The Latvian who taught Dublin how to smoke a pipe

The pipe smoked by Sherlock Holmes was carved in the factory of the immigrant Karl Peterson. Products under the Peterson brand are still highly valued by all lovers of the pipe.

It all began with the brothers Friederich and Heinrich Kapp, who emigrated from Nuremberg (Germany) to Ireland. In 1885 in Dublin the brothers opened the Brothers Kapp Store, which would later become world famous.

Shortly afterwards an ambitious immigrant from Latvia, Karl Peterson, came to the Kapp workshop, which was located in the basement of their shop on Grafton Street. No sooner had he crossed the threshold than he announced that he could make pipes of the highest quality. However, the owners of the workshop did not turn him away, instead they gave the Latvian the chance to prove his ability, which he immediately did. Having an incredible imagination and excellent manual skills, Peterson not only proved that he was actually able to make pipes, astonishing in both quality and design, but he also soon became the third co–owner of the company, which was renamed Kapp&Petersen.

One of the most notable innovations by Kapp&Peterson were the Peterson Patent System or Dry System pipes, patented in the 1890s. The idea of this system lies in a hole bored in carved briar, allowing the moisture and tar produced by smoking to drain away. In this way even without use of a filter, the mouthpiece remains dry, and the smoke cooled down, which in turn decreases the tingling on the tongue of the smoker, and the bitterness of the smoke does not reach the mouth. Pipe lovers agree that this is an extraordinarily handy and useful invention.

Moreover, admirers of elegant pipes consider the unique shape of the mouthpiece an excellent match for the Peterson System, since it prevents direct contact of the smoke with the tongue. The smoke is spread more uniformly, alleviating any sharpness of taste or temperature.

The Kapp&Peterson company still exists today. It has continued to develop over more than a hundred years, producing handmade pipes, exceptional in their quality and notable for their design. The “Peterson” pipe was even smoked by Sherlock Holmes! Well-to-do clients, politicians, businessmen, artists and writers call to “the Peterson shop” in Dublin to buy high-quality pipes. They come there to buy what connoisseurs call the “thinking man’s” pipe, and never tire of thanking the ambitious immigrant from Latvia – who believed in his own success.

Website of Peterson’s in Dublin

Alexander Rudeyev

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Латыш, который научил Дублин курить трубку