Pocket Pipes

PSA: If you missed out on the mugs, flatcaps or tampers, see the end of this post. The quest for the perfect Peterson bulldog began for me with the first pipe I smoked, my Dad’s  Kaywoodie White Briar shape 12B, one of his two Kaywoodies. I knew nothing about pipes except that I wanted to be a pipe smoker, and I certainly had never heard of Peterson.  Because it was my first pipe, I suppose I’ve always held the bulldog shape in special regard, although there’s never been one in my rotation. The Kaywoodie White Briar 12B (not my Dad’s, but same pipe) While I’ve always felt the bulldog to be a quintessentially English shape, there’s no doubt that K&P made the shape its own right from the start, as we’ll see in this first installment dealing with the Patent era.  As I usually do with a shape history, I’ll begin with the famous chart from the old ASP shape history made by Bill Burney.    BULLDOG DESIGN LANGUAGE Courtesy Bill Burney “The classic bulldog,” writes Burney, “has a diamond shank, tapered stem and the bowl is canted forward a few degrees. The bowl is shaped somewhat like two cones joined at the bases, with the top cone truncated or cut off and the bottom cone blended into the shank.  Where the two cones join, there are traditionally two very small grooves cut around the bowl. . . . They are also available bent.” So the iconic design language looks like these two representatives from the workbench of Italian artisan Francisco Ganci: Francisco Ganci Bulldogs (photos courtesy Al Pascia and Bollitopipe) I would suggest the design language of a classic bulldog has six components: diamond shank tapered stem bowl canted forward a few degrees two small grooves where the top and bottom cone meet usually straight, can be bent conical or v-shaped chamber You can’t get more of an English bulldog than Dunhill’s, this being the 4104 Chestnut. Hmm—all those who cavil about Peterson Heritage and Dark Smooth stains—see anything remotely familiar here? LOL (Photo courtesy Blue Room Briars) You'll notice I've added a sixth to Burney's list of five. I’m not a pipe maker, but I’ve read and seen diagrams that the chamber geometry of the bulldog is conical or v-shaped. I've peered into my dublin and bulldogs with a flashlight and poked my finger into them trying to make this determination, but really, it needs someone from the industry or an artisan pipe maker to confirm this. If you fall into either of those categories, your commentary would be most welcome. If bulldogs really do have conical chambers, this may account for why so many pipemen don’t care for the shape while others are enthusiasts: the v-shaped chamber is (I've heard it said) the least popular among smokers. This is because it causes the flavors of the tobacco to intensify as the bowl is smoked down. One reason I like dublin shapes, in fact, is for this very…