Blog

Howdy and a continued Happy IPSD 2025 to my fellow pipe smokers and Pete Geeks! If you’ve read my last story for PPN, “There and Back Again a Pete Geeks Tale,” you’ll know that I’m still a relative newbie to this amazing hobby we all share, and how quickly my Peterson collection has grown. One quandary that I think we all face as our collections expand is what to do with all our pipes. Do we keep them hidden in their boxes, display them proudly, or leave them in their socks at the office? (I’m looking at you, Timothy O).

As a collector at heart, I enjoy displaying the things I collect. My office is a wild mix of Star Wars and Marvel movie props, posters, books, toys, pipes, and other random items. Since I love themes, I decided that after creating my first rack, all of my future pipe racks should have some kind of theme, if possible. After all, necessity is the mother of invention—and let me tell you, I’ve got plenty of necessity. As my collection grew, I started building new racks—ones that not only serve the practical purpose of holding my precious pipes but also help reinforce the theme of each pipe or, at the very least, highlight the hobby in a fun way. So, here are the racks I’ve made, or bought, over the last year. I hope you enjoy them.

My first rack I bought on Amazon. I told my youngest daughter that once it was filled I would not buy another pipe. I really believed that when I said it, but now here I am with a ridiculous number of pipes and am always trying to find places to put them.

My second rack, but the first one I made. I crafted it from Mahogany. While trying to find a creative way to hide the screw on the stem rest, I thought I’d add a unique element. After all, bourbon and pipe smoking pair quite nicely, so I found the Blanton’s stopper to be the perfect addition. This rack holds part of my ever growing Peterson POTY’s.

This was the second rack I made, and it’s when I started asking myself: other than a cool bottle stopper, what else could I add to make the rack more fun? That’s when I decided to craft a pipe to hold up the stem rest. I made it from granadillo wood, which, after Mahogany, is my favorite and used my other favorite medium, leather, as the bowl rest pads. I’ve included some progress photos to show how it came to life.

My third rack: a themed, celebratory display for my ever-growing St. Patrick’s Day collection. I thought it only fitting to make it in the shape of a clover, with Irish flag colors and a St Patty’s day pin on top.

The fourth and fifth pipe holders/racks were made for two friends. I crafted the five-pipe rack from an end piece of Granadillo and Mahogany. The single pipe holder was made from a scrap piece of Mahogany and leather, as I usually use suede or leather for my pipe bowl pads. I thought it fitting to make the stem rest from leather as well. Excuse the Nording pipe, lol!

My sixth rack was a straightforward one, crafted from Mahogany with leather bowl rests. There wasn’t room for any frills, just a need for a rack that could hold fifty pipes and hang on a wall. However, I did manage to tie some Pete Geekery into it. I embossed the leather bowl rests with various Celtic knots, the name ‘Peterson,’ and the Pete Geek emblem.

My seventh rack was a commission from a good friend of mine, who was also the recipient of my fourth rack. His request was for a rack for his son-in-law, who is into heavy metal. The only requirement, aside from the theme, was that it had to be all black. I made it from Hickory and Maple, then stained it black. I had originally planned to add red suede bowl rests, but since it had to be all black, I opted for black suede bowl rests instead. I want to make another one of these for myself as it looked so good with the Dracula pipes in it.

My eighth rack was a duplicate of my fourth rack, for the most part, made from Granadillo wood with no frills.

My ninth rack was once again born out of a need for more space, and something I could make quickly while also incorporating the Peterson Emblem and a nod to Ireland. It was designed to showcase many of the pipes I had acquired on my last trip to the Emerald Isle. I bought several acrylic pipe holders from Smokingpipes.com, took a piece of Poplar, and stained it with the colors of the Irish flag. Then, I created a 3D file of the Peterson Emblem, 3D printed it, and painted it gold.

The next, and tenth, rack was made to showcase my Mark Twain pipes. I have seven ‘Twain’ pipes in total, three of which are 2022 POTY. I figured I needed a rack to hold six pipes, as one of the 2022s is part of my regular rotation. Initially, I considered making a hexagon wall rack using the acrylic pipe holders, but then it hit me—Mark Twain was a riverboat pilot, so what better shape to use than a riverboat wheel? Now, full disclaimer—I didn’t make the riverboat wheel itself; I bought it off of Amazon and added my own touches to it, such as Mark Twain’s 3d printed signature and a Gold Leaf Peterson Emblem I made.

I own two Peterson Sherlock racks—one displayed on a floating Sherlock Holmes book, and the other on a short bookcase that holds most of my tobacco. I also have a Peterson 12-pipe tower rack, a 2003 POTY pipe holder (though without the 2003 POTY), a leather Peterson wall holder for my Carroll of Carrollton, and an antique brass wall rack that holds my Peterson Meers, plus a few other racks that I’ve found in Antique stores.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this story of my rack collection. If you’re in need of a crazy custom rack, feel free to reach out to me at natelynn83@gmail.com—I’ve been told I’m pretty affordable for the quality and creativity of what I build.

Hopes for Continued Happy IPSD week 2025, my fellow Pete Geeks!

Rob Van Egmond CPG has found what is perhaps the single most beautiful single pipe rack in the world, his B60 Dublin Castle 9mm a perfect foil:

Rob Denholtz CPG sent this gathering of his 9BCs–such a great shape–:

Peterson Pipe Notes
will return in two weeks,
on Sunday, February 9th.

CHICAGO PIPE SHOW
Pete Geek Meet,
12-2 Friday, May 1st,
With Patent and IFS Pipes on display from the Collections of Ken Sigel and Lance Dahl

A Seminar by Mark Irwin, 2-3pm Friday, May 1st,
“The Historic 1906 Catalog: The Lexicon of Peterson’s Design Language.”

Peterson Pipe Notes will have two tables on the show floor this year,
featuring the 1906 catalog reproduction, a selection of Mark’s other books,
exclusive Pete Geek tampers by Gary Hamilton CPG,
estate Petes by Ken Sigel,
and maybe even a display of Patent and IFS pipes from Ken & Lance,
although I might oughta check with them first!

BOOK LAUNCH AT THE CHICAGO SHOW
Peterson’s Patent Pipes: The Historic 1906 Catalog
–-a full-scale restoration with commentary by Mark Irwin,
including photos by Ken Sigel, CPG & MFA from his own Patent collection,
all presented via Gigi’s book design magic.

…and for everyone who’s read this far down, our wonderful Trent Clifton CPG, who holds the keys of social media for this blog (yes, I’m a hopeless Luddite and SO grateful that Trent isn’t):

…and I sure HOPE there’s no 4s pipes in the drop!