BBK Tobacco Pipe with Wind Cap

A Swiss made BBK pipe with a wind cap.

Josef Brunner, from the hamlet Nieder-Huggerwald, belonging to the community of Kleinlützel (Canton Solothurn), was sent in 1871 to a pipe turner in Winkel / Alsace for his apprenticeship. As was usual at that time, Brunner wandered as a journeyman after ending the apprenticeship. Eventually, he went to Saint-Claude, which was then the world's stronghold of briar pipe manufacturing. There, Brunner was able to increase and deepen his knowledge in the field of industrial pipe making.

Back home in 1878, he installed a small turner's workshop in the house of his father. With the energetic support of his two younger brothers, he began to produce tobacco pipes of his own calculation, taking them to the markets in the surrounding area. Bru-Bu's fabrication program was expanded with many handcrafted wooden art articles: carved family coats of arms, bread plates, fruit scarves, and - more and more - souvenir articles for the expanding Swiss tourism industry. Pipes remained in the program continuously, but the offerings changed from traditional Swiss pipes to the more "European standard" shapes.

At some point in the late 1970's, Bru-Bu went out of business. Some of the Brunners, as far as known, continued as timber traders. But in 1986 new life filled the old Bru-Bu pipe workshop, when the gang of Dr. Horst Wiethüchter and "Former" Nielsen started to produce the high-grade Bentley pipes there.

Approximate dimensions (WxDxH): 5.5"x1.5"x5"

SKU: SJAA0007

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