Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem.
However I made an exception with this beauty and boy it was worth it. The Grafton is rated by Peterson as one of their Higher Grades along with the Royal Irish and the Rosslare Royal Irish. I would also place it along with that other higher grade rarity the Celtic series.
In addition to the standard systems, premier system pipes come in the same shapes. Before it was Peterson Pipes it was the Kapp Brothers – Friedrich and Heinrich Kapp, German immigrants to Ireland from Nürnberg, Germany, who founded the famed Kapp Brothers store on Grafton Street, Dublin, in 1865. Then one day a Latvian immigrant, Charles Peterson, strolled into the Kapp workshop and declared that he could make better pipes than they. Armed with an imaginative flair for pipes and a craftsman’s background, Peterson not only proved himself correct, but became the third partner in the fledgling firm. Perhaps the most notable design from the Kapp and Peterson factory was Peterson’s famed ‘Dry System’ pipes, patented in 1894. Featuring a small reservoir intended to collect moisture before it reaches the smoker, the System Pipe makes for a cool smoke that minimizes tongue bite and the “disgusting juice” that is the bane of every pipe smoker.
My recent enquiry to Peterson’s Dublin factory, has born fruit, those magicians have just returned the pipe with it’s newly restored, made to measure, black acrylic saddle stem. I am very pleased with the new replacement stem, captain black tobacco as I consider this to be a very significant pipe from Petersons wonderful past. For collectors the Patent Era appears to have been from K&P’s formation in 1890, until the expiration of the patent; through to approximately 1915.
For those who have tried and dismissed the System pipe, it’s possible you either weren’t smoking or cleaning it properly. Before I read Mark Irwin’s book, I too improperly smoked my Peterson System pipes. Peterson believed that a man’s smoking pipe was a signature piece of his individual style, and chacom tobacco pipes are still made with this idea in mind today. Peterson pipes are one of the few names that carry the history, prestige, and respect of the tobacco pipe world. Since 1865, the Irish pipe makers have delivered excellent pipes made with precision and care.