Pre-Kaywoodie KBB Blue Line Bakelite Gold Mounted Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

KB&B, or Kaufmann Bros & Bondy, was an American pipe company established in the mid-19th century, most famous today for having created Kaywoodie. The company originally made pipes under the KB&B name, but their innovative designs and patents soon led them to market several makes under the KB&B umbrella, including Kaywoodie, Yello-Bole, and CPF.

We’ve had a couple of these pipes come in recently, which is really something given how uncommon they are. This might just be my favorite, though. Like the others, it a pre-Kaywoodie KB&B Blue Line with a bone tenon, and a genuine Bakelite stem. Unlike the others, the collar and rim appear to be gold, rather than silver, though probably plated. Thanks to the tireless research of Steve Laug and Richard Carleton Hacker, this pipe will have been made after 1907 (the year of the invention of Bakelite) and before the KB&B name was superseded by Kaywoodie. Depending on who you ask, this is somewhere between 1914 and 1924. The design of the pipe is very much in keeping with early briar pipes, given its overall slender disposition and rounded button.

As indicated, this KB&B Blue Line is completely unsmoked, and comes in its original clam-shell case. There’s one small, natural briar flaw on the right side of the bowl, but this was common before our modern age of perfect, straight grain pipes. One thing I will say is that, if the buyer does intend to smoke it, please be extra careful with the tenon and the stem. Bone and Bakelite are a little more fragile than, for example, Delrin and ebonite or acrylic.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.74 / 18.79mm

Bowl Depth: 1.21″ / 30.73mm

Weight: 0.6oz / 18g