by Steve Laug

We received the next pipe from our source in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/08/2024 – almost a year ago. It is a fitting New Year’s Eve restoration. It is a Peterson’s 101 Military Bit Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin 2 and the stamping is blurred from overstamping. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) and the shape number 101 is next to the bowl shank junction. The final 1 in the shape number has a small fill that also makes it blurry. The ferrule on the shank is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin next to that it is stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Following the r in Silver are three hallmarks – 1. Hibernia seated with her arm on a harp, 2. A crowned harp for the silver quality and finally 3. A date letter stamp, in this case an uppercase “P” that dates the pipe to 1981. The pipe is dirty, obviously a favourite smoker. There is grime ground into the finish. There is a thick cake in the bowl and a heavy overflow of lava on the inner edge and rim top. The silver ferrule is lightly tarnished. The stem is dirty with light oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of it before he started his clean up work. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and the inner edge. The stem is lightly oxidized and grimy. It has some light tooth marks on the top and underside near and on the surface of the button itself. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. You can see some flaws or sand pits in the briar or pits but otherwise it is great grain. It is a nice looking pipe.He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. The blurriness of the left side stamp is accurate and not a camera issue. It has been double stamped and the result is the blur. The stamping on the silver ferrule is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to an earlier blog on a pipe with the same stamping that I had restored. I am quoting from what I learned in writing that blog below.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Dublin 2. On page 298 it had the following information.

Dublin (1906-2003) Although DUBLIN appears under PETERSON’S on many pipes over the decades, it has served mostly as part of the brand name. The word first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1906-11, stamped PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN. The simpler PETERSON’S over DUBLIN first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1912 after the expiration of the patent. Illustrations of pipes in the ’37 catalog show a random dispersion of the stamp PETERSON’S over OF DUBLIN together with the ordinary PETERSON’S over DUBLIN on every model offered. Specimens of the former will bear either an Irish COM or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND COM and almost certainly date from 1945-62. It was first mentioned as part of a model name in the ’68 price list, as K&P DUBLIN, in ’92 for a Danish market line and in the 2017 (see below).

“Dublin” (1992-2003) An orange-brown smooth line with a brass-nickel-brass sandwich band, vulcanite fishtail mouthpiece, consisting mostly of D shapes released for the Danish Market. Stamped PETERSON’S in script over “DUBLIN”. A tenth anniversary pipe for the line was produced with a sterling band stamped 2001. Market demand fell shortly thereafter and several pipe stamped “DUBLIN” were released in ’03 for the Fourth of July commemoratives for the US Market.

I wrote to Mark Irwin again and asked for his help in clearing up the mystery and helping to date this pipe. I asked him to provide any additional information for me. He responded with the following:

Steve… It’s first decade of Early Republic (1948-1958). The 2 and 3 numbers were discontinued int in 1958. Great little pipe! The “w” = today’s Premier grade.

I had forgotten to include the hallmarks on the silver so that left me even more in a quandary. So, I wrote Mark back about the date stamp on the silver and the conflicting stamping on the pipe.

How does that work with the date on the ferrule seeming to point 1975 (in this case 1981)? It has the standard stamping – woman on a chair, harp and the letter “h” (in this case “P”),

Mark responded as follows with regard to that pipe (the material fits this pipe very well).

Haha! I love it. You have just entered the Twilight Zone of Peterson Pipes, because the “2” and the small “h” for 1975 cancel each other out. I would prefer to leave it there: “a dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge.” If, however, you want to get mundane about it, there are only two possibilities: it was rebanded in 1975 (highly unlikely but not impossible) or someone picked up the old stamp (and they have dozens and dozens) who was new to the hand-stamping job. For myself. I’d rather leave it in the imponderables, but there are always skeptics who prefer the easy explanation to the miracle.

I could not have said it any better! The Twilight Zone of Peterson’s Pipes. So I have a pipe that was made between 1948-1958 with a silver ferrule that is dated 1990. What a great mystery. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. It looked better but still dark. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The rim top looked better but there were some issues with some roughening on the inner edge and darkening on the top. I took a closeup photo of the rim top and edges to show the issues I spoke of. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the rim top and damage on the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the damage on the inner edge and also to smooth out the darkening on the rim top. It began to look much better.I worked over the surface of the rim top and the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It began to look good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. The stem was clean and the light tooth marks were minimal. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am excited to finish this beautifully grained Peterson’s Dublin 2 Military Mount 101 Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. I polished the twin golden bands on the shank with a jeweller’s cloth. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Dublin 2 Military Mount 101 Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for walking through this restoration with me. I am always glad to answer questions or clarify if you would like more information.