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PSAsGlen Whelan wrote earlier this week to say that the PPN pipes have left Dublin. They should be ready for us to purchase week after next. I’ll send every one his or her code as soon as I receive the go-ahead from SPC and SPEu.

The Zippo commemorative was mailed out yesterday. If you ordered one, you should have received a shipping confirmation in your email. If you don’t find it (and check your spam folder), drop me a line so I can confirm it for you.

 

This morning I’m so pleased to have a DIY restoration by the Nebraska Pete Geek himself, John M. Young.  Like Charles Lemon and Steve Laug, John is a frequent flyer on the internet, logging several posts a month of useful and entertaining restorations. What most appeals to me–besides his sense of humor–is that he takes everything one step at a time, providing ample visuals and clear instruction. Just as important, much of what he shows us can be achieved by nearly anyone with a table and a few bucks to spare.

However, what is particularly compelling to me about this post from John–which he actually brought to my attention before it’s appearance on his site–is that it shows one of my Holy Grail Petes, a rustic Dunmore System 79 (yes, the 309 shape) with the first-version “Pebble Grain” finish and dark contrast stain seen in the 1977-1978 Peterson-Glass catalog. I’ve never seen one of these in the wild and never thought I would.

 

A Peterson Dunmore System 79 Rustic Restoration
by John M. Young CPG, the Nebraska Pete Geek

There are a few searches that I run on eBay frequently and Peterson Dunmore pipes are one of them.  When I first saw this rusticated rascal I thought about my budget and decided to give it a go.  The recent prices for estate pipes have been volatile to say the least.  I’ve watched auctions increase in price significantly over the past several years, sometimes going for far more than what I think something is worth and other times nowhere near the item’s value, in my mind.  This one would have been a hard pass 3 years ago but with inflation it fell within acceptable limits.  Besides, it was gorgeous.  The auction was won and after a Midwest adventure from Deerfield, Illinois to the wilds of southeast Nebraska it was home.  The pipe came with what I thought was the original box and ephemera.  At least that what they looked like in the eBay listing:

The box looked correct in style for the early 1970s.  Upon examination I saw the following:

Well, this sure as heck is not a 313 and it certainly is not smooth.  I messaged the seller explaining my disappointment.  They sounded sincere in their explanation that the pipe arrived to them in this box and that they did not intend to mislead.  I call this a learning moment for myself  and was reminded to avoid getting caught up in emotion.  I nevertheless provided very objective and honest feedback on eBay regarding the seller’s inaccurate item description. Live and learn, I guess.

Below are some photos of the pipe prior to doing any work on it.  I also photographed the pamphlet and pipe sock and include those below as well.

 

Background

On June 25, 2024 I posted a blog about the restoration of a Peterson Dunmore 606 which was from the Classic Range.  I refreshed my memory a bit with another  look at PPN Post #226, where you can read about the Dunmore’s origins in the Iwan Ries special lines of the early 1970s then on its own around 1977. From Mark’s documentation I think that I can safely assume that this Dunmore 79 is from the original 1978 release. Here’s a page from the 1978 Peterson-Glass catalog, the only color photo in the ephemera to show what the original Dunmore Unmounted Premier Rutic looked like:

The Dunmore System Line from the 1978-79 Peterson-Glass Catalog

 

The Restoration

As boringly typical of my restorations, I began with a clean denim piece to protect the work surface.  Yeah, I know, the term “clean” doesn’t really describe the stained denim.

The new to me PipNet came out and I had high hopes that it would be useful.  The standard ream team consisting of the Smoking pipes Low Country reamer, General triangular scraper and 220 sandpaper wrapped wood dowel were along for clean-up duties.  Low and behold the Dunmore 79 had precisely the wrong size bowl for either the #1 or #2 PipNet blades.

With the #1 blades too small and the #2 blades too large, plan B was put in motion.  The adjustable Kleen-Reem tool was called in to remove the minimal cake in the tobacco chamber.  The other two reamers were used then the chamber was sanded with the 220 on a stick.  Once down to the bare briar I could see that there was no damage to the briar and that this pipe looked like it had only been smoked a hand-full of times.

Next was the cleaning of the shank.  Typically with Peterson System pipes this can be a chore.  Owners frequently fail to clean out the reservoir after a smoke which creates rather difficult tar deposits.  This pipe’s tar was quickly removed and revealed the stain used at the Peterson factory.  A surprisingly reddish-pink stain at that.

The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrub.  Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush were used to remove the age and grime from the stummel.  Once scrubbed the soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the stummel received a wiping with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.  The alcohol removed a bit more of the reddish-pink stain.

The stem was the next victim of my cleaning activities.  I used both bristle and fluffy pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol to remove the slight smoking residue in the airway.

The stummel was given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for about 30 minutes.

During this time I taped over the stem logo with a piece of Scotch tape.  The stem was in very good condition and did not have a heavy layer of oxidation.  There were some tooth marks near the button and those were filed and sanded with 320 then 400 grit sanding sponges.

The stummel was wiped with an inside out athletic sock to remove the excess Restoration Balm.

At this stage I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the rustication and contrast staining of the Peterson workmen.  I wondered if Paddy Larrigan himself had a hand in the crafting of this piece.

The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges in grits of 320-3500.  Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped it with a paper towel to remove sanding debris.

I then taped the shank with painters tape to protect it from the buffing I was about to do.  The stem was mounted to the stummel as a handle and buffed with Red Rouge compound (I remain confused as to why the product had both “Red” and “Rouge” on the label).

The stem was then worked with micro-mesh pads in grits of 3600-12000.  Between each of the pads I rubbed the stem with Obsidian Oil and wiped it with a paper towel.

The stem was polished with both Before and After Fine Polish and Extra Fine Polish.  These polishes were applied with a fingertip and hand buffed with a soft cotton rag.

The next step in the stem restoration was to pick out the old gold paint and to re-do the logo with Rub’nBuff Gold Leaf.  The old gold was picked out using a fly tying bodkin then scrubbed with 95% ethyl alcohol on a cotton swab.

The new gold leaf was applied with the tip of the bodkin and allowed to dry.

The excess gold  was scraped from the logo with my fingernail and hand buffed with a paper towel. I applied two coats.  The photo below is after the first but before the second.

The stummel was given a coating of Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax applied with a baby toothbrush.  This was allowed to dry for a few minutes then hand buffed with a clean cotton terry cloth towel.

The stem returned to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax.

The final stem was to hand buff the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.

This Peterson Dunmore System 79 Rustic has returned to the world in all of it’s original glory. The 4/ 309 shape, 79 in the Dunmore line, is a favorite of mine and I can’t help wondering why it was ever discontinued.  The contrast stain on this pipe is lovely with the reddish highlights and the dark brown-black in the rustications.  The stem polished up very nicely and contrasted the smooth shank-end briar in a unique and subtle way.  The flat heel of the pipe does provide it with a “sitting” platform though not a terribly stable one.  Fortunately Nebraska is not prone to earthquakes and I no longer have any little ones in the house to provide anthropogenic tremors.  The dimensions of the Dunmore 79 are:

• Length: 6.31 in./ 160.27 mm.
• Weight: 1.80 oz./ 51.03 g.
• Bowl Height: 2.09 in./  53.09 mm.
• Chamber Depth: 1.62  in./ 41.15 mm.
• Chamber Diameter: 0.76 in./19.30 mm.
• Outside Diameter: 1.26 in./ 32.00 mm.

Below are some photos of the finished Peterson Dunmore System 79 Rustic.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations.  If you like this sort of thing, please check out Nebraska Pete Geek and click subscribe button at the bottom right of the screen.  Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

–The Nebraska Pete Geek, aka John M. Young CPG

Mark: I got to look at this pipe after John restored it, and I’m impressed.  From the photos, I couldn’t really tell that it is, indeed, nearly unsmoked.  A close look into the chamber with the loupe reveals one (no, two) sets of chuck marks.  Peterson pipes, unsmoked, had 4 sets of chuck marks inside the chambers. Laudisi did away with that practice—a real shame after 160+ years of history—except for their natural finish pipes (at least, let me add, they had–they may have changed that practice since I last heard). 

I also like John’s final bowl finish. Using Lbpen.com’s Restoration Balm and then Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax gives the bowl a more natural, realistic “as new” look than what I would have done and is much, much better than the Super Gloss I see on some eBay restorations nowadays.  I also like the Rub n Buff Gold Leaf on the impressed P, which looks better than the gold acrylic paint I’ve used in the past—much shinier, and probably more durable as well.

One final note, I think John says he sells his restorations on FaceBook as “Old Young Pipes.” He can confirm that in the comments below.

 

Michael Mikropoulos

 

Phelim May

 

 

Rob Denholtz CPG sent two fascinating Petes this week, a “9BC?? SHAMROCK” and a 56 Kapruf:

Rob: “If this is a 9BC it must have shrunk in the wash and, of course, the mouthpiece is too long.  The bowl is 80% as tall as a 9BC and 100% congruent in shape.  Such an interesting pipe!  Had to laugh when I opened the package as  I was expecting something a bit larger.  As it happens, it’s a gorgeous pipe. Although it’s not grade stamped, I would think it would qualify as a high-end De Luxe or even a Supreme.  Stamping is Peterson’s (cursvie) over SHAMROCK on the obverse and, on the reverse, IMPORTED BRIAR.  Isn’t “imported briar” an unusual stamp for Peterson’s?  The pipe is in excellent condition and I will clean it up and smoke it, fer shur.

Mark: With this shank stamp, we can identify the pipe.  If you have the Pete book, take a look at p. 154. If not, here’s the synopsis: so Harry Rogers (who imported Peterson pipes in the US) had a son, who turned out to be not a “Chip of the Old Block”, and they opened three “Peterson’s of New York” B&M shops in NYC. Harry contracted with K&P to use their cursive logo (seen in K&P advertising at the time), their Thinking Man icon for a line of his own tobaccos, and name for his stores.    Well, the shops did well for about a decade, even running a mail order with nice catalogs. Then after Harry’s death in the latter 1960s, the son ran kind of ran them into the ground after a messy divorce.  The son, who was in charge of the shops, ironically didn’t much care for Peterson pipes, preferring “prestige” marques, and never carried very many Petes. But because his dad had the copyright for “SHAMROCK,” he could squeak by the “ethics committee” and use it to stamp on his own line of pipes. It was intended, of course, for the US K&P lines, which had nickel bands, a shamrock stamped on the band, etc.

Rob: Among my 9BC’s I’m seeing two sizes of the 9BC stamp and I’m wondering if we can infer date ranges for each.  The smaller stamp is on a Shamrock with COM being the circular Made in Ireland.  The larger stamp is on a Kapruf, “London Made.”  Your thoughts?

Mark: Small shape number stamps are indicative of the earlier eras of production.

Rob: The top pipe is the only 56 I’ve seen or heard of.  As far as  can tell, it is the same as the 9BC (pictured below it, both Kaprufs), except that the shank is 1/8” longer (I’ve seen that much variation among 9BC’s).  The mouthpiece, tapered and short, is what is used on the 9BC.  I’d appreciate hearing what you know about this shape 56.  BTW, note the unusual and beautiful blast on the 56 (enlarged in bottom pic).

Mark: The Kapruf 56 was made for Genin, Trudeau & Cie., the Canadian importer and distributor of Peterson pipes from c. 1900 until about 1975 or so. You can read more about it in Posts #139 and #140.  The shape numbering, incidentally, derives from the London factory.  The blasting pattern reveals—probably—that the wood is strawberry, which is sometimes harvested accidentally where the white heath (briar) grows.  Folks say it often has a slightly sweeter flavor, and I certainly agree.

 

Mike Austin CPG. Mike sent along a photo of his Peterson Zippo collection that I wanted to share this morning:

The top left is interesting and I wonder whether it might not be a bootleg of some kind, as the logo and pipe both seem just a bit off for an official release.  The top center and top right, of course, are from the Zippo-Peterson sets (see Post #325). Bottom left is a great one, isn’t it? I can’t find any documentation supporting that it was an official release, but even so we can date it to after Tom Palmer became CEO in 1991 and the company began using the “EST. 1865” and this style of cursive for Peterson, followed by “OF DUBLIN.”  The silhouette isn’t exactly that from the K&P Sherlock Holmes advertising, although it’s close.  Anyway, the distressed chrome is great!  The bottom right dates from K&P’s  distribution of their pipes in the US under Associated Imports, Inc., 1969 to about 1978 or so (if I remember correctly), when Hallco-Rohr took up those responsibilities. Great collection, Mike!

 

 

 

Giving Tuesday is this week, and I’ve been thinking about blessings—that is, the sharing of abilities with others. At the end of chapter six of The X Pipe, “The Peace of St. Nicotine” I offer a number of pipe smoker’s meditations, but I missed a very important one I used to sing about as a boy from the back row of Brookside Baptist Church in the late 1960s with my friends Davy, Jack and Tim:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

This sort of meditation works, of course, no matter your religious understanding. Eckhart Tolle writes, “It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up,” and as pipe smokers one thing we know about is the present moment, since that’s where we are whenever we fill and light our Petes. While smoking my 309 last week  there occurred to me a number of blessings I want to share with you in light not only of worrisome national and global tragedies and catastrophes but the difficulties the past year has brought me, perhaps you, and several in my circle of friends and acquaintances.First, I’m so grateful to the patrons of Peterson Pipe Notes: your giving over the past year brought it through a tough time.  You’ve helped make possible weekly posts and gifted me with a great deal of joy to me in doing so.

Second, I’m grateful that through the 10th Anniversary Events I’ve gotten to know a number of Pete Geeks through email, meet-ups for coffee or a meal and at pipe shows. In each case this has opened up my horizons, understanding, and appreciation for just how inclusive, kind, and generous the men and women in our hobby can be.

Third, let me thank each Pete Geek who has written for the blog, contributed to the Collector’s Corner or just reached out with a photo of a unique Pete. They come from all over, have expertise in many fields, and have greatly enriched the posts of the past year.

Fourth, I’m grateful to all who participated in this year’s anniversary Pete Geek Events.  You might think that because there isn’t much “gear” to be found in our tiny hobby—things like tampers, tobacco jars, coffee mugs, lighters, hats, t-shirts, pipe rests—there isn’t much interest.  But that ain’t so, as we found out.  Creating and sharing these with everyone–and having folks like Nate Lynn and Gary Hamilton and Larry Gosser create and share them–has been a source of real delight. (And in italics let me thank Gigi, who not only helped design some of the accessories, but was our mistress of supply chain and accounting for all of them along the way.)

Finally, I’m grateful to the good people at Kapp & Peterson, Laudisi Enterprises and Smokingpipes.com for continuing to show not only remarkable forbearance but generosity of spirit to us and to me personally. I especially want to thank Sykes, Josh, Glen, Andy, Stephen, Kaz, Federica, Austin and Gianluigi, but also thank the amazing crew at K&P who’ve brought us so many incredible works of functional smoking art this year. Go raibh míle maith agat—a million thank yous!