Re: "The corporate body that bought the rights to the name"
We bought rather more than the rights to the name. There is a factory full of employees, briar, and machines sitting in Sallynoggin. Some of our tools were actually used by Charles Peterson. We've got craftsmen in the factory who are just a couple of steps removed in their training lineage from people that Charles Peterson trained personally. We've even got a box of pretty cool stuff that once belonged to Charles Peterson; I think we even have his mustache comb and walking stick.
"Imagine if every business decision was based on whether they thought Charles Peterson would do it."
Believe it or not, Charles Peterson actually features pretty heavily in our internal discussions about what kind of pipes we should make and how we should make them. I haven't gone so far as to order WWCPD bracelets for all of us to wear yet, but it's not a bad thought. We try to be pretty darn faithful to Charles Peterson's vision for the company. And I'm pretty confident that if we could bring Charles Peterson down to Sallynoggin today, he'd be more at home in the factory than at various points in our past.
And let's also remember that the guy was pretty innovative. He did things that were much more revolutionary than a green stem--that whole P-Lip and System patent comes to mind. So I like to think that if Peterson himself could pick up an SPD 2022 pipe, he'd probably give that green stem a little chuckle and a sly smile.
