Series

PSA: Pete Geek Meet @ the Chicago Show We will be meeting in the smoking tent Friday evening at 8:30pm. Just look for the guys with the Pete Geek buttons or a table topped with Petes. With the Chicago pipe show coming up next weekend, my thoughts have turned to what estate and NOS pipes I might see. It’s true the show is nothing like its former self in this regard, but that’s undoubtedly because of the tremendous influx of artisan makers and the exodus of estate sellers to eBay and other venues. And that’s not a bad thing, at least in the sense that most pipe smokers these days do have access to eBay while most don't have plans to go to the show. Every year I've attended, however, I've found something interesting and unusual in the way of Petes, so I'm hopes this year will prove the same. This morning I thought the blog might host its own virtual Pete Show for everyone not going to the show with a few of my favorite sightings from the past year or so, then conclude with some thoughts about my opinion of the current Peterson estate market. Some of these pipes you will have seen and some of them have found homes within our own Pete Geekdom—as you’ll hopefully find out by their new stewards in the comments section. As my sightings are limited to eBay and what some of the CPGs have shared with me, I hope there may be others of a generous spirit who can tell us where you go--besides eBay--to hunt for your amazing pipes. Freestyle. The Freestyle meers are, in my opinion, as important to Kapp & Peterson’s design language of the 1970s as the Dunmore Premier System was of the 1980s and Original SH series of the 1990s. Shown here is the FS5, my favorite of the six shapes, in unsmoked condition. The coral-like blast of the meer, combined with the ‘smoked’ crenel and merlons of the rim and square-cut shank. It’s simply an outstanding pipe and one that deserves more than to be forgotten in the mists of time.   Patent Amber Nosewarmer, Shape 109B. Not too many weeks ago not one but two NOS Patent amber-stemmed nosewarmers were up on eBay from the same dealer at the same time. This gave two Pete Geeks some serious bargains in my opinion. Had they been listed sequentially, bidders would have competed against one pipe, not two. They were the same shape. One of them went for around $300, and one went to our own James Walsh, CPG. I don’t know who got the other one. It's great to have the Junior and Shorts lines, of course, but for sheer Peterson firepower, these little torpedoes are over the top. Just putting one between your teeth would make you feel like the middleweight champion of the world. Incidentally, you can see the catalog image for this pipe back in Post #117. Also note the bone tenon…