[gfirob]

Martin used to consider bear claw an esthetic flaw, and they avoided using these tops, at great waste of good spruce.

Mike Longworth, the late Martin historian, wrote this to me in an email before he died:

"Martin had a huge stack of spruce with striations, usually called "bear claw". In a staff meeting they bemoaned having so much rejected material that represented a large investment and they couldn't get rid of it. I was always injecting silly things to lighten up staff meetings. What I suggested was 'There is an easy solution.

You simply start charging EXTRA for it!' If you look at a catalog from a
Luthiery supplier like Luthier's Mercantile today you will see the hype
about how good it is, and the extra price."

And so it came to be...