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PSA

CPG MUG & COASTER EVENT

See last post for details–here’s the order form:
CPG MUG & COASTER EVENT

Long as Tobacco’s mild perfume
Shall scent each happy curate’s room,
Oft as in elbow-chair he Smoaks,
And quaffs his ale and cracks his jokes
So long, C. Peterson, shall last thy praise,
Crown’d with Tobacco-leaf for bays;
And whosoe’er thy brand shall see
Shall fill another Pipe to thee.*

Welcome to System Day 2026!  Today we celebrate the 3rd and final patent Charles Peterson was granted in the US for his Patent System Pipe, which continues to recall us from whatever stress and strain we’ve undergone to reflect, relax, and realign ourselves.

There is a somewhat rare literary form called the “Short Short,” meaning a short short story.  Here’s some for your enjoyment and edification from around the world. There’s a lot to admire here and some amazing photography–as I find time and again–as well as thoughts worth pondering.  What strikes me, looking over each story, is just how varied and incredible examples exist of the System.  I hope you’ll join me in thanking each PG who shared with us this morning. Enjoy!

D. O. Fricke.  I was a confirmed “smooth only, medium to larger bowl” pipe smoker. Then by the luck of the draw I purchased a Peterson 309 sand blasted 2024 PPN CPG spigot limited edition (173/175). I thought I was setting for the blasted and was a little disappointed at the apparent diminutive size. Boy was I wrong! The size is surprisingly large (it holds as much tobacco as my Pubs! I get 1½ to 2 hours smoke from it), though it is light, easy to clench, and carries a small footprint. And the sandblast? I’m sold. The texture is a perfect Goldilocks, not too rough and not too smooth, just right. And the the blast adds enough extra surface area to dissipate the heat well even for the thinner walls. Everything about it made it my idea of the perfect smoke for me. It is so special to me that after smoking it every other day for four months I set it aside to keep it for special occasions and bought another just like it (sans the special edition numbering and chimney).  Still sold, I added two more Peterson 309s to my wheelhouse (smooth spigot, smooth heritage) for 4 total. Photo is of the Peterson 309 spigot ready to go with some Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake.

Glen B. CPG.  Dozens of pipes have passed through my hands over the last several years since I first walked into a local pipe shop.  It’s taken me the better part of a decade to settle into my personal pipe ‘wheelhouse’.  I appreciate this year’s challenge because it reinforced the lessons it’s taken me all these years to learn: my rotation now consists almost exclusively of Petersons; I know I prefer a medium to large bowl size; with a vulcanite stem; though I do appreciate both Classic Range and System shapes.  Knowing what my wheelhouse is has helped immensely when special releases come up; if they’re not in my wheelhouse, I can admire them without making the mistake of acquiring a pipe I know I won’t appreciate…. Upon further reflection, I realize I can also add:  non-filtered; certainly no filter-less adaptor; metal ferrule; chamfered tenon; non-restrictive draw but not ‘wide open’ either.  Good gracious, who else but Peterson hits all these points???  from Indian Territory

Daniel Barber, MS, CPG.  Clockwise from 12:00:

Nate Lynn.  The two pipes I reach for the most are my XL5BC and my Pub pipe that I had a B Stem made for. I prefer large bowls when I smoke a pipe so those work well for me.   from Florida

Andy Olcott. I just read the post from today about System Day for this year.  While I do have quite a few system pipes, my absolute go to, daily smoke pipes are the 01.  Or what I have learned from PPN recently, the “Squat Dutch”. Pictured here, my Dracula 01 Spigot and the Diamondback’s, my team’s, jersey!

Jonathon Estes CPG.  I’ve attached a couple pics of my favorite systems. I’m a big fan of the 9/307 shape. Also, I suppose you could say I’m a glutton for punishment being a Royals fan 😆 but man can Bobby Witt Jr. play ball!

THE PETERSON PIPER, aka Josh Sheriff CPG. My rationale was what I like to smoke and what I think is nice. I have some rare and “better” pipes. But these are some of my favorite smokers.  

Volker Kirsch CPG.  Throughout my life, I’m constantly out in the field searching for the best agate. Then comes the sawing, grinding, and polishing.  After a tough day out in the field, I like to light up a pipe when I get home. By chance, my first pipe was a Peterson System 307, which I bought in 1977. I liked it, though at the time I unfortunately didn’t know anything about the Peterson brand. Then, in 1978, I got a Kildare 01S, followed by a 312 System pipe. I like the 307 because of the many memories it brings back from that time. The 312 is my favorite shape, and in 2025 I added a 312 Anniversary to my collection. With the 2023 pipe of the year, the X160, Peterson has, in my opinion, created one of the most beautiful pipes ever. It’s a shame I could only get it in the sandblasted finish. I now have 47 pipes in my pipe cabinet; there’s room for 50. I’m saving the last three spots for later. We’ll see if I give in to temptation again…  Wishing you all a wonderful System Day, with gratitude to K & P  for making our “pipe happiness” possible.   from Deutschland.

Baseball team … the Goose Eggs!! [The team Charlie Brown coached.]  from the UK

Mark Irwin CPG. My wheelhouse is more about chamber sizes than particular Systems, although--and this is something I’ve never told anyone in all the years I’ve blogged at PPN–I do have a very, very slight (almost unnoticeable) preference for Shape 4 / 309 and Shape 9 / 307. I think what I like about these is not only that they’re seen being smoked by the Thinking Man, but they both have chambers that are about 2.14 : 1, height by width, which gives my favorite tobaccos a chance to do their best.  There’s not many other Systems that can offer this same chamber geometry . . . . the 304, 305, XL305, 306, 308, 312, 314 and 317. My favorite team is also a well-guarded secret. I’ve never missed a single game, even though it doesn’t have an official name:

Jörg Feldmeyer CPG.  I chose my first Peterson Pipe a System Standard 309 that I bought in 2012 in Cologne at the pipe shop  by Peter Heinrichs. He took time for me and in the end he gave this pipe to me. A wonderful souvenir.   from Bonn, Germany

Jay Keatley CPG. This year’s Peterson System Day pipe has to go to my Pub PSB accompanied by Reiner Golden Flake 71. 

Matthias Schmidt CPG. I’m a Pipesmoker of 7 years, and a Systemsmoker of 1 year by now – attached you see four of my favourite pipes. Your blog convinced me to give the System a try even though I didn’t like the look of it. The 12.5 Deluxe  I got a little over a year ago alongside a 20S from Tortuga Estate, Yordan Yordanov – and I just fell in love with how well the System performed. There followed the POY 2024 I thankfully got from you, a Wonderful System Premier 312, the Big Old Patent from 1905 and many many more. . . . It is as if I just started smoking – and my great French Pipes, my Dunhills and Handmades are resting and might leave me during the upcoming year.

Stuart Whelan CPG.  I just couldn’t pass up this challenge as it encompasses two things that I greatly enjoy: Peterson Pipes and Baseball. You may be asking how an Aussie is into Baseball? Well, I played “Little League” as a kid and for many years the only baseball we saw was when the World Series was telecast, usually during the day our time which made it hard to catch. Then came the internet and MLB.com from the early days of “stutter-vision” to now with fast internet to seeing games in HD. I became a Yankees fan because of their history and I because I was recovering from surgery in 2021 and was able to watch the World Series and even though they didn’t win I was a dedicated fan from then on. . . . In my smoking “wheelhouse” are my Deluxe 9B with a NAP stem, My POY 2023 (X160 AB) and my old faithful System Spigot 302. from Australia

Michael Mikropoulos CPG. Greetings from Greece, and Happy System Day to everyone!  Baseball may not mean much to us here in Greece, but we all know what it means to have a place where we feel at home. For me, that place is my Petes. My old System 0 308 and my Dunmore 79 are the two I keep coming back to — familiar shapes, familiar faces, familiar companions to quiet moments… from Greece

Lee Skiver CPG. If I had to define my wheelhouse in the realm of Pete-dom, I would have to say anything with a deep bend, and especially a deep-bent System. So, for sure the latest CP Premier System 356 gets a special spot in said wheelhouse. While there is so much to love about all the various elements that define the “style” or “design language” of Irish pipemaking, the deep-bent billiard (Dutch or otherwise) must be the most unique and instantly recognizable… often imitated, but never replicated.

Stefano Zerbi CPG. For the System Day Challenge 2026 I will share with you and the PPGs my two Wheelhouses. The first one is a X105 Kapet from the Republic Era. This pipe smoke incredibly well and better of other X105 that I have tried. She now needs a cleaning of the stem. The second one is a sandblasted one 314 System Standard from the Republic Era. I appreciate the size and lightweight of this shape and in particular of this one. I have other 314s, but this is the most used. Both pipe were restored by myself.

Marty Olsen CPG.  The Brewers are my favorite team. My “System” wheelhouse is more about how gnarly the pipe is than anything else, whether it’s a new PSB or Rustic or something old like this 312 Early Republic. Someone told me this one’s Algerian briar, from looking at the way it took the blasting.  That railroad tie with bailing wire, incidentally, I found when it was my turn to sweep the stove out at fish camp last winter on Lake Michigan.  It must’ve gotten used on a tree and the tree grew around it is all we could figure out.  Looks like what I imagine a crucifixion nail must’ve looked.  That it survived the fire and the tree and is still here goes with my beliefs about life, which I remember someone here on the blog called “pipe pray and ponder.” from Wisconsin

D. H. Billings CPG.  Growing up in Appalachia in a time before it was the cool place to come visit more than 50 different breweries in one town, there honestly wasn’t a whole lot to do. Downtown Asheville was dead and yet to experience its massive revitalization, the art scene was only beginning to blossom, musical artists would occasionally stop by as they drove through on I-40 from one bigger city to another, and the most exciting thing to happen on any given weekend was to go to Sliding Rock, see a movie in the theater, try to score some deals at the Dreamland Flea Market, or go to the mall if you actually had the cash to afford shopping at Sears. Admittedly, we had the Bele Chere festival – which was awesome at the time and hadn’t turned into the overinflated travesty of beer, vomit, topless protests, and screeching street preachers that was eventually done away with in 2013 – but that was only once a year. So in lieu of anything interesting happening, I played sports: baseball, basketball, wrestling, hockey, and even tennis for a season (though I was terrible at it). The two that I enjoyed the most were hockey and baseball. They were, incidentally, the two sports I was best at; I even made the All-Star Team in the latter before my mother used a batting cage accident to con me out of playing because she didn’t get along with some of the other parents. But I enjoyed playing. And I despised watching.

Maybe it was because we didn’t have any major league teams to root for outside of the Charlotte Hornets (who weren’t even on our rabbit-eared TV) – or maybe it was because I simply didn’t have the patience to sit for hours on end watching people play something that I would rather just go outside and play myself – but I could never get into watching any sort of sport unless it was something super-short during the Olympics or (later on) the X-Games. And even that was minimal.

Two years ago, though, something changed. Through my wife’s work, we ended up with tickets to an Asheville Tourists game, and so we took our daughter.

She loved it. I did too.

I’ve tried to figure out what exactly changed for me. As best as I can tell, part (but not all) of what suddenly attracted me to minor league baseball happens to be part of what I also enjoy about pipe smoking. The history, the community of people and the coming together for a common purpose, the process and routines, the tradition. It’s almost like church, but without the liturgy, the dogma, or the terrible music. I also enjoy how they try to make things more community-oriented than they used to back when I was a kid. The hot dogs also help, but I digress….

Interestingly enough, there is also a direct connection to Mark’s home state of Texas as the Tourists (also known as the Snot Otters or the Hippies, depending on the night) are the High-A affiliate for the Houston Astros.

We were unable to go to any other games that season, but last year we were able to go to a few. This year, we were able to go to even more. And after most of these games, once our daughter was in bed and things had quietened down, I found myself sitting on our porch smoking a pipe. Typically a Peterson.

There are many pipes in my wheelhouse, most of them being Petersons as they make up a third of my entire collection. That being said, there are two recent surprise entries into that wheelhouse as they do not fit the normal framework of my taste in pipes: a sandblasted System Standard 317 and a dark smooth Deluxe System 20s. Both are smaller than I typically go for being that I am a fan of stubby, fat pipes with larger chambers – but both have found their way into my regular rotation. They are excellent smokers of any kind of tobacco, feel amazing in hand, look fantastic, clench easily, and are perfect for having a shorter smoke before turning in on a summer night. I cannot sing enough praises about them – especially after the Tourists have taken another loss.  from Appalachia

Erik Rynders CPG.  The Petes that have been getting the most attention lately have been my PPN pipes.  I have been particularly enjoying my XL5BC with F&K Lancer Ready Rubbed.  I’m sad I missed out on the first PPN Pete but I do have a pub pipe so I can pretend.  Love me or hate me for it but I’ve been a Yankee fan my whole life and rock the same style Yankees hat as my late Uncle Dave wore to pretty much every family event and outing.  Anywho, here is my mug with my beloved XL5BC.

Clayton Wilson CPG. My Pete collection. You can never have too many!

Michael Phay, CPG, sent me the very first DeLuxe System I’ve seen–hallmarked for 1980–that was made at the factory as what appears to be a 6mm filter pipe with its own converter. The length of the converter convinces me, as does its airway diameter, that it extends all the way to the bowl’s airway entrance.

Many, many thanks to Kapp & Peterson, their wonderful craftsmen,
to Glen Whelan, their Managing Director, to Laudisi and Sykes Wilford
for their stewardship, and to
the worldwide community of Pete Geeks
who took time to share their love of the System Pipe
with all of us today. 

* Slightly altered from Robert Lloyd, Poems, “EPISTLE to J. B. Esq. 1757,” (1762). “Bays,” incidentally, is the bay laurel plant whose leaves were woven to make crowns for victors in classical  athletic  competitions. Here tobacco leaf is a whimsical and appropriate substitution for crowning Charles Peterson.