Through the 1890s, two very different Irish artisans worked diligently on what would be their greatest professional accomplishments: Charles Peterson perfected his System patents for Peterson pipes, and Bram Stoker composed his most famous novel, Dracula.

Charles Peterson wasn't the first to make a pipe, but he improved the design to a level that would influence pipe smoking from his time forward, and Bram Stoker wasn't the first to write about vampires, but he dramatized and expanded the folklore and forged iconic images that would influence gothic and horror novels, films, and pop culture for generations to come.

May 26 is the 125th anniversary of the publication of Dracula, and Peterson is commemorating that event in Irish history with a spectacular, updated design for their also famous line of ghoulishly emblazoned, vampire-approved, horror-inspired Dracula pipes. The honorific series of Peterson Dracula 125th Anniversary pipes comprises a singular XL11 design, an extra-large rendition of the Irish marque's iconic 05 Bell/Calabash shape and one not found in the regular-production Dracula line. Dressed in a midnight sandblast and fitted to the series' macabre, ink-swirled, blood-red acrylic stem, these special Dracula pipes juxtapose elegant appeal against the rest of the piece's spooky aesthetic — similar to Dracula's own aristocratic, yet frightening nature.

Peterson Dracula 125th Anniversary pipes comprises a singular XL11 design

Bram Stoker's Influence

Born in 1847 in Dublin, Bram Stoker became interested in theater, and in the 1870s he took a part-time post as a theater critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, subsidizing his full-time work as a civil servant. It wasn't a job of high esteem; theater critics were not well regarded. Stoker's reviews were of such quality, though, that he gained a favorable reputation, and in 1876, after he wrote an approving review of Hamlet with the famous actor Henry Irving in the leading role, Stoker and Irving became friends.

Stoker would become Irving's confidant and business manager, managing the actor's Lyceum Theatre in London and traveling with Irving to performances. During this time, he wrote and published short stories and honed his craft as an author. Although he traveled the world with Irving, he never visited Eastern Europe, where the folklore behind Dracula originated and where some of the novel's action occurs. However, he invested almost 10 years in research for the project.

... he never visited Eastern Europe, where the folklore behind Dracula originated

He collected tales of the Carpathian Mountains. While it is popularly thought that Stoker borrowed inspiration from the brutal history of Vlad the Impaler, nothing in his notes mentions that cruel ruler. Most of his years of research concentrated on Central and Eastern European tales of vampires, and he borrowed the Dracula name and some minor details, but that is as far as the suspected inspiration carries.

Published in 1897, the tale has inspired generations of further stories about vampires and generated an entertainment industry dedicated to these mysterious creatures. Uncountable books, stories, plays, television shows, movies, and a significant number of children's nightmares have emerged thanks to Stoker's fertile imagination.

Charles Peterson's imagination was at work during that time as well, and his own compositions and designs would inspire other moisture-trapping systems from other pipe makers, but none managed to combine all of the necessary contributing elements, such as the graduated-bore mouthpiece and P-Lip button, and they did not last. Peterson lasted though. Both Dracula and Peterson pipes, System and otherwise, became enormously popular through the 20th century and beyond: Dracula in the horror and gothic entertainment genres and Peterson in the pipes that have aided countless pipe smokers in their quests for excellent smoking properties.

It's appropriate, then, that these two legendary Irishmen would be simultaneously acknowledged and celebrated, and Kapp & Peterson has done just that with their Dracula series. This series highlights the creativity and inspiration of Ireland and combines two of the country's significant contributions to the world.

This series highlights the creativity and inspiration of Ireland and combines two of the country's significant contributions to the world

The Story of Dracula

Dracula is an epistolary, its action propelled by fictional diary entries, newspaper clippings, and letters, and it has no consistent protagonist, though Jonathan Harker is the first to dominate the action. He travels to Transylvania to conduct business with Count Dracula, staying at the castle as a guest, where he discovers three female vampires who maneuver to overcome him. Dracula steps in and saves his life by offering the vampires a child in a bag as an alternate delicacy. Dracula soon departs for England and fresh hunting grounds, carrying earth from his grave to rest on, as per legend, leaving Harker to the other vampires. He barely escapes and wakes in a hospital in Budapest.

The crew of the ship carrying Dracula does not make it to England; they ominously disappear one by one. As the ship approaches its destination country, only the captain remains, tied to a mast and helpless to do anything except navigate. Eventually the ship runs aground, and a large beast leaps to the shore, obviously Dracula in an alternate form.

Lucy Westenra is Dracula's first victim in England, and he stalks her relentlessly. She is friends with Harker's fiancée and introduced via correspondence between the two, and soon she is stricken with a strange medical condition attributed to blood loss. A family friend, Professor Abraham Van Helsing, recognizes the symptoms but does not reveal their cause, though he provides garlic flowers for her room and a necklace of garlic for around Lucy's neck, which her mother tragically removes. Shortly thereafter, the women are horrifyingly confronted by a wolf, and the shock and terror of the encounter is such that Lucy's mother expires from a heart attack. Lucy's condition worsens and she soon dies, after which the newspapers report that a beautiful lady is stalking local children.

Lucy is confirmed to be a vampire when Van Helsing and three others visit her tomb; they drive a stake through her heart, behead her, and fill her mouth with garlic, as we now know is the accepted procedure for circumstances of vampirism. At the time of publication, however, the concept was new and horrifying. The book received many positive reviews, and those that were negative mainly criticized the novel as too terrifying. From the point of Lucy's demise, the story became even more ghastly.

The book received many positive reviews, and those that were negative mainly criticized the novel as too terrifying

The vampire hunters gather at the asylum run by one of them and make it their base of operations. Dracula, hunting his pursuers as avidly as they hunt him, influences Renfield, the psychopathic sycophant and consumer of vermin who is so repulsive and simultaneously fascinating that his character has become as iconic as that of his master. Renfield helps Dracula enter the asylum, where the vampire preys three times on Mina, one of the hunters' fiancées. During his third attack on her, Dracula forces her to drink his blood, cursing her to become a vampire upon her death The only way to save her from that awful fate is to kill Dracula, breaking the curse. Time is now short.

The hunters find Dracula's boxes of earth that are essential for his survival. They seal sacramental bread inside each, rendering them useless to the Count, who is repelled by religious objects. Still, he escapes with one box and, because of Mina's psychic connection to the monster, the hunters are able to determine that he is returning to Transylvania.

In Romania, the hunters split into smaller groups and Van Helsing and Mina travel to Dracula's castle, where Van Helsing is able to kill the three vampire women. Others in the quest follow Dracula's box of precious earth and battle the men protecting and transporting it. Though one of the heroes is killed, they are victorious, but Dracula immediately appears and the fight continues until he is stabbed through the heart. He crumbles to dust, and the threat is neutralized — until, of course, the next vampire materializes to endanger the world.

The Iconic Images of Dracula

It's a story that we're all familiar with, even those of us who have never read the novel, because each element has been crafted and recrafted through the generations in homage to the incredibly creative original. Because of Dracula's popularity, nearly everyone on the planet now recognizes vampire characteristics: the hypnotic stare, the psychic connection to victims, the ravaging bites that engender new generations of vampires, the changing into other forms such as wolves and bats, the paralyzing influence of religious symbols like the cross, and the crumbling to dust upon defeat. Characters like Van Helsing and Renfield have been endlessly reimagined, as has Count Dracula himself. Hundreds of new and different vampire characters have been introduced in every entertainment format. Few artistic works have been so influential.

Peterson pipes have been influential in their own way, not as universally known as the famous Count, perhaps, but only because pipe smoking is a small niche industry. If everyone smoked pipes, Peterson would be as easily recognizable worldwide as Count Dracula. In fact, the two have been intertwined since 2012, when Peterson released their first of the Dracula line in 100-year recognition of Bram Stoker's death.

Because of Dracula's popularity, nearly everyone on the planet now recognizes vampire characteristics

Ten years later, Peterson is commemorating the 125th anniversary of the novel's publication with a pipe that is irresistible to vampire hunters and vampires alike, but mostly to pipe smokers who enjoy the iconography and history of literature's ultimate villain as well as the beauty and smoking efficiency of Peterson pipes. It's a combination of legend, history, craftsmanship, innovation, folklore, visual impact, and smooth-smoking high performance.

Details of Peterson's 2022 Dracula Pipe

The 2022 Dracula 125th Anniversary pipe elevates its theme with blood-red and jet-black proprietary fishtail mouthpieces, just as previous Dracula renditions have worn, each made of acrylic for easy maintenance without oxidation. The stummel richly contrasts the stem in a dark ebony sandblast with a shimmering aesthetic that is especially complementary to the stem's bright coloration and the gleaming silver band, itself a trademark element of the Peterson style. To accompany the unique design of the Dracula 125th Anniversary is a leather pipe stand, which in keeping with the theme is, of course, red.

The Dracula 125th Anniversary is in one of Peterson's most popular models, the XL11, a curvaceous and muscular pipe first produced in 1987 and often referred to as "the Original." Its flared Calabash/Bell bowl offers one of Peterson's most iconic shapes, selected especially for this commemorative occasion.

This historic pipe will enhance any situation where a little gothic horror in an impressive color scheme might be desired, and at $116, it packs a lot of value into a small, terrifying package. The Dracula 125th Anniversary Peterson pipe launches on May 26, 125 years to the day after the publication of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Celebrate and acknowledge the fun and fear of that event with a smoking instrument of unparalleled construction and aesthetic appeal: Invite the Dracula into your home and watch the folklore unfold.