The Kaldenberg Company: New York’s King of Meerschaum Pipe Manufacture

Ben Rapaport, November 2024
== Introduction ==
There were many manufacturers and importers of meerschaum pipes in New York City in the last half of the 19th century: Hermann Batjer, E. Berg, William Birnbaum, Boiken & Siefkes, William Demuth & Co., I. Hamburger & Co., Edward Hen, Kaldenberg & Son, Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy, Oscar H. Lear, Lobe & Poggenburg, C. Neugass, J.J. Pollock, A. Ruth & Co. (The Merchants’ Directory for 1866 and 1867, Containing A List of the Principal Manufacturers and Wholesale Dealers in and Adjoining New York, 1866). 
Demuth was considered the world’s largest manufacturers of pipes and smokers’ articles, and its WDC trademark in a triangle was known around the world. It and the Kaldenberg Company were the two most influential competitors in New York City. Both companies executed some extraordinary meerschaum pipes. Demuth, established in 1862, was acclaimed for its spectacular meerschaum pipe, Columbus Landing in America, that received the gold medal at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and kudos for a set of pipe portraits in meerschaum of the presidents from Washington to Wilson—28 pipes and the bust of Washington—that were produced beginning in 1881 and, when completed, were exhibited at its headquarters in 1924 (“Demuth Collection of Presidents of United States in Meerschaum,” Tobacco, July 31, 1924, 333). (The Presidential pipes are in a private collection in the United States, and the Columbus pipe is in a Japan Tobacco International storage facility in Vienna, Austria.) You can read a history of the Demuth Company at pipedia.org.
I will mention Demuth often, but this is more a Kaldenberg story, because it garnered more awards and honors here and abroad than Demuth before the end of the century. But the Demuth company remained in operation well into the 20th century. And the Kaldenberg Company went bankrupt before the end of the 19th century. Racine & Laramie Tobacconist wrote a rather detailed history, “F.J. Kaldenberg Company,” posted on pipedia.org; the website also offers a history of Demuth. My story sheds new light on the company’s reputation, and illustrates a few more of the company’s meerschaum pipes; it complements the Racine and Laramie story. One particular focus is the award history of both companies and how Kaldenberg, more than Demuth, used those awards to the company’s advantage with an unambiguous and aggressive marketing strategy as it expanded its product line. And the evidence suggests that only after the closure of the original Kaldenberg Company did Demuth invest in advertising. One clue is that I could not find WDC ads in any tobacco trade publication from the last half of the 19th century. Good luck trying to find one of its late 1800s ads online.
== The Kaldenberg History ==
Probably the most significant comment about Kaldenberg, if true, is: “The late F. W. Kaldenberg was a mechanician, an all-around artisan and general workman of the kind that we do not meet with today, and he was approached by an Armenian, one Bedrossian, who had brought two cases of raw meerschaum into this country from Asia Minor. …It was not long before these two cases of meerschaum were turned into pipes of special shape and design, that brought “…the literati, the artistic and the mercantile nabobs of the great City of New York, to the workshop of the artisan who had wrought the first meerschaum into pipes in the United States” (Fritz Morris, “The Making of Meerschaums,” Technical World Magazine, March 1908, 194-5). 
“The industry was first introduced into this country by my father, F. W. Kaldenberg, in 1855, and years of incessant labor were given to the teaching and education of persons to the trade” (“Statement of F. J. Kaldenberg, of New York, September 24, 1888,” Testimony Taken by the Subcommittee on the Tariff of the Senate Committee on Finance…1888, 1263). There is also this assertion: “The Kaldenberg Co., founded in New York in 1853, was a manufacturer of fancy and collectible tobacco pipes and smokers’ articles, as well as billiard utensils and walking sticks” (“The Papers of Thomas A. Edison: Competing Interests, January 1888–December 1889,” muse.jhu.edu). So, it’s either 1853 or 1855, close enough for any historian. 
This is an early ad in Trow’s New York City Directory, May 1, 1865: “F. W. Kaldenberg. Turner & Fancy Worker. All kinds of FANCY GOODS Repaired. Glaziers’ Diamonds. No. 6 JOHN STREET, near Broadway, New York. …All kinds of Artistic and Fancy Work in Pearl, Ivory, etc., made to order Meerschaum Pipe Tubes Boiled in Wax, and repaired in every style.” 
As the company expanded, so did its product line. “Kaldenberg & Son, Meerschaum Pipe Manufacturers. Repairing, Boiling, Mounting in Silver, etc., 6 John Street” (The Merchants’ Directory for 1866 and 1867, Containing A List of the Principal Manufacturers and Wholesale Dealers in and Adjoining New York, 1866, 140). In 1867: “Kaldenberg & Son. The only manufacturers of genuine meerschaum pipes in the United States, 4 and 6 John Street, near Broadway. Portraits, Initials, Etc., Cut on Pipes” (The Round Table, January 16, 1867).
An ad 13 years later: “Meerschaum Pipes.—F. Julius Kaldenberg, Manufacturer. Factory and sales-room, entire building 117 Fulton Street through to 44 Ann Street, third door from Nassau Street; stores No. 6 Astor House, Broadway, opposite New Post Office, No. 71 Nassau, corner of John Street. Cigar holders and amber goods of all descriptions. All kinds of tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, etc., etc., in the Astor House store. Billiard balls, ivory goods, etc., etc., in Fulton St. Factory and store” (Charles Hallock, The Sportsman’s Gazetteer and General Guide, 1880, 684). 
This is a reprint of what my friend, Paul Jung, believes was an 1868 catalog. In 1889, a more fulsome catalog was in circulation. “We have received the new catalogue of the F. J. Kaldenberg Co., which is one of the most complete issued to the trade. It has sixty-four pages and six hundred illustrations of stock designs and novelties, and also several pages of highly interesting reading matter, which includes a history of the firm and its growth. Dealers should apply early for this book of reference and post themselves in the season’s novelties” (“News and Comment,” Tobacco, November 8, 1889, 5). 
Location, location
The company moved a lot, perhaps expanding with additional retail locations, factories, and warehouses.
“Pipes. Meerschaum. F. Julius Kaldenberg, 4 and 6 John Street” (Annual Report of the American Institute. City of New York for the Years 1871–72, 1872). 
“KALDENBERG. Factory and Warerooms, 117 Fulton St. Branch Stores: 6 Astor House” (Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, December 30, 1876).
“Kaldenberg, Frederick Julius, 117 Fulton, 44 Ann, 71 Nassau & 6 Astor h. B’way” (Rand’s New York City Business Directory for 1877).
F. J. Kaldenberg Co., 213 East 33rd Street, New York (Seeger and Guernsey’s Cyclopædia of Manufactures and Products of the United States, 1890). 
F. J. Kaldenberg Company, 211 to 229 East Thirty-third street, New York (“Fine Smokers’ Sets,” The American Stationer, November 6, 1890).
In the early 1890s, it had a retail outlet at 67 Chauncy Street in Boston, not far from two competitors, Ferdinand Abraham and Louis Britt (The New England Business Directory and Gazette for 1891, 439). 
“F. J. Kaldenberg Co., 338 Washington Street, Boston” (The Harvard Monthly, Vol. XV, No. 1, October 1892, xvi).
Kaldenberg Importing and Trading Co., 438 Broome Street in Seeger and Guernsey’s Cyclopædia of Manufactures and Products of the United States, 1899. 
“F. W. Kaldenberg’s Sons, 95 Fifth Avenue, New York” (The Columbian. 1909, 329). 
== Awards for both companies ==
Several European meerschaum-pipe makers were present at the New York Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1853, at the International Exhibition of 1862 in London, and at the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865, but no American pipe maker had participated in any of these. 
The first exhibit for either company was the Centennial Exhibition in 1876 in Philadelphia. One example of the difficulty in tracking the awards was that both companies were unexplainably classified and catalogued differently: Kaldenberg was exhibitor 1018, Genuine meerschaum pipes and cigar holders, amber goods (Ornaments, Toys, Fancy Articles), and Demuth, exhibitor number 1443, Smokers’ articles and show figures of metal and wood (Hardware, Cutlery, Metallic Ornaments) in United States Centennial Commission. International Exhibition, 1876. Official Catalogue Complete in One Volume (1876). 
This report reads slightly different for the same exhibition. “Dept. II—Manufactures. Ornaments, Toys, Fancy Articles. 1018 Kaldenberg, Fred. Julius, New York, N.Y.—Genuine meerschaum pipes and cigar holders, amber goods”; “1021 Demuth, Wm., & Co., New York, N.Y.—Pipes and smokers’ articles”; “1023 Stehr, Carl, New York, N.Y.—Meerschaum and amber goods” (Centennial Catalogue Company. Official Catalogue of the International Exhibition of 1876, 1876).
“407. Report. —Fred. Julius Kaldenberg, New York, N.Y., U.S. Pipes of Meerschaum and Amber. Commended for great perfection in style, superior workmanship, and introduction of a new domestic industry” (United States Centennial Commission. International Exhibition, 1876. Reports and Awards, Vol. V. Groups VIII-XIV, 1880, 70.) Similar awards were given to Nax, Kuhn, & Silberman, Philadelphia, for “tobacco pipes nicely carved on wood,” and to Wm. Demuth & Co., New York, for “brier and apple wood pipes.” (610 other companies were singled out for this distinction.)
Both Kaldenberg and Demuth exhibited at the Columbian World Fair, and both were assigned to this odd “Group 108: Traveling Equipments, Valises, Trunks, Toilet cases, Fancy Leather work, Canes, Umbrellas, Parasols, etc.” (Department of Publicity and Promotion [ed.], World’s Columbian Exposition 1893. Official Catalogue, 1893, 37).
=== Demuth ===
“The principal awards to American exhibitors at the Paris Exposition are as follows:—William Demuth, New York, pipes” (“Exhibitors To Whom Awards Have Been Made at Paris,” Science, October 4, 1889). This is the Exposition Universelle de Paris of 1867.
“This he [Demuth] showed repeatedly in his highly rewarded effort in exhibiting the finest specimen of the art of pipe manufacturing at all important exhibitions, such as Philadelphia, Paris and Chicago, showing in each one something new and individual. Every one will remember the unique display in the Paris Exposition, amongst which was a highly artistic group of meerschaum pipes, successfully portraying all the presidents from Washington down” (George von Skal, History of German Immigration in the United States and Successful German-Americans And Their Descendants, 1908, 109).
“The house [Demuth] has always occupied a unique position in the trade. Its display at the various world’s expositions in this country and abroad has won for it several gold medals” (Charles W. Hurd, “Trying to Get Pipes Off Novelty Basis,” Printers’ Ink, December 31, 1914, 4).
=== Kaldenberg ===
“Award of Premiums. Smoking Pipes. Kaldenberg & Son, No. 6 John street, for superior meerschaum pipes. Bronze medal” (Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. Eighty-Ninth Session.—1866, Volume 8—No. 198, 1866, 45).
“Smoking Pipes. …Kaldenberg & Son, No. 6 John Street, for superior meerschaum pipes. Bronze medal” (Annual Report of the American Institute of the City of New York: for the Years 1865, ’66, Albany, 1866, 45.)
It may have been an oversight, but The New York Times, “The Paris Exposition. Official List of the Awards to American Exhibitors” (June 29, 1867) did not include Kaldenberg. However, “The Paris Exposition—Official List of the Awards to American Exhibitors” (Scientific American, July 13, 1867) lists “Kaldenberg & Son, N. Y., Meerschaum Pipes. Honorable Mention.” And “Class 26. —FANCY ARTICLES, TOYS, BASKET WORK. Kaldenberg & Son, New York.—Meerschaum pipes. Honorable Mention” (William P. Blake, ed., Reports of the United States Commissioners to the Paris Universal Exposition, 1867, 1870, 268).
“There were six American exhibitors in this class. The beautiful skeleton leaves of Mrs. Hanxhurst, the meerschaum pipes of Kaldenberg & Sons, and the wax flowers of Mrs. Bloodgood, were excellent specimens of conscientious and thoughtful skill” (William P. Blake, ed., Reports of the United States Commissioners to the Paris Universal Exposition, 1867, Vol. I, 1870, 92). 
“Fancy articles and toys were included in class twenty-six. France had ninety-three contributions in this class, Algeria twenty-nine, Austria seventy-nine, Italy twenty-eight, Turkey one hundred and fifty two, and the United States six. Of these six, only one got an honorable mention—Meerschaum Pipes, contributed by Kaldenberg & Son, New York” (Report of Commissioner to Attend the UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION of 1867, at Paris, France, 1867, 14-15).
“F. J. Kaldenberg, 6 John street, New York, for the largest variety and best general display of meerschaum pipes and holders. Second medal and diploma. …F. R. Kaldenberg, Jr., 6 John street, New York, for meerschaum pipes. Third medal and certificate” (Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. Ninety-Third Session—1870. Vol. 13. —No. 212, 1870, 32).
“292. Pipes, Meerschaum. F. Julius Kaldenberg, 6 John Street” (Annual Report of the American Institute of the City of New York For The Years 1871–72, 1872, 35). 
“F. J. Kaldenberg, 6 John street, New York, for the best meerschaum pipes and amber goods. Silver medal” (Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York. Ninety-Seventh Session—1874. Volume XI.-Number 153, 1874, 42).
By the turn of the century, neither Demuth nor the restructured Kaldenberg Company exhibited at any domestic or international world fair or exposition.
== Advertising and Self-promotion ==
“Every Business Man desires to extend his business just as much as he profitably can. Careful investigation will prove that there is no better or surer way to accomplish this than by Newspaper Advertising, provided it is wisely and honestly done;—that it has not been so done, is the true explanation of a large proportion of unfortunate advertising ventures. Wise newspaper advertising is little understood. It is not a haphazard thing; it is just the difference between loss and gain” (N. W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual, 1884, n. p.). 
Until the late 19th century, advertisements were usually simple announcements much like today’s classifieds. In the 1700s and 1800s, merchants used small notices to tell their patrons that certain manufactured goods had arrived from abroad. The truth of advertisements was seldom an issue because consumers could usually examine the products and shun merchants who sold inferior merchandise” (Kent R. Middleton and William E. Lee, The Law of Public Communication, 2016, n. p). Magazines certainly carried advertisements for different brands of cigarettes, snuff, pipe tobacco, and pipes. But what about manufacturers and sellers who may have publicly embellished their ads or falsified claims? 
=== Demuth ===
From what I discern, Demuth advertised very little, and Kaldenberg was omnipresent in the Press. Perhaps Demuth wanted to let his pipes speak for their quality, and Kaldenberg’s approach was to market its pipes by heavy advertising, as this narrative demonstrates. 
An ad for Demuth from the late 1800s: “SMOKERS’ ARTICLES, PIPES, ETC., Manufacturers and Importers. See also Wines and Liquors, also Toys, Lamps, &c. William Demuth & Co … 507 and 509 Broadway” (Proceedings of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation. From January 1883, to January 1884, 1884, 40). 
“William Demuth & Co., smokers’ articles, meerschaum pipes mounted with amber, metal show figures” (“World’s Fair Awards of Interest to the Jewelry Trade,” The Jewelers’ Circular, October 18, 1893, 18). The Company exhibited “pipes ad smoker’s articles, India rubber goods, etc., canes and umbrella sticks at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893. “Demuth Smokers’ articles. Meerschaum pipes, mounted with amber. Metal show figures. Artistic display of pipes and smokers’ articles” (“World’s Columbian Exposition,” chsmedia.org).
Demuth was the recipient of a gold medal at the Paris Exposition (Reports of the United States Commissioners to the Universal Exposition of 1889 at Paris, Government Printing Office, 1890, 427) and a gold medal at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair for the Columbus meerschaum pipe (“Traveling Equipments. United States—William Demuth & Co., New York, artistic display of pipes and smokers’ articles” [“Additional Awards at the World’s Columbian Exposition” The Jewelers’ Circular, November 15, 1893, 27]). 
Demuth claimed to be the “World’s Largest Pipe Manufacturers.” In an interview of Leopold Demuth, the president (“Trying to Get Pipes Off Novelty Basis,” Printers’ Ink, December 31, 1914), he stated: “We make up ourselves over 2,000 different styles of all kinds—briar, meerschaum, corn-cob, clay, and so forth, and change a great many of the styles every year, part for the spring season and part for the fall or holiday season.”
From what I concluded, Demuth began advertising sometime after Kaldenberg ceased operations. And this may be explained by the following article: “Demuth advertising, which is being placed by Snodgrass & Gaynes, New York, has been in action for just five years. In that period the sales of the company have increased three-fold while gross receipts—remember the jump in prices since 1914—have increased four-fold. That ought to say something for the success of Demuth advertising” (Ralph Bevin Smith, “Endowing ‘Jimmy Pipe’ With A Personality—Advertising Can Do It,” Advertising & Selling, June 26, 1920, 6). Carefully read, it suggests that, prior to 1920, Demuth did not make any effort to place competitive ads in the Press. 
=== Kaldenberg ===
“We make to order all kinds of Pipes and Holders, with Portraits, Horses, Dogs, Initials, or any other fancy design” (Army and Navy Journal, August 11, 1866); that was fact. It was also fact that “KALDENBERG FREDERICK J., meerschaum & briar pipes, Ivory, tortoise & pearl goods, rubber car springs & goods, 125 Fulton, 6 Astor h., & 371 B’way; factory, 213 to 229 E. 33e, h. Tarrytown, N.Y.” (Trow’s New York Directory, Vol. C. For the Year Ending May 1, 1887).
At the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia, it exhibited simply as “Kaldenberg, Fred, Julius, New York, N.Y., Genuine meerschaum pipes and cigar holders, amber goods.” Then, a change occurred after receiving that medal. Kaldenberg began mentioning it and later medals almost always in its ads. They were his “go-to” phrases at every opportunity. From my study, what often appeared in the Press about Kaldenberg were claims, assertions, and praise, most of which may have been written by the company, often somewhat hyperbolic and self-serving. The ads were never self-effacing or humble. Often, its ads stated “Centennial Medal and Diploma awarded for Beauty and Appropriateness of Design and skill Displayed in Fabrication; Popular Style; and Cheapness.” Had the company Ad men heard of the motto: “If you’ve got it, flaunt it”? Or did the Company influence those in the Press who wrote the ads?
“AMERICA IS REPRESENTED AT THE PARIS EXPOSITION BY ONLY Kaldenberg & Son, With thirty of their Spiegel Meerschaum Pipes, Amber Work Holders, &c. This fine quality is only to be had at our establishment. Being the only practical and most extensive manufacturers in this country, we rank ourselves in goods, make, and material far above any house in the city. The most gorgeous Pipes, with Amber Stems, Monograms, Portraits, &c., made to order. We sell a finer article lower than any other house” (Harper’s Weekly, May 11, 1867, 304). 
“Kaldenberg & Son received the only prize for America at the Paris Exposition, 1867 for their Meerschaum Pipes, Amber Work, Etc.” (The Round Table, October 19, 1867, 265). “Established 1853. F. Julius Kaldenberg, Manufacturer of Amber Mouthpieces, Genuine Meerschaum Pipes, Cigar Holders, &c. The World’s Fair of Paris, France, awarded a Premium Medal to the Scientific Manufactures exhibited by this firm” (Watson’s Art Journal, November 6, 1869, 77). 
“F. J. Kaldenberg. Received the Prize at the Paris Exhibition, in 1867. First Prize at the American Institute and Cincinnati Industrial Exhibition, in 1874. Highest Award, First Prize, Medal and Diploma, at the Centennial Exhibition” (The Harvard Index for 1875–1876, 138.) The Cincinnati exposition guide and catalogue of the Fine Arts Department, containing the name and address of every exhibitor at the Fifth Cincinnati Industrial Exposition of 1874” (Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library), mentions only two exhibitors, both identified as importers of smoking pipes: Knost Bros. & Co., and Strobel & Wilkin.
“Received the only Prize awarded by the International Jury—for American made Meerschaum goods, at the Centennial Exposition” (Army and Navy Journal, October 19, 1878). In its ads in the early 1880s was this particularly bold promotion: “The Attention of the Army and Navy is called to this Extensive and Celebrated Meerschaum and Amber Emporium of the United States” (Army and Navy Journal). Kaldenberg boasted: “Have received the Prize at the Paris Exposition, in 1867—American Institute, Four First Premiums over all competitors, and in the last exhibition, 1872, the Grand Medal of Special Award.”
Pollak & Son, manufacturers of meerschaum goods, 692 Broadway and 27 John Street, also tried to appeal to the military in its ads, but in a different way. “To the Army and Navy. In reply to the many inquiries made daily in regard to Meerschaum pipes, we wish to state that we recommend, especially to the members of the Army and Navy the Plain Hungarian and Egg Bowls, with Cherry stems, as Pipes which hold the most of Tobacco, and as the most durable and practical ones, they being the easiest to clean; and the Hamburg Bowls, having the largest surface to show color (Army and Navy Journal, January 25, 1868)
“If first come first served has anything to do with a prosperous trade, the F. J. Kaldenberg Co. of East Thirty-third street, New York City, ought to do well. They are first in the field with the season’s novelties, and have the most comprehensive list. The trouble in dealing with a stock like theirs is to know where to begin and where to leave off, for almost every item has some novelty of treatment about it; and to notice all these things is simply a matter of impossibility” (“Short Chats With Dealers,” Tobacco, November 1, 1889, 2). This was more than faint praise. 
“Messrs. Kaldenberg & Son often advertised that they were the only American exhibitors at the Paris Exposition of the ‘celebrated Spiegel Meerschaum Pipes, Cigar-holders, and Amber Works’ (Bulletin of Pharmacy, Vol. XVII—January to December 1903, 337).
“Students and all readers of The Courant who wish Real Meerschaum Pipes and Cigar Holders, should buy them of KALDENBERG & SON, New-York City. Every Meerschaum warranted to Color. Ask or send for the Patent Pipe—a new invention, which is made only by KALDENBERG & SON. It never needs cleaning, and always smokes free. …Only American exhibitors at the Paris Exhibition, 1867, and awarded a prize, in competition with the whole world” (The College Courant. A Weekly College and Literary Journal, Vol. III. Nos. I-25, January 2, 1869, 385). 
“Exposition Universelle. Messrs. KALDENBERG & SON, of New York City, were awarded a prize for their MEERSCHAUMS, in competition with the WHOLE WORLD, at the World’s Exhibition at Paris, in 1867. They are the largest manufacturers of Meerschaum goods in the world” (College Courant, Vol. IV, May 1, 1869, 261).
This small ad appeared beginning in the late 1889 and continued into the early 1900s. Was this an indication of a change in the tone of its ads or something else? 
Now, I turn to something more interesting: a few Important Kaldenberg pipes 
He [Kaldenberg] exhibited some thirty pieces in all, one of which, a superb pipe with a group representing Macbeth’s encounter with the witches on the heath composed of five figures two of which, Macbeth and Banquo, are mounted, excited universal admiration. It also has a figure of Shakespeare seated in an arm-chair on the lid or cover. Ten thousand francs were offered for this pipe, in Paris, but were refused by the exhibitor, as he wanted to exhibit it in this country on his return, having had no opportunity to do so previously, as it had been completed only a few days before the sailing of the United States steamer which carried the goods of the American exhibitors” ("MEERSCHAUM PIPES. HOW THEY ARE MADE, AND THE SCIENCE OF COLORING THEM PROPERLY," The New York Times, July 27, 1874).
At the Exposition Universelle in 1867, Kaldenberg, one of 703 American exhibitors, competed with many European meerschaum pipe carvers. The Round Table gave mention to this Macbeth pipe, but included more details about Kaldenberg. “Carved pipes are no uncommon luxuries, but carving of the order of Mr. Kaldenberg’s is executed, so far as we know, nowhere else in the country, and is equalled [sic] in not one among a hundred specimens of fine work imported from Vienna, Berlin, and Paris. His figures are so faultless as to suggest fine sculpture in miniature, and, indeed, will bear the most critical scrutiny through a powerful magnifier. The quality of his material, crede experto, is worthy of the workmanship expended upon it, and leaves to the enthusiastic pipe-fancier nothing to be desired” (February 9, 1867, 93).
“Messrs. Kaldenberg & Son, of New York, well known as manufacturers of meerschaum pipes. have sent to the Paris Exposition some specimens of meerschaum carving, which must bear favorable comparison with the best work in that line of French and German manufacturers. There are two large and exquisitely carved meerschaum pipes; the one, which is nearly a foot in length, and has an amber mouthpiece two inches in thickness and over six inches in length, giving in full relief the scene in ‘Macbeth’ where Macbeth and Banquo are met by the witches, the figures of the men and horses being some four inches in height, the meerschaum lid being Shakespeare seated in a chair; on the other pipe is a hunt, with horses, men, dogs and deer grouped under an oak tree, the lid being a silver stag” (Army and Navy Journal, June 8, 1867, 674).
England’s tobacco trade journal, Cope’s Tobacco Plant, offered a more colorful description of the event. “The meerschaum pipe trade in New York is a flourishing institution, and all the manufacturers do a good business. One of them sent specimens of his workmanship to Paris, to the Exhibition of 1867, and received a bronze medal and diploma. It may be proper to say that a bronze medal is the highest prize awarded to this class of goods, gold medals being given only for inventions and devices of benefit to humanity, and not for articles of ornament or luxury. This gentleman, before he was given the prize he had earned, was obliged to furnish affidavits from respectable gentlemen in this city, to prove that the work had been done here. He exhibited some thirty pieces in all, one of which, a superb group representing Macbeth’s encounter with the witches on the heath, composed of five figures, two of which, Macbeth and Banquo, are mounted, excited, universal admiration. It has also a figure of Shakespeare seated in an arm-chair, on the lid or cover. Ten thousand francs were offered for this pipe in Paris, but were refused by the exhibitor, as he wanted to exhibit it in his country on his return, having had no opportunity to do so previously, as it had been completed only a few days before the sailing of the United States steamer which carried the goods of the American exhibitors” (“Meerschaums,” June 1875, 754.) You’ll note that, for whatever reason, Kaldenberg is not mentioned!)
“Among New York contributions to the Paris Exposition [1867], Kaldenberg & Son exhibited a second, less-well-known meerschaum pipe at this exhibit, a hunt scene “with horses, men, dogs and deer grouped under an oak tree, the lid being a silver stag” (“Literariana,” The Round Table, February 9, 1867). 
“’One of the greatest pipe-fanciers in the world,’ again, was ‘Major General Raffalovich, of the Russian Army,’ who seems to have gone some twenty years ago on a pipe-foraging expedition to the States. His collection, not less remarkable than Mr. [William] Bragge’s, consisted of more than 600 pipes. ‘There is now in the hands of one of the most prominent manufacturers in this city,’ says this chronicler, in the tone of due gravity, ‘a magnificent Meerschaum pipe made to his order. The bowl forms the bust of a very beautiful woman, and is a correct likeness of the General’s wife taken from life. The stem and mouthpiece are of amber, fifteen inches long” (“The Smoker’s Garland,” Cope’s Tobacco Plant, 1893). And: “This pipe will be taken to Europe as a curiosity, for it seems that Gen. Raffalovich had an idea that such things could not be made in this country (“Meerschaum Pipes. How They Are Made, and the Science of Coloring Them Properly,” The New York Times, July 27, 1874). “This was made by a man named Kallenberg [sic]. He worked four months on it [the Raffalovich pipe], and the Russian paid $1,000 for the completed pipe” (“Smoking Portrait Pipes,” Current Literature, Vol. XIX, No. 1, January, 1896, 532).
“Meerschaum Pipes. Whatever difference of opinion may exist in regard to smoking, there is no doubt that no more welcome present can be made to a friend who smokes than a handsome meerschaum pipe or cigar-holder. It has long been acknowledged that Kaldenberg, of 125 Fulton Street, New York, holds the first place as a manufacturer of meerschaum and amber goods. His exhibits at our fairs have always been centres of attraction to lovers of artistic work—even to those who, like ourselves, do not use the weed” (“Publisher’s Department,” The American Journal of Microscopy, and Popular Science, Vol. III, 1878, 24).
The Columbia pipe, carved for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, was a remarkable multi-tiered, multi-smoker, table pipe in size, execution, and majesty. It was 28 inches tall with four hookah mouthpieces, and a central pedestal upon which were four free standing meerschaum figures representing agriculture, commerce, manufacture, and navigation. On a ledge above the figures were four cherubs representing music, painting, literature, and sculpture. At the very top was a figure of Columbia representing power, justice and liberty. The international jury awarded F. J. Kaldenberg the only award for American-made meerschaum goods.
This chromolithograph image is sourced to the National Gallery of Art, Treasures of Art, Industry and Manufacture Represented at the International Exhibition, 1876 (nga.gov). 
“In the United States, when we speak about collectors of pipes, we may be understood to mean collectors of meerschaums solely. In the Spring Exhibition of the National Academy of Design for 1885, attention was directed to an admirable ivory carving, a head of Rembrandt, after the familiar portrait of the artist in the large hat, painted by Fritz R. Kaldenberg, a member of the meerschaum manufacturing and dealing house of Kaldenberg Brothers, of this city; and Mr. Kaldenberg brings to his carving in meerschaum the same exquisite art as he exhibits in the execution of his sculptured ivories. In view of the importance that meerschaum pipes have come to assume among the fads of collectorship, this acknowledgement of the leading artist in the production in America is not unmerited. Indeed, even Vienna at her best has not produced superior examples of meerschaum carving to those of the Kaldenbergs; while many of the more elaborate works have, at European exhibitions, repeatedly carried off prizes above all competitors. It can be readily understood that with a material as plastic and refined of texture, and as susceptible to surface finish as meerschaum, a sculptor of ability could produce superb effects of delicacy, and it is the ability of a true sculptor that Mr. Kaldenberg brings to his task” (“The Meerschaum Collector,” The Collector, November 1, 1889, 46). 
A less-ornately-carved Kaldenberg pipe was made in honor of the Saint Nicholas Society of New York. “It is a pipe with a curved stem and a very handsome amber mouthpiece. The bowl of the pipe is of the ordinary shape or form, but seated on the cover is the figure of Peter G. Stuyvesant, with his wooden leg, the first Governor of New York and the first president of the Saint Nicholas Society, while on the other side is Wouter Van Twiller, the first Governor of New Amsterdam, leaning back in a chair, with his pipe in his hand, and in front of the bowl is the figure of Van Cortlandt, the first Governor of Communipaw, reclining under a tree. The artistic work on this pipe is very fine, and the carving was done by Artist Kaldenberg of this city” (Wilf. P. Pond, “The Saint Nicholas Society,” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, Vol. XL.—July to December, 1895, 718).
And a few more Company pipes.
 
The story about this pipe is at pipedia.org: The Fugitive Slaves Pipe: Anatomy of an Auction
If you’re interested, take a look at the illustrations of some “Fine Smokers’ Sets ”(The American Stationer, November 4, 1890, 1078).
== The beginning of the end ==
Kaldenberg went into receivership in 1893. “Frederick J. Kaldenberg, one of the leading men in the meerschaum-pipe trade, made an assignment, without preference, to Henry C. Euler. …The Kaldenberg Company manufactured meerschaum pipes, rubber and pearl goods, car springs, &c., and has branch stores in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Saint Louis” (“F. J. Kaldenberg Fails,” The New York Times, April 8, 1893, 10). (“Mr. Lexow Made Receiver. Belief That Debts of the Kaldenberg Company May All Be Paid,” The New York Times, April 9, 1893, 20). “When F. J. Kaldenberg Co., the pipe manufacturers, made an assignment of their business in New-York, William P. Fiero was appointed referee to report as to the advisability of allowing a voluntary liquidation of the affairs of the company” (“Kaldenberg & Co’s Liquidation,” The New York Times, September 8, 1893, 9-10). 
It certainly didn’t help that “A big blaze on the East Side on Christmas morning wiped out the six-story factory of F. J. Kaldenberg Manufacturing Company, the snuff factory of Adolph Pinner, the six-story factory buildings of the Sommer and Gibson piano companies, gutted the Polyclinic hospital, and partially destroyed the East River hotel and a flat house adjoining the Kaldenberg factory on East Thirty-third street, near Lexington Avenue” (“Destructive New York Fires,” Fire and Water, January 2, 1897, 4). 
“Frederick J. Kaldenberg, Tarrytown, N.Y., formerly a manufacturer of, and dealer in, pipes and smokers’ articles, with stores on Fulton street, Nassau street, and in the Astor House, New York, filed a petition in bankruptcy, on 16 current, with liabilities $265,590 and no assets. Nearly all the creditors are banks, the liabilities being mostly for borrowed money” (Tobacco, July 27, 1900, 9). The company also had legal troubles with the William Wicke Company that produced cigar boxes and labels that was destroyed in that 1897 fire, and with the Manhattan Pipe Company in 1900. 
Under new leadership in the early 1900s, the reorganized company significantly changed its product line. “F. W. Kaldenberg’s Sons. We manufacture and deal in Meerschaum Amber and Briar Root Ivory, Pearl Tortoise Shell etc. and always have a large and varied assortment of Pipes, Segar and Cigarette Holders. Ivory, Brushes, Mirrors, Boxes, Toilet Articles, etc. Gavels, Paper Cutters, Cane and Umbrella Handles, etc. Artistic Ivory Carvings, antique and modern Japanese and European Oriental Curios, Jade, Agate, Crystal and Porcelain. 95 Fifth Avenue, New York” (The Columbian. 1909, 329). Notice that there’s no mention of the company’s prior exhibition awards?
Kaldenberg’s New York rivals, Demuth, RBC, Weis, CPF, and Stehr continued to manufacture meerschaums into the early 20th century. Demuth also became famous for its Wellington, Royal Demuth, Hessian Guard, and Milano briars. And in August 1904, Demuth announced a bold diversification in the Press: it was prepared to supply bulk meerschaum as a suitable substance for insulation (Electrical World and Engineer, August 13, 1904). This idea never got traction.
To conclude, Kaldenberg was a pioneer in tobacco-pipe promotion and in pushing its product. Its ads, no doubt, engaged and drew in prospective buyers, and captured the buyer’s attention without any customer testimonials. Early on, it had adopted the oldest business strategy and slogan: “It pays to advertise.” 
Category:Ben Rapaport