Pre-Kaywoodie KBB Blue Line Bakelite Straight Bulldog 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 The company originally made pipes under the KB&B name, but their innovative designs and patents soon led them to market several makes under the KB&B umbrella, including Kaywoodie,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.

It is not every day that a 100+ year-old pipe lands on my desk, and it is even rarer for that pipe to be unsullied by tobacco or time. But here we are: a pre-Kaywoodie KB&B Blue Line with a silver filigree, a bone tenon, and a genuine Bakelite stem. 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Hacker, this pipe will have been made after 1907 (the year of the invention of Bakelite) and before the KB&B name was superseded by Kaywoodie.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.

As indicated, this KB&B Blue Line is completely unsmoked, and comes in its original clam-shell case. The pipe’s Bakelite stem has some superficial handling marks. 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: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.39″ / 35.30mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 40g