1908 – The Beginning of Przemyśl’s Pipe-Making Tradition

The chronicles of Przemyśl’s craftsmanship record the presence of several pipe makers in the city as early as the beginning of the 19th century. However, the true development of the craft began with the arrival in Przemyśl, in 1908, of a Czech pipe maker named Wincenty Swoboda. Among those he trained in the art of pipe making were Ludwik Walat, Michał Walat, Jan Walat, Wiktor Winiarski and others.

In 1947, Master Wiktor Winiarski, one of Wincenty Swoboda’s most talented apprentices, and Zbigniew Mazuryk decided to establish a pipe-making business. Its full name was WYRÓB GALANTERII Z DREWNA I TWORZYW SZTUCZNYCH – BESKID – spółka Wiktor Winiarski i Zbigniew Mazuryk (BESKID – Wiktor Winiarski and Zbigniew Mazuryk Partnership, Manufacturing of Wooden and Plastic Fancy Goods). The company was registered with the Guild of Various Crafts in early 1948.

The workshop was located in Podwinie, a district on the left bank of the San River in Przemyśl, on Stanisława Augusta Street. In addition to pearwood pipes, the company produced cherrywood cigarette holders, cigarette holders and cigarillos made from resolan and galalith, ballpoint pens, bracelets and various other gift items. Everything, including the mouthpieces, was made by hand. The name “BESKID” was stamped onto the pipes.

The company’s accounts were managed by Ferdynand Hegedis, a Lviv merchant who had been repatriated from Siberia. In December 1947, 17-year-old Kazimierz Róg began his apprenticeship at Beskid after being recruited by Wiktor Winiarski. Other craftsmen who worked there for two or three years during this period included Kazimierz Petryszkiewicz, Jerzy Paprzycki, Zygmunt Mikołajczyk, Walerian Róg, Adam Winiarski, Roman Lenczyk and Marian Rajtar.

In 1954, 16-year-old apprentices Józef Błażkowski and Stanisław Chochela joined the workshop, followed by Czesław Partyka two years later. In 1965, for various reasons, the partnership was dissolved and divided into two separate workshops. Wiktor Winiarski took over one part of the business together with Czesław Partyka and Stanisław Chochela. Zbigniew Mazuryk took over the other part, along with employees Ferdynand Hegedis, Kazimierz Róg, Józef Błażkowski and Marian Rajtar, relocating the business to Barska Street, later renamed Waryńskiego Street, in the Zasanie district.

Lech Kordybacha worked there from 1968 to 1980. Artur Krawczyk also worked at the workshop for many years, as did Alicja Metzner, a cousin of Zbigniew Mazuryk. By 1980, Mazuryk, Róg, Błażkowski and Kordybacha had all earned the title of Master Craftsman.

Towards the end of the 1970s, pipes began to be made from Albanian briar, which until then had been available only to the Walat family. Nevertheless, pearwood pipes and cigarette holders remained the main products, with monthly production reaching approximately 500–800 pieces.

In 1981, Zbigniew Mazuryk formed a partnership with his employees Kazimierz Róg and Józef Błażkowski under the name “M.R.B.”, derived from their surnames. From that point onwards, the “MRB” mark was stamped onto the pipes and cigarette holders they produced.

The partnership experienced a period of prosperity during martial law in Poland, when tobacco products were rationed and demand for items associated with tobacco smoking increased significantly.

In 1986, Zbigniew Mazuryk passed away. Kazimierz Róg and Józef Błażkowski purchased his one-third share of the workshop from his widow. They continued making pipes under the MRB mark. However, when the landlord terminated their lease, the business was put up for sale through a newspaper advertisement: “Pipe and cigarette holder manufacturing workshop for sale, Barska Street, Przemyśl.” No buyers came forward.

In the spring of 1991, Józef Błażkowski left the pipe-making trade and moved into commerce.

The next chapter began when Master Craftsman Kazimierz Róg was introduced to Zbigniew Bednarczyk. In June 1991, they established a workshop in Ostrów, near Przemyśl, on the Bednarczyk family property. This is where the company’s pipes began to take shape.

At the time, Zbigniew Bednarczyk was an artist in his own right. He painted in oils, wrote poetry and was particularly passionate about sculpture. Having previously spent two years developing a sculptural business, he was a member of the Przemyśl Artists’ Club, participated in group exhibitions and organised solo exhibitions and performances combined with charity auctions. His father was a master craftsman in the construction trade. Zbigniew Bednarczyk also acquired part of the partnership from Józef Błażkowski.

Continuing the Tradition Under the BRÓG Name

On 1 July 1991, the company Wyrób galanterii drewnianej, S.C. Róg Kazimierz & Bednarczyk Zbigniew (Manufacture of Wooden Fancy Goods, Kazimierz Róg and Zbigniew Bednarczyk Partnership) was officially registered.

It continued the legacy of the Róg & Błażkowski partnership, which had previously operated as Mazuryk, Róg & Błażkowski, before that as the Z. Mazuryk Pipe Factory, and originally as the W. Winiarski and Z. Mazuryk partnership.

From 1992 onwards, the pipes produced by the workshop were stamped with the “BRÓG” trademark, and the models were catalogued and assigned individual numbers. Much of the work involved introducing new technologies and developing sales of the company’s products.

The partners worked closely together, supporting one another throughout their business activities. Kazimierz Róg, whose flat overlooked the railway station, would often stand at the window to greet and wave goodbye to his partner as Zbigniew travelled across Poland visiting tobacco shops and presenting their products.

Kazimierz’s experience and exceptional craftsmanship, combined with Zbigniew’s enthusiasm and energy, gave the company a strong foundation for success.

From 1992 until the end of 1995, Zbigniew’s brother, Mariusz Bednarczyk, also worked at the workshop. His cousin, Artur Bednarczyk, joined in September 1993 and remained until the end of 1995, while Andrzej Pest joined in February 1995. New pipe models were developed, each bearing the company trademark and its own individual catalogue number.

BRÓG sponsored autumn pipe-smoking competitions in Bydgoszcz on three occasions, providing models No. 61, 60 and 74 for the contests. The company also sponsored the Przemyśl “Kolebka ’94” event, the first Polish National Slow Pipe Smoking Championship, in which participants smoked the BRÓG No. 69 Poker pipe. It supported other pipe-smoking gatherings and was among the first sponsors of the Przemyśl Pipe Club.

The company maintained a long-standing friendship and cooperation with KALUMET. During this period, BRÓG also worked with Trafika-Pipe, run by T. Miska in Kraków; Fajka in Warsaw; Świat Fajki, run by Andrzej Bocian in Szczecin; Charles Fairmorn in Poznań; and other partners.

The pipes made in the workshop received certificates recognising their artistic craftsmanship from the National Artistic and Ethnographic Commission in Kraków. Alongside traditional models, the workshop produced intricately carved pipes featuring imaginative, botanical and animal-inspired forms. Various types of wood were used, and experimental one-of-a-kind creations were developed, including a pipe with four mouthpieces and two separate pipe bowls connected to a single mouthpiece.

The workshop also provided repair services for pipes made by manufacturers from across Europe and around the world.

Towards the end of 1995, after an extraordinary 48 years of professional work, Kazimierz Róg decided to retire. From 1 November 1995, Zbigniew Bednarczyk registered the workshop under his own name as Pracownia Fajek Mr. Bróg (Mr. Bróg Pipe Workshop), having first bought out his former partner’s share. He was also a member of the Guild of Various Crafts in Przemyśl.

The workshop expanded into new markets and began cooperating with Tobacco Trading International Poland in Kraków, which became the largest pipe distributor in Poland. This partnership provided fresh momentum for the further development of the Mr. Bróg workshop, led by Zbigniew Bednarczyk, and the establishment of Mrs. Bróg, associated with Renata Bednarczyk.

The manufacturing premises were renovated and expanded to increase production capacity. The motto of the Mr. Bróg workshop became:

“Smoke for no one, fragrance for everyone, flavour for me.”

Zbigniew Bednarczyk, together with his wife Renata and son Jakub, lived in the attic above the workshop, fully committing the family to the pipe-making craft.

Zbigniew described his passion in these words:

“I will always make pipes. It is not a profession; it is a passion that takes hold of me more and more. It is the product of my hands… a pipe, forever imperfect, never fully realised, constrained by its shape and technology. I love working with wood, not only when making pipes. A pipe is an attribute of man. I use it, and it gives me pleasure, arousing me with its solemnity, with the act of smoking itself. It expresses a primordial need to possess fire, and although smoking tobacco is not necessarily good in itself, using a pipe is a kind of consecration, a ceremony, a moment of reflection on the divine fragrance of smoke…”

Unable to part completely with his craft, Kazimierz Róg continued to provide his expert guidance at Mr. Bróg. In February 1998, he completed the first million pipes of his lifetime and began working towards the second.

In recognition of the contribution made by Przemyśl’s master pipe makers to Polish pipe-smoking culture, the Polish Council of Pipe Clubs awarded commemorative diplomas to Zbigniew Bednarczyk, also known as Mr. Bróg, and Master Craftsman Kazimierz Róg on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of pipe making in Przemyśl.

The workshop owed much of its standing to Kazimierz Róg, whose contribution to its success extended from the roots of the business in 1948 through to the present day. Zbigniew Bednarczyk paid tribute to his mentor with these words:

“To a good and humble man, an outstanding and hardworking craftsman, my Master and Friend — with gratitude for everything.”

BRÓG Pipes and World Championship Records

BRÓG has always seemed to bring good fortune to everything related to pipe smoking!

In 2000, a BRÓG pipe was used to set a world record in slow pipe smoking by Danuta Pytel from Koszalin.

At a competition in Zajączkowo, near Szamotuły, she astonished the participants with an outstanding performance. On 25 March, during the team competition, she smoked a BRÓG “Ladle” pipe for 2 hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds, setting a new Polish women’s record.

But that was only the beginning.

On Sunday, 26 March, the same competitor took part in the individual event. Following all the competition rules, she smoked a 3-gram portion of tobacco in a BRÓG Billiard pipe continuously for 3 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds. She surpassed the previous record holder, Henryk Rogalski, whose result was 2 hours, 57 minutes and 21 seconds.

The women’s world record, set by Belgian competitor Marina de Wolf at the 1995 World Championships in Switzerland, stood at 2 hours, 35 minutes and 5 seconds. The men’s world record of 3 hours, 15 minutes and 37 seconds had been established by Denmark’s Jesper Bo Petersen in 1997.

Yet another triumph followed on 1 May at the Lubusz Briar Pipe Slow Smoking Championship in Sulęcin. Once again, Danuta Pytel stunned the pipe-smoking world, achieving an extraordinary result of 3 hours, 45 minutes and 8 seconds with a BRÓG “Championka” pipe — an absolute world record at the time.

We remain forever grateful to her for demonstrating that our pipes are more than an accessible product range: they are quality pipes, capable of delivering championship-winning performance.