244. Postcards from Charles Peterson, 1917-1919
Happy System Day, 2021! One hundred and thirty-one years ago today Charles Peterson’s System pipe received the first of its three patents. I encourage all Pete Geeks to celebrate the day with a favorite System pipe, light up and give thanks for the genius and geniality of one of the great pipemen of all time and the pipes he created with his colleagues at Kapp & Peterson. Back in June of 2019, on one of the most memorable days of my life, I was invited into the home of the Brady family in Dublin. They had been custodians of some of Charles Peterson’s personal effects—the famous pipe replicated as the 140th Anniversary Pipe, photographs, passports and other items—for many years through the friendship of their mother with Peterson’s daughter, Isolda Peterson, who was their godmother. Much of the success of the early chapters in The Peterson Pipe is due to their friendship with Latvian journalist Sandra Bondarevska and their willingness to honor the memory of their godmother and her famous father by taking a great deal of time scanning photographs for inclusion in the book. 1 When we arrived for lunch, all of Charles Peterson’s effects (aside from the pipes, which had been donated to K&P several years before) were on display on a large dining table. It was terribly difficult not to run over there, sit down and ask to be left alone for several hours, preferably with a camera and scanner. That didn’t happen, of course, but as a family they were the kind of unbelievable Irish hosts that give the country its character of warmth, charm and hospitality. After lunch and more or less on the way out the door, I did manage to break away and look a bit at the materials, and spotting an album of postcards, asked what they were. They turned out to have been sent by Charles Peterson while on business travels in Europe to his daughter Isolda between 1917 and 1919. Isolde was born in 1911 and was between six and eight years old when her father sent her these postcards. According to the Brady family, "Soldie" not only loved receiving the postcards but wanted to collect the stamps, which she tore off with varying degrees of success. When I got back to the States, I asked if the cards might be scanned for use in further documenting Kapp & Peterson and its founder, and of course they did, giving me permission to use them as I saw fit. So here they are, all eighteen, with some scanty annotations. I will let you draw your own conclusions as you read these often hastily-written notes from a loving Father to the child he adored. As the blog is read by some very erudite folk in all parts of the world, if any of you can add any insights or information about any of the cards—whether historical references, background information, language or assistance in deciphering some of the words—please let me know, either…