I have been looking for one of the Hand Made Super Grain Kaywoodie pipes for a while now just because they interest me and they're all going for crazy prices compared to just 3-4 years ago. So I found this one and bid on it. It was still pricey but not as bad as many of them and it had what looked to be an interesting "mistake" in the stamping. Upon receiving it, I found that yes, the stamping was on the opposite side of the shank from normal. Where the maker's stamp usually is, it says "Imported Briar" and on the opposite side, it has the Kaywoodie etc. stamping. Has anyone else seen a Kaywoodie stamped on the opposite side before? Did I find something uncommon or is this fairly normal and I just haven't seen it before? (
@crashthegrey)
Here's some pics.
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As I understand Kaywoodie history, when Hitler’s tanks invaded Poland in late 1939 Kaywoodie had enormous stock of the finest briar the world will ever know.
Then Kaywoodie advertised that after the war had started but before Italy entered to war on the Axis side, and France had not been invaded, they bought every load of briar they could from the Mediterranean nations that sold it. They made a big deal over this, assuring the customer his 1942 pipe would be just as good as his 1938 pipe.
They began stamping IMPORTED BRIAR to let the buyer know this wasn’t mission briar.
My guess is they carved that Super Grain to cover up flaws, likely bear the end of the war.
That pipe was new, when America invaded Okinawa.
Sing one, Tommy!
WHITE CROSS TONIGHT ON OKINAWA
Where were you, when you heard that Bob Wills died?
For some of us, it was like the death of a Pope.
