What has happened to the "old" Charatans?

I'm not a collector of Charatan pipes though I do have one that is a great smoker. The question I have is, "What has happened to the 'old' Charatan pipes"? Where have they gone?

You don't find many 'old' Charatans on ebay! It amazes me that there are numbers of old Dunhill pipes to be found on ebay. Some may be in less than good condition, mind you.. but, they're out there. An authentic, old Charatan? I don't know that I've ever seen one!

At a pipe show in 1997, Fred Janusek had some of the oldest Charatans I have ever seen in person. These pipes were fantastic, smaller pipes (not the large freehand models that are sometimes seen on ebay) with phenomenal grain.

How to date Charatan pipes?

The following is part of an article by Ivy Ryan:

Dating Charatans

The way to date Charatan pipes is to be aware of the minor changes that were made during the years that Charatan was in business. With a bit of information as to the dates of some markings and stem changes, I introduce this approximate dating guide. A lot of these dates are going to be "about" or approximately," and I am only able to cover the times from the mid 1950s to the sale by Dunhill to J.B.. Russell circa 1988. My information is approximate because I do not have access to factory records. I am working from memory, stories I heard It the Prescott Street factory, and pipes I have owned over the years.

The keys for dating post-war to 1960-era Charatan pipes are the presence or absence of serifs (i.e., short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of a letter) on the CP stamp, the presence or absence of the Lane "L" on tapered and early saddle bit stems, and the presence or absence of the renowned Double Comfort bit.

After 1960, the dates may be determined by the stamping on the right side of the pipe. (Note: I was a 20-odd-year-old, pipe-smoking woman when I hung around Charatans. I was not a researcher, though I sure wish I had been. I have been told since that all pre-WW II records went up when the "old" factory was destroyed in the bombing, but I was just not interested. I really regret that now. I let a lot of history go, but all I can say is that I was younger then.)

The Lane Limited florid "L" is on almost all Charatans imported into the United States from somewhere after WW II until 1988. (Lane bought Charatan in 1960, but it began importing Charatan pipes in 1955, when it got the contract from Wally Frank, who had been importing them.) If the pipe in question has a tapered or saddle bit without the "L", then it is probably very old, possibly pre-war. Or it may not have been stamped. This did happen, and no one knows how often, but I think it was fairly infrequent.

Pre-1955 Charatans--possibly back to the beginning--had pronounced serifs on the CP stamp and either a taper or saddle bit. Pipes made in 1955 or later had the same types of bits but without the serifs on the CP. The block letter "FH" marking, for "Free Hand," on either side of the stem was used from the 1940s or so until about 1958. The problem is that all pipes were not stamped "FH," even though all the pipes were actually hand made.

The block letter "MADE BY HAND" stamp on the right side or bottom of the shank came into use in early 1958 to replace the "FH" stamp and was used until late 1965. The letters were about one millimeter tall.

The Double Comfort bit came into use in 1960 and is still in use. The original design was supposed to produce a strong stem with a thin bite. It was also supposed to be a distinctive point about the brand, giving instant product recognition. ~ Ivy Ryan

So - Where are all the old Charatan Pipes?

I'm curious. Has any individual collector taken pictures of the different stamps, clearly defined, in order for collectors to accurately or semi-accurately date these older Charatans?

According to Tad Gage, in an article written in Pipes and Tobaccos magazine, December 2003, Tad wrote that, "in 1955, he (Herman Lane) struck a deal to become the sole U.S. distributor of the Charatan pipe". Thus, the Lane "L" came into being during this time. Further, Gage writes "until 1957, the company had four primary smooth-pipe classifications that featured varying degrees of straight grains; Supreme, Selected, Executive and Belvedere".

I guess I'm just a curious sort.

Where have these old, Pre-Lane Charatans gone?