As I mentioned before, Kaywoodie made a big selling point out of advertising their use of real Mediterranean briar, because they had large stockpiles of it and during the war there was no way to import more. Some other U.S. pipe makers ran out and tried to use American briar, which is not fit for pipes by any means.
Based on inflation, the pipe above would cost $140 right now. That was a lot of money to be shelling out for a pipe in 1943. An expensive pipe like this was certainly at least a Prime Grain, but more likely was a Flame Grain (both high-end Kaywoodie grades). With wood of this quality, the meerschaum insert is only a sales gimmick--it wouldn't improve the smoking qualities at all, except in that the usual cake build-up would be neither necessary nor even desired.
During this era, Kaywoodie stopped using a white cloverleaf logo and instead used a white circle with a black cloverleaf outline in the center of it. The logo could be either on the top or side of the stem.
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