Gold Block

“Never underestimate the big importance of small things,” Mrs. Elm said. ‘You must always remember that.’ —Matt Haig, The Midnight Library 86. More than once I have suspected that what holds the world together is not the Sturm und Drang I read about in the day’s headlines but the little pleasures we take for granted. It’s the first cup of coffee in the morning, the beer after a hard day, the pipe in the evening. Scottish mystic George MacDonald once wrote that God’s greatest miracles are the everyday ones, the ones we often don’t even see. One of those I suggest may be the little System pipe 314, shape 20. It’s been around since 1891 and has changed very little since. It can be seen on a regular basis on eBay, often from several different eras. This morning I want to look at a particular one I’ve known about for years but never seen in person until just recently: the Gold Block. In the 1937 catalog (above), shape 20 was the DeLuxe 20, the 314 Grade 2 (sterling) and 364 Grade 3 (nickel) Many Pete lovers don’t realize how many System lines (apart from the traditional DeLuxe, Premier and Standard) and commemoratives there have been beginning in the late Republic era. The lines began with the Dunmore Premier Unmounted (1971-84), followed by the red Star (c. 1979-85, 2010), the smooth Sculpted (not actually a line but uniqued scalloped smooth rustication, c. 1971-75) and the  Connemara Premier Rustic (1987-1998). The System commemoratives began with the Hallmark Silver Cap & Chain 9s in 1974 and were followed by the Mark Twain from 1981-1985 and the Patent Oom Paul (1990). I would argue that the Gold Block System (c. 1970?-88) probably belongs to the commemorative issues inasmuch as it is a single shape rather than a line comprised of the full catalog of System shapes. From 1998 through 2018, the System was more figurehead than flagship line for Peterson. The System's fortunes began to turn around under Laudisi's direction, and in 2019 we saw not only the Pub Pipe shape but the St. Patrick’s Day (2019), Halloween (2021) and that triumph for System lovers, the POY 2021 / 4AB. As a kid I was a sucker for saving cereal box tops, redeeming them one time for a Matchbox Mustang Mach II and once for an A4 Corsair model kit, which probably explains my fascination with the Gold Block System. The offer was made by John Ogden’s of Liverpool. To qualify for the 1987 offer, one had to send them £9.95 and proof of purchase for three tins of their Gold Block tobacco. This venerable tobacco, now made by MacBaren’s, was a staple for British smokers, a classic OTC blend that dates back at least as far as the Great War (according to the Imperial War Museum) and as such must be one of the oldest tobacco blends still being made. Photo of 1917 tin courtesy Imperial War Museum The idea is an old…