Peterson Collectors

Lá Fhéile Stiofáin or Lá an Dreoilín or Boxing Day! Whatever you want to call December 26th and however you choose to celebrate, whether devotionally as St. Stephen's Day (in the Republic of Ireland and much of the Western world), dressed up as a wren (in some parts of Ireland) or in a spirit of giving as Boxing Day (Northern Ireland and the UK), I hope you'll find time to smoke your favorite Pete (maybe even one left under the tree yesterday) and reflect on the many things you have to be grateful for on every levels. For myself, the many new acquaintances, friendships and camaraderie of Pete Geeks throughout the world certainly tops the list. A hearty thanks and a pint of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout to all at Kapp & Peterson as well--you really have no idea how much joy and pure contentment you create for all of us. And I raise my pipe today as well to the wonderful people at Laudisi Enterprises and Smokingpipes.com, who week after week support the blog and are such loving, conscientious stewards of K&P. Lance Dahl   I love my Patent & Irish Free State-era House Pipes. I love the bowl wall thickness of the House Pipes, which dissipates heat well. If smoked slowly, these long-stemmed House Pipes are also very cool smokers. I can nurse these for three-plus hours or longer. I have three favorites among the long-stem House Pipes. The first is an XXL 1899 dutch billiard, a one-off with two Maltese crosses on it. (It was featured it in the PPN April Fool’s Day post, “K&P Pipes for the Illuminati nahÉireann.” Bowl is 3 in. tall; chamber 2.35 in; Stem 7 in. My second favorite, and the first House Pipe I acquired, is from the Irish Free State era, hallmarked 1927. I was lucky enough to be the first person Mark Hoover (of LaBelleEpoque.com) offered it to after he found it in Europe. I paid the most I had ever paid for a pipe at the time, however, it has the longest stem Peterson offered in the Patent era, 15”. It is unbroken and original, which is absolutely remarkable since so many of these long stems have been broken over the years. My third favorite is slightly smaller, Charles Peterson’s own favorite the O1 shape, although it’s silver capped. Hallmarked 1912. In this photo it borrows a stem from an IFS era O1 hallmarked 1923, until I can get Silver Grey to make a new stem for it and my Patent-era Nickel-capped pipe.  1912 Silver Cap, bowl 2.5” tall; .85” diameter; 1.98” deep; 7” stem. I also want to call attention to my Patent era O1 Nickel Cap. It also needs Silver to make a stem for it, so for the present I use a stem off what I believe is a huge IFS-era Nickel band 01, with the Nickel Mount Marks. The pipe is Grade Three (3 a circle). It is the only nickel capped O1 I have…