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Brand Dating Guides
A Brigham carries no year code. The country stamp, the patent stamp and the brass dots in the stem place it in an era.
Updated 2026-09-28
Welcome. If your pipe says Brigham, this guide helps you place it in its era.
Brigham is a pipe maker from Toronto, in Canada.
Most Brigham pipes take a filter made of rock maple wood. It is a hollow wooden tube inside the tenon.
A Brigham carries no year code. You can place many pipes in an era, but not in one year.
Our main sources are two collector websites. Pipedia is an online pipe encyclopedia. Pipephil is a website of pipe markings.
Most era dates here come from one author, Charles Lemon. His article is on Pipedia. So most ranks are medium or low.
Where sources disagree, we show both. We say when a fact has one source only.
Each rule has a rank: high, medium or low. The rank says how sure we are of the years.
From a repair shop in Toronto to pipes made in Europe
In 1906 Roy Brigham opened a pipe repair shop in Toronto. Pipedia, Pipephil and Lemon all give 1906.
He had learned the trade from an Austrian pipe maker, says Pipedia.
By 1918 five other craftsmen worked with him, says Pipedia. He soon began to make his own pipes.
About 1938 his son Herb joined the firm, says Pipedia.
Roy and Herb developed the rock maple filter. Pipedia says in about 1937. Lemon's Patent Era starts in 1938.
Pipephil says the filter came after the Second World War. We keep the wider start, 1937.
By the 1960s the firm had over 40 staff, says Pipedia.
In 1978 Roy's grandson Mike joined the firm, says Pipedia.
In 2001 Brigham moved its production from Toronto to Italy, says Lemon.
Herb Brigham died on 30 September 2010, aged 94. Pipedia quotes a Toronto Star notice.
Seven periods, from one author
Lemon divides Brigham pipes into seven eras. They come from one author only.
Lemon himself marks two of the eras as approximate: 1956 to 1969 and 1970 to 1980.
Pre-Patent Era, 1906 to 1937: pipes without the filter. Lemon says their stamps are unknown.
Patent Era, 1938 to 1955: the stamp CAN PAT with a number, a thin script Brigham, and a shape number.
Post-Patent Era, 1956 to about 1969: the patent ran out in 1955. MADE IN CANADA in block letters replaced CAN PAT.
Canadian Era, about 1970 to 1980: a shape number, and Brigham over MADE IN CANADA.
Late Canadian Era, 1980 to 2000: first Brigham over CANADA. From the late 1980s, a shape number and the Brigham logo only.
Transition Era, 2001 to 2006: pipes made in Italy after the move.
European Era, from 2007: the 2007 series, with 7 grades and 12 shapes.
Lemon's article is from 2016, updated in 2018. He now calls it a legacy article.
His 2023 book, Brigham Pipes: A Century of Canadian Briar, replaces it. We have not read the book yet.
The dots show the grade, and the system changed in 1980
Brigham marks the grade with small brass pins in the stem. Collectors call them dots.
The first system had 8 grades. Lemon gives it the years 1938 to 1980.
In the same article, Lemon also writes 1938 to 1978 for it. We show both.
In the first system, one dot means the 100 series of shapes, says Pipephil. Two dots mean the 200 series.
Three dots in a triangle mean the 300 series. Three dots in a line mean the 600 series, says Pipephil.
Our undated Brigham brochure lists the 8 grades with their dots.
Standard has 1 dot. Select has 2 dots. Exclusive has 3 dots in a triangle.
Executive has 3 dots in a vertical line. V.I.P. has 3 dots in a horizontal line, the middle one larger.
The brochure also names Director, Special Grain and Straight Grain as higher grades.
In 1980 Brigham changed to a system of 7 grades, says Lemon. A 7-dot pipe became the top grade.
The same change dropped the vertical and horizontal 3-dot patterns, says Lemon.
The 7-grade system stayed in use from 1980 to 2001, says Lemon.
Years with no rank
Our cabinet gives these line names years but no rank. So we list them here without a rank.
Our cabinet is our file of sourced dating facts for one maker.
Norseman or Norsemen: fully rusticated pipes in Danish shapes, stamped 9W and a shape number, says Lemon. Our range is 1965 to 1980.
Valhalla: smooth or part rusticated pipes in the same shapes. Grades A, B and C, stamped AV6, BV6 or CV6. Our range is 1965 to 1980.
Lemon says both lines came in the 1960s and ran in the late 1960s and 1970s. Our start year, 1965, is a wide estimate.
President: formed in 1980 from the Norseman and Valhalla lines, says Lemon. Our range is 1980 onward.
Platinum: pipes without the filter, for the United States, from the 1990s. Our range is 1990 onward.
Acadian: a grade of the 2007 series. Our range is 2007 onward.
The old grade names, such as Standard or Select, are common words. So we do not date a pipe by them.
The number on the shank is a shape number. It is never a year.
Read the words CAN PAT, not the digits. Lemon reads 372982. Pipephil's photos show 372987 and 372885.
A pipe without the filter is not always a Pre-Patent pipe. Brigham made some later, up to the Platinum line of the 1990s.
A missing mark never dates a pipe. The name Brigham alone does not date a pipe either.
Three dots in a horizontal line can be old or new. Before 1980, the middle dot is larger.
On the President line from 1980, the larger dot is on the right, says Lemon.
Lemon warns that old parts were used up when a system changed. He owns a President pipe with a Valhalla stem.
Our brochure has two founding years. One panel says since 1906, another says since 1902. Three sources give 1906.
Read the country stamp first. The longest wording wins: MADE IN CANADA before CANADA alone.
MADE IN CANADA
It replaced CAN PAT after the patent ran out in 1955. Canadian production ended with the 2001 move. One author: Lemon.
The word CANADA on its own
Seen in several Toronto eras, such as Brigham over CANADA in the early 1980s. It fits any Toronto era.
MADE IN ITALY or ITALY
The first Italian Brigham pipes came in the late 1990s. All production moved to Italy in 2001 (Lemon). Pipedia shows a Voyager stamped Italy.
MADE IN FRANCE or FRANCE
The higher grades of the 2007 series are made in France. One source only: Brian Levine, quoted by Lemon.
Read the shank for the words CAN PAT and a number.
CAN PAT or CAN. PAT. with a number
The Patent Era: filter from about 1937 (Pipedia) or 1938 (Lemon), to the 1955 end of the patent. Pipephil says after the war.
Look at the top of the stem. Count the brass dots and look at their pattern.
3 dots in a vertical line
The Executive grade of the first 8-grade system. Dropped in the 1980 change (Lemon). Pipephil shows it.
7 dots
The top grade of the 7-grade system of 1980, in use to 2001 (Lemon). Our end year, 2006, is before the 2007 series.
Yellow star on the stem
Entry pipes of the late 1990s, the first made in Italy. The star became a leaf after 2001. One source only: Lemon.
What We Don't Know Yet
Published deliberately. If you hold the catalogue, hallmarked example, or period document that closes one of these gaps, write to us — corrections are credited. Every open question across the encyclopedia is gathered on the Open Questions page.
Changelog
Sources
Holding a Brighamyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Brigham in the Shop