At Last - A Mark Twain Peterson!

[huntertrw]

Do any of you recall the old song titled "At Last" as sung by the late, great, Etta James? Well, I feel like singing it now, for I have just purchased what for me is the pipe of a lifetime, the Peterson Mark Twain model shown in the image below. It included the box and sock, and appears to be in fine condition. The capper is that I was the only bidder!
The sun doesn't shine on this old dog's backside too long or too often, but it certainly did today, and I am a happy man.

 

[forest7]

Big Congrat! great haul.

 

[conlejm]

Congratulations, Hunter. That is a beauty!

 

[menuhin]

At Last - Etta James
Wonderful! Congrats Hunter!

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Very nice Hunter. Let us know how it smokes. I love my Petes, but I don't have anything as high grade as the Twain pipes. I'm contemplating a silver spigot, but trying to make up my mind if I want to spend that right now.

 

[yohanan]

Congratulations on your acquisition!!! :clap:

 

[pipebaum81]

A true beauty and congrats. Is that a P-Lip configuration?

 

[sidious]

Congrats hunter. Could you post a few more pics of the pipe?

 

[ivapewithfire]

When I looked at that pipe I heard harps and a halo appears around it!
I really like that. I can't imagine winning it in an auction with my original bid.

 

[billypm]

Sincere congrats! And yeah-- MORE PIX!!!

 

[buroak]

Someone must have said the Irish Blessing for you. That is a great Pete.
I'm with sidious on the matter of pictures - we need more of them!

 

[huntertrw]

All:
Below please find more of the Seller's images of this pipe.
Jeremy: Yes, the stem does have the P-Lip.

 

[buroak]

That should be an easy and rewarding clean-up. I am surprised you did not have competition for that pipe.

 

[pipebaum81]

Super fab pipe. May it bring you joy.

 

[rcstan]

Not to spoil the fun, but .... all the Mark Twain Series pipes were stamped "Peterson Mark Twain" whereas this one clearly shows "Peterson Deluxe". While the shape is correct-ish, it's NOT the Mark Twain pipe, nevermind the box. Someone has also either buffed the tenon or smoked it quite a bit, as the Deluxe System stem usually sits quite a bit out of the military mount ( it will fit flush after years and years of use as the wood in the mortise wears down ).

 

[dottiewarden]

Great looking classic and sure to smoke like a champion!
Tell us about your first smoke and the blend you chose to do the honors.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I have one of these - box looks the same but the pipe looks different. See here:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/peterson-mark-twain-pipe

 

[conlejm]

Like RCStan mentions, my Peterson Twain's stem sits quite a bit out of the military mount. The pipe is also stamped "Mark Twain", though it is faint.

 

[huntertrw]

rcstan, peckinpahhombre, and conlejm:
My thanks to each of you for your sharp eyes, as it appears that I have been duped: right box, wrong pipe! It is en route now, and I will know definitively once it arrives.
peckinpahhombre:
Yours Mark Twain pipe appears to be one of the 1,400 original gold-banded models. According to Richard Carleton Hacker in his book titled "Rare Smoke - The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Collecting" the Mark Twain pipe was originally released as 400 limited-edition pieces, but proved so popular that an additional 1,000 pieces, each individually numbered, followed. Is yours numbered?

 

[pylorns]

Yeah, the guy who sold it to you doesn't know anything about it and is actually asking for help identifying it on reddit right now. I pointed him to the usual resources. But also told him - he did not sell you a mark twain. I don't know what you paid for it - but I'd say the price difference I wouldn't expect to be too difference since Mark Twains were Deluxe pipes I think so you could always resell it and keep up the search - and keep the box.
http://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/comments/2xsth8/peterson_pipe/
For comparison - this is my Mark Twain: