Bought my first pipe in 1962...
It was sold to me by a guy who fixed pipes while you waited, on Maiden Lane, lower-Manhattan (Wall St. area). This pipe guy had a little, wooden shanty set up next to a parking lot. The shanty was just large enough to hold the guy and a few tools, buffing wheels, sanders, a very small lathe, etc. He hung pipes that were for sale, from strings. The interior roof was full of them, hanging there like some briar curtain, swinging when his head knocked into some of them. I saw my first pipe, hanging there, up in a corner, covered with 20 years worth of briar dust, looking as if it was embarrassed. I just had to have that gigantic, Peterson full-bent pipe! Why? Because I wanted to look like Sherlock Holmes....don't ask, I was 12 years old! So, I think I payed around $8.00 -$10.00 for that monstrosity. The pipe guy smiled, as I handed him the money, and when I showed it to my mother she said I was an idiot. I didn't care. It was so big and heavy that you couldn't possibly hold it in your teeth, and when I eventually tried to smoke it (I had to wait until I turned 16 years old), I loaded that tea-cup sized bowl with delicious smelling Cherry Blend, and puffed away. I was a man! I nearly passed out from a queasy stomach and a staggering dizziness from the massive nic hit. I think my head went into the toilet a few times. My dad laughed quietly.
Kept that pipe around until about 15 years ago, and one day, I just tossed it right into the garbage, with no regrets...and would never, ever, consider buying another Peterson....never again.
Frank