During the 1970’s Peterson had a large display of pipes in the Shannon Airport Duty Free Shop for passengers. These were on display in a floor cabinet measuring approximately 6’ x 3’. Shannon airport outlet sold a considerable amount of pipes during its period of existence, covering all qualities, from the basic entry level Aran series up to the De Luxe Systems. They also stamped some mid range pipes with the mark ‘SHANNON’. This was only for pipes issued and sold from Shannon airport and was not the same as the present day Shannon series. According to many smokers, Peterson pipes are some of the best tobacco pipes because of the Peterson System and Peterson mouthpiece, which give the smoker a cool, dry, and comfortable smoking experience.
Today the business is owned and managed by Tom Palmer from their head office at the Sallynoggin factory in Dublin, Ireland. The chacom tobacco pipes selection has something for everyone, from the Iconic System Range, the big Sherlock Holmes collection too 9mm filter pipes. Peterson Pipes are a traditional shape with modern lines.
Of course, they did have more than 150 years to become so, but it also very much has to do with the fact that some of the shapes simply have become iconic. Before it was 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.
His emphasis has been very much on employing good skilled staff and quality traditional methods. At the same time they continue to evolve, providing the modern pipe smoker with modern choices and trends in pipe design and shapes. Tom has always believed in the old saying – “if it was not broken, don’t fix it”. Peterson had been around for over 120 years before he got involved so he decided to tread carefully before making any changes. On looking back over the years, Tom considered that most changes came, in the very large extension to the pipe range and the constant issuing of new shapes and series.
Regular Email correspondence requesting clarification on grades has shown me that it begs clarification. I have attempted to make this process somewhat easier for those not familiar with the various ranges, by adjusting the current system of Petersons nomenclature in line with 4 simple qualitative grouping criteria. For example with Group 1 being the highest in qualitative and monetary value terms, the others then in descending order of quality, cost etc.
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.
Pipes that were marked thus, are much sought after by Peterson pipe collectors. As young Latvian talented pipe maker from Riga, Charles Peterson joined Kapp in 1865. This firm was created in 1865 from two German brothers who initially emigrated to London, one of whom later opened a shop in Dublin. Around 1876, Peterson was hired to make tobacco pipes on order. After the death of both brothers, Peterson takes things for the son, who is still too young to run a business. If the son is old enough, he decides to become a doctor and Peterson takes over the shares in the company.
“No,” I demurred, “my Mom won’t let me have a motorcycle.” “Well what, then? All I remember after that is that money exchanged hands at some point and I walked out with a new pipe. I used to call myself “the Human Torch,” not because I aspired to Marvel Comics superhero status (if you recall Johnny Storm, one of the Fantastic Four), but because I seemed to have burned out more pipes than anyone I’ve ever met. My first burnout occurred not long after taking up the pipe—couldn’t have been more than eighteen. It was a basket pipe and I was so scared of the proprietress at my local tobacconist (my mentor Beth Kanaly of Ted’s Pipe Shoppe in Tulsa, Oklahoma) that I asked my dad to go with me. Like many retailers I’ve known in more than forty years since, she was pretty much convinced that the fault was all mine.
It seems that the pipe in question is from the second issue C.1979 as this one is probably made after than date. It says that the pipes were issued as Kildare Patch with rusticated patches. However this one does not have the patches it is smooth around the bowl sides. It also has a silver band on the shank rather than a nickel one.