Many collectors feel that the maki-e lacquer fountain pens by Namiki, Pilot, Platinum and others are the highest art in pen decoration. This book not only shows masterpieces but also discusses the processes by which they are made and even provides photographs of a few of the masters painting their works of art. It contains an excellent glossary of relevant terms...
Predecessors of the firm started in business in New York City about 1845 and the firm ceased production about 1960. Its most collectible pens include fancy collapsible dip pen/pencil combinations, early and highly decorated eyedropper filling pens, “Eternal” lever filling pens of the 1920s, and colorful ‘snake’ and ‘lizard’ skin motif plastic pens of the 1930s. The firm is known for both its pens produced in the USA and those produced in the UK...
Imagine managing an international business without computers, faxes, or even air travel (no frequent flyer miles, either). George S. Parker had to travel, he was the company’s very best salesman, its ‘closer’. Want to call on the distributor in France? Starting in Janesville, take the train to Chicago, change trains for New York, take steamship to France... elapsed time, if you make all the connections, is 9 to 11 days...
Perhaps I should begin at the beginning. Last week I received a call from a friend. He had read an advertisement for an auction with “Thousands of Pens and Pencils” (plus watches, knives, and other things) to be held today. He said that he had to work and asked that I go and see what I could buy. After all, the auction was only two hours west of Chicago...
A week or so ago I wrote about my visit to a country auction in Western Illinois in search of a 1000 pen (and pencil) collection. Disappointed at both the selection and the amount of competition, I left before the bidding began. From the discussions I heard last week at the local antiques emporium, it seems that I missed a good show...
The business was founded in Germany in the 1830s and entered the pen business in 1929. Most collectible pens include early pens (circa 1929-1940, especially the unusual reptile pattern plastic pens of the 1930s), metal overlaid pens, plus a few recent limited editions. The company continues in business manufacturing pens, inks, artist’s colors, etc...
The trademarks “Parker” used on watch dials, movements and cases and “Parker Watch Co.” belonged to the Star Watch Case Company of Luddington, Michigan. There was no relationship between Parker Pen and Star Watch Case. All of the clocks and watches sold by the company as components of desk sets and other items and also those used for advertising or promotional purposes were made by other companies...
The Write Stuff, Collector's Guide to Inkwells, Fountain Pens and Desk Accessories, By Ray and Bevy Jaegers (Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin ISBN: 0-930625-86-2; softbound, suggest retail $26.95). I had eagerly awaited this book ever since I saw a prepublication notice over a year ago and can now report that the Jaegers have done a great job...
I arrived Friday evening after a tiring trip, so I had dinner at the wonderful Vietnamese restaurant across the street before entering into the show. I was greeted enthusiastically by several old friends.... Mike Jennings, John Mottishaw, John Strother, Alan and Susan Brooking...
The company pioneered the manufacture of self filling fountain pens and is closely identified with its home of Toledo, Ohio. It started in business about 1897 and ceased production after World War Two. Its most collectible pens include the early “Crescent” filling pens (before 1925), metal pens, the large plastic pens of the 1920s and 1930s, and the “Nozac” piston filling pens of the 1930s. The company was also famous for its mechanical pencils and its fountain pen desk sets which were some of the most elaborate on the market...
Eventually most collectors see or hear about a monster sized or ‘giant’ pen. They have questions... "When, why and by whom was it made? Why is it so big? Who would buy or use such a pen? Why is it so expensive?" How is a ‘giant’ recognizable? It is really big, much, much bigger than a Duofold Senior, a Montblanc 149, even a Waterman #58. The ‘giant’ is so large that it seems, at first, unreasonable and certainly uncomfortable...
Some years ago, an elderly lady came into my office with two pens to sell. She related that they had been consigned to an antique shop but had not sold. The antique shop proprietor had told her the pens were very valuable. He was half right. One pen was quite valuable, a Waterman number 504 in the extremely scare and very attractive Indian Scroll pattern. The other pen was a Waterman 0552 1/2 V. She was asking the same price for each pen, which in the case of the 0552 1/2 V was fully 30 times its value but in the case of the 504 Indian Scroll was perhaps 10% of its value. I purchased the two pens at the prices she asked...
Sometimes voices speak after a long time. Lewis E. Waterman is one of the most enigmatic of the pen pioneers, both because of his success and because he died just after 1900. In 1887, Paul E. Wirt, another pioneering pen maker, brought law suits for Patent infringement against Francis C. Brown (maker of the Caw’s Dashaway and other pens) and also against Daniel W. Lapham and Francis H. Bogart (makers of “The Rival” pen). In each of these litigations, Lewis E. Waterman testified as an expert witness for Wirt. While most of Waterman’s testimony is technical (and boring), he does talk about his life and business...
Hardbound, 256 pages including an excellent index. A great new book (published Fall 2000), and sure to be the pen collector's favorite gift for the holiday season. The work is a history and catalog of vintage and modern pens (including limited editions) manufactured and pen companies headquartered in the United States and the United Kingdom...
A Review of an article entitled “Inscribing the Word” and some thoughts about the Saint Johns Bible.... The last hand written illuminated bible was begun before Gutenberg perfected movable type in 1448; UNTIL NOW! Saint Johns University in Collegeville, Minnesota has contracted with a group of British calligraphers lead by Donald Jackson to copy and illuminate a spectacular bible. The estimated cost of the project is $4 million and the target completion date is in 2006...
Predecessors of the firm started in business in New York City about 1845 and the firm ceased production about 1960. Its most collectible pens include fancy collapsible dip pen/pencil combinations, early and highly decorated eyedropper filling pens, “Eternal” lever filling pens of the 1920s, and colorful ‘snake’ and ‘lizard’ skin motif plastic pens of the 1930s. The firm is known for both its pens produced in the USA and those produced in the UK...
The John Holland Pen Company started in business about 1862 and ceased production about 1950. Its most collectible pens include the gold dip nibs and elaborate holders of the firm’s early days, its sterling, gold and gold filled decorated eyedropper fillers, its pens with unusual filling systems dating to the 1915-1920 era, and the large and colorful “Jewel” pens of the 1920s and 1930s...
Cross pen was founded in 1881 and continues in business. For most of the company’s history it produced pencils. Except for recent examples, fountain pens are very rare. Collectible cross products also include its stylographic pens and all its early and novelty pencils...
Often it is hard to separate fact from speculation. I believe the following to be fact. Before founding the Parker Pen Company (1889), George S. Parker worked as an instructor at the Valentine School of Telegraphy in Janesville. He also sold John Holland fountain pens as a sideline. Parker complained (in a magazine interview) that the Holland pens often did not work and that he was obliged to repair and modify them for the purchasers. It was from this experience that Mr. Parker said he learned to make fountain pens and also developed the ideas which lead to his first Patent for a pen feed...
Century started in business about 1892 and ceased production about 1938. The firm is identified with the city of Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA and with the Humphrey family. Its most collectible pens include the early and fancy eyedropper fillers, the ribbon filigree thumb fillers and the large and colorful Durapoint pens of the late 1920s...
In my continuing attempts to bring you interesting items from the pen world, I recently procured a badly damaged but mostly readable copy of the November 25, 1891, issue of The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review. This was the trade paper of the New York City jewelry trades...
Corona started in business in 1923 and ceased production about 1933. Since the company made relatively few pens, all are collectible. Key Persons, Key Dates, Key Events... Janesville, Wisconsin was founded in the 1830s as an agricultural community on the Rock River in south central Wisconsin. Soon, with the building of the American railway system, it became a transportation hub...
George S. Parker traveled very frequently on business. Near the end of his career, he also made some trips mostly for pleasure but even on these he always stopped at the local Parker Pen distributor or selling agent to see what was happening...
India ink is more like paint than normal fountain pen ink. It is prized by composers and arrangers for writing music, by artists for sketching and drawing, and by architects and engineers for ruling lines because it dries quickly to a rich opaque and permanent black. The principal ingredients in India ink are carbon black, shellac and denatured alcohol. Once dry, India ink is very, very difficult to remove or redissolve, even in alcohol. The fact that it does not readily redissolve is the reason that India ink cannot be used in normal fountain pens...
Even into the 1950s, fountain pens with fraternal, service or educational emblems were popular gifts and awards. The Waterman company developed and lead this market, especially in the period 1900-1940...
Recently, I have received a couple of requests for instructions about how to remove and reinstall the collector shells on Parker 51 and 61 fountain pens. Sometimes called the ‘hood’, the collector shell is the outer covering of the nib and collector of these pens. Beyond its structural and cosmetic roles, the collector shell also participated in the flow of the ink along the collector to the nib...
Parker Nib Gauges, Double Gauge on Its Side. Recently there has been considerable discussion about the width of nibs made in different countries with the suggestion that nibs made in Asia are somewhat narrower for a given grade than those made in Europe. This seems like a good opportunity to point out that even in this, the 21st Century, nibs are still an analog rather than a digital product...
Regional pen shows offer opportunities that the major shows cannot. For example, the organizers of the Houston show are able to set aside a ‘museum’ area to display important pens so we may educate ourselves (or just drool on the glass). The displays of Parker eyedropper fillers (many in red hard rubber) and the display of Conklin crescent fillers at the show were stunning...
A recent addition to my collection illustrates that the Cross Pen Company of Boston made and or sold items in addition to fountain pens (as did the A. T. Cross Company of Providence). Not only is the scale itself interesting but it gives additional insight into the Boston company and its somewhat limited relationship with Alonzo Cross...
A review of Parker advertising and sales documents reveals a surprising array of celebrity users and endorsers. Jointless Pens:Spring, 1900, Judge Day, President of the American Peace Commission signed the treaty ending the Spanish-American War with a Parker Jointless Pen. Jack Knife Safety Pens: Col. W. F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Indian scout and wild west show promoter Duofold Pens: Joan Arthur, actress, star of “The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu”...
Much of the history of this company and its successors remains to be discovered and documented. A. A. Waterman started in business before 1900, experienced a number of transformations and successors and ceased production about 1930. Most of the pens the company produced are collectible...
Typically, folk decoration applied to fountain pens decreases their values. However, an exception are those Parker 51s and other pens decorated in Mexico. These have silver caps to which are applied gold (usually 10K but sometimes gold filled) shapes in Mexican motif (sun calendars, cacti, galleons, conquistadors, eagles, dolphins. Aztec gods, ritual knives, coach and horses, etc.) and elaborate but sometimes primitive engraving. In addition to Parker 51s, other pens decorated were those late Watermans and Eversharps with slip on metal caps. Elaborate desk bases were also produced to fit 51 and other desk pens...
Some pen sellers (and others) seem to have a tough time identifying certain scare and pricey pen models from more common ones models which look somewhat similar. They write disingenuous descriptions such as ‘pen is XX.XX millimeters long’ or ‘similar to #ABCD in Jabborwok’s book’. The key to identifying these pens is hardly a trick or secret knowledge; rather, it is to compare the suspect pen with a large group of other, similar pens. It such a group comparison, the unusual models stand out clearly...
At various times during the 1940s, the R. L. Arnold Pen Company of Petersburg, Virginia claimed to be the largest or second largest pen manufacturing company in world. Petersburg is a small city, a sort of suburb of the suburbs of Richmond (the capitol of the Commonwealth of Virginia). It is about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Washington, D. C.. Petersburg was the pen capitol of the South and both the Edison Pen Company and the Southern Pen Company were also located there...
Unlike American and most other pen makers, German pen manufacturers often seem to have branched out to service specialized markets. Montblanc made special fountain pens with blades rather than nibs and designed to use India ink for architects and engineers during the 1920s and 1930s. Montblanc also offered stylographic style pens for technical writing during much of its history...
In my last writing, I pointed out that prototype pens were made in very small quantities, usually only a handful. Now, in the very next story, I tell you about a true prototype pen made in a fairly large quantity but for a specific reason which keeps it in the prototype category...
Some years ago I rented a jewelry store in Janesville, Wisconsin for the purposes of buying pens. I would run ads in the newspapers and on the radio. It worked for a while but the jeweler has since died and his store is closed...
Most pen collectors eventually expand their collections into the area known as ephemera. Derived from the same root as ephemeral, this topic refers to that range of products which were designed to be used (or read) and thrown away. Therefore, many articles of ephemera are quite scarce and, hence, quite collectible...
Columbus Show is well located and well positioned in the show calendar giving it wide appeal among collectors. Hosts Terry and Sonya Mawhorter do a great job taking care of the dealers. Thursday was the day for many serious vintage collectors and dealers to arrive. Several of those interesting black hard rubber pens by virtually unknown manufacturers found their way into my shirt pocket. Lots of fun seeing old friends and looking through piles of pens. As usual, the really unusual and/or really expensive pens are riding in peoples pockets, whether for ‘show and tell’ or for sale...
Recently a pen dealer offered a blood red Parker 51 for sale. I had always heard that the “blood red” pens story concerned the development of the 61. Here’s what I had heard: During the development of the Parker 61, as the final choices of colors to be offered were being made, Kenneth Parker took a lineup of the colors home to show to his wife. She looked at the red sample and reportedly said; “You can’t sell that, it looks like blood.”...
The Parker Duofold may have been the best selling quality fountain pen of the 1920s and early 1930s but it had no immunity against parody. The author seemed, especially, to lampoon Parker’s lifetime warranty on the Duofold pen...
Many pen companies have developed pens with special grips intended to improve a writers grip or penmanship. Some were intended as training aids or for use by younger students. Some were designed to prevent writer’s cramp. And some, no doubt, were designed merely to give the pen a different shape for marketing purposes...
In 1888 the largest selling brands of fountain pens in America were made by Paul Wirt, L. E. Waterman, John Holland, Mackinnon and Cross (these last two being stylographic style). In the early days of fountain pen manufacturing, several pen brands had initial success, but then disappear. Some were driven from the market place by competition, some by litigation. The Lapham’s Rival pen seems to have had both problems...
Upon the development of the filling unit which powers many Parker pens (including the Golden Arrow, the Vacuum Filler, the Vacumatic, the 51 and the Blue Diamond Duofold) in 1932, the company realized that a specialized wrench would be needed to service these pens. Specialized wrenches were developed and used by factory assembly workers, factory repairers, and privately operated repair stations. Soon, however, Parker management conceived of an ‘all in one’ repair tool which could be sold to independent repairers. The tool was called the “Vacumatic Fitting Block” and the price was $1.50. Parker stated that this price was far less than the actual cost of machining the tool...
World War One was even more awful than most wars. After the initial push southeast, the movements of troops stalled. For nearly three years more than two million troops faced each other across a battle front on which movement could be measured in yards or meters per year. Soldiers’ casualties came more from disease than from enemy fire and their mental state truly was boredom or terror by turns...
In 1876 the United States of America hosted its first ‘worlds fair’ in Philadelphia. That year was chosen to mark the centennial of the Declaration of Independence signed July 4th, 1776 in that city. The information, illustrations and some of the text which follow were taken from a grand volume which my generous wife gave me as a holiday gift...
Along with the coins and pocket knife* in my right front trouser pocket I carry a brass token issued by the Parker Pen Company. This coin like object is 1.20 inches (30 mm) in diameter and 0.125 inches (3 mm) thick. The obverse is imprinted: “Lucky ‘51’ Pocket Token” with a four leaf clover, a horseshoe and a stylized pen. The reverse is imprinted: “Like Magic Parker ‘51’ makes your money multiply”...
It seems that no pen manufacturer has offered quite as many different self filling mechanisms in its history than Waterman. While a few were highly novel, most seems to have been adaptations of methods pioneered by others. Moreover, most methods were given little support in the company’s advertising and several lasted only a few months or were even abandoned before launch...
Waterman’s earliest attempt to market a self filling pen began with a novel pump filling pen. Control of the Waterman Company had just passed from Lewis Edson Waterman, who died in 1901, to his nephew, Frank D. Waterman. It appears that the company’s interest in developing and selling a self filling pen was limited to just having a self filling model in the line in order to answer the competition and that they expected little demand for such a pen...
Not all of the filling systems tried by Waterman were marketed. The pull filler illustrated here seems to have been an experiment. The design was the work of J. G. Rider who had been a Waterman salesman before starting his own pen making enterprise in Rockford, Illinois...
Your fearless reporter has ventured into the northland and brings you greetings from Minnesota. Needing to learn more about the travels of certain pen makers and the history of several pen brands, I ventured to visit a couple of pen collectors I know in the Twin Cities area. Informed that the local pen club met on the third Friday of each month, I timed my visit to attend...
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The 2002 Los Angeles Pen Show is promoted by very nice people (Boris Rice and Stan Pfeiffer) who get the elements of show hosting dead on. They are well organized, have selected a good venue, promote the show well, and, most important, ordered great weather for the entire weekend...
Perhaps no filling system used by the L. E. Waterman Company is rarer or has a more shadowed history than the Crescent filler. Waterman is known to have licensed at least two filling systems from Conklin, a coin or slot filler and the Crescent filler...
Another stop on the path to a successful and marketable self filling pen for the Waterman line was the coin filler. Here, too, the L. E. Waterman Company, followed the trends in the market rather than leading the market. Waterman’s business was largely eyedropper filling pens and in this area they were the undisputed leader with the best quality and the most stylish designs...
The next short duration self filling system tried by the L. E. Waterman Company was the sleeve or thumb filler. Unlike some of the earlier attempts to market a self filling pens, such as the pump fillers, the company seems to have promoted and advertised the sleeve filler in several print ads starting in 1911...
What is the world’s smallest working fountain pen is a question which is possibly impossible to answer, but the best claimant is an ultra miniature pen made by the L. E. Waterman Company of New York City just after 1900. The pen, capped, is 39 millimeters (or 1.54 inches) long and with the cap posted, it is 54.75 millimeters (or 2.16 inches) long. For comparison, the...
The Waterman Company came so late to experiment with and eventually adopt the lever filler as its principal self filling device that several of the best and simplest idea had already been Patented. Waterman seems to have been unwilling to license the ideas of pinning the lever through the barrel or mounting it on an internally expanding ring...
Zaner Bloser was and is a publishing company in Columbus, Ohio. They developed a system of penmanship instruction and published workbooks, instruction manuals, etc. The Zaner Method of arm movement writing was taught in American schools for many year (perhaps it still is). As a part of their writing system, Zaner Bloser developed a customized grip section. Typically this grip (advertised as “fits the fingers”) was fitted to a dip pen or pencil, but, during the 1930’s Zaner Bloser commissioned the Parker Pen Company to manufacture fountain pens and echanical pencils with the Zaner Bloser grip...
Few pen models are as collectible or as available as the Parker Duofold. With a couple of long pauses a fountain pen model named “Duofold” has been in Parker’s line for over 80 years. The concept of the first Duofold is credited to Parker salesman Louis Tebbel in 1921. It is reported that he had been called to Parker’s Janesville, Wisconsin headquarters to discuss his declining performance. While there, he asked that a large pen be made from red rubber to help him counter Sheaffer’s oversize pen then being made in black, red, and mottled hard rubber...
It is a sad thing that relatively few pen collectors have heard the name Foley and that the rest of the world’s population when asked about the name are more likely to think of “Mankind” the professional wrestler Rick Foley than the pioneering gold pen maker who fought Tammany Hall in New York City. Not only did John Foley fight, his efforts eventually halted the fraud and theft of the notorious W. M. ‘Boss’ Tweed and resulted in Tweed’s imprisonment, yet Tweed, too, is much better known than John Foley...
Most of the readers of these columns collect pens by brand or era. If you hunt pens in the ‘wild’ (relatives’ desks, flea markets) or on that other auction site, you soon discover that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of vintage pen brands...
Perhaps you have seem some examples? Mostly they are black hard rubber pens (but, occasionally, solid color plastics or even gold filled metal examples) with painted decorations in bright geometric, floral or anthropomorphic designs...
What is it? If it weren’t for the paper label on the bottom, a collector might have no inkling that it was made by Parker Pen or how it was to be used. Since any Duofold pen or pencil can be used with a taper, any Duofold is a nearly instant desk pen or desk pencil...
The “PCA” is the club for pen collectors in North America but also has members in many other countries. Your reporter is a member of the Board of Directors (second time, you’d think I’d learn!). The PCA performs several functions for its members including the publication (3 times a year, generally in April, August and December) a magazine named THE PENnant and the maintenance and preservation of a large library of pen catalogs, documents and paper ephemera. THE PENnant is mailed to members and the copies of library items are available for a nominal fee...
For almost 30 years Arthur A. Waterman was repeatedly sued by Lewis E. Waterman and his heirs over the use of the ‘Waterman’ name as a brand for fountain pens. Recent research suggests a similar situation occurred between two pen makers using the ‘Foley’ name in the 1880s and 1890s...
Many pen collectors think they know a good deal about the legendary founders of the great pen makers. Recently, I acquired a letter written on Parker Pen Company stationery and bearing George S. Parker’s signature (in ink written with a fountain pen). It revealed a part of Mr. Parker’s persona which I never suspected...
The battles between Lewis E. Waterman and Arthur A. Waterman over the use of the Waterman name on fountain pens took twenty years. (For details, please see the four part article in the recent issues of Pen World International by Patricia Lotfi and this writer...
What has Stonehenge got to do with pens; has Fultz finally lost his mind entirely? No. Stonehenge was George S. Parker’s park like home on a bluff above the Rock River in Janesville, Wisconsin. It was located about a mile from Parker’s factory and offices on Court Street in Janesville. Sadly, the house burned in the 1950s...
On June 20, 1884, Paul E. Wirt filed an application for a U. S. Patent for his invention of a feed bar and other components for a fountain pen. On February 3, 1885, Wirt was granted Patent number 311,554. In October, 1886, Wirt filed a complaint at Equity in the United States Circuit Court for the Eastern District of New York against Francis C. Brown, the maker of the Caws fountain pen, for infringement of the Wirt Patent...
Like many American pen collectors, my impression of Soennecken pens was formed by the rather indifferent quality fountain pens made in the 1950s and 1960s. These were imported into the U. S. A. and sold at pen shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I entirely lacked any appreciation for the firm, its lengthy history or its broad product line...
In our age, when most newspaper and magazine editors treat fountain pens as antiques or anachronisms, it is nice to remember that once, not so awfully long ago, the development of a new pen mechanism or design might be heralded as a wonder and appear on the front page of a newspaper. The cuts above are from the January 5, 1856, and May 10, 1856, issues of Scientific American. Yes, this is the same Scientific American which is still published today as a glossy monthly magazine (1856 was noted on the masthead as the eleventh of year of publication)...
Samuel Ward was a paper merchant who built a thriving stationery business. Along the way he sold pens -- L. E. Waterman pens, Paul Wirt pens, A. T. Cross stylographic and fountain pens, Mabie, Todd dip pens and more. He also had pens manufactured to his own specifications and stamped with his own brand name...
In 1892 and 1893 The World’s Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery by Christopher Columbus of the ‘New World’. Most experts agree that this event, also known as the Columbian Worlds Fair, was the largest and most spectacular event ever held. Marketers and manufacturers paid large sums to have their products associated with the Fair. In 1892 and the early part of 1893, the fountain pen concession was held by a fountain pen created especially for the Fair, the Columbian. After Columbian Pen's tenure expired it was replaced by another brand, Crown (more about Crown in a later story)...
Replacing the sac in a vintage fountain pen is perhaps the simplest ‘repair’ that a pen collector can do. Most other repairs require the manufacture of parts or cannibalization of parts from another pen. Changing the sac requires a new sac, some shellac, a small brush, a ‘spreader’ and, perhaps, scissors...
Prince’s Protean Fountain Pen was described as “Pen, Pen Holder and Inkstand Combined.” It may be the first fountain pen mass produced in the United States (although John Holland is also sometimes credited with this feat). Newell A. Prince received his first fountain pen Patent September 30, 1851, for a rubber tube fed fountain pen.
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