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Brand Dating Guides
A Dr. Grabow carries no year code. The words on the shank, the stem emblem and the line name place it in an era.
Updated 2026-09-30
Welcome. If your pipe says DR. GRABOW or LINKMAN'S, this guide helps you place it in its era.
These pipes were made in Chicago first, and later in North Carolina.
So the first question is: Chicago years or North Carolina years?
A Dr. Grabow carries no year. You can place most in an era, but not in one year.
Almost every date here comes from one researcher, Russell McKay, and his helper Mr. Bridges.
Mr. McKay dated the pipes from old adverts. He calls his list working notes, not final facts.
His work is kept on Pipedia. Pipedia is an online pipe encyclopedia.
Where his pages disagree, we show both. We say when a fact has one source only.
Each rule has a rank: high, medium or low. High means strong, agreed evidence.
Medium means one good source or a general rule. Low means a wide range or a weak hint.
Only one rule in this guide is ranked high. It rests on a patent record that we read ourselves.
From a Chicago factory to Sparta, North Carolina
In 1892 Louis B. Linkman founded M. Linkman and Co. in Chicago.
In 1922 he built a factory at the corner of Fullerton and Racine.
In 1930 or 1931 Linkman began to use the name Dr. Grabow. Mr. McKay gives both years.
Paul E. Grabow was a real Chicago doctor and a friend of Linkman. He died in 1965, aged 97.
In 1937 Linkman began to call his pipes Pre-Smoked.
In late 1944 the adverts changed the company name to Dr. Grabow Pipe Co.
In 1947 the names Dr Grabow and Pre-Smoked were registered as trademarks.
In 1952 Linkman retired. Mr. McKay adds: or maybe in 1953 or 1954.
The firm Henry Leonard and Thomas, short HLT, then took over the brand.
In 1955 a trade yearbook lists Dr. Grabow as a product of HLT of North Carolina.
Linkman died in 1957.
In 1985 HLT joined with Sparta Pipes. The new firm was Sparta Industries.
In 1997 Sparta Industries joined Lane Limited. In 1999 Lane joined RJ Reynolds.
On 26 January 2006 the firm International Pipes and Accessories bought Dr. Grabow and the Sparta factory.
The move has no exact year
Mr. McKay splits the pipes into old and new. Old means Chicago. New means the Sparta area of North Carolina.
The move came between about 1952 and 1955. No source gives one exact year.
Mr. McKay thinks both places may have made pipes at the same time in those years.
The word LINKMAN'S on the shank points to the Chicago years.
The word AJUSTOMATIC on a Dr. Grabow points to 1949 or later.
Ajustomatic is a stem that screws in and can still be turned straight.
David P. Lavietes asked for the patent on 25 January 1946. It was granted on 15 February 1949.
We read the patent record ourselves. Its number is 2,461,905.
Mr. McKay notes that Linkman's own pipes had push stems. The HLT pipes had the screw stem.
A reading with no rank
Our cabinet holds no ranked rule for these numbers. So they carry no rank here.
Our cabinet is our file of sourced dating facts for one maker.
Many Chicago pipes carry a four-digit shape number. Its first two digits name the line.
Mr. McKay lists them. De Luxe starts with 92, 97 or 98. Special starts with 43 or 49.
Select Grain starts with 84. Supreme starts with 94 or 95. Tru-Grain starts with 60 or 62.
Pipedia shows a De Luxe with the number 9745, and a Special with the number 4320.
Mr. McKay ties several of these codes to a catalogue of about 1937.
The very first Dr. Grabow pipes are different. They carry MLC in an oval and a two-digit number.
First years from old adverts. No rank
Our cabinet gives each line name a first year but no rank. So we list them without a rank.
Most names give a first year only. Many lines ran for decades after it.
Standard: 1954 to about 1956. Mr. McKay calls this name a mystery, so treat it as a weak hint.
Westbrook: 1955 to about 1985. Mr. McKay's other page says it was introduced in 1957.
Belvedere: from about 1955.
Savoy, Regal and Starfire: from 1956. The first adverts are from October, November and December 1956.
Riviera and Viscount: from 1957. The first adverts are from March and December 1957.
Eldorado: from about 1960. The first advert is from November 1961, so 1960 is an estimate.
Commodore, Duke, Golden Duke and Berwyck: from 1964.
Sculptura: from 1967. Color Viscount: from 1971. Omega: from 1974.
CDL: 1975 to 1983. It was sold only in test areas.
Pacer and Viking Pacer: from 1976.
Bucko, Hillcrest and Freehand: from 1985. Mr. McKay says some year from 1985 to 1991.
Royalton: from 1988.
Pipes you could not buy in a shop
Some Dr. Grabow pipes were never sold in shops. Smokers ordered them by mail from Sparta.
They sent coupons from RJ Reynolds tobacco packs and a few dollars.
The writer K. Maxwell Graves Jr. names four of them: Westbrook, Berwyck, Emperor and Sculptura.
Mr. McKay also counts Belvedere as an early one.
Mr. Graves says the offer began in the early 1950s and ended in 1987. One source only.
Mr. McKay gives about 1985 for the end of the Westbrook. So the two sources differ by two years.
A line name alone gives a first year only. In April 2011 the firm still offered Duke, Savoy, Riviera and Royalton.
The spade is on pipes from 1944 until today. It shows only that the pipe is not older.
A shield is not always from the 1940s. The Royalton of 1988 used an old stamp with HLT in a shield.
A stem can be replaced. The emblem dates the stem, so check that the stem fits the pipe.
A push stem is a weak hint. A later line called VanRoy also had a push stem.
The word ITALY is a weak hint too. Lark and Little Duke pipes came from Italy from 1964 to 1984.
Early meerschaum-lined pipes came from Italy and say ITALY. After 1989 Sparta made them and added the spade.
Some lists give line numbers such as 3500 for Viscount. These numbers were never stamped on the pipes.
A pipe from 1952 to 1955 can mix Chicago and North Carolina features. We cannot place it in one town.
Read every word on the shank. Each one is a clue.
LINKMAN'S or FASHIONED BY LINKMAN
The Chicago years. The adverts changed the company name in late 1944, but the words stayed on some pipes until the move.
MLC in an oval, with a two-digit shape number
The first Dr. Grabow pipes. Mr. McKay says about 1930 to 1932. We allow until 1935. One source only.
PRE-SMOKED
Linkman began to use the word in 1937. Mr. McKay marks this year with a question. One source only.
AJUSTOMATIC
The screw stem of US patent 2,461,905, granted on 15 February 1949. Mr. McKay and the patent record agree.
A yellow or orange plastic band
The war years. The adverts of 1942 or 1943 show these bands. One source only.
Look at the side of the stem for a small inlaid emblem.
A shield on the stem
The De Luxe shield. It is in adverts from October 1943 to 1946. We allow one more year. One source only.
A white spade on the stem
First seen in an advert of late 1944, and used until today. One source only.
These two are weak hints. Use them only with other marks.
A push stem
Linkman's way of fitting a stem. His push-stem patent is from 1914. A later line, VanRoy, also had a push stem.
ITALY
Pipes brought in from Italy. Lark and Little Duke came from 1964 to 1984. Meerschaum-lined pipes said ITALY until 1989.
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 Dr. Grabowyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Dr. Grabow in the Shop