404. Fathering the Peterson Flame: Al Rosenfield’s 1987 Pilgrimage to Peterson
Left to Right, September 1987: Jimmy Nicholson (CEO), Tony Dempsey (Director of Sales), Al Rosenfield (Pete Geek), Paddy Larrigan (Factory Manager) Lá na nAithreacha sona duit! Grattis på farsdagen! Glücklicher Vatertag! Joyeuse Fête des Pères! Buona Festa del Papà! С ДНЕМ ПАПЫ! З Днем Батька! Šťastný Den Otců! Happy Father’s Day! Let me extend a “Happy Father’s Day” to every father today, knowing that many countries celebrate on a different day than we do here in the US. Fathering—whether biological or nurturing, mentoring or providing—is something so often painted over in harsh negatives that we lose sight of the bedrock and blessings bestowed on us by our fathers. This morning I want to honor Al Rosenfield, who “fathered the Peterson flame” in the 1980s, and also C. Bruce Spencer, the publisher of Pipe Smoker (A Journal of Kapnismology). Eugene Umberger was my go-to for help with Spencer, but Al Rosenfield I know through Paddy Larrigan, whose 1987 photos grace Rosenfield’s pilgrimage to Peterson essay this morning, as well as from the first newsletters Rosenfield wrote as founder of the Sherlock Holmes Pipe Club of Boston, given to me by Andy Camire CPG and Linwood Hines CPG back in 2011. MY TRIP TO PETERSON OF DUBLIN by Allan H. Rosenfield from Pipe Smoker, Jan-Mar 1988, pp. 12-14* Like any pipe-smoking enthusiast, I have my idol. That singular industry giant who raised pipe making from craft to art and who still inspires imitators and admirers. What sets my hero worship apart? Simply this: nothing would satisfy my passion but a trip to the enchanting Emerald Isle itself where my hero became a legend. Let me say that my fantasy journey to Peterson of Dublin - the very city where Charles Peterso’s handicraft looms larger than life - took on special significance from the start. Here I am a pipe collector for over a quarter of a century and a working man who has not had a vacation in that same time frame about to embark on the trip of dreams. A MASTER AT WORK - Paddy Larrigan, master pipemaker at Peterson’s hand works a piece of Moroccan straight grain briar. I arrived in the fair city on September 23. Excitedly, I checked into the Berkeley Court, one of the poshest hotels in Dublin. I received a royal welcome in a manner befitting the days of old. I quickly rang up Jimmy Nicholson, president of Peterson. Right from the start, I was taken with Jimmy’s graciousness, wit, and extraordinary command of the language. He met me, along with Tony Dempsey, marketing director and vice president of Peterson, as well as Paddy Larrigan, the company’s foreman and master pipe maker. They shared a brief history of Peterson’s company, founded on 55 Grafton Street in 1875. The year Peterson sowed the seeds for what would become - in my opinion - the finest smoking pipe in the world today. Traditions are strong; both of Paddy's parents also worked for Peterson’s company. Tony Whelan, Sr., puttying…