I submit for your examination

This corncob pipe is on display at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. According to the museum's display notes, this pipe actually belonged to Douglas MacArthur.

As you were.

One that Kaywoodie never thought of: the noseblaster

I'm sure most readers of this blog are already familiar with the term "nosewarmer." For those who aren't, "nosewarmer" is a term used for a very short pipe with a bent stem that hangs directly, or almost directly, under the nose. So what do you call a pipe that is aimed directly at the nose? I propose the term, "noseblaster."

This pipe turned up in a recent eBay auction. The seller claims this is a Kaywoodie Chesterfield. From the only photo included (shown below), we can safely assume that the bowl is indeed from a Chesterfield. I have mentioned this pipe before. It was Kaywoodie's knock-off of the Peterson System pipe, with a moisture-catching reservoir below the air passage in the shank. The Chesterfield was also equipped with a bent stem and a P-lip bit.

I do find this stem interesting, because it bears the same anonymous white logo as an unknown lovat in my collection.

The things people will try to sell. Good grief.

UPDATE: Four different bidders went for it. It sold for $21.50. The things people will buy.

Kaywoodie Lady Briar

Another pipe of interest, by which I mean, a pipe which interests me because it teaches me about yet another kind of pipe that was once made, and helps me fill in a little bit more of Kaywoodie history, but which I have no desire to actually own myself. As usual, photos grabbed from a recent eBay auction. Click on them for larger versions.

The Kaywoodie Lady Briar. A slim pipe with an elegant sweep and rhinestones adorning the bowl. Yes, you read that right. Rhinestones. Because lady pipe smokers won't touch a pipe that doesn't sparkle, I guess.


I'm sure there's a lesson about sexism in here somewhere, but I don't particularly care to look for it. This pipe did have some otherwise collectible value, because for a 40 to 50-year-old pipe, it had never been smoked. It sold for $66.

I am always interested in documentation that comes with old pipes, too (sometimes the documentation is more interesting than the pipe itself), and this one was still in the original packaging with smoking instructions included. These specific instructions on breaking in a new pipe are, to me, quite amusing. Exactly six half-bowls must be smoked first. Clean the stem after every ten bowls.

But the rhinestones. Oh, the rhinestones!

Kaywoodie: Never let a hunk of wood go to waste

This pipe turned up on a recent eBay auction, and although I was not inclined to bid on it, I did grab the photo for curiosity's sake. Not really a good photo, but still.

The Kaywoodie company was very good at coming up with any excuse they needed never to waste a piece of briar. You got a leftover piece that might make a pipe except it's too narrow? Don't throw it away! Let's make a pipe anyway and come up with a good reason for it later.

This is the EZ Set Vest Pocket pipe in shape #66. It looks sort of flattened because it was, so it would fit in your pocket more comfortably (yes! really! we meant to do that!).

I find a study of Kaywoodie pipes fascinating partly because of all the reasons they came up with never to waste a piece of briar.

Oh, by the way, this is the white briar finish, "the feel of briar with the look of meerschaum," ostensibly for those who wanted the classic look of meerschaum but the smoking qualities of briar, as if something was wrong with the smoking qualities of meer.  I think the real reason is that they had some wood that was going to look horrendous without a think coat of paint, and this was the best they could come up with.

You might think from this post that I have some sort of grudge against Kaywoodie, but that is not the case at all. I have several Kaywoodie pipes and smoke them often. I just don't have any reason not to call 'em like I see 'em.

No rubber, no plastic: The Kaywoodie Allbriar

This pipe recently came up for auction on eBay, and although I couldn't get in on the bidding, I grabbed the pictures for my own benefit. I have seen illustrations of these pipes before, but not actual photographs.


As the name suggests, the Allbriar is made from all briar, including the bit. They were made in different shapes, and some with meerschaum inserts. According to The Collector's Guide to Kaywoodie Pipes by Robert Stokes, they were listed in the 1955 catalog, but by the mid 1960s were no longer listed.

The seller of this pipe specified that the stinger had been removed, something which usually decreases desirability of a Kaywoodie pipe. However, the relative rarity of this all briar pipe still generated a lot of interest, and it sold for over $50.