Peterson London & Dublin

I received a Dublin & London box a few weeks back containing some surprises that I thought you might enjoy reading about. Peterson’s Dublin & London line, stamped "London & Dublin" when made in London, seems to have debuted around 1940. I base this on the fact that the English factory on White Lion Street opened in 1937 and K&P’s November, 1938 Punch ad makes no mention of it. The first appearance, along with the other lines mentioned in Punch, is in the catalog brochure c. 1940. 1940 Peterson Catalog (You can download a restoration of the complete catalog by right-clicking the link above) While I was delighted just to add a D&L box to my collection, when I got to looking at it I noticed something curious on one side of the lid—it reads “PETERSON’S over SUPREME BRIAR.” And this got me wondering: was the Dublin & London line Peterson’s supreme or absolute top-of-the-line? When you look at the grain on this D&L 120 dublin, it certainly looks as if it could be: The Supreme line was introduced for Rogers Imports, Ltd. in their 1953 catalog. It went for an astounding $15 when the Shamrock went for $3.50. That’s a little over four times as much, or in today’s Pete dollars about the distance between an Arklow and a Silver Cap Natural. The D&L box wasn’t made for the US market—it lacks the distinctive Rogers Imports Ltd design work and is fancier than any Rogers box I’ve encountered. Whether this was because Rogers didn’t import the D&L or didn’t import it in sufficient numbers is anybody’s guess. And then there’s the wool-lined satin pipe sock. The color complements the box, and as the box also contains a pristine guarantee and Chat brochure, it seems fairly certain that this was the sock that originally came in the box. It reads “Peterson’s over SUPREME”: Gary Malmberg, my co-author on the Peterson book, has probably seen (and sold) more Dublin & Londons than anyone.  I asked him if he thought the quality of briar on the D&Ls and the Rogers Supremes were equivalent, so that one could suppose the D&L was marketed outside the US and the Rogers Supreme inside the US, being the same grade but with different line names. He said he thought that was a reasonable assumption. The quality of some of the more recent Supremes I’ve seen is beyond any of the old D&Ls either Gary or I have ever seen, and unlike the D&Ls are often banded in sterling or gold. That being said, the D&Ls in their turn are beyond the Peterson English-made Naturals I’ve seen, the latter being flawless bowls but typically without grain as dramatic as this 120: I think the guarantee slips in the old Pete boxes are also beautiful, and as the one in this box is pristine, thought you might enjoy seeing it: A final surprise came with the “Chat” brochure. It’s very close to the Rogers Imports version from the…