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DROP PARTY TUESDAY!

Remember the POY2024 drop party at Smokingpipes.com is Tuesday.  Per Andy Wike: “The POY will be available for purchase at Smokingpipes (and other retailers) beginning Tuesday, August 20th at 6:00pm EDT.” Stephen Mawby, Director of Sales at SPC, writes, “We have them in Rusticated, Sandblasted, PSB Rua, Ebony, Heritage, Terracotta, and Natural finishes, as well as having some with silver caps in Rusticated, Sandblasted, PSB Rua, and Natural finishes.” Smokingpipes.eu will probably drop theirs at 10 AM (GMT+1).

Throw it Against the Wall and See if it Sticks
by D. H. Billings

The B10 from the Irish Sea Classic Range collection

To be perfectly honest, I’ve bounced around a few ideas of how to start this – and I’ve written at least three different introductions at this point – but basically, I like experimentation. Whether it be with food, art, poetry music, etc., I absolutely love it when a person or artist decides to “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.” Of course, it doesn’t always stick, but when it does it is both transcendent and revolutionary; just listen to the sublime beauty of “Your Blue Room” by Passengers (a one-off side project between Brian Eno and U2) or think back to how the original iPhone revolutionized what a phone could be. But experimentation drives things forward… and that is something I greatly appreciate about Peterson throughout their entire history.

Shapes from the Irish Sea Classic Range (2008 ff.)

Most Pete Geeks can appreciate the early experimentation from the company. After all, without it, there would be no Patents, no P-Lips, no reservoirs, no De Luxes, no Systems, no Kapp & Peterson. However, there is an observed tendency for people to become resistant to change as we get comfortable with what we are used to. That includes us pipe smokers – and, despite my enthusiasm for experimentation, that includes me. It’s human nature. And there was a period where Peterson wasn’t known for trying new things, but instead stayed the course with an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” policy. There were some new shapes (namely the Sherlock Holmes pipes), one-off series, and a couple new lines in non-traditional finishes (mostly with green bowls or faux-amber acrylic stems), but for the most part the willingness to try new and completely different things just wasn’t there. One notable exception to this rule was the Irish Sea collection, which was launched at the 2008 Las Vegas IPCPR show according to Bear Graves at Smokingpipes.com but ended up being popular enough to last until the mid-2010s.

The Drac 150 Bulldog

 And then… something changed. I don’t know how exactly it happened, although we know who was responsible—K&P designer Elke Ullmann (see Post #246)—but Peterson started experimenting again. First it was the Dracula series in 2012, which was supposed to be a one-off commemorative released on the anniversary of Bram Stoker’s passing. Featuring an ebony bowl, nickel band with laser-engraved bats, and a red and black stem, this line almost immediately caused online forums to explode with pipe smokers writing the series off as a bad gimmick. But it sold, and it sold well. In fact, it was so popular that it became one of Peterson’s main lines.

Atlantic, Smooth & Rusticated

 During the next 12 years, Kapp & Peterson had one of the most experimental and innovative phases since they first brought Charles Peterson into the fold. Blues, greens, oranges, reds, coppers, etc. all started to show up. Prior to Laudisi acquiring the company, the focus was more on the coloring of the bowls, but there were also some great stems put out there. Aesthetically speaking, my absolute favorite experimentation from the late Dublin Era was the 2015 Atlantic line (see Post #21), but it had so many problems with the finish that it didn’t last even a year—although they did bring it back for a short period of time with a rusticated finish.

(Side note: I wish they’d fix whatever the issue was and bring back the Atlantic lines with even more shapes. Even rusticated, the coloration of that line is simply gorgeous and it speaks to my soul.)

Obviously not everything stuck on the proverbial wall. For example, the Fisherman, 4U, Carlingford, and aforementioned Atlantic line all didn’t last. They also tried the “pineapple rustication” technique for a bit in the mid 2010s, but that too didn’t last (though I will still argue that it looked amazing on the 2014 Christmas line) But Peterson was trying new things, and it proved to be influential within the pipe industry.

Notably, after the success of the Dracula and Christmas lines, Savinelli started experimenting with more colorful stems. But Peterson’s experimentation continued on in different ways after the acquisition by Laudisi. They started using copper bands and more colorful stems. They also started experimenting with their bands and caps – most notably with the 2023 and 2024 St. Patrick’s Day lines. The former of these was well received, the latter was more divisive. But again, there’s a willingness to try new things and a willingness to figure out what works. I love that.

This experimentation wasn’t always obvious. They switched over to acrylic stems for the System Standard pipes and also figured out how to thread chimneys into acrylic stems for the Pub Pipe. But what is probably the most obvious experimentation on their traditional lines is their rustication. Wojciech Blaszczak, an immigrant from Poland who joined Peterson in 2015, shook things up around 2021 (see Post #269). Initially, I honestly didn’t think it worked; the first releases looked pock-marked or the appearance of ice cream in a shop that has been scooped a million times. But it felt amazing in hand, and there was something at the core that was genuinely wonderful and worth keeping.

Thankfully, Blaszczak didn’t give up on figuring this new rustication out. He stuck to it, and over the next couple of years worked to get it right. And, as he continued to experiment, something else happened: I started to like it. Initially, it was a pipe here or there that  I didn’t find horrible, but more and more I found these pipes were looking good—and some of these pipes were simply irresistible. I now have six pipes with Blaszczak’s new style, and they are perfect. Some of them look like they aren’t even briar, like they were carved out of the Donegal cliffs or the Appalachian mountains.

All in all, I guess all I’m really trying to say is that I believe Peterson is onto something with their refound sense of experimentation and that I am excited to see where this leads them. I may not like everything stylistically, but that’s okay. Not every line is made for every person—and that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?

Archival photos courtesy Smokingpipes.com

With Tuesday’s drop party in mind, I wanted to share a few more photos of the POY2024 from its Terracotta finish.  You probably have experience with this finish, but this is actually my first.  I noticed that after a few smokes, the gloss melted away—carnauba, I do believe—to a stunning reveal of a soft matt finish that’s of a lighter, warmer hue and even more gorgeous.

But what I want to share are the shape’s lines, some of which won’t be discernible from the photos tomorrow. Notice the extraordinary cheeking throughout—the very full curves not only of the bowl, but of the shank itself.

Take a look also at the curves between bowl and shank—I’ll risk using a very old-fashioned word: it’s got pulchritude.

SYSTEM DAY 2024 is
Tuesday, September 3rd.

ZEN MIND

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities,
but in the expert’s mind there are few.” –Shunryu Suzuki

This year’s theme is Zen Mind.  In Zen art, an ensō (円相, “circular form”) is a circle hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express the Zen mind, which is associated with enlightenment, emptiness, freedom. For this year’s System Day Merit Badge, sent me a photo of the System pipe–either as a self-portrait or of the pipe alone–and explain the way the System pipe has been an aide in your own quest for enlightenment and/or freedom and/or emptiness.  You need not have any previous training in Zen nor be a Buddhist to enter! Contemplatives–and that’s almost all pipe smokers–are well qualified to participate.

Photo with text must be submitted to petegeek1896@gmail.com no later than Monday, September 2nd, 12pm noon CDT.