306. Peterson Postcards from Madrid
Public Service Announcement
If you’re planning on attending the Texas Pipe Show, please let me know at petegeek1896@gmail.com. Nevadatude and I are meeting up for pancakes (and perhaps Pete Geek Extraordinaire Gary Hamilton) before the show and would love to see you there. There’s a great microbrewery nearby, so we might also need to quench our thirst at some point later in the day. A CPG certificate or new Merit Badge will be available if you join us. Nevadatude’s buying the first round! (Just kidding, Mark!) Steve Fallon, aka Pipestud, will be on hand as will a number of pipe makers.
This morning CPG Chris Mendoza is taking us to a wonderful little pipe & tobacco shop in Madrid, R. Moreu, which was founded in 1912 and is still very much in business today. Chris was there last month and came away with two incredible Petes, a Large Tank Kapp-Royal and a DeLuxe B42 (original shape). Chris also brought back a number of photos of some great Petes, some in lines and finishes no longer available.
Chris: Apparently R. Moreu has been around for about 100 years. I scored a B42 System DeLuxe and a Kapp Royal D19. I’ve never seen so many amazing Petersons in one place. I tried to convince the owner to sell online, but to no avail. It was such an awesome experience and the people were very attentive and took very good care of their pipes. Enjoy!
From the R. Moreau website:
R. Moreu – Smoker and Gifts Since 1912. Previous on Calle Preciados 1, one of the most commercial streets of the capital. In 1995 it moved to Calle Tetuán, 28.
Rafa, as clients know him, has been dedicated to this fascinating world of smoking for 29 years. This has turned his business into a point of reference for pipe lovers. At number 28 Calle Tetuán, in the heart of Madrid, about 100 meters from Puerta del Sol, is the Moreu family’s business. Rafael Moreu, always willing to help the smoker or the person who is going to give them away, does not hesitate to display, on the counter, trays of pipes from different brands of Spanish and foreign hookahs.
They have a wide range of models from Peterson, Stanwell, Savinelli, Brebbia, W.O. Larsen, Vauen, Croci, Chacom, Butz Choquin, Claude Romain, Jantet, Hilson, Parker, Charatan, Falcon, Porsche, Dunhill, Bruken, Salvatella, or some signed Emilio Navarro. You can also find some porcelain, Dutch clay, corn pipes made by the Missouri Merschaum Company, and Turkish meerschaum pipes.
At R. Moreu – Fumador y Gift, they inform and advise you on everything you need and they enjoy showing you pipes, lighters or accessories. Many of the customers spend afternoons in the store chatting and looking at hundreds of pipes regardless of the weather. They have lighters, cigarette cases, mouthpieces and decanters to set the scene for advertising spots, movies and plays.
Today, R.Moreu is a historic store in Madrid, a brand, a reference for fans and the art of pipe smoking.
It’s so amazing to see a real pipe shop! Usually half of the store (or more) is given over to cigars. In the US we’ve got cigars, cigars and more cigars. And vape trash. And sometimes even cigarettes. But not here!
Can you guess the year of the Christmas pipes seen above?
It’s also really incredible to see so many shapes no longer in production. That ebony 309 above? I spurned those when they were available. Now… sob… I wish I hadn’t. Oh, and that amazing pipe that looks like an XL02 ebony? It’s the Gaelach Dubh XL23 (Lestrade shape), still available in some European shops like Bolitto.
How about something from the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes? Or . . . ?
Speaking of one of the great Rivers Collections shapes. Who can tell me which year this was used for the Christmas pipe? And that grain. Why don’t we see grain like this anymore? It’s positively paisley.
I’ve seen various finishes on the FE, but none like this. My own was much darker and spotted with tiny fills. Wow. This one is fabulous.
I so miss this type of sterling-solder work, which David Blake used to do before he retired. I’m sorry K&P no longer offers these kind of embellishments (I also adore the twin rings on the sterling band), as it adds the kind of elegance not typically seen except in the higher reaches of “factory” pipes.
The “Large Tank” (later the D19) from the 2010 Mark Twain commemorative set. A great K&P aesthetic here, based on the original small Tankard from 1947 and another shape that should be a standard but sadly has been discarded. This iteration’s a Kapp-Royal, of course, with its amazing grain.
Que Dios te acompañe!
CATCH & RELEASE
Pete Geek Ken Siegel has five great unsmoked recent Petes, some real rarities in case you missed out the first time. Check ‘em out!
Carroll of Carollton 2022 (29/246
Rua Spigot SH Baskerville P-Lip
