Peterson Collectors

This morning we’ve got another real treat in store, a House-Pipe sized odyssey of Nate Lynn’s hunting expeditions in the Land of Éire, including a tour of the factory at Deansgrange and even short videos Nate shot of Giacomo Penzo at the frazing machine and Wojciech Blaszczak at the rusticating station!  So fill your favorite Pete, top your Pete Geek mug with the brew that is true, and light up–

THERE AND BACK AGAIN…
by Nate Lynn CPG

There and Back Again

My first trip to Ireland was November 16th, 2019. I was there for work, site seeing and the glorious black stuff that known as Guinness. I remember walking past a pipe shop, “Peterson Pipes,” as I was going to visit Trinity College and was intrigued but didn’t stop as I was too focused on seeing the Book of Kells. At this point in my life I was only a once or twice a year cigar smoker and collected only movie prop replicas.

And Again…

Fast Forward to March 16th, 2022, my wife and I land in Ireland, drop off our luggage and head to Trinity College to meet my old boss, who’s a Dublin native. I was taking my wife to see the book of Kells and the Long Room of the library before the jet lag set in. We wrapped up the Book of Kells and Long Library tour and once again I see Peterson Pipes as we exit Trinity to go to my favorite pub (Sheehans) in Dublin for some much-needed Guinness Stew. This time I gave the shop a bit more of a look as my son, 21 at the time, had gotten into pipe smoking so I was thinking I might pop in to get him a gift. But we got busy at Kehoes Pub and then crashed soundly for the night in preparation for the next day’s travels around the Emerald Isle.

And Again–

My third trip to the Emerald Isle took place May 12th, 2023. We took our dear friends with us for their first trip to Ireland, and this time I was planning on checking out the pipe shop known as Peterson. I had bought my first pipe in March of 2023 in Gatlinburg, TN at the Gatlin-Burlier Tobacconist.  It was a Mitchell Thomas Churchwarden, aka a “Wizard Pipe” according to my youngest daughter. I still had no clue what Peterson was. I just thought it was a shop like any other and had no clue it was the longest running briar-pipe making factory in history, making the most amazing pipes our world has ever seen, IMHO. Unfortunately, I did not get to visit Peterson, even though I walked by it as we left Trinity College with our friends as we were trying to get to Christ Church before it quit tours for the day.

And Again . . .

We returned to Ireland November 12th, 2023, as I decided for my 40th birthday to take my wife and our four kids for my birthday. It had by this time become my favorite place in the world outside of Texas and Tennessee . On this trip, with my son in tow (who was the only other pipe smoker I knew), I decided that come hell or high water, I was visiting that dang pipe shop beside Trinity College and buying my second pipe!

We traveled all over the island, as is customary for me when I go to the Emerald Isle, and spent our last few days in Dublin. On a cold and slightly rainy November 17th, 2023, I finally stepped into Peterson Pipes and my life has been the more interesting for it. I had no clue what I was stepping into, and once inside learned that it was not only a pipe shop, but The Pipe Shop. I went in looking for a nice churchwarden, but alas they had none. Instead, I bought a smooth Aran 03 and a Green Peterson Pipe Lighter.

We arrived back in the States a few days later, and after settling in and catching up my work emails I finally had some time to try out my new pipe. “Wow,” I thought as I took my first few puffs after the charring light, “this little pipe smokes so nicely and this odd end on the stem really makes a difference in my tongue not feeling burnt.” I liked this pipe so much I went to the Peterson website to see what else they had. To be honest, I was disappointed. But luckily I stumbled on Smoking Pipes.com on December 12th, 2023,and was blown away by how many Petersons they had available. I bought my third pipe that day, and second Peterson, on December 14th, 2023, a 125th Anniversary Deluxe System Ebony 5s. Two days later, I eagerly tore open the package and packed a bowl of Mac Baren Vanilla Cream. Once my char light was done, I found my smoke cool and amazingly dry for the damp aromatic I had packed in it, and no gurgling like I had with my Aran 03 and my Mitchell Thomas. As I had already taken the pipe apart to inspect it, I knew it had to do something with the condenser at the tenon but still didn’t know what I had in my hand. I sat out in the dark, still and cold morning listening to the owls hoot around me shivering slightly in my black pea coat puffing away on my new pipe pondering as to why and how this pipe could bring such a pleasant smoking experience while my other two had been so hit and miss.

Later that day I found some time to start digging around the internet and as luck and a handy Google search would have it, I found Peterson Pipe Notes. That day I read Post #375 and quickly started to dig through the other posts. I also sent Mark an email to see if I could get a Pete Geek Mug. As as luck would have it, I was able to get not one but two.

With finding  Smoking Pipes.com and PPN I now had a new Mission:

1) learn everything I could about this new-found Pete Geek hobby; and

2) find all of the new cool shapes & lines  I could get my hands on and some of the older pipes (I am heart at heart a collector).

AND AGAIN!

By now you’re probably wondering where this long and drawn-out story is going. I am, like every Pete Geek I suspect, a Pete hunter. I hunt all of the time, whether online, or at every city I visit for work or pleasure.  I tell every shop I visit that carries Petes about Peterson Pipe Notes.  I’m not only a Pete hunter but a PPN evangelist.

This year I decided I was going back to Ireland with my son for my 41st Birthday: after all, Ireland makes my two favorite things, Peterson Pipes and Guinness!

You can bet this photo by Nate is going up in my studio! How did he do it, you ask?*

I had a mission–visit every tobacco and gift shop that carries Peterson pipes and visit the factory in Deansgrange to see where the magic happens, handing out my Pete Geek Pipe Rests to those at shops that carried a large assortment of Peterson pipes. (Now that you know how this story ends, you can relax, repack your favorite Pete, refill your Pete Geek mug and read on about and see the shops I visited and the factory.)

November 9th, 2024. We landed in Dublin on a rainy cool morning, which was a welcome reprieve from the 85-degree 98% humidity weather we left in Florida. We head north to Belfast where we are staying and our hotel is near Miss Moran’s, who does not ship to the US. We check in to our hotel and take a nice brisk walk to–Miss Morans!

The intrepid adventurer with a Pete-starved look on his face

Inside we find a small but ridiculously charming shop with an owner who’s got a generous smile. Nyles is his name, if memory serves me correctly. I was looking for one pipe in particular, a Smooth Dracula B10 which is on the Miss Moran website. I inquire about it and am told they are not only out of stock, but have been for a long time. Disappointment hits me, but only for a second. I ask if he has anything interesting.  Nyles thinks for a bit and then like Ollivander in Diagon Alley meeting Harry Potter for the first time he starts pulling out Peterson cases and opening them up.

I am now a firm believer that the pipe chooses the piper. I had been hunting for and losing bids left and right on Sherlock meerschaums on eBay.  Not only did Nyles have Sherlocks, but he  had 5 Sherlock Meers and a host of silver cap beauties! They weren’t cheap, but such is the life of a Pete Geek.

I purchased the pipes below from Nyles, handed him a Pete Geek Pipe Rest with a Sherlock Stamp on it, and thanked him for keeping such an amazing assortment of Petes–

We left Belfast November 11th struck out at every other shop we hit, as I either owned the pipe I saw or wasn’t interested in the shape or line, until–

Our next stop was M. Cahill & Son in Limerick. We met a great chap who worked there by the name of Flynn and as I told him I was hunting Petes he pulled out of his sport coat pocket a Sherlock Original that was at one point an Ebony but had been used so much the paint had worn off and the wood grain was showing through. While we didn’t buy any Petes, it was fun to see the old Peterson cabinets that now house a bunch of random manly gifts. We did pick up some amazing Earl Grey tea, and I presented Flynn with a Sherlock Pete Geek Pipe rest on the way out.

Later that day we found ourselves in Killarney. We went downtown to get a bite to eat and visit the Blackthorn Gift Shop. Once again we struck out and this time we couldn’t even talk pipes, as while they carried Petes, this is a gift shop where Peterson feel like an after-thought and not the main attraction. My son is in the black beanie and black sweater in front:

November 14th, 2024, we finally rolled into Dublin  and arrived at the heart of our pilgrimage, the Kapp & Peterson factory at Deansgrange. I brought two Petes with me that were missing stems, a 406 and a 69s. We walk in and sit for just a minute until we are greeted by Jonathan Fields, the factory manager.  Jonathan, or “Johnno,” as he introduced himself to us, let us know that we are going to be taken around the factory by none other than Austin Quinlan.

Austin comes over to find my son and I in our matching Larry Gosser “To the Victor Goes the Pipe” shirts and my Pete Geek flat cap and quickly lets us know we can take pix of everything but the PPN 10th Anniversary pipes. (We did get to hold them, though, and they are freaking incredible in person. You won’t be disappointed, unless you didn’t order one!)

While at the factory I also got to see two new shapes that are coming out. Both are way cool–and that’s all I’m at liberty to say. They also let me try and stamp a bowl, it’s freaking hard as hell folks. Then they taught me and my son how to bend a stem.

I hope you enjoy the pics from the factory that follow. First, though, I made two short videos I want to share. This first one is of the one and only Giacomo Penzo–Peterson’s Pipe Specialist–frazing a bowl. Unbelievably cool:

 

And also this one, of Wojciech Blaszczak rusticating a bowl:

Looks easy, right? LOL.

I ended the tour handing out Pete Geek rests to Giacomo, Austin Quinlan, and Joe Kenny. Joe gave me my two pipes back with new stems and a shiny coat of wax. As of today, 11-21-24, I smoked the 69 and it’s a great pipe. Joe if you’re reading this, thanks.

 

After the tour we went to the Peterson shop on Nassau Street in Dublin, where I picked up a nice Irish Second Pub Pipe and a 2024 Halloween tankard. While we were there an American couple popped in and the gentlemen picked up a new Sherlock Pipe.  I gave him a Pete Geek Sherlock Rest and gave two rests to Connor, one for him and one for Gianluigi Fiori. My son, I have to add, bought me a very nice Avoca three pipe travel case for my birthday, which was mighty fine of him.

And finally, here’s all the pipes I brought back from Ireland. Not all of them were for me (hard as you may find that to believe)!

 

*Nate writes: “The pint was printed on a Ripples latte art machine, it’s the same type of machine they use at Guiness when they print a ‘Stoutie,’ aka your selfie on a Guinness.  You normally only see these machines in coffee shops.

 

 

FACTORY TOURS: AN OPEN LETTER TO PETERSON
by Gary Hamilton, CPG

Good People of Peterson,

Wouldn’t it be wonderful—given how many of us are making our way over to the factory now—if there were a possibility for you, when Peterson pipe lovers make a reservation for a tour, to include the making of a special pipe for us?

To simplify the matter, perhaps you could have a select few shapes from which to choose, same with finish, etc. That would narrow it down for what the factory needed to prepare for. So for example, a Pete Geek makes his factory tour reservation six months in advance, fills out a tour form and selects from the offering of pipe shapes and finishes. That gives the factory six months in advance to source a block of briar that looks promising (as we would all want a nice grain block) and the block is set aside until the time of the tour. During the tour, the PG can watch various portions of his pipe being made. Then, the pipe is either delivered to the Dublin store where the purchase is made or—as this is the age of iPhone Apple Pay—we simply pay for it at the factory through SPEu.

We know we can’t intrude much on your time, but maybe the tours could be done, like they were in the early 2000s, only on specified days of the week or month.

This sounds neat to me and I’m sure it could sound like a big headache to you folks. And yet, we know from the testimony of earlier Pete Geeks that back in the 1980s and 1990s this kind of thing was done. We’ve seen pipes made for Pete Geeks like Al Rosenfield, Jorgen Jensen, and others. If you think about it from our point of you, wouldn’t it just be fantastic for your enthusiasts to have a pipe for them finished and purchased right there at the factory? Of course, I’m sure we’d all go to the Nassau Street shop, especially if they could at some point stock more high-grade pipes (hint, hint).

Oh, and what if the pipe that is made for us at the factory had an additional special stamp placed onto it reading something like “FACTORY TOUR 2025”?  That would just be the icing on the cake.  I know I’m probably just indulging in a pipe dream, but doesn’t it seem like something that would really get everyone in the hobby talking about Peterson?—“Oh yeah, when you go to visit the Peterson factory, if you set it up in advance, you can even get them to make a pipe for you!”

Well, thanks for letting me bend your ears. Thanks also for all the great pipes! We surely do appreciate all you do for us.

Sincerely,

Gary Hamilton, CPG

 

Jonathan Gut CPG sent a fascinating early Peterson O.2, and in our talk back and forth we tried to determine an approximate date for its make:

I had just re-read Sandra Bondarevska’ s biography of the Peterson family, and in doing so became convinced that the MADE IN IRELAND stamp was not applied before the Easter Rising in 1916. I’m inclined to say Jonathan’s pipe was made between 1916 and 1922, perhaps for export, perhaps not (we know the MII stamp was often used on pipes exported to the US).  I say 1916-1922 for three reasons: these O.1. magnums became increasingly rare after the IFS; the nickel-mount K&P in shields Maker’s Marks were introduced right after the Patent era; and, most interestingly, the Peterson family were Irish Republicans through and through.  Charles Peterson (more-or-less covertly a Republican, lending his factory and shop and home to the struggle), his wife Annie Ford Peterson (quite openly) and his cousin Conrad Peterson (so openly he had to flee  for his life in the aftermath of the Rising). The COM stamps, as I will argue in a later post, were introduced as an act of resistance against British oppression.

 

Freestyle FS5, c. 1978. This past week on eBay there was an amazing meer from the Freestyle shape chart found in the Peterson-Glass 1978-79 catalog, the F5. I had to share it with you, because these sightings are so rare. I’ve never seen all of them, but I have spotted an FS3. I can’t tell whether this pipe that I’m labeling the FS5 is the same as the rusticated (sandblast?) Freestyle back in Post #340 or whether that’s an FS4.  If you’ve got any ideas (or examples of the Free Style pipes), drop me a line (and photos)!

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Laeding CPG was the first to respond when the Zippo Sterling Commemoratives hit the mail: “I need something Pete-specific to light these crappy freehands!😝😝😝” (I’ve heard through the grapevine that another installment of said pipes may be out before the end of the year–as well as some SH pipes in the Newgrange Spigot style).

Mike Austin CPG is a Zippo collector (like several other Pete Geeks I know, including Mark Berman CPG) and recently restored a Zippo shop carousel:

 

 

Happiness comes in pints & pipes–
wait, didn’t G. K. Chesteron say that??