When Adam Davidson (left) created the McDonald Bulldog (shown above), he conceived the shape from putting two disparate concepts together: the bulldog-shaped pipe and a McDonald’s fast-food restaurant.

“Imagine what a bulldog would look like if it ate at McDonald’s every day. That’s what I was going for when I created this shape,” Adam explained.

When I saw this pipe in Adam’s transport case at the 2008 Chicago Pipe Show, I couldn’t resist it. It’s one of those pipes that successfully captures the surrealistic, cartoonish character that makes some nosewarmers postmodern-charming.

Despite its beefy dimensions, the shape conveys a certain elegance, too. The ring cut into the bowl below the frustum is echoed in a black palm decoration that is inset into the ebonite shank ferrule. Amazingly, as pictured below, the mouthpiece actually separates from the shank at the black palm.

“This mouthpiece required very large and quite expensive rod stock,” Davidson said. Amazingly - after shaping, turning, and polishing, the shank ferrule diameter is a full one inch. “It took a full two days to make the mouthpiece and ferrule,” Davidson commented, “there was so much material to remove.” Davidson did remove a lot of ebonite; at the button the mouthpiece tapers to a 4mm thickness.

It is a pretty significant accomplishment, especially for a relatively young artisan, to create a shape that other pipe makers emulate. Very recently, Massachusetts pipe collector Dock Perry commissioned Tennessee pipe maker Bruce Weaver to craft a replica of Davidson’s design which is pictured below:

“Bruce (left) did a pretty good job,” Davidson remarked when I showed him pictures of Perry’s new replica of Davidson’s creation.

When I asked Davidson how he felt about another artisan making a pipe that was inspired by his design, Davidson replied, “We are all influenced by each other.”

I have to say that it is a little strange for me to see another version of the McDonald Bulldog out there, having owned the only version until recently. I can’t imagine a better home for a cousin that my fellow enthusiast Dock Perry. And it’s fun to see Bruce Weaver’s wonderful sandblasting technique adorning the shape. It definitely conveys a different feel. It’s also fun to see them side by side and recognize how very subtle differences can make such a difference in the overall character of the pipe.