415. Throw it Against the Wall and See if it Sticks
DROP PARTY TUESDAY! Remember the POY2024 drop party at Smokingpipes.com is Tuesday. Per Andy Wike: “The POY will be available for purchase at Smokingpipes (and other retailers) beginning Tuesday, August 20th at 6:00pm EDT.” Stephen Mawby, Director of Sales at SPC, writes, “We have them in Rusticated, Sandblasted, PSB Rua, Ebony, Heritage, Terracotta, and Natural finishes, as well as having some with silver caps in Rusticated, Sandblasted, PSB Rua, and Natural finishes.” Smokingpipes.eu will probably drop theirs at 10 AM (GMT+1). Throw it Against the Wall and See if it Sticks by D. H. Billings The B10 from the Irish Sea Classic Range collection To be perfectly honest, I've bounced around a few ideas of how to start this - and I've written at least three different introductions at this point - but basically, I like experimentation. Whether it be with food, art, poetry music, etc., I absolutely love it when a person or artist decides to "throw it against the wall and see if it sticks." Of course, it doesn't always stick, but when it does it is both transcendent and revolutionary; just listen to the sublime beauty of "Your Blue Room" by Passengers (a one-off side project between Brian Eno and U2) or think back to how the original iPhone revolutionized what a phone could be. But experimentation drives things forward... and that is something I greatly appreciate about Peterson throughout their entire history. Shapes from the Irish Sea Classic Range (2008 ff.) Most Pete Geeks can appreciate the early experimentation from the company. After all, without it, there would be no Patents, no P-Lips, no reservoirs, no De Luxes, no Systems, no Kapp & Peterson. However, there is an observed tendency for people to become resistant to change as we get comfortable with what we are used to. That includes us pipe smokers - and, despite my enthusiasm for experimentation, that includes me. It's human nature. And there was a period where Peterson wasn't known for trying new things, but instead stayed the course with an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" policy. There were some new shapes (namely the Sherlock Holmes pipes), one-off series, and a couple new lines in non-traditional finishes (mostly with green bowls or faux-amber acrylic stems), but for the most part the willingness to try new and completely different things just wasn't there. One notable exception to this rule was the Irish Sea collection, which was launched at the 2008 Las Vegas IPCPR show according to Bear Graves at Smokingpipes.com but ended up being popular enough to last until the mid-2010s. The Drac 150 Bulldog And then... something changed. I don't know how exactly it happened, although we know who was responsible—K&P designer Elke Ullmann (see Post #246)—but Peterson started experimenting again. First it was the Dracula series in 2012, which was supposed to be a one-off commemorative released on the anniversary of Bram Stoker's passing. Featuring an ebony bowl, nickel band with laser-engraved bats, and a red and black…