29. The Making of the Peterson Pipe (VHS, 1998)
Nollaig Shona Duit!* Here’s a little something for your Christmas stocking. The Making of the Peterson Pipe, a point-of-sale video made a mere eighteen years ago, is from an era when the only people to see it would be those fortunate enough to find a tobacconist who sold enough Peterson pipes to justify playing the video from a small television sitting atop the counter. It's fascinating for any number of reasons, but rather than tell you I'll let you light up that new Christmas pipe and find them for yourself. Enjoy! The Making of the Peterson Pipe (May 1998) Power Video Production, Dublin 25:00 minutes Notes on the Video 01:58 Even as late as 1998, the company was still thinking of itself as Kapp & Peterson. There’s nothing wrong with the switch to “Peterson’s of Dublin,” and obviously it makes sense from a business perspective. But this is not the historical reality, and every once in awhile we ought to remember that for over a century, the company thought of itself and was thought of by pipe smokers across the globe as Kapp & Peterson. 02:05 Molly Malone – The famous statue of the mythical Molly Malone, installed in Grafton Street for the Dublin Millennium celebrations in 1988. She’s still a stunner. The narrator quotes the opening lines of what many consider the unofficial anthem of Dublin City, “Molly Malone,” also known as “Cockles and Mussels” and “In Dublin’s Fair City.” The song probably dates from around the 1880s, although the legend goes back much farther: In Dublin’s fair city, Where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone, As she wheeled her wheel-barrow, Through streets broad and narrow, Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!” “Alive, alive, oh, Alive, alive, oh,” Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!” She was a fishmonger, But sure 'twas no wonder, For so were her father and mother before, And they wheeled their barrows, Through the streets broad and narrow, Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!” (chorus) She died of a fever, And no one could save her, And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone. But her ghost wheels her barrow, Through streets broad and narrow, Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!” Peterson released their Molly Malone: Cockles and Mussels commemorative set a few years back (but still available), which featured the unusual use of a tan acrylic swirl stem reminiscent of the early K&P horn stems which one sees all too rarely on the estate market. Molly Malone: Cockles and Mussels Collection 02:27ff The beautiful old shop at 117 Grafton Street. Note The Thinking Man flat-back plaster sign above the entrance. He had suffered quite a bit from the glass-house effect of the “protective” acrylic glass by 1998, evidenced by the bare plaster-work (originally he was painted). He was taken down and restored when Peterson moved its shop around the corner to Nassau Street. Anti-tobacco laws currently prohibit Peterson from re-installing him…