234. The Carroll of Carrollton Limited Edition
A happy Independence Day to everyone in the US today and all who celebrate with us in Ireland and around the world. There is a special relationship between the Irish and the Americans that goes to the heart of the human desire for self-determination and governance. Ireland’s population hovers around 5 million and those who claim Irish descent in America number about 32 million, almost 10% of our population. Is it any wonder that US pipe-smokers have a special regard for Kapp & Peterson? Detail from the c. 1935 Rogers Distribution Leaflet K&P business ledgers from the early decades of the 20th century show a number of prominent American accounts, names still recognized today (including Sutliff in San Francisco and Iwan Ries in NYC). But it wasn’t until Harry Rogers and Harry Kapp struck up a distribution partnership in the mid-1930s that a symbiotic relationship began that would continue to this day. Rogers wanted to market each K&P line uniquely, not only releasing them with unique pipe boxes but creating market-exclusive American shapes like the 9BC, 777 and others. Over the decades, K&P would release other shapes for their American smokers, including the Iwan Ries exclusive lines of the 1970s, the Mark Twain commemorative from the 1980s and even a July 4th annual commemorative from 1998-2004. For this 4th of July holiday, Kapp & Peterson celebrates their long relationship with American pipemen with a limited edition cutty commemorating the only Irish-American and Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence: Charles Carroll of Carrollton. This is the first commemorative released in the Laudisi era and was given a tremendous welcome. There were 245 pipes, one for each year since the signing of the Declaration. Sykes Wilford at Laudisi commented at the forum on PipesMagazine that “This was a small-run US exclusive. Pipes went to about twenty different retailers, but all in the US—which is why they were not on Peterson.ie.” K&P has a long history of such market-exclusive pipes, which is why it’s a good idea to keep tabs on a few international Peterson dealers, the Italian and German in particular. The Carroll of Carrolton was released at Smokingpipes.com at approximately 2pm Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, June 24th, and all of their stock was gone before noon the following day. While I’m usually at my computer working, I was away from my desk when the email came. I saw the release about 20 minutes after the email came in, by which time the naturals had disappeared! Every Terracotta I put in my basket was gone before I could check out. It was a bit of a feeding frenzy. I have spot-checked a few internet businesses, but haven’t had any luck finding more, although there is one at the time of this posting on eBay. An Early Republic era Belgique The pipe utilizes the Belgique Specialty bowl, introduced back in 1945, although you might not know it at first glance, so gracefully does it conjoin with the acrylic stem, which was…