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PSA
Thanks to everyone who bought and reviewed The Historic 1906 Catalog–as Mark Berman said last Sunday, it’s sold out.  I’m hoping we’ll see a second printing before too long.

Shank stamps are so important.  As I discussed back in Post #232, line name, maker, shape number, precious metal stamps, and country of manufacture stamps are the the primary ways a pipe can be identified.  The history of Kapp & Peterson has been a gradual unfolding of the company’s understanding of the importance and even political significance of these stamps, as I’ve discussed elsewhere.  Learning to read what these stamps can tell us as Pete Geeks is therefore highly advantageous, whether it’s knowing the difference between a “Peterson’s” as in Peterson’s of New York and Kapp & Peterson or knowing what era a Pete was probably made.

When the briar dust had settled after Laudisi’s 2018 acquisition of Peterron, in 2021 Peterson issued its new Made in Ireland stamp, the first true Country of Manufacture (COM) stamp since the demise of the three-line MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND stamp in the late 1990s.

The stamp has just recently been updated—or rather, upgraded—by inserting the year, so that, going forward, every single pipe coming off the factory floor can be dated. It really doesn’t get any better than this as far as knowing about the pipe you’ve acquired, whether it’s new, estate, or new / old stock.

The shape Laudisi-era Peterson chose is worth remarking.  Whether it was done consciously or subconsciously, they chose the famous “rugby style” COM, one of several used over the years by Peterson’s London factory from its opening at 74-77 White Lion Street in late 1937 until its final dissolution on the 5^th of September, 1963.*

K&P’s London factory was fairly small as factories go, at least according to information in The K&P Register:

Granted WWII was raging and that briar supplies must’ve been nearly impossible to obtain, but the 12 names listed on the 1944 roster are the earliest information we have about the London employment roster. It would be difficult to see how it could have done with less people.

I think I’m reading 41 names on the 1947 wage list–which might have been a third or a half of what the roster was in Dublin for the same period.

The factory came about because of something we’ve been hearing a lot about lately—tariffs. Great Britain was one of K&P’s most important markets and to avoid serious financial damage, Peterson decided to open a factory in London to manufacture pipes specifically for Great Britain.  What Peterson couldn’t have known at the time, of course, was that the Battle of Britain, WWII and U-Boats were just around the corner.  How the London factory survived, or whether it helped K&P in Dublin make it through those years, I haven’t been able to determine.  Neither have I been able to source any period photos of either the exterior or the interior of the factory, which was located on what in the US we’d call the second floor of a building on White Lion Street.  I’m in hopes that some intrepid PG scholar, history buff, or data miner might find something and share it with us (hint hint).

Thanks to Tim Lomprey CPG, however, we can all take a pretty good look at the kind of pipes that came out of that historic factory. I asked Tim if he had time to share a little about himself for today’s post, and he happily obliged.

A few Petes from Tim’s System 0 MIE Collection

Do you have a specific focus in what you collect, Tim?

Pre-Republic, which is to say anything from the Patent, IFS, and Eire eras are what appeal to me most.

Do you smoke everything in your collection?

I do.  I smoke all my pipes.  And what’s even crazier is that I sometimes leave some in my truck—there’s an 1898 dutch billiard in it right now, LOL.

When did you get interested in pipe smoking?

I can tell you the exact day—September 13, 2011. I was at a seminar in Lexington, Kentucky and walked into the hotel convenience store and tobacco shop.  The clerk was smoking a pipe and it triggered memories of my late grandfather smoking pipes.  I bought a cob, some tobacco, and almost burned my face off!

How did you get to Peterson after your plastic surgery?

Ha! My journey to Peterson is kinda funny.  In rough order, I went from Grabow to Kaywoodie, Savinelli, and then Dunhill.  I didn’t know anything about pipe smoking.   Not in a pipe club, no friends who piped, just all trial and error.  But I loved the steps in smoking a pipe. To me, pip smoking is great brain food and it makes me stop and process.

Then I stumbled on what I now know is a Pre-Republic (pre-1948) Pete with the famous P-Lip.  It felt weird at first but also comfortable.  I tried all kinds of Petes from all eras.  For whatever reason, I just like the older pipes more.  I love history, so my Kaywoodies were all pre-WWII and my Dunhills were all pre-1963–my birth year.

Do you still companion a lot of non-Petes?

Mainly a few old Dunhills.

So how did you amass so many System 0 MADE IN ENGLAND “Rugbys”?

I really don’t collect by shank stamp. There’s just a thing in my head that knows—I can spot a 308 for a mile away, for example.

Then a few years ago I spotted a System 0. I couldn’t find anyone who was talking about them.  Same with the MADE IN ENGLAND Ruby.  Nobody talked about them.  And at the time, both could be found for cheap.  And that’s where the collection began.

You told me recently you gift a lot of Petes. Why is that?

I have an interesting and dangerous job. I’m a fire investigator. Gifting pipes gives me a karma angel.

On behalf of all the Pete Geeks, let me thank you for sharing these with us. 

Not at all.  For my part, I’m just grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given to learn and enjoy something my grandfather enjoyed—I would’ve loved to smoke a bowl with him.

Tim provided me with complete photographic documentation for all the pipes in the following gallery, every single one of which has the Rugby MADE IN ENGLAND stamp, even though I’ve not included photos of the COMS for every pipe.

306 “0” MIE

Dan Butler made an observation to me that I thought very apt with regard to this shape. He calls the 02 / 306 a hungarian and its offspring the 02BB (that is, the skinny tapered son of this shape an oom paul.  That’s a helpful taxonomic distinction to me, as no one would call the 02 / 306 an oom paul. 

352P

We’ve seen a few other “P” appendages to the shape number stamp, but so far no one has any idea what these mean.  The shape # is so faint that it doesn’t show up well in the photos.

313 De Luxe MIE

The grain on this knocks me out. Unbelievable.

7 Natural MIE

The “7” has to be a London shape, as it’s not in the Dublin chart.  This is one of the very few liverpools ever seen in the chart–and more’s the pity!

307, 308, 309, 313 MIE:

De Luxe 20 MIE:

01 / 317 MIE Comparison

Yes, that’s a DeLuxe stamp on the O1.S, as if the grain didn’t shout it!

11S De Luxe MIE

Tim relates there’s no shape number stamp on this, which is obviously an 11. It’s also lost its wear gap, which would make plenty of supposed Pete Geeks happy (just kidding, guys).  What’s so amazing about the grain on this pipe is how the tiger stripes wrap so perfectly from the front of the bowl all the way down and then up the shank, flowing into the birdseye.

308 System O MIEs:

317 MIEs:

A Large System 0 MIE with No Shampe Number:

And a 1309 System 0 MIE for the Canadian market:

Many thanks to Tim for sharing his collection
to Kapp & Peterson for archival materials & to Laudisi for social media photos.

* London Gazette, Sept. 17, 1963, p. 341.  The other London factory stamps include the following:

MADE IN over ENGLAND

MADE IN ENGLAND forming a circle

MADE IN ENGLAND forming an ellipse (“Rugby Style”)

MADE IN ENGLAND

A “PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN ENGLAND

A PETERSON’S PRODUCT over MADE IN ENGLAND

A PETERSON PRODUCT over MADE IN ENGLAND

MADE IN over GREAT BRITAIN

GREAT BRITAIN

LONDON MADE over ENGLAND

LONDON MADE

London-hallmarked Petersons have been identified with dates of 1949 to 1954. Most London-made Petersons seem to have been made in these post-war years, from 1949 until the closing of the factory. Until we have more documentation, this narrow range of dates is probably the most reliable indicator of years when this stamp and the variations listed were employed. The presence of one variation or another on a pipe is not by itself a reliable indicator of its age.

THE EBONY DE LUXE SYSTEM DROP

Last Monday and Tuesday (as you’re doubtless aware), SPC and SPEu released the DeLuxe Ebony System in 10 of the 13 shapes currently in the catalog: the B42, 1s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 8s, 9s, 12.5, 20s, and 20FB. I was working at my desk Monday afternoon, so saw the email come in, and while a few of the more limited shapes disappeared pretty quick, Ebony fans can be grateful that most shapes stayed around, and many were even available yesterday.

On the US site, a few of larger shapes weren’t found in the email direction, we had to go find them under their specific shape. I’m not sure why that was, unless there were so few of them–4 of the 4s, for example, and I believe about the same number of 9s. The B42 was amply represented, however, not only in the new “original” apple frazing turned in house, but in several of brandy and other intermediate versions.  I wonder if the Ebony isn’t becoming more popular? No one but K&P could answer that, of course, and of course the sandblast and PSB Systems have to be factored into that. In any event, I hope that if you were looking for an Ebony DeLuxe, you found the shape you were after.

B42

Someone at Peterson told me that Giacomo Penzo redesigned the B42 as one of his first makeovers, and while I don’t have his new version, it appears to be spot-on with my originals, or very nearly so. A Big Beautiful Bent Apple (did I really say that?).

01S

3S

The 3S, with the acrylic stem here, makes me think of some of the Ball shapes in the 1906 catalog.  Very pleasing!

4S

5S

8S

9S

12.5

20S

20FB

Plus one more Ebony Peterson DeLuxe:

The “Thinking WOMAN,” philosopher & activist Angela Davis,
whom Charles Peterson would doubtless have appreciated,
smoking, of course, a Peterson P Lip
Is it a ? or a . . . ?
No Prize for the correct answer.
Facebook and Instagram answers from Prof. Davis must include screenshots. 

Dennis Dreyer’s
IRC 150th Anniversary Pipe

The IRC 150th Anniversary

Long time Pete Geek and PPN follower, Dennis Dreyer, recently sent in some photos of a beautiful Peterson in his collection. After an astute observation, or perhaps revelation, Dennis writes the following:

The Moran

“I’ve been after a Moran and Sylvius to accompany my Hopkins and Gregson and all the while I had an incognito Moran sleeping peacefully in my basement! I purchased it years ago, an IRC or Iwan Ries 1857-2007 150th Anniversary pipe commissioned from Peterson, hallmarked “V” for 2006. For some reason I’d tucked it away unsmoked and more or less [had] forgotten about it. I was surprised and delighted to see that it was the same pipe as the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Moran or B53, even though it wasn’t stamped with a shape designation. Interestingly, the pipe was released at least three years before the Adventures set was released. I’ve included a photo of the Sherlock Holmes Moran courtesy SPC for comparison. The grain and contrast stain on the Iwan Ries is just gorgeous.

“In comparing the Iwan Ries against photos of the Moran, the shapes of the two pipes appear very similar but not quite identical. The shank of the Iwan Ries looks to have a slightly greater bend off the bowl than that of the Moran, while the bowl of the Moran appears more straight-sided and less round than the IR. But when holding the Iwan Ries against the same sized photo of the Moran on my monitor, the actual difference is slight. Whether this difference is due to frazing variations from year to year or because they are truly two different pipes is debatable. I lean more towards the former, considering their similarity in other respects.

“I’m not sure what if any significance there is to the pipe’s design appearing on the market well before it was released as the ASH Moran. This happens all the time going the other way around (hence the B shapes), but this is the first time I’ve seen a previously released design used as part of a new Sherlock Holmes series (or any other series for that matter).”

James: Like Dennis mentioned, Peterson has long been using known shapes as special or limited releases although, usually after the shape has debuted as first intended by Peterson. Dennis’s observation makes us wonder if this or other shapes have been used in limited capacity prior to their advertised release. Considering the long-standing relationship between Peterson and Iwan Ries and the numerous shapes premiered or exclusive to Iwan Ries over the past half century, I wouldn’t be surprised if the IRC 150th could have been something Peterson had in the works during development of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collection.

Peterson Master Carver, Paddy Larrigan, is known to have designed the Original Sherlock Holmes 7 day set. There are a number of prototypes for this series known to have been carved by Paddy, some even with his personal stamp. These are generally similar to the final production version but not exactly so.

One such example, sans P.L stamp, recently surfaced on eBay and is now being companioned by fellow Pete Geek Mike Austin CPG. As you can see in the below listing photos from eBay, this is the Deerstalker, but not quite. Hallmarked for 1988 according to the listing, that would put this pipe years before the Deerstalker was released to the public:

Although Paddy did not design the ASH collection, perhaps the carver responsible had the IRC 150th on his bench during the design process and Peterson was able to offer it to IRC for use? We may never know if this is true or how the IRC 150th came to be but I’m certainly glad Dennis put this in front of us and got the PG wheels turning.

Fantastic pipe Dennis, and thank you for your keen eye and great insight!