gave me a tube of O’Keeffe’s Working Hands hand cream.  Good stuff, that.

I wanted to sand the stummel and stem simultaneously which meant that I had to clean the stem and stinger before assembling them.  The stinger came out with a bit of effort and was dropped into a medicine cup with 99% isopropyl alcohol.  The stem was cleaned by dipping bristle pipe cleaners in the same alcohol and running them through the airway.

This is when I realized that I had not cleaned out the airway of the shank either.  That was cleaned using cotton swabs dipped in the alcohol and used to scrub that airway.

Dang, maybe I shouldn’t watch movies while restoring pipes…

I reassembled the stem and pipe and began sanding the whole thing with the 1000-3500 sanding sponges.  The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sponges while the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with isopropyl.  Again, I was careful around the stampings on either side of the shank.

After the sanding sponges came the micro-mesh pads.They were used in sequence from the 4000-12000 pad.  I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with isopropyl between pads,  The stem received a drop of Obsidian Oils rubbed in and wiped off with a paper towel between pads.  Apparently the Broadcaster was looking so good that I forgot to photograph her after the micro-mesh pads.  I did get a shot of the next step for the stummel though – the Before and After Restoration Balm.  The balm was applied with my finger and then brushed into the rustication using a baby toothbrush.

While the stummel was marinating in the Restoration Balm, I used the Before and After Fine Polish on the stem.  This was applied with my finger and vigorously rubbed with a soft cotton cloth.  The polishing was repeated using the Before and After Extra Fine Polish next with the same process but with a clean spot on the cloth.

I wiped off the remaining Restoration Balm with the inside of a cotton athletic sock.  The thick terry cloth was used to rub into the rustication to remove any excess balm.  THe pipe was then taken to the buffer where several coats of carnauba wax were applied.

Overall I am very pleased at how well this Broadcaster turned out.  The contrast stain, though not something that was done by design, looks wonderful.  The Restoration Balm followed by carnauba wax really brought out a depth to the stained grain.  I am sure the original craftsmen would appreciate the changes made to the finish.  The stem looks much better with the new polish and shine and together with the aluminum band accent the pipe even more.  This pipe is on the small side with a bowl diameter of .686 inch (11/16 in or 17.5 mm).  The bowl height is 1.6 inches (28 mm) with an overall length of 6.2 inches (157.5 mm) and weighs in at .85 ounces or 24 grams.  I do hope that you have found something here useful for your own restorations or have found this entertaining.  If you like this sort of thing please click the like and subscribe.  Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Broadcaster Billiard.