Peterson Aran Rusticated

It's been a little over two weeks since the Chicagoland Pipe Show, and I don't think I've recovered yet. There was just so much to do in such a short space of time. I imagine that's everyone's experience, and like everyone else there's two great things I love about going: first, when I find pipes I’m interested in (Petes, naturally); and second, when I get to talk to folks who like the pipes I like and want to talk about them. And that’s what Sundays seem to be all about at the Chicago show. Everyone slows down, looks up from the dealer tables and finally says, “Oh, hey—good to see you!” On my first trip to show in 2012, I only had two Peterson conversations the entire weekend: one quite fortuitously with Pete Rothenberg, a great estate dealer who sold me a 14S Deluxe and a 308 Premier, both of which needed restoration—the former now a celebrity, being photographed for the Peterson book (and I think living in Dun Laoghaire), and the latter resting comfortably in the rack next to a 356.  Incidentally, Pete also helped us document the difference between "Peterson’s" and “Peterson’s Ltd.—of New York,” which is a fun sidebar in the book. But the best Peterson conversation I had was at the Friday night buffet. My wife and I were timidly sitting at a table with six complete strangers and I found out the gentleman next to me smoked a Peterson System, a 307 Standard, if I remember correctly. He didn’t own many pipes, and like us it was his first Chicago show. Unlike so many of those attending the show, he didn’t have a collection of 300+ Charatans or Castellos, he owned not a single Ivarsson, had no great Pre-Transition Barling stories to tell, no Patent Dunhill to show me, and in fact, I think he said the System was the most expensive pipe he owned. I’m not trying to be a reverse-snob, as I’ve learned a lot from those enthusiastic about the pipes mentioned above, and I know how they feel, because it’s how I feel about Peterson. I just felt a kinship with this guy, because spending money on any pipe is always a big deal for me.  So—on to Peterson spotting. Just like last year, it was my wife who found the $10 rarity, an undocumented Peterson line that I’ll share with you when I do the restoration this summer. But at the same table there were four new/old stock XL Rustic Standard Systems from 1981-84 by the looks of the boxes they were in. And as I studied them, I had one of those “light-bulb” moments: they were Mark Twain Systems! Or rather, they were MT Systems converted to Rustic Standard Systems. I also marveled at the stem work, which you should take a look at, as it represents a high-water mark in Peterson’s production. The company only made these wide-flaring army mounts for about ten years, 1979 to maybe 1989, with…