Bertram

Bertram is an American workshop that made pipes in Washington across three generations, its name continuing to be cited in collecting circles even after its closure. The family's roots are traced to Bertram Goldmann, who came from Germany and began pipe making in the capital at the turn of the century; the business's now-known name and structure, however, emerged with the Bertram Pipe Shop that Sydney Bertram Goldman founded in 1927. The shop stayed around 14th Street throughout its life, moving to a new building on the same street in 1947.

Stamp and Grade System

Bertram pipes carry the brand name stamped beside the shank in letters resembling handwriting, with "WASHINGTON D.C." struck just below; the shape number is usually found on the underside of the shank. Quality distinction was indicated by a sequence of numbers rising in tens: 10, 20, 30, 40, and onward. Moving up the sequence indicated a cleaner-grained, more select block. Collectors consider this sequence the most practical way of placing a given pipe within the brand's own scale. Most examples encountered are plain billiard and similar classic shapes, in keeping with the American taste of the period.

Bodies were worked from imported briar, with materials ranging from amber to silver used for mouthpiece and ferrule; for the general framework of these choices, see the mouthpiece materials article. Because demand at one point outstripped the workshop's own capacity, pipes sourced from outside were also sold under the brand name; the Bertram stamp on its own is therefore not proof that a pipe was finished at the Washington bench.

The Capital's Clientele

What set the workshop apart from its counterparts was above all the city it was in. Working at the center of politics and diplomacy brought unusual names into the ledgers: Douglas MacArthur, actors Edward G. Robinson and Red Skelton are counted among them; Franklin D. Roosevelt is also said to have ordered a cigarette holder from the shop. According to an account resting on local press, the shop's own tobacco blend was even sent to Joseph Stalin via the Soviet embassy. This clientele over time earned the brand the title "the nation's pipe maker." That war veterans were employed in the production department after the 1947 move is another detail that reinforced the shop's standing in the city.

Fire and Closure

The course of the business changed at the end of the 1960s. During the unrest that broke out in the city in April 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the building was looted and set on fire. Although production was kept going a while longer, largely through employees' efforts, the workshop could not restore its former order. The family decided in September 1977 to give up pipe making entirely, and the building was sold to another business.

The brand is seen today only in secondhand circulation. For estate pipe enthusiasts, Bertram is one of the few names through which the tradition of city-scale workshops in America can still be traced.