Montgomery Handmade Pipes

Montgomery Handmade Pipes is a small-scale American pipe bench founded by American Jeremiah W. Montgomery in Pennsylvania in the mid-2000s. The brand is remembered in collector sources not so much for the number of pipes it produced as for its two-stage development line, recorded in the maker's own account, and its consistent marking system. Like many American benches of its era, this one too was born out of a basement workshop; a similar origin story appears in the article on J.L. Thompson.

From the Southmont Period to Montgomery

By the maker's own account, the venture's beginning goes back to years spent in Southmont, part of Johnstown. Montgomery, who had been smoking a pipe for about two years, tried his hand at making his own pipes together with a friend; this enthusiasm grew into a small venture called Southmont Pipe Company. This first workshop, set up in the garage of the basement floor of a house, is said to have operated until the beginning of 2006. Pipes from this period carry a stylized mark combining the letters "S" and "P."

Later the same year, having moved to Hollidaysburg, Montgomery chose to give the brand his own surname, since he was now working alone. He states that he also reviewed his production methods along with the new workshop; however, what these changes covered is not detailed in the sources. For a broader picture of the American handmade pipe scene during these years, see the Go West article.

Marking System

The brand's most easily recognized feature is its plain, legible marking system. Pipes from the Hollidaysburg period carry a four-digit code following the letters "MHP." The first two digits of the code give the year of manufacture, and the last two give the pipe's sequence number for that year. A collector looking at the mark can thus tell at a glance which year a given pipe belongs to and how many pieces preceded it that year. Such personal numbering systems are common among one-person American benches and make dating pipes easier; as with Denny Souers, the mark is often the only document a brand leaves behind.

What Remains Unknown

Nearly everything known about Montgomery rests on the maker's own promotional text. The total number produced, the briar sources used, stem material preferences, and how long the bench remained active are not documented in independent sources. The only available promotional text dates to the second half of the 2000s, and since no record exists for later years, when and how the brand ended remains unknown. For this reason, Montgomery counts among the many short-lived American benches of the period as one that can at least be traced through its mark. For efforts to compile maker names, see the Rex Poggenpohl article.