Peterson Darwin Deluxe

One of my most handsome pipes and a very fine smoker indeed is my superbly grained Darwin Deluxe. It's a big bowled pipe yet comfortable in the hand and not too arduous to dangle from the teeth. Well worth every penny. I reckon the pictures speak for themselves.

Charles Peterson 140th Anniversary Pipe

This is one big pipe! Peterson produced this one to commemorate the company's 140th anniversary. It is a copy of Charles Peterson's favourite pipe. Mine came with the fishtail mouthpiece seen in the photographs below and I have since had a P-lip mouthpiece made for it by Peterson's. It certainly gives a long smoke!

And here's the same pipe with the P-lip mouthpiece. I think the colour of the pipe is more accurately depicted in these shots.

Peterson Antique Series 1910 Bulldog

This Peterson Antique Series 1910 Bulldog is one of my favourite pipes. It has a good size bowl without costing a fortune to fill and the army mount P-lip mouthpieces always work well for me. This 1910 design was just one of a whole series of pipes which Peterson produced in the 1990s copying much older shapes. The hallmark on this one is for Dublin, 1998.

The pictures will tell the rest of the story.

A Peterson 999 "Chubby"

One by one I intend to move, or at least copy, the notes and pictures on my pipe collection from the wiki site where they currently reside to this blog. With a bit of luck I'll add a pipe a day until they are all here. I intend to do it one pipe per post and expand on the notes I may have made on various pipes previously. I'll also start copying all the snuff reviews from the old site.

I'll start the process with this lovely old Peterson 999. I have mentioned this one before, but this time I will expand on the notes.

This is a London made "chubby" 999. Chubby relates to the thickness of the shank compared with earlier and later versions of the shape. They appear to have been produced like this in the middle years of the 20th century though as ever, precise dating is impossible.

It is marked on the left side: Petersons (walking P) over London & Dublin. On the right side: 999  London Made over England.

It's a fine chunky pipe, cool smoking as as comfortable in the hand as clenched between the teeth.

For more information on the history and dating of Peterson pipes, Jim Lilley's superb resource for Peterson pipes on Pipedia is not to be missed.

A Pair of Petes

The postman has been busy bringing another couple of Petersons to join the herd.

First to arrive was this Silver Mounted Army 86. A rather petite pipe but full of character and a great clencher.

Second was this Peterson Sports 3. I've been after one of these out of production pipes for a while as I like the p-lip and so didn't care for the newer Outdoor range. It's just 11cm long and so is perfect for slipping into a pocket.

Peterson System Premier 303

The latest addition to my Peterson herd is this beautiful System Premier 303, ordered from Brucciani's in Carlisle back in March. The System Premier pipes seems to be only available to order these days, rarely can they be found 'off the shelf', and the expected 16 week wait proved to be fairly accurate. I must say it was well worth the wait. A fine piece of briar which I am sure I will be enjoying for many years to come. And of course hats off to Chris at Brucciani's for the excellent service.

Peterson System Premier 303

Peterson System Premier 303

Peterson System Premier 303

And a few more new Peterson pipes

I received an email from Brucciani's this morning. The Peterson Premier 303 I ordered four months ago is finally ready. In fairness that's about the length of time they said it would take as the Premier system pipes are now made only to order. All being well it will be here tomorrow, giving me a good excuse for another post.

Meanwhile I'll add pictures of some more pipes acquired during my down time.

First up, a Peterson System 3 358. The 358/308 shape is basically the same as the Mark Twain, though having a slightly smaller capacity. The 358/308 shape seems to have been discontinued in the 60s or 70s due, it has been stated, the tendency of the end of the stem inside the pipe to overheat and even melt. I have yet to see that problem with this pipe, or with the sandblasted version I also have.

Smooth 358

Sandblasted 358

Next are the two pipes comprising the new Peterson Mark Twain set, a classic MT and a Poker. Both excellent pipes, though I would have preferred to have had the choice of a P-lip mouth piece on the Poker. It still smokes well though.

Mark Twain Classic

Mark Twain Poker

 I do like the Army Mount pipes from Peterson so when I saw this silver mounted version of the 999 with a P-lip on sale it was an easy decision to buy it. A fine pipe.

Silver Mounted Army 999

Another "had to buy" pipe! A Walnut Silver Spigot with (unusually) a P-lip mouth piece in the 408 shape. Again, these generally come with a fish tail stem so I was pleased to have found this at The Pipe Shop in Edinburgh. Excellent service from them too.

Walnut Silver Spigot 408

Here we have a humble System Standard 304 sitter. A useful pipe for when I'm working as being a sitter I can put it down in the workshop without fear of it falling over and emptying the contents of the well into the chamber... (gross thought, I know!).

System Standard 304

I've been on the look out for one of the older, "chubby" Peterson 999 pipes and finally found one. A hefty chunk of briar which gives a lovely cool smoke.

"Chubby" 999

Finally for today is the 1984 Mark Twain I bought from a guy in the US via Smoker's Forums. A wonderful pipe and an interesting one to compare with the new re-release.

1984 Mark Twain

Various New Pipes

During my down time I did acquire various new and new to me (ie estate) pipes. Rather than write a new post for each I'll just add a few pictures for now.

This Peterson Darwin Deluxe is probably the cream of the new crop. Availability of the Darwins has always been a bit patchy and the previous time Brucciani's had some in stock I was a little short for readies. This time it wasn't a problem. It's a gem of a pipe and has smoked well from the very first fill.

Darwin Deluxe

I knew from what others have said that was going to be a big pipe. In fact only my Charles Peterson Anniversary pipe is larger. The second photograph gives the idea.

Darwin Deluxe

I had been after a Donegal Rocky for some time but as I prefer the P-lip to a fish-tail mouth piece I had held off until recently. Then this 408 popped up on Ebay. It took a little while to thoroughly exorcise a rather aromatic ghost, but the effort was well worth it. A fine piece of briar indeed.

Donegal Rocky 408

The Galway range of Peterson pipes is a new one to me. This 606s proved to be another good catch on Ebay. I particularly like the briar insert in the mouth piece. Very attractive.

Galway 606s

A month or so back I was driving up the M6/M74 to Falkirk and couldn't resist calling in at Brucciani's in Carlisle on the way past. Fortunately there is good car parking not far from the shop, which proved remarkably easy to find, even though this was my first visit. Inevitably I couldn't resist this Irish Made Army 87. Unusual in that it has a P-lip bit rather than the more usual fish-tail (the P-lip seems much more common on the silver mounted Army pipes). I suspect it may have been in stock for some time. It has a couple of fills but makes for a greater working or driving pipe.

Irish Made Army 87

This 314 shaped Meerschaum with a silver band was another Ebay catch. The hallmark is for 1990.

314 shaped Meerschaum

My younger daughter treated me to this superb Patent Anniversary Oom Paul. I was stunned to say the least! It takes pride of place alongside the Darwin Deluxe and the Charles Peterson Annivesary pipe.

Patent Anniversary Oom Paul

Another good working or driving pipe is this little K Briar 903. No idea how old it might be.

K Briar 903

Finally, for now, when I spotted this silver army mounted Rock of Cashel 03 at Smokingpipes.com I knew I just had to have it! If anything the grain and the sandblast look even better in real life than they do in the photograph so I am very pleased with it indeed. As I have come to expect from any Peterson pipe I buy, it's an excellent smoker. Excellent service from Smokingpipes as well. If it wasn't for shipping costs and the chance of copping for VAT when items come through customs I would certainly use that site more than I do.

Silver Army Mounted Rock of Cashel 03

I probably reach for my 303/3s Petersons more than any others during the day though I wouldn't want to risk damaging this one by using it while working. It's far too nice to spoil!

A Peterson Patent 21½s

I seem to be on a bit of a roll with picking up interesting old Peterson pipes at the moment. The latest addition to the herd is certainly one of the most interesting that I have ever acquired. 


When this pipe first appeared on Ebay there were no clues in the item title or description to indicate its age or type. The one photograph in the listing made it clear that it was a deluxe of some sort and the shape immediately said "3s" to me, or possibly "2s". It's hard to judge size in a photograph without a point of reference.


However, the pipe turned out to be much smaller than a 3s, let alone a 2s and it has the magic words "Peterson Patent" stamped on the shank and band. Checking the 1896 catalogue it looks like a 21½s. The hallmark is K for 1905, so this is now my oldest Pete. It's just 115mm long, the bowl is 35mm high with an bore of 17mm. It will be perfect for ropes and twists.

Once I've cleaned it up I'll get some decent pictures taken, but for now here's the "before" picture.

This page from the above mentioned catalogue shows the 21½s models with the different stems available then. 

A Pair of "Made in Eire" Petersons

The pipe fairy dropped a most welcome parcel on my doormat this morning. Contents: a Peterson System Standard 31, a System Standard 307 and a rather battered Zippo lighter with a Peterson design on the front.

While a 31 and a 307 would normally be nothing out of the ordinary, these are a bit special in that they both have the "Made in Eire", circle format COM marking, meaning that they date from 1938 to 1947. Apart from a lost fill on the 31 both are in good condition and will only need a clean and polish before they enter service. Even the stems are in pretty good nick.

First, the System Standard 31:

 

And then the System Standard 307, along with the Zippo:

 

Strangely the Zippo has the standard insert instead of the pipe lighter insert. 

Both pipes and the Zippo set me back just £57. Quite a bargain I reckon, given the apparent rarity of Petersons with those markings.

A Rather Curious Peterson...

This curious beast of an estate Peterson pipe arrived in the post this morning and while it certainly isn't a straight system pipe as I had previously suspected, I am not really sure just what it is.

The nickel band has the faux hallmarks suggesting a 1949-63 date, the stem isn't an army mount, though it looks superficially like one and the only markings on the shank are the letters RE next to the band. I suspect the letters JECT may be hidden by the band. There are 4 obvious fills so it could well be a reject fitted with the wrong band.


It had been reamed and cleaned so didn't need a lot of work before the first fill. It seems to be a good smoker so I'm happy with the purchase.

Two More Petersons

Earlier this week the postie brought me a rather nice Peterson Irish Whiskey 221. Second hand but in excellent nick and hardly needing cleaning let alone anything more drastic. It's the same shape as the System 314 and even has a short well, though not as long as in the System pipes. I am rather taken by the grain and staining on this one. Not a bad buy for £25 I reckon.

Next came a System Deluxe 1s black sandblast, hallmarked for 1979, from Bond's. Looks like they still have three left...

I was surprised to find that this one didn't have the usual condenser in brass or aluminium but instead had a push in vulcanite tube which serves the same function. As the box also included a pack of Medico 6mm filters it's clear that the intention is to give an option of making this a filter pipe, a filter replacing the vulcanite tube.