William’s collection

I met William in person (he's a fellow Pete Geek) at the Chicago show last month. We got to chat about Petes both in the smoking tent and at various tables in the show, and at one point he shared with me some photos of his gorgeous collection, which includes over 600 pipes. He companions so many great Petes that he allowed me to select which ones to share with you, offering my own captions along the way. As impossible as that process was, I finally just went for what I found most unusual and simultaneously appealing, whether aesthetically or historically. Like so many Thinking Men in the Peterson community, he’s had a full and fascinating life.   The ebony SH Return collection really pops against the blonde rack, doesn't it? There is a purity in the lines of the Strand here that the ebony enhances in a way a grained smooth pipe simply can't do. The Hansom was the first "gaslight" stack rhodesian in the Peterson catalog and now (sadly) the only one. The Iceberg Bow would follow it as a round-shank sibling, and was itself followed by the incredible POY for 2018, which to my mind perfected the styling with its oval shank and forward-thrust chin, but I love all three, the Hansom being the most quintessentially Sherlockian / Victorian to me. CHIP: I was employed by a major insurance company for 43 years.  Over half of the time I was in a leadership position.  We lived in three different states and ended up in the Corporate Headquarters.  My wife is still working for the same company along with our youngest daughter.  Out oldest daughter lives in Tennessee, just ten minutes from BriarWorks.  After obtaining my MBA, I was an adjunct professor at Illinois State University teaching three different insurance courses over 13 years. Tom Palmer was always reticent to talk about where the designs for the Dublin-era pipes came from, so we know very little about most of them. The Iceberg Collection channeled everything nautical, bringing it all together in four incredible shapes. I also retired from teaching when I retired from my “full time” job!  About a year before retiring, we purchased a golden doodle puppy so that he could become a therapy dog in the community.  He has been a certified therapy for over five years, less the two years of Covid restrictions.  We are back to visiting the local hospitals several times a month.  It is very satisfying for both of us when we see patients that get excited to visit with him. When did you begin smoking a pipe? What led you to Peterson? A few years prior to retiring in 2017, I took up pipe smoking at the encouragement of a friend.  After purchasing a Savinelli and a Peterson I was hooked.  At least once a month we would go to Jon’s Pipe Shop in Champaign, IL to smoke, buy tobacco and look at pipes.  It seemed like every time there was…