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The banner shows a Patent era 5 x 8 strutcard, printed by McCaw, Stevenson & Orr, Ltd. Printers, Dublin
(from the collection of Scott Forrest, CPG)

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEW ERA 39THIRTY CAPS.  Look’s like the game is going into extra innings as we’re still a ways from the MOR (minimum order requirement) of 18 for each color.  The deadline is being extended until September 6th, in case anyone has a change of heart and give me time to raise some extra funding.  Google Form here: 39 THIRTY ORDER  or at bottom of post.  I’m tellin’ ya, these are gonna be awesome.  Play ball!
(Important: Marie says if you filled out a request for the old 59FIFTY several weeks ago, this is NOT the same hat. This is a whole new ball game & you gotta fill out a new scorecard.

“TO THE VICTOR GOES THE PIPE.” Larry Gosser agreed last spring to create a special 10^th Anniversary T Shirt, and he came up with one featuring Sherlock Holmes inspired by the Great Detective’s fisticuffs in Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist.”  As with last year’s event, I’ll send Larry the Google Form and he will invoice you immediately after receiving your info. Google Form with photos of the shirts and prices at the end of the post.

SYSTEM DAY IS TUESDAY. This will be the 126^th anniversary of the final System Patent, registered in the US on September 3^rd, 1898.  Our theme this year is Zen Mind (more info last post).  You can participate with Pete Geeks from all over the world by sending in a few sentences, paragraphs, a drawing or poem relating how the System pipe has been a vehicle for your own enlightenment, peace, or freedom. Send photo and text to petegeek1896@gmail.com no later than Monday, September 2nd, 12pm noon CDT to receive your Certified Pete Geek certificate or the new merit badge for your old one. Get your 2024 System Day Pete Geek Tobacco Mat PDF at the end of this post.

A DEEP DIVE INTO SYSTEM ENGINEERING

Peterson System Engineering
(plain vanilla PDF for your personal enjoyment)

With System Day almost here, let’s take a deep dive into Peterson System Engineering.  It’s a complicated, fascinating subject that richly rewards our attention.

The Kapp & Peterson Patent System has remained an outlier in the pipe world since its debut in 1891.  The Patent was pirated by several companies until around 1910, after which litigation was no longer necessary due to high sales and brand popularity. From that point on, it’s been and is still copied by nearly everyone, superficially if rarely with any accuracy.  The System has been misunderstood, sometimes maligned, and has been increasingly misunderstood from the 1980s until around 2019.  Yet  somehow it’s survived, making it the longest-lived patent-design pipe in the world, as recognizable as Dunhill’s white spot, if not always as appreciated.

With no briar during wartime, K&P turned to the possibility of using cherrywood.
The Irish Times, Saturday, May 20^th, 1944, p. 3.

Like other long-lived pipe makers, Peterson has suffered ups and downs. Sometimes it’s had to battle a difficult market, forcing reductions of staff and cutbacks in manufacturing. Sometimes it’s been plagued with supply chain problems, whether of briar, vulcanite, amber or meerschaum, due to World Wars and pandemics.  Sometimes there’s been quieter problems like quality control and design fatigue issues.  Yet Peterson’s System pipe has weathered all these storms for 133 years and counting—an astounding track record.  In fact, I can’t think of any other pipe in the same league.

There are a many things that attract pipe smokers to Peterson that have nothing to do with the smoking qualities of the System itself.  Some are Hibernophiles, attracted to Peterson because it is the Irish pipe, the rebel in our midst.  Others love Peterson because of its storied history, uninterrupted since 1865, a feat unparalleled by any other briar-pipe maker. Then are those who love it for its tangible, accessible past in the robust estate market, where it’s possible to find bargains as well as great treasures from every era of manufacture even back to the days when the company wasn’t even called Kapp & Peterson, but “Kapp Bros” and before that “Frederick Kapp.”  And most of us, of course, love the new lines and special editions that are released with great anticipation.

A Kapp Bros meerschaum recently restored by
Charles Lemon at Dads Pipes

More specifically, pipe smokers associate the System pipe with Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, arising from the film franchise featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce back in the 1930s and 40s. Yet even among these devotees some might be hard pressed to explain why the System pipe works so well or offer an explanation that it does in fact work better than other kinds of briar pipes.

An alternate Signet Paget illustration
from Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist,”
featuring the rare 4 FAB

So why does the System work so well? How is it that it can outperform pipes costing many times as much?  We can best answer these questions by looking at the problem in four parts:

1. SYSTEM ELEMENTS
2. SYSTEM TOBACCO PERFORMANCE
3. SYSTEM TIERS
4. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS & ADVANTAGES

One caveat before we begin. Pipe smoking is a complex, nuanced art.  To look at the System in the way we’re going to do, we have to set aside most considerations of the pipe smoker—his palate, cadence, tobacco preferences, nicotine tolerance, and so on. We are considering here only  the design and performance of the System itself, much as we might evaluate a home audio system, espresso maker, or new motorcycle.

Front and back covers from the 1955 Dublin & London tri-fold brochure

1. SYSTEM ELEMENTS

The System is so different from most pipes that we need to be clear from the outset what it entails.  There are six components in the traditional design, three deriving from Charles Peterson’s original three patents in 1890, 1894 and 1898 and three more he incorporated without needing a patent.

To be a Patent System, a pipe needs three patent elements:

A. P Lip
B. Graduated Bore
C. Reservoir

The Patent System has three more elements, however, which accompanied it from the beginning.  Each makes important performance contributions, and without them, the iconic System is incomplete:

D. Condenser / Tenon
E. Army Mount (Taper)
F. Metal Mount

There are some other contingencies we might we can add, but these six constitute the finest System pipe Charles Peterson could conceive, and understanding them, we’ll be ready to examine System performance, System tiers, and System advantages.

A. P Lip. You can see in the illustration above that something quite different is going on than what we see on the buttons of traditional pipes. At the left is Peterson’s 3^rd and final patent from 1898, which exclusively concerned the P Lip. This button evolved from a a graduated bore design in 1890 patent to a button with an upturned lip in the 1894 patent.

Notice the “tongue tuck,” a curved flange on the underside of the button, which is made to work in conjunction with the “clenching shelves,” the upper and lower ridges of the button.

Notice also the smoke channel at the center of the upper half shell of the button, which disperses smoke at a 45°angle up and over the tongue to the palette and rest of the mouth rather than onto the tongue tip like traditional buttons. This feature drives people crazy who don’t understand it or try to bite it with their premolars or molars.

For pipers in Charles Peterson’s day, clenching was the norm.  Pipe smoking was done everywhere, at any time of day and would more often than not be hands free.  When properly used, the P Lip is simply the most comfortable stem button ever made, as authorities like Shane Ireland have noted. Peterson accentuated that comfort by most of his Systems with generously full bends to minimize the moment arm and lessen the felt weight on the jaws.

Airflow diagram for Aerodyne cyclone

B. Graduated Bore. This is the crucial element in Charles Peterson’s design, and understanding it we understand why a System will never allow spit to draw up into the mouth nor debris of any kind. We subsequently understand the slightly heavier drag felt when drawing through this kind of smoke channel than in others. If you’re already thinking “cyclones” and “helical patterns in air flow,” give yourself a Mr. Science pat on the back.

Two paragraphs from a Wikipedia article on cyclonic separation explain the process in layman’s terms even I can understand:

“Cyclonic separation is a method of removing particulates from an air, gas or liquid stream, without the use of filters, through vortex separation. When removing particulate matter from liquid, a hydrocyclone is used; while from gas, a gas cyclone is used. Rotational effects and gravity are used to separate mixtures of solids and fluids. The method can also be used to separate fine droplets of liquid from a gaseous stream.

“A high-speed rotating (air)flow is established within a cylindrical or conical container called a cyclone. Air flows in a helical pattern [i.e., spiral or helix shaped], beginning at the top (wide end) of the cyclone and ending at the bottom (narrow) end before exiting the cyclone in a straight stream through the center of the cyclone and out the top. Larger (denser) particles in the rotating stream have too much inertia to follow the tight curve of the stream, and thus strike the outside wall, then fall to the bottom of the cyclone where they can be removed.”

Thus by “graduated bore” K&P is talking about a cyclone, a conical container with one wide end and one narrow one. “Denser particles” “fall to the bottom … where they can be removed”—into the reservoir of the System. There is no backwards movement possible. Study the diagram above and in a few seconds you’ll understand the Peterson System stem in action.

What we’ll probably never know is where Charles Peterson learned about cyclones and helical patterns in air flow and then thought to apply them.  Bravo, Charles!

A Patent O1 demonstrator
(fascinating the graduated smoke channel down to the chamber!

C. Reservoir. The reservoir is the third and final patent specification and crucial to good System performance. It collects moisture and debris from the chamber’s smoke channel, which drop into it before the lighter vapor travels up through the cyclone. The reservoir works in tandem with the condenser to keep the smoke smoke and not liquid.  If you smoke straight F/T pipes you’ve undoubtedly had occasion to swab the stem at some point during smoking. At pipe shows, you’ll notice even pipemen smoking hi-dollar artisan pipes with a pipe cleaner in their shirt pocket for just this situation.  It never happens with the System.

With Systems coming in such a vast array of sizes, it’s not surprising that there’s no suggestion in Charles Peterson’s patent document of a correct size for the reservoir.  Over the course of the System’s history, sometimes the mortise has been extremely wide and deep and sometimes much narrower.  Casual observation by myself and other Pete Geeks would suggest that the wider, deeper mortises and their vast reservoirs were much more common in the first several decades of the System pipe.

There have only been two instances of reservoir design fatigue that I know of—that is, incorrect engineering—in the long history of the System. The first occurred when Paddy Larrigan designed the Dunmore Premier Systems with part of the shank flattened to allow it to sit.  This necessitated drilling a much smaller reservoir, and for some shapes like the 305 bent dublin, there simply wasn’t space to collect the necessary moisture.  The second instance occurred around 2019, when the reservoirs simply weren’t being drilled until a hobbyist contacted the factory making inquiries.  Currently the reservoirs being drilled are the best they’ve been in many decades.

Cylindrical molded condenser (left) and conical screw-in condenser (right)

D. Condenser / Tenon. Known as the “chimney” among workers in the Sallynoggin factory for decades, this is the condenser at the end of the “cyclone” or graduated bore. It’s found only on the Premier and De Luxe Systems these days, although it was present in a molded ebonite version well into the beginning of the Éire era (1938-48).

Proper depth of the condenser (1894 French Patent)

In the 1894 French patent illustration seen above (notice it lacks the 1898 P Lip) offers one of the only K&P illustrations of the condenser dipping below the smoke channel. This may not seem important, but in fact most Premier and DeLuxe Systems current and past dip to this level.  It makes a huge difference in the flavor and responsiveness of the System.

The superlative molded vulcanite cone condenser made from 1896 until about 1945

The condenser has two functions: 1) It is the necessary cone at the end of the cyclone.  2) It works best when it meets or drops below the chamber’s smoke channel to draw smoke down in the reservoir, that is, below the chamber’s smoke channel, enhancing cyclonic action to condense moisture and deposit debris into the reservoir.  Notice there is space within the mortise chamber for moisture to circulate around the tip of the funnel and drop off the end of it into the reservoir.

Around 1945 or so, the molded tenon suffered design fatigue and went from its original cone shape (seen in the 1896 and 1906 catalogs) to a cylindrical, less efficient one.  This one is what most of us are familiar with, as it’s the used on Standard System stems to this day, whether vulcanite or acrylic.  Unlike the earlier version, it never drops down to the chamber’s smoke channel.  Is it really less efficient? Of course, from both scientific and anecdotal evidence.  Will this deficiency be observable by the casual smoker?  Maybe, maybe not, depending on other variables.  Some days it’s enough to get to work in a reliable Ford and we’re grateful.  Other days we’d rather have the acceleration, thrill and cornering of a classic Mini Cooper..

Bone or aluminum?

Charles Peterson would have loved the idea of an aluminum condenser instead of the bone one he used. Bone is porous doesn’t act as efficiently as aluminum. So much so that tobacco tars gum up the bone, over time making it sticky and often cementing it into the vulcanite threads of the tenon.  The only down side of the aluminum condenser is that in a new System, until the mortise is hydrated by smoking the pipe a few times, it can sometimes make an annoying gurgling noise.

1906 catalog: traditional non-System army mount and spigot

E. Army Mount Taper. For most of its history, Kapp & Peterson called the army or military mount a “push mount” (how sad they’ve relinquished so much of their unique “Pete Speak” jargon), but whatever we call it, it was there at the beginning.

Sometimes we hear the myth of the spigot mount—the most rugged version—as having its origins in the trenches of WWI.  A glance at page 79 from the 1906 catalog shows this can’t be so. It also introduces readers to the two types of push mount Peterson will make henceforward: the spigot (don’t you love that Patent double bead?) and the less costly vulcanite push.

Machine taper

Both mounts use a machine taper, which in simple terms is “a male member of conical form (that is, with a taper) [which] fits into the female socket, which has a matching taper of equal angle”—thus Wikipedia, which goes on to describe the various types and applications.

There are several types of taper, although the one most of us have probably heard of is the Morse, developed in the 1860s. For this type of mount to be successful in a non-System pipe, the gap between mortise and tenon either has to either be extremely small—say, under 3mm—or the turbulence has to be overcome some other way, with for example a well-executed chamfer, a graduated bore P-Lip or both.

This 309 homage by Peterson Pipe Special Giacomo Penzo
has a mortise-tenon gap of not 4mm, but of only .4mm!

For the System, there’s both an asset and a liability involved with this type of mount, although the asset far overshadows the liability.  Since the pipe can be broken down so easily, the stem can get lost, something that almost never happens with a traditional tenon/mortise fit.  The assets are threefold: First, if there’s a clog in the chamber’s packing or in the chamber smoke channel, the stem can removed while smoking without risking damaging the fit—something we’d never do on a traditional tenon/mortise.  Second, there’s no wait time for the bowl to cool before removing the stem, which is important since the System functions best if the reservoir is drained while the fluid is warm.  Third, it’s much easier to replace a lost or broken push mount than a traditional tenon/mortise stem.  In the heyday of vulcanite, K&P could retail replacement stems easily because they were made up in three or four sizes to cover all mortise aperture widths of the range of System bowls.

From the 1906 catalog

F. Mounts.

In the page from the1906 catalog above, we can see the three types of Patent-era metal mounts, decorative but also highly functional:

• Wear Gap (Space-Fitting). The 1S and 1B illustrate the massive Wear-Gap, known as the “Space Fitting” which Charles Peterson never patented and which has never been copied by other makers. The DeLuxe System thus configured with its extra stout tenon is the strongest, toughest briar pipe ever made.
• Facing Mount. Seen in the 1 F A (second pipe down). Vintage System enthusiasts are frequently stymied when they find a System with this mount thinking there’s something wrong with the pipe because the shank end is bare wood, i.e., it’s band and not the flattened cap of the Wear Gap mount, which wraps over the shank’s tenon end.
• Ferrule. Seen in the 1 A B at the bottom, this is the cap we associate with the Standard and Premier Systems, although it was in its earliest usage frequently used for highest quality pipes as well.

System mounts are designed to strengthen the wood at the mortise shank, which over time can weaken and develop hairline cracks, as numerous DIY restorations have shown.  Such cracks, caused by the seating and reseating of the stem, are almost always a non-issue. Even if the diameter of the mortise slightly widens, the reinforcement of the mount combined with the machine taper of the mortise / tenon will compensate so that the pipeman usually won’t even know there’s been a split.

2. SYSTEM TOBACCO PERFORMANCE

Peterson’s Mixture, an aromatic, in the 1953 Rogers Imports Ltd. catalog

There are three tobacco performance levels against which any pipe can be tested:

• The easiest tobaccos to accommodate are english/orientals and burleys which are low in sugar, smoke dryly and almost never cause tongue bite. If you have the taste for them and live with someone who will tolerate them you’re among the blessed, because almost any pipe made will accommodate english and burley tobaccos and smoke well.
• Next in line are aromatics, by far the most prevalent in the pipe world. The best use a good percentage of virginia tobacco and dark fired with natural flavorings like rose geranium or tonquin (think the Lakeland tobaccos of Gawith & Hoggarth or blends like St. Bruno’s). Most, however, use combinations of artificial flavors like vanilla, caramel, orange and hazelnut, which are “topped” rather than mixed into the tobacco, which is kept moist and fresh with the use of humectants (vegetable glycerin).  These nose-friendly tobaccos produce a great deal of moisture and sometimes heat, and it takes an above average pipe to perform well with them.
• Virginias and va/pers are the most difficult tobaccos for a pipe to handle because of their high natural sugar content, which produces a great deal of heat and moisture. While these don’t leave moisture in the bowl like aromatics do, they nevertheless demand the finest smoking instruments for the full enjoyment.

The Peterson System excels in all three arenas. The only caveat is one that applies to other pipes as well: some chamber geometries work better than others with a given tobacco. The received wisdom of the past fifty years or so is that wide and shallow chambers generally do well for english, oriental and burleys.  Narrower, taller chambers bring out the best in virginias.  There seems to be no consensus for aromatics.  The classic chamber geometry used by most factory pipes in the 20^th century is 2 deep by 1 wide, doubtless because it copes well with all tobacco types.

Most Systems adhere to the classic geometry, although some are wider and some deeper.  The old 309 dutch billiard and 02BB oom paul, for example, excel with virginias. The System House Pipe and Pub Pipe are excellent choices for english and orientals. Most of the thirteen Systems in current production can cope well with all three tobaccos, but the wise smoker will experiment until he finds which chamber performs best with his favorite tobaccos.

3. SYSTEM TIERS

The System routinely equals and often bests the smoking performance of artisan-made pipes.  The key word here is “performance,” as aesthetics are not under scrutiny here, and yet even if they were we would System pipes to compete on that playing field as well.

Many Pete Geeks are accustomed to routinely thinking of the System has having three tiers: Standard, Premier and De Luxe, which graded tiers go back to the Patent era. Close readers of Peterson Pipe Notes, however, have seen collectors document instances of Grade 4 and even Grade 5 in the Patent era.

Insofar as engineering is concerned, however, there are only two tiers: the lower Standard with its molded condenser, and the upper Premier / De Luxe, with its screw-in aluminum or bone condenser.

Not A System

There are two riders to be noted: K&P markets a pipe that is stamped “System” on the shank, yet is not.  It’s called a “fishtail System” but as Marcellus the Palace Guard rightly points out (Hamlet, the Smoker’s Variorum Edition, Act 1, Sc. iv, 67), “me thinks it smelleth fishy” because it is in fact neither true System nor true army mount:

• It’s not a System because it lacks a P Lip graduated bore stem.
• It’s not an army mount because it has a reservoir.

Those aspiring to the 33° of Pete Geekery (Inspector General) are required to smoke this FrankenPete monster.  Sometimes they recover, sometimes not.  Those who do have reported constant bubbling, almost hookah-like, in the reservoir, with vapor emitting from the button hot enough to boil an egg and sometimes coming out their eyeballs and ears.  Ironically, Peterson makes a decent army mount line and for about six months in 2023 even marketed a superlative one, the Short Army (see Post #349) .

The second rider has to do with the System Spigot.  It’s got a P-Lip; it’s got a reservoir.  There’s not really anything that might be called a condenser in the Spigot System, and more’s the pity. I don’t know why it works as well as it does, but I’ll be the first to say I adore my 307 and 306 Spigots.

4. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS & ADVANTAGES

Charles Peterson’s revolutionary System design was promoted with a mot juste as relevant today as it was in 1905 when the slogan appeared: it’s for the Thinking Man.  I don’t think Charles meant to diss those who smoke other pipes, just that the System would appeal to someone who is a bit more reflective, introspective, aware or contemplative, fascinated by the details and minutiae, eager to embrace its performance requirements to reap its substantial benefits.

Requirements.

• The System requires a smoker who enjoys the the ritual of cleaning his pipes. It’s not going to shine for the smoker who drops his pipe and walks away from it until he spots it and thinks of smoking it again. It requires someone who enjoys the routines emptying the ash and wiping out the reservoir after each smoke.
• The System requires a smoker who uses canines and premolars to clench his pipe and can learn to use the tongue tuck as a balance for the teeth when needed.
• The System requires the new smoker to learn a different cadence when pulling smoke into the mouth, one that has a slightly heavier feel than the “open” draw of other pipes.
• The System requires a personality unafraid of being part of what has always been and will always be an outlier community in the pipe hobby.

Advantages.

The effortless clench of the 15° drop

• The P Lip of the System delivers a fuller flavor profile than a traditional button, as vapor is dispersed above the tongue tip and onto the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate, and epiglottis.
• The System stem, unlike most artisan pipes today, is designed for pleasant, comfortable clenching and especially in its ebonite version can stand up to decades of use before wearing through.
• The cyclone of the System’s graduated bore and reservoir prevent backwash and debris from traveling into the mouth, which can happen with even the best of traditional stems and buttons.
• The slight drop of the bowl (typically 15°) created by a correctly bent System stem, in conjunction with the P Lip, creates a sense of effortless clenching ideal for hands-free work.
• A vulcanite P-Lip stem can withstand decades of daily wear and be reconditioned to look new in an afternoon by any competent Do-it-Yourselfer.
• The System is offered in “aspirational” tiers, as Andy Wike once wrote, so that almost anyone with an interest in the art of smoking can afford to try a Standard System, and if he enjoys it, aspire to the even better performing Premier and DeLuxe at some point.

Built to last: a Patent Grade 4 O1A.

The Peterson System in Standard,  Premier , DeLuxe (and yes, Spigot) grades can compete against any pipe ever made and come equal to or better than in its performance as a smoking machine. As a piece of functional art, the Irish design language is masculine, bold, instantly recognizable, and all things considered the toughest pipe on the planet. You can mollycoddle it if you like, but it’s made to take a beating, something we have forgotten our white glove culture of careful handling.

System Day 2024 Tobacco Mat

Many thanks to Ralle Perera and the Swedish Pipe Club,
for inviting me to make a presentation to their
club in June,  from which this expanded version is derived,
and a heartfelt thanks to Scott Forrest CPG
for his generosity regarding the Patent era strutcard!

UP AT BAT: THE NEW ERA 39THIRTY
10th ANNIVERSARY PETE GEEK EVENT

Really impressed by the New Era folks we’re working with. This week we got an update, detailing the next stage of pre-production, which involves which areas will have the raised “puffed” embroidery you’ve seen on so many New Era caps. If you examine the following illustration closely, you can see where the raised effects will be. They also confirmed sizes and locations of illustrations:

Google Form: 39 THIRTY ORDER

‘TO THE VICTOR GOES THE PIPE”:
Larry Gosser’s Sherlock Holmes T Shirt
for the 10th Anniversary of PPN

Larry Gosser, you know, is a long-time Pete Freek, having done Sherlock Holmes / Peterson illustrations for many, many years. I was privileged to collaborate with him on our year-long Of Pipes & Men project and it’s always fantastic when he and I can get together on something new.

The Peterson Green shirt

This year Larry came up with a great piece showing Holmes, hands wrapped for bare-knuckle boxing, with flat cap & Peterson ink across his pecs while he smokes a 4AB between rounds. Larry was tickled when I asked whether the artwork was inspired by Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist,” as it’s one of his favorite stories as well.

The Back in Black version

This year’s shirts are available in Peterson GREEN and in BLACK in L and XL shirts should be $28 ea plus $5 for shipping in the US, $2 extra for 2X and 3X.  If you’re overseas, fill out the form with an inquiry and he’ll send you information. You will be invoiced as soon as he receives your request; shipping time 3-4 weeks after group order is placed.  Here’s the Google Form:  TO THE VICTOR T SHIRT

Do check out our own NEBRASKA Pete Geek’s latest System restoration here
and while you’re there, subscribe!

Marco Crosa CPG sent me an important photo of a 301 Star System he recently acquired.  It’s important because the HM is a small Celtic “i” for 1976—three years before the first time the Star System was documented in the K&P ephemera. When dates are given here on the blog and in The Peterson Pipe for first release of older pipes, remember they are almost always dates from the ephemera and not documented pipes.  I wish it could be otherwise, but with 159 years under its belt, there’s simply no way to collect data on all those pipes until we develop a much stronger Pete Geek community.

Marco’s 301 Star is superb, isn’t it?  It’s got that original “Comfort Lip” wide-shouldered army mount, the beautiful ruby red stain and remarkable grain.  One more super thing: Marco points out the “GH” stamp on the bottom of the shank.  Georg Huber, the Munich Peterson distributor, has been stamping Peterson pipes since the Patent era, as readers of the big Pete book will recall.

Pfeifen Huber München was established in 1863 as an Alpine pipe-making shop by a master wood turner (sound familiar?) named Johann Nepomuk Huber. His son Georg—whose “GH” is stamped on Patent-era cases and pipes through the 20^th century, like Marco’s. George took over in 1905 and expanded the pipe range to short briars and meerschaums with amber stems, moving in 1914 to the site of the business today at Tal 22 in Munich’s heart.

Georg, who took over the business in 1905, was able to specialize exclusively in pipes and smoking items. With foresight, he expanded the range to include the short pipes made of briar wood, which were emerging in England at the time, and the meerschaum pipes with amber mouthpieces from Vienna. An increasing number of loyal Pfeifen-Huber customers was the reward for this new business policy. As early as 1914, Georg Huber was able to acquire the representative property Tal 66 – today Tal 22 – in the center of Munich. Somehow the business survived the carpet-bombing of Munich in 1944 and passed from George to Georg II, Georg II and now Georg IV!