PETERSON
The oldest continuously operating pipe factory in the world, Peterson produces some of the most recognizable and iconic pipes on the market. They’ve been featured in exhibitions, films, and television shows for the past century; many famous writers, artists, and inventors smoked a Peterson pipe, including Mark Twain, whose love for his System pipe is still perhaps unparalleled to this day. Even those uninvolved in our hobby likely think of a Peterson when asked to imagine a pipe. And all because of the functional design of the marque’s most important contribution to the history of pipemaking: the System Pipe.
In 1874, just one year after receiving a prize medal for his efforts at the 1873 London International Exhibition, German émigré Frederick Kapp moved his pipe retail operation from London to Dublin, Ireland, where he opened a new tobacco and pipe shop, making and selling pipes crafted from meerschaum as well as briar root, a relatively new material to the market. Within a year, Frederick employed a young Latvian woodworker named Charles Peterson to help with production and repairs.
