Peterson's Question

Absolutely.  I've found many silver ferrules of certain years, and seen very few (if any) for other years.  Lately I've also noticed a bunch of faux-hallmark nickel ferrules showing up on pipe designs that supposedly weren't created until several years after Peterson abandoned the faux-hallmarks (1963).  

Dating a pipe based on it's band is non-exact.  It's also non-exact to date pipes based on when they began (or stopped) appearing in catalogs or ads.  I learned this when I was creating a Brunswick billiard cue history website.  I tried to date pool cues based on label designs I found  in catalogs and ads, but found that, not only was Brunswick using old photos in some catalogs, like Peterson's use of silver bands, Brunswick had stashes of old decals that sometimes found their way onto newer cues.  I once found a shipping label with a 1950's design, on a 1960's pool cue.  These companies  are moving products and not as hung-up  on such things as collectors are.

I purchased a web-site a couple of weeks ago and plan on creating a blog with some of these subjects, as well as photographs.  Just too lazy lately to get going with it.  Once I do, I'll add a signature line with the URL.  But the go-to source is Mark Irwin's 'Peterson Pipe Notes', and  his book is invaluable as a reference.  The stuff I'm interested in is VERY esoteric and will provide good material to read on those nights when you can't get to sleep.