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Brand Dating Guides
Kaywoodie was America's great briar house, with roots in New York in 1851. Its pipes carry no date code. Four marks still give honest brackets: the shape number, the shank stamp, the stem logo and the stem fitting.
Updated 2026-09-26
Welcome. If you hold a pipe with a cloverleaf on the stem, this guide is for you.
Kaywoodie never stamped a date code. So we read four marks instead.
They are the shape number, the shank stamp, the cloverleaf on the stem and the stem fitting.
The fitting is the metal tube that screws the stem into the shank. Kaywoodie called it the Drinkless.
Each mark gives a bracket, which means a range of years. Where the brackets overlap, that is our answer.
We never make a bracket narrower than the evidence.
One year matters more than any other: 1936. Before it, most Kaywoodies had 4-digit shape numbers. From the 1936 catalogue on, they had 2 digits.
From the sources we read
In 1851 the Kaufmann brothers opened a pipe shop in New York. They sold meerschaum and clay pipes first (Stokes, quoting Hacker).
In 1854 a partner named Bondy joined. The firm became Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy, stamped KB&B (Stokes).
KB&B made briar pipes under its own name from about 1900 (Stokes, quoting Hacker).
Our two sources disagree on the first Kaywoodie. Stokes, quoting Hacker, says 1915. Pipedia, the collectors' pipe website, says February 1919 on its Kaywoodie page.
We keep both. Our brackets start at 1915, the wider of the two.
By 1935 the factory stood in West New York, New Jersey. Pipedia says it was then called the largest pipe factory in the world.
Yello-Bole was the lower-priced sister brand. A 1948 Yello-Bole catalogue, quoted by Stokes, says it was sold from 1933.
In March 1955, S. M. Frank & Co. bought Kaywoodie and Yello-Bole (Pipedia).
Later, Italian-made Kaywoodies were sold in American drugstores. Today S. M. Frank owns the name (Stokes).
Read the shape number first. Four digits point to a pipe from before 1936. Two digits point to 1936 or later.
Then read the shank. A cloverleaf holding KB&B, with the & sign, points to the early years.
Then read the cloverleaf on the stem. Its shape and colour changed over the years.
Then look at the stem fitting. A push bit on a 4-digit pipe points to the early years.
Then read the line name. A line name sets the earliest year the pipe can be.
A mark that is missing tells you nothing. A worn stamp or a lost logo never dates a pipe.
Why our push-bit bracket is wide
Stokes, quoting Lowndes, says the screw-in Drinkless fitting came in about 1925.
The Pipedia Kaywoodie page says it differently. Drinkless pipes from 1924 to 1931 still had push bits.
The same page says the threaded Synchro-Stem came in 1931. By the mid-1930s every Kaywoodie had it.
So our push-bit bracket runs to 1931, not 1925. We corrected our cabinet on 26 September 2026 to match.
Year brackets, from the line name
Our cabinet is our file of sourced dating facts for one maker. It gives these line names years but no rank. So we list them here without a rank.
Most start years come from the first catalogue or launch notice we hold. We read catalogues of 1937, 1947, 1955, 1964-65 and 1970-71.
The end years are allowances, not proof. Each is 5 to 15 years after the last catalogue that shows the line.
Our newest catalogue is from 1970-71. A line missing from one catalogue never dates a pipe.
Drinkless: 1924 to 1980. By 1970-71 it was the lowest-priced line, at $6.95.
Flame Grain: 1928 to 1985. Super Grain: 1936 to 1985.
Yello-Bole: 1933 onward.
Carburetor: 1934 to 1975. The 1937 catalogue sells it at $4 and prints its patent number.
Chesterfield: 1935 to 1975.
Stembiter: 1937 to 1970. The 1937 catalogue calls it the "Newest KAYWOODIE", patent pending.
Matched Grain: 1937 to 1975. These are sets of matched pipes, first offered in the 1937 catalogue.
Ninety-Fiver: 1946 to 1970. The name marks 95 years after 1851.
Centennial: 1947 to 1970. Presentation: 1947 to 1975. The 1947 catalogue sells the Presentation set of 31 pipes.
Filter Plus: 1955 to 1970. White Briar and Standard: 1955 to 1975.
Heritage: 1960 to 1975. Pipedia says S. M. Frank started Heritage Pipes in May 1960.
Regent, Syncro-Lok, Fine-Line, Prime Grain, Signet and Custom Grain: 1964 to 1975. All appear in the 1964-65 dealer album.
Campus: 1964 to 1980. Durobit: 1965 to 1975.
KBB without the & sign is Yello-Bole, not early Kaywoodie. It belongs to 1933 and later.
A push bit alone does not prove an early pipe. Export Kaywoodies had push bits too.
Pipedia says the Export pipes were sold from 1950 to 1955. Heritage pipes from 1960 had push bits as well.
The black cloverleaf was not used in a strict way. Stokes says pipes of the same grade could carry either leaf.
The 4-digit rule has exceptions. Stokes reports a 1938 Yello-Bole catalogue with a 4-digit Chesterfield, number 3068C.
Shape numbers were reused with new names. Number 78 was a Large Breakfast in 1936 and a Small Pot in 1947.
Number 69 changed from "Pat" to Large Pot. Number 30 changed from Russell Square to Large Apple Full Bent.
The Synchro-Stem of 1931 and the Syncro-Lok line of 1964 are two different things. Do not mix them up.
Heritage pipes are not stamped Kaywoodie. They carry a double diamond on the stem.
"New York and London" on a case does not mean an English pipe. English Kaywoodies are a separate family with their own lines.
Read the shape number and the shank stamps first. They give the widest brackets.
4-digit shape number (for example 4204)
Stokes: early Kaywoodies had 4-digit numbers, and the 1936 catalogue lists only 2 digits. A few 4-digit pipes may be later.
Cloverleaf holding “KB&B”, with the & sign
The KB&B era and early Kaywoodies. Stokes says it was dropped before 1936. KBB with no & sign is Yello-Bole.
“NEW YORK” or “U.S.A.”
Very wide and very safe. It only says the pipe is American-made, from the KB&B briar years onward.
“ITALY” or “MADE IN ITALY” (start year estimated)
The Italian-made drugstore Kaywoodies. No source gives a start year. The year 1975 is our own estimate.
The cloverleaf logo changed shape and colour. Look at it closely, with a lens if you can.
Long, narrow white cloverleaf (elongated)
Stokes: early Kaywoodies had an elongated white leaf and a large fitting. The 1936 catalogue shows a fuller leaf.
Black cloverleaf inside a white circle
Better grades, from sometime between 1936 and 1947 (Stokes). Stokes quotes a 1985 Oppenheimer letter: English pipes had stopped using it. The end year 1990 is our allowance after that letter.
White outline of a cloverleaf (start year estimated)
Stokes links this logo to the Italian-made drugstore Kaywoodies. The start year is our estimate.
Double diamond on the stem
The Heritage line. Pipedia says Heritage Pipes began in May 1960. These pipes are not stamped Kaywoodie.
Check how the stem joins the shank: a push bit, or a screw-in metal fitting.
Push bit on a pipe with a 4-digit shape number
Before the screw-in Synchro-Stem of 1931 (Pipedia). Stokes puts the fitting at about 1925. Export and Heritage pipes also have push bits.
What We Don't Know Yet
Published deliberately. If you hold the catalogue, hallmarked example, or period document that closes one of these gaps, write to us — corrections are credited. Every open question across the encyclopedia is gathered on the Open Questions page.
Changelog
Sources
Holding a Kaywoodieyou can't place? Our shelves usually hold a few — documented to this same standard.
Kaywoodie in the Shop