Kaywoodie (1920s) Drinkless Smooth Apple Estate Briar Pipe, American Estates

Description

Kaywoodie pipes are as American as apple pie. Starting in 1919 as a pipe brand for KB&B, a pipe shop dating all the way back to 1851, Kaywoodie has since then been a staple of American-made pipes. In the present, many Kaywoodies are collectors’ items, in addition to being fantastic smokers.

A general rule with pipe collecting is that, all other things being equal, earlier=better. Granted, this isn’t true for all pipes, but at least for pipes in the Anglo-French tradition, such as Dunhill or Barling’s, it is the earliest pieces that attract the most attention. Kaywoodie pipes are not exempt from this rule, either, with pipes from the make’s first decades being celebrated for their briar quality and craftsmanship. This particular Kaywoodie may well be the oldest we’ve had come through, as it is a pre-Synchro-Stem Drinkless. In other words, it was made after Kaywoodie pipes were given their famous four-hole stinger (AKA the Drinkless), but before this stinger was incorporated into a screw-tenon fitment (AKA the Synchro-Stem). That’s why, unlike most Kaywoodies, this one has a stinger, but a push tenon. It also means that this Kaywoodie at some point between the early 1920s (when the Drinkless stinger was introduced) and 1929 (when the Synchro-Stem patent was applied for), if my dating is correct. It’s also simply a beautiful pipe, with a brown sugar stain dressing its eminently classical shaping.

For a century-old pipe the condition is remarkably good. Some darkening and slight charring on the rim, and some handling marks.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.78 / 19.81mm

Bowl Depth: 1.30″ / 33.02mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g