501. The South India Pipe Club

psa
International Peterson (er, Pipe) Smoking Day
is Friday!
See below for details

Have you ever thought about how easy it is to break something up and how hard it is to put something together? I volunteer as a groundskeeper at St. Melba’s Green, a prayer garden in my community, and this morning my job was to take apart an old pressure-treated lumber bench. With a 3-pound drilling hammer it took all of five minutes and sent my puppy scurrying for safety. The bench was made by a quiet guy that died a few years back and I know it took took him hours of time and effort in his shop. As I broke it apart, the explosions of the hammer strikes made me think how easy it is to destroy someone’s self-esteem, to estrange someone who’s waiting to hear from you, to shred a friendship, all with a harsh word, a little tepid silence, or the atrophy of neglect.

I mention this because next Sunday is IPSD—International Pipe Smoking Day—or as we like to say in these parts, International Peterson Smoking Day, a day many of us cherish as a time to practice peace while puffing our Petes. While the day has been under commercial assault in the US for years, the punitive tobacco laws in many other countries ironically allow it to retain its original purpose of bringing together pipe smokers in a day of peaceful puffing and fellowship.

Last weekend, I got an early taste of IPSD when K. T. Prasad invited me to join his friends for pipes and pondering at the South India Pipe Club. K. T. lives in Hyderabad, with a penthouse apartment in the city and a farm not too far away.

The garden in back of K. T.’s farm.

Tinkerbell Farm has an amazing cottage, gardens, livestock, exotic birds, vegetable gardens and quiet. It is also a great place to convene for the monthly SIPC meeting, where smoking indoors is allowed!

Rohit (left), K. T. (center), Pritvi (right)

I spent a delightful hour and a half talking and smoking with K. T., Rohit, Pritvi, and Karthik. While talk of politics and religion are theoretically forbidden, within five minutes we’d all violated that rule, lamenting the crises in world and national affairs, first amendment abuses in India and the US, and wondering as a group why being kind is such a difficult task on a national and international level.

In the course of our talk, either Pritvi or Karthik said his wife had met Mother Teresa many years ago, and we all applauded the saint’s attention to the specifics of honoring and caring for each person she met, being motivated neither by money, prestige, nor power. That being the case, we all scratched our heads and laughed that most wives in India are much like wives here in the US, whom we hold in the highest regard, but who demand we do our pipe smoking outdoors!

K T. bought this beautiful XL02 Spigot at the Las Vegas show last year.

K. T. already knows of my love for southern India and desire to visit one day—which those who’ve read The X Pipe have doubtless surmised. While tobacco and pipe laws aren’t quite as draconian in India as in Australia and some other countries, it’s still somewhat difficult to come by either one, and a tobacco pipe—any tobacco pipe—is a cherished companion.

Traveling to India is therefore always an occasion for thinking about whether or not packing a few extra tins or pipes for a buddy might be a good idea. In fact, I offered to bring one suitcase of pipe tobacco and another of new Peterson pipes in exchange for roundtrip airfare, room and board. Customs laws seem to depend on the airline, Rohit said, making it easy to bring quite a bit of tobacco or several extra pipes in carry-on luggage, at least if you’re flying on a US airline. European airlines, he said, not so much!

Ranjani & Gayatri–two of my favorite Carnatic vocalists

We spent some time talking about music as well. I’m totally besotted with the classical music of southern India, particularly the veena (the world’s oldest stringed instrument) and Carnatic vocal music. Karthik and Pritvi’s wives are both classically trained vocalists, vocal music being the foundation of all classical music in the south. Rohit sent me a dozen links to some amazing progressive Indian-fusion music. I’d heard Shakti, of course, being a prog fan, but Sheila Chandra–who made four albums for Peter Gabriel’s label–was new to me, even though I recognized one of her Celtic tracks from a Lord of the Rings film.

The cottage at Tinkerbell Farm

What was the most fascinating for all of us, I think, was realizing just how little we actually knew about each other’s day to day cultures apart from world news and commerce, but how quickly and easily we bonded in our talk of pipes, tobacco, and the common problems of being human. I’ve been invited back for the club’s St. Patrick’s Day gathering and can hardly wait. Now I just need to get some tobacco and Peterson pipe prices together for that trip . . . .

THE PETERSON PIPER

Did you see Josh Sherif’s latest Peterson Piper episode? If not, why not? What I mean is that we’re a terribly small group of pipemen, often snarked at even by the trade. Give Josh a thumbs-up and subscribe to his channel while you’re there. He just posted a more recent video than the one seen above (which is really fun), the new one on his Peterson travel set up. Don’t miss it!

Two great shares this week, one from Jonathan Estes and the other from Ken Sigel.

Jonathan sent me this absolutely stunning 20s Briar Circle, and take a look at that hand-made pipe rest, will ya? It’s hallmarked “o” for 1980, and so is one of the very earliest I’ve ever seen. In fact, I believe it is the earliest! I won’t telll you he got it for about $150, because that might make you wonder where one can find Briar Circle DeLuxe Systems in 2026 for 1980 prices!!

Ken Sigel sent me this meerschaum, hallmarked during the IFS, recently restoreed by the Amazing Charles Lemon at Dad’s Pipes. You can get a great look at this incredible pipe, which is probably a figural of Ireland’s Pirate Queen, Grace O’Malley (1530-1603), and see close up the amount of detail that went into the pipe as well as Charles’s restoration. O’Malley was obviously delighted to have herself sculpted by the artisan at K&P, and perhaps was in her cups…. just a bit.

from the London Times, Dec 15, 1921

THE IPSD CHALLENGE:
“The Pipe of Peace”
(IPSD 2026 is Friday, February 20, 2026)How does your Peterson pipe bring you peace or help you be a peace-maker?
Send your answer with a photo of pipe or selfie w/pipe to petegeek1896@gmail.com.

It would be amazing to hear from anyone on the trade side of pipe smoking. I know you guys read the blog, and we’d love to have your participation, whether you’re a small eBay business, a larger boutique shop, or even one of the Big Guys.

Of course I want to hear from everyone, but let me close with a specific request from some regular longtime readers who almost never comment: Ukraine (where my wife’s family came from), Germany, Canada, Spain, France, South Africa, China, Netherlands, Sweden and Japan. Having said that, I fully expect to hear from my PG friends in China, Ireland, Greece, Finland, Austria, and the UK–you know who you are!

First-time submissions will receive their Certified Pete Geek certificate.

Deadline: Thursday, February 19^th, 3pm (UTC -06:00).

from
The Pipe Smoaker’s Book of Apothegms:

Go slow and repair things.

IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR

The St. Patrick’s Day commemorative for 2026 appeared about a month ago now, on Friday, January 16th. Had I known in advance, I would’ve sent everyone a quick note. As can almost be seen in even the e-strutcard above, while using the fabulous tricolor band recreated from the original for the 25th anniversary in 2023, this year’s issue is very much in the tradition of the SPD: an inexpensive entry-grade, sometimes fun F/T. Like all the Laudisi issues, this one encompasses most of the small to medium bowl shapes readily to hand.

I received a few samples about 10 days after the drop, obviously too late to show you, but what I liked in person was the stain color on the sandblast. The blast of the pot seen above isn’t to my eye attractive, but the stain when seen on a number of the SPD 2026 pipes reminds me of the Harp. Is it the same? I wish I knew. But there seems to be a glow here, a lacquer topping maybe? Very attractive. In fact, well after the drop I found a wonderful example of the original B5 shape with its sharp, high crown–not the one being cut now–that also possessed a stellar blast, the ripples like one finds on a piece of driftwood lumber.

Intellectual Property of Kapp & Peterson and Laudisi Enterprises
used with their gracious permission.