Where Did the High End Kaywoodies Go?

[Simmerdown☕️]

Chance has this looking pretty sweet about to expire….️

VERY MINT! PRE 1936 KAYWOODIE SUPER GRAIN CLASSIC BILLIARD AMERICAN Estate Pipe | eBay

EXCELLENT PRE 1936 MANUFACTURE KAYWOODIE SUPER GRAIN CLASSIC BILLIARD shaped estate pipe. This piece is an 90+ year old classic, with a 4 digit shape number and a 4 hole stinger and the rare, covetedON SHANK LOGO!

www.ebay.com

 

[MattRVA]

Chance has this looking pretty sweet about to expire….️

VERY MINT! PRE 1936 KAYWOODIE SUPER GRAIN CLASSIC BILLIARD AMERICAN Estate Pipe | eBay

EXCELLENT PRE 1936 MANUFACTURE KAYWOODIE SUPER GRAIN CLASSIC BILLIARD shaped estate pipe. This piece is an 90+ year old classic, with a 4 digit shape number and a 4 hole stinger and the rare, covetedON SHANK LOGO!

www.ebay.com

That’s a damn nice one, that price will definitely go up. Man I want that but I’m broke.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

That’s a damn nice one, that price will definitely go up. Man I want that but I’m broke.

Yeah, I’m thinking it hits $275 range. I’m not a Kaywoodie fella but it’s sure a pretty pipe. ️

 

[crashthegrey]

Until Bill got sick I had Connoisseurs and Hand Mades, not to mention Flame Grain and Unique, along with a few more high end lines. They did not go anywhere. Centennial was always meant to be a limited release. Like the Anniversary pipes I had made, only 100 of those.

 

[Peter Turbo]

My only Super Grain is from the 60’s

 

[Birddog66]

In 1947, after the war ended Kaywoodie introduced a $15, $20, and $25 line of pipes.

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One of the problems with a Kaywoodie is after they switched to a three hole stinger the quality went on a straight line downhill to mass produced drug store pipes, instead of luxury pipes only.

So if you see a Connoisseur, a Nintey Fiver, or Centennial for sale, was it made in 1947 or 1967?

I’ve never seen any of these three in person.

Wonder where they all went?

There are lots of high end Marxman pipes for sale.

I have two Centennial’s, one Connoisseur and two Straight grain’s. One Straight is a London made and is very inferior to the US version that I have. The Centennial’s are two of the finest pipes I own, absolutely exquisite in quality and as smokers. The bulldog is a four hole but the billiard has been neutered but I believe it was also a four hole as they are both of exceptional quality.

 

[Birddog66]

I picked up this Super Grain billiard on eBay and in the UK do it must have traveled from across the pond at some point. It came with the smallest Drinkless I’ve ever seen and the two were brought for the equivalent of $55. The Dublin below is a gift from my good friend, the little Drinkless is packed up to send as a gift for another forum member that was quite taken with it.

 

[Birddog66]

My two Centennial’s, I adore these pipes and will never part with them.

 

[Birddog66]

The Straight Grain, I’m pretty sure this is a custom made as it’s a stingerless push tenon. I understand the Straight and Bullseye were available custom made to the individual smokers preference. They sold at at far higher price than Dunhill’s were going for in the US at the time. I brought this NOS from the US and it was my most expensive piece at the time, about a year and a half ago.

I’m desperately searching for a Birdseye but I’ve never even seen one up for sale as yet. I’ve been looking for three years, I believe they are incredibly rare.

 

[LeafErikson]

For some reason I can’t view the original listing on eBay but a late 30s- mid 40s push stem Kaywoodie Super Grain in excellent condition just sold on eBay for $96.

If you adjust for inflation and assume that this was a $10 pipe in 1938, it would’ve cost around $215 in today’s money.

 

[KWFan]

Let’s not split hairs, but the 1936 Kaywwodie catalog doesn’t have a Flame Grain yet, and all pipes have four digit serial numbers.

In 1937 there are two digit serial numbers in the catalog and a brand new $10 Flame Grain.

The 1937 Super Grains were second best, if there are two digits.

Or so that’s what I’ve read for 25 years now.

4 digits means pre 37, actually.

And older is better.

Kaywoodie alone is responsible for total depletion of the truly ancient 250+ year old Greek briar.

Greek brown was prettier, harder, and more mellow on aberage than Algerian.

The 1937 date, for the change from 4-digit to 2-digit is frequently reported. But, we now know the change came in 1he 1936 catalog. I have a '36 catalog. You can also find a scan of the full '36 catalog online. Also should mention that some pre-1928 (approx) pipes had a 2-digit shape number - and typically had longer stinger with the larger (proportionally larger) 4-hole ball. See Robert Stokes article with scan of 1936 catalog... file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/6nmlcs0zso37%20(12).pdf [and there does appear to be some flip-flopping of 4 and 2 digit numbers between 1919 and 1928 - haven-t pinned that down yet]

 

[chumleeroy]

Possibly, like many pipes of the era, smoked into oblivion and discarded.

U got a point, my local tobacconist said the.term "pipe collector" is relatively new. Folk like my grandpa smoked their pipes like they stole em. They bought 1 or 2 cheap ones at a time, and smoked it till it was bitter, burnt, and.clogged. never seen him use a pipe.cleaner. although seen him unclog a stem w a piece of straw

once heard it said that pipes were "long term disposable items, like a pair of shoes". Makes sense seeing as I spend countless hours cleaning the internals of estate pipes from pre wwii.

 

[chumleeroy]

As time wore on, and fewer people smoked pipes through the 70s, brands like kaywoodie (and weber and lee and mastercraft ... all of em) diminished in popularity and as they were never really seen as high-grade brands, I think it was tough for the average pipe smoker to dish out 2 or 3 times the money for a pipe with better grain. Your die-hard smoker never cared, and collectors proper were never looking at the rack in the drugstore.... so I see these pipes as neither fish nor fowl, nice as they are.

I've got a Connoisseur here, I assume 60s. Great little shape and a nice piece of wood. The stem is pretty nice (less thick and chunky than a Lee or a Mastercraft). Smokes okay, I find those woodies so tight of draw (Lees are just a hair more open and you can feel it when you smoke them).

View attachment 277538

I agree with the not liking kaywoodie tight draw. I open up the shank all the way tonthe bowl and even file open the stinger ball and open the slot in the button. It helps tremendously, both smoking and keeping itself lit for longer

 

[chumleeroy]

I scored some Kaywoodies from the 1930s recently and posted about it over here…

eBay lot of Kaywoodies and Comoys from the 1930s :: Pipe Talk

I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting when I bought this lot of pipes on eBay because they weren’t well presented, but the one that caught my eye was a Kaywoodie Super Grain, as I noticed the clover inlaid on the stem and remembered reading at some point that these were older and a bit rare...

pipesmagazine.com

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The pipe gods have smiled upon you!

 

[Zach]

There was a time you could just ask your local Kaywoodie dealer about the latest available grains

 

[HeavyLeadBelly]

Speaking of disappearing, I haven’t seen Briar Lee post in a while. Hope he’s okay!

 

[jpberg]

Speaking of disappearing, I haven’t seen Briar Lee post in a while. Hope he’s okay!

His Chinese watches may or may not have given him a disease.

 

[LeafErikson]

Speaking of disappearing, I haven’t seen Briar Lee post in a while. Hope he’s okay!

Looks like he was last seen on the forum on Nov 12. Hopefully all is well with Briar Lee.