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By Jason Canady CPG

Lately, I’ve been on a bone chimney collecting kick. When I first heard Peterson made their chimneys out of bone, I had the same reaction my wife did when she found out the stinger in the pipe I was holding was made of actual bone.

“A bone? A real bone? An actual bone from an animal?” Yep.

Honestly, I’m just as curious—and morbidly fascinated—as she is. I mean, this part of the pipe was once a living thing. It came from a breathing animal. It was a collection of cells and minerals, once covered in tissue and blood. It played an essential role in the animal’s life—something it couldn’t, or wouldn’t want to, live without.

And now, that very bone is part of my smoking pipe, making it better. There’s something so primal, almost pagan, about it. It’s like a bone through the nose or woven into the braids of a warrior. It’s ancient. It belongs to a time of game stew eaten straight from the pot hanging over the hearth.

It speaks of a bygone world where man not only hunted his meal but carved up its remains for pleasure.

Now? We’re aluminum. Shiny and new. Streamlined. Machine-turned sleek. But somewhere in that shimmer, maybe we’ve lost a little of the soul.

My first pipe with a bone chimney was a De Luxe 1934 9B billiard stamped “0” with a B stem that I scored off eBay. It was in near-new condition. Imagine someone buying a high-end Peterson pipe in Dublin during a time of major political and economic upheaval—the rise of Fianna Fáil, the Great Depression, the 1933 anti-communist riots—and then just… sticking it in a drawer.

Nearly a hundred years ago, Dublin was grappling with poverty, overcrowding, and housing shortages. This pipe? It’s a time capsule. Now it’s in my hand, mint condition. When it arrived, I held it up, staring at the fresh-looking bone chimney protruding from the stem—completely fascinated. A real bone… from an animal.

Lately, I’ve picked up two more bone-chimney treasures. One of them I found on Etsy, of all places. I scroll through thousands of pipes daily, but this one clamped onto my attention like a bulldog and refused to let go. It was a vintage smooth Peterson De Luxe 12.5 (317 System) with a hand-cut stem. How did I know? It was stamped “hand cut”—and I knew that meant something special.

The photos revealed it still had its chimney, and yes—it was bone. I could even see the tiny pores in the reddish, cone-shaped cylinder.

The grain was exquisite—rich brown, with just a hint of red when caught at the right angle. It was classic vintage Peterson; the kind of finish they’ve tried to revive with their Heritage and Dark Smooth stains. But this wasn’t a recreation—this was the real deal.

After flipping through Irwin’s Peterson Pipe book like a wizard hunting for a specific spell, I landed on a paragraph quoting Joe Kenny that said they didn’t start stamping “hand cut” on stems until the early 1960s. Page 248.  My pipe had no hallmarks, and Peterson didn’t start using those again until 1968. That narrowed the date down: 1960 to 1968.

I sent Mark photos of the pipe and he said he didn’t know for sure when they started stamping “hand cut” on the stems, as some of the early Patented pipes had it, and appeared again in the early 60’s. What he did know without a doubt was Peterson used the hand cut stamp for only the very finest of their pipes. This one was surely that.

The difference between the hand-cut stem and a modern-day acrylic 12.5 stem dated 2012

If you’ve never smoked a system pipe with a hand cut stem, I can assure you there’s a big difference. So much so, the pipes I used to favor are now begging me not to release them to the eBay netherworld. The vulcanite stem on this vintage 12.5 appears to be contoured for comfort in the mouth, showcasing the thoughtful craftsmanship of a skilled and intentional pipe carver.

The shelf before the handmade, crisp  P-Lip feels so natural, it’s as if it were once part of your own mouth—separated at birth.

The stem was most likely made by Paddy Larrigan himself. And if so, I might need to build a little pipe shrine.

Speaking of vintage 12.5 De Luxes, I recently picked up another vintage 12.5—this one with the B stem. I’ve never seen one before—have you? Fellow PSOI member and Pete Geek, Adam Floyd of Get Piped  listed a group of pipes for sale, and that one immediately caught my eye. It was a vintage 12.5, stamped 12 1/2 B, with a lovely, tapered stem—my favorite. The smooth bowl featured a flame grain and was in mint, fully renewed condition.

I messaged him as fast as my thumbs could type, asking if he’d be open to a trade. As it turns out, Adam lives in my hometown, so we met up at our local Irish pub and traded pipes over a few ice-cold pints of Kilkenny.

Since then, I’ve broken the pipe in with some fine Virginia flakes, and it couldn’t smoke any better. It doesn’t have the hallmarks, which also dates it to pre-1968. The bone chimney was unfortunately missing, but it’s been replaced with a shiny new aluminum one.

I looked the 12.5b up in the Peterson pipe book (aka Pete Bible) and spotted the saddle stem and the taper stem side by side on the Peterson pipe de luxe chart. It’s exciting having the vintage 12.5 saddle version with its matching brother the taper stem.

A System 31 with Bone Chimney

The third pipe I’ve picked up recently is a Peterson 31 System. It’s actually my first 31, despite over a decade of collecting Petes. I’d passed on plenty of them over the years—never quite taken by the straight System and having heard the phrase “it’s much smaller than you think” more times than I can count.

But one day, while casually scrolling through eBay, this particular 31 caught my eye. The stain and finish reminded me of an old Donegal Rocky. I then realized I hadn’t seen a 31 for sale in quite some time. I consulted with Lord Google and discovered I was right- the 31 is no longer in production and was discontinued by Peterson in 2018. Then I noticed the older-style ferrule with those classic vintage K&P marks—and suddenly I was slamming the brakes to investigate. According to the Peterson hallmarking guide in the Peterson book, the K&P in the shield over Peterson over Dublin without silver hallmarks signifies a sterling silver mount and dates the pipe from 1938-1968. That doesn’t exactly narrow it down, but it’ll do.

To my surprise, it still had its long stinger intact—and it was made of bone! I’ve never seen that before. The 31 is classified as a smaller pipe by Peterson and a system pipe. Yes, it’s a system and yes it works great! The army mount allows the removal of the stem and the liquid to be poured out just like a bent-style system. The system’s well is large and hidden underneath the fire hole.

If you investigate the bowl on a straight System, you’ll notice the draft hole is drilled downward into the system chamber rather than horizontal towards the stem and like a traditional straight pipe. The fire hole is also unique as the chamber floor doesn’t go to the bottom of the bowl due to the required chamber underneath. This makes the fire hole chamber even smaller than the bowl appears but still large enough to hold plenty of tobacco. I’ve been smoking LJ Peretti’s London Flake in it and it’s euphoric. Peterson’s 31 system pipe is a flake smoking machine, and I highly recommend keeping a watch on eBay if you don’t have one. It has all the working power of the system in a straight pipe. Many may disagree, but I’d like to see Peterson bring the 31 back.

Is a 31 really a straight 317 system?

I have a vintage 317 System Sandblast with the so-called “faux” hallmarks—an affectionate but misguided term used by collectors. The stain and sandblasted finish on my 317 are a perfect match to that of my new 31, down to the finest detail, which tells me they are close in age and were probably made around the same time. Their bowls are relatively similar in size. I’ve mentioned this 317 before in comments on PPN, having dubbed it “Mighty Mouse” for its knack of saving the day. It’s one of my favorite treasures and rarely leaves my side. Whether I’m in my car or at the pub, it’s always with me. I can easily break it down and slip it into my pocket.

Don’t let its size fool you—like its namesake, Mighty Mouse packs a punch. It’s a sweet-smoking pipe and handles anything I load into it with ease.

In conclusion, I’ve added three vintage bone chimney Petes to my collection. Now that I own a 31 as well, I believe the 31 System is underrated and never received the appreciation from Pete Geeks and K & P advertising it truly deserved before being retired. The system works great and there’s been a revival of sorts for smaller pipes. I’d love to see Peterson bring it back—perhaps with a modern twist or slight modification—though honestly, I think it’s perfect just the way it is.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about Peterson pipes with bone chimneys or the 31 system. Leave your comments below.

About the author.

Jason Canady is a Pete Geek and member of the Facebook group Pipe Smokers of Ireland (PSOI). He’s a local journalist, photographer, freelance writer and full-time graphic design instructor at Fayetteville Community College. This is his fourth contribution to Peterson Pipe Notes.