Recent correspondence with Dr. Paul E. Grabow's grandson, Paul W. Grabow, has allowed me to present, exactly as he sent it to me, his "Legend of Dr. Grabow"
letter with his permission. This is the same letter, with updates, that can be found in various other places on the Internet. THIS IS THE BEST, MOST CONCISE HISTORY THAT CAN BE FOUND, SO IS AN EXCELLENT STARTING PLACE -- as a matter of fact, it stands alone good enough, THAT IT MAY BE ALL ONE REALLY NEEDS TO KNOW! The only editing I have done to the letter is to adda few "clickable" footnotes that will "zoom in" to additional information, pictures, etc. That will help to more fully illustrate things discussed in the letter. Stay tuned, as this will be an ongoing work in progress!
Paul also shared a bit more history of the Grabow Family through a collage of photos, which you may see HERE.
The above letter tells about the association of Louis B. Linkman and Dr. Paul E. Grabow and how the Dr. Grabow brand of smoking pipes got its start. If there was any doubt as to the real doctor being the source of the name, and even being a spokesman for Linkman's new line of pipes, note the following pipe box insert circa 1936 or 1937:
Dr. Paul E. Grabow also made a similar testimonial in a Dr. Grabow catalog, circa 1937:
I have little doubt that both contain representations of Dr. Paul E. Grabow's signature, and I have presented them for comparison below. So far, these are the only two pieces of Dr. Grabow pipe lore that I know of that contain this sort of endorsement. The pipe box insert is owned by me and the 1937 catalog is owned by David Bridges:
The photo below below shows a small display that includes a pipe that Dr. Paul E. Grabow smoked. It was dated by Dr. Grabow to August 1927, which was four years before Linkman introduced the Dr. Grabow brand of smoking pipe, by I like to think that it might have been smoked in the gatherings at Brown's Drug store when the idea was hatched and the deal struck. If only pipes could talk!
