Waterman Emerald Green Patrician

Introduction

Waterman Patrician in Emerald Green

The Waterman Patrician is among the most coveted fountain pens still available to collect. Ebay lists Patricians ranging from a few hundred dollars up to $5000. I am fortunate to own two Patricians: an emerald green one pictured above and a moss-agate.

Waterman introduced the Patrician in 1929 just at the start of the Great Depression. The timing couldn’t have been worse since the pen sold for the astronomical price of $10. The pen contained many hand-made parts that raised the manufacturing cost. Patricians were not actively manufactured after 1936[1].

Patricians were expensive to make because they contained many hand-made parts. The pen’s design looked back to the opulent pre-Depression era. Competitors produced modern designs, like the Parker Vacumatic, that were both cheaper and more innovative than the Patrician. Relatively few Patricians were made, given the high manufacturing cost and the low demand during the Depression. This explains why it cost so much to buy a Patrician today.

I, like about 20,000 other people, visited the DC Supershow this past weekend. I enjoyed talking to Brian and Lisa Anderson. Over the years I’ve purchased many unusual Esterbrook nibs from the Andersons. What caught my eye this time were the fountain pen friendly pads of paper they sell. In particular I loved this one:

Real Patrician (top) and Picture on Anderson pad

Waterman History

Founded in 1884, L. E. Waterman is the oldest fountain pen manufacturer among the Big Four[2]. Several companies began making fountain pens around this time, but Waterman’s design proved to be the most reliable.

Emerald Green Patrician, “Posted”

L. E. Waterman’s first pens were eye-dropper fillers made of hard rubber. These pens let ink flow out of the reservoir without blobbing. In 1915 Waterman introduced a level filling mechanism that became their primary filler until the 1955.

In the years preceding the Patrician, Waterman made many innovative and interesting pen models. Most were designated by a number system that reflected, among other things, the size of the pen. These pens were made of black hard rubber, often chased, sterling silver, 14k gold, and gold filled metal. The Patrician was the first plastic pen Waterman made[3]. Most models that came after the Patrician were made of plastic, although they continued to make silver and gold pens that sold at high prices.

Although it is debatable, I think the Patrician was the last great pen that Waterman made. Some people like the Hundred Year pen, which was made from 1939 to c.1949. However, most examples I’ve seen have severe deterioration at the end of the barrel where a bright colored end was attached.

By the 1950s, Waterman was reduced to copying other manufactures—and doing a poor job at that—as witnessed by the Taperite, a Parker 51 knockoff. In desperation, Waterman made a cartridge pen, the C/F, before ceasing operations in 1956.

Waterman had a French subsidiary called Waterman JIF. With the demise of the American parent, Waterman JIF struck out on its own. They were successful and eventually bought out their former parent’s assets. The Waterman pens made today are from the Waterman JIF branch of the company, although the path to the present company is convoluted.

Description

Parker Duofold Centennial (top) compared to an Emerald Green Patrician

The Patrician is slightly smaller than the Duofold Centennial when both are posted, although their lengths are just about identical when capped. Both of these pens are oversized compared to the average pen.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below.

Waterman Patrician compared to a Parker Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Waterman Patrician	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	21	29
Length capped	mm	137	138
Length uncapped	mm	127	127
Length posted	mm	168	172
Max Barrel Diameter	mm	13	13
Mid-Section Diameter	mm	11	11

Details

Patrician filler

Waterman used their standard lever filler in the Patrician. This is the same mechanism that was used, with minor cosmetic changes, from 1915 until the 1950s.

Patrician clip and band

The clip and band were specially designed for the Patrician and were meant to give a feeling of opulence to the pen. These accouterments have the feel of Greek columns. The bottom of the barrel should also have a gold filled disk glued in place. Unfortunately it is missing from my pen.

Barrel marking on the Patrician

The imprint on this Patrician shows few signs of wear and is sharp and clear.

Nib

Patrician nib

The Patrician nib was meant to compliment the luxury feel of the pen. By modern standards it appears too broad and stubby for its height. It is as if Waterman was showing off how much gold they could stuff into the nib since, for a fancy pen like this, money is no object. The engraving on the nib is sharp and clear.

References

• Richard Binder is an excellent online reference on the history of the Patrician.

• The Fountain Pen Board displays a photo of all the different Patrician colors.

Summary

The Patrician was the high point of art deco opulence for Waterman pens. Unfortunately their timing was off on two counts. First the pen looked backwards to the 1920s when the other big pen manufacturers were streamlining their pens in the modern style that was in demand. Second the pen was expensive to make since it contained a lot of custom, hand-made parts that added significant costs. The pen was introduced on the eve of the Depression. This doomed the pen to failure because the price was out of reach for most people.

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1. Waterman ceased manufacturing the Patrician after 1936. They continued to assemble Patricians from spare parts and sell them into the late 1930s. Some people therefore date the end of the Patrician era later than 1936.  ↩

2. See Fischler and Schneider’s book The Golden Age of Writing Instruments. Note that just before 1900 the A. A. Waterman Pen Company came into existence. A. A. Waterman worked for the L. E. Waterman Company before starting his own business.  ↩

3. Waterman made a black hard rubber Patrician when the pen was introduced in 1929.  ↩

Esterbrook Dollar Pen

Introduction

About one-third of my Esterbrook Collection

As you can see from the picture above, I’m a big fan of Esterbrook pens. That wasn’t always the case. Like most fountain pen collectors in the 1980s and 1990s, I considered Esterbrook pens to be one step above junk. Sure they were well-made, functional and versatile, tough and durable[1]. But they had steel nibs during a time when only pens with 14K nibs were considered collectable.

My previous post was about the Parker 45 Signet. In that post I discussed the screw-in nibs used in the Parker 45’s. Twenty-five years before the debut of the Parker 45, Esterbrook introduced the screw-in nib for their fountain pens. What makes Esterbrook pens unique among those pens featuring easily interchangeable nibs, is the vast variety of nib choices available. You could choose from more than 30 different nib styles for any Esterbrook model.

Esterbrook Dollar pen

I’ll focus on the Esterbrook Dollar pen above. I’ve carried this pen with me continuously for the past five years. For the past year I’ve filled it with Noodler’s Heart of Darkness ink. This ink is not only quite dark, but is waterproof, which makes it perfect for signing checks and addressing envelopes. The nib currently in use is the 2556. An unused sample is shown below.

Esterbrook 2556 nib Firm Fine

Esterbrook History

Richard Esterbrook founded Esterbrook Pens in 1860, which made the company much older than Waterman, Parker, Sheaffer, or any other well-know fountain pen manufacturer. Esterbrook manufactured nibs for dip pens from its inception. During the Golden Age of Fountain pens, perhaps from 1900 - 1935, Esterbrook continued to make only nibs for dip pens. It wasn’t until the mid 1930s that Esterbrook decided to make fountain pens that could take advantage of the 30 or so nib models that were used on dip pens. By making an integrated nib and feed unit that screwed into the section of their fountain pens, they were able to offer all the steel nibs to fountain pen users that were available for dip pens.

Because this was the depression, when people didn’t have much money, the first popular Esterbrook pens sold for only one dollar and were appropriately named Dollar Pens, which debuted in 1935 were named by later generations of pen collectors Dollar Pens. They debuted in 1935. [Thanks to Brian Anderson, see comments, for pointing out that the name Dollar Pen was not given to this model by Esterbrook.]

Esterbrook made some beautiful pens in marbled plastic into the early 1960s as can be seen in the picture at the top of this post. When cheap and convenient ballpoint pens overran the market during the 1950s and into the 1960s, Esterbrook tried desperately to stay competitive by introducing not only ballpoints of their own, but also cartridge pens for those people who still wanted to use fountain pens but didn’t want the “mess” of filling their pens from a bottle. Nothing worked. According to David Nishimura, the company merged with Venus in 1967 and went out of business in 1971.

Description

Parker Duofold Centennial (top) compared to an Esterbrook Dollar Pen

As you can see, the Dollar Pen is noticeably smaller than a modern Duofold Centennial, which I’ve generally used for size comparison. To some, the Dollar Pen might be a bit short to use unposted. It is quite comfortable to use posted. The Dollar Pen weighs about half of what the modern Centennial weighs. But the Centennial has a brass core and feels quite heavy. The Dollar Pen feels right.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below.

Esterbrook Dollar Pen compared to a Parker Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Esterbrook Dollar Pen	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	15	29
Length capped	mm	121	138
Length uncapped	mm	101	127
Length posted	mm	159	172
Max Barrel Diameter	mm	12	13
Mid-Section Diameter	mm	10	11

Details

Esterbrook Dollar Pen filler

My Dollar Pen is from 1938 - 1940. Identification is based on Paul Hoban’s excellent book, The Fountain Pens of Esterbrook[2]. The Dollar pen is smaller than the more popular “J” pens and their variants (SJ and LJ).

Cut outs in the clip

Dollar Pens have distinctive cut outs in the clip. The cut outs were more rounded in the earliest versions of the Dollar Pen, c.1936. Even though the pens was made in the 1930s, the style is closer to the classic 1920s flat-top designs of the big four pen makers[3].

Top of Cap

The top of the cap of the Esterbrook Dollar Pen was chrome and contained the word Esterbrook written in cursive script.

Barrel marking on the Dollar Pen

Interchangeable Nibs

Esterbrook nib-feed unit screws into the barrel

This picture shows the variety of screw-in nibs still available for Esterbrook pens. With rare exception, these nibs will fit in any Esterbrook fountain pen. I have bought a few Esterbrook desk pens on eBay, when the price was right, just to acquire the nib for use in an Esterbrook pocket fountain pen.

The easily interchangeable screw-in nibs are what make Esterbrook Pens so popular today, even among collectors who are mostly interested in new pens. The ability to transform your Esterbrook pen, in 10 seconds, from a firm medium nib to an ultra flexible “Spencerian” broad nib makes these pens extremely attractive.

References

• Anderson Pens is a great source of Esterbrook nibs at fair prices.

• Richard Binder, a well-known nibmeister, has a well-researched table of all the Esterbrook nib models manufactured.

Several well-known bloggers, who primarily write about contemporary rather than vintage pens, are also interested in Esterbrook pens.

• Ray at Fountain Pen Quest has written many posts that discuss different Esterbrook nibs. His most recent blog post on an Esterbrook nib is here.

• Ana at The Well-Appointed Desk has also written a half-dozen or more posts about Esterbrook pens and specific nibs. Her most recent Esterbrook post can me found here.

• Both Brad and Jeff have each written about Esterbrook pens at The Pen Addict. Their most recent post was also about the Esterbrook Dollar Pen.

Summary

The Esterbrook Dollar Pen was a tough, durable, and versatile pen, just like the models that followed it (“J”, “LJ”, and “SJ”). Not only is it well worth having an Esterbrook pen in your collection, but it is a good idea to acquire several Esterbrook screw-in nibs. The ability to change from a normal everyday nib to a broad stub signature nib and then back to the original nib all in a few seconds and with minimal fuss make Esterbrook pens a great addition to any pen collection. Although this Dollar Pen is a rather plain black, many of the Esterbrook pen models come in beautiful marble patterns as illustrated at the top of this post.

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1. My roommate in graduate school wrote with an Esterbrook pen that he started using in high school during the 1950s. Today he is still using that pen fifty years later.  ↩

2. The Fountain Pens of Esterbrook by Paul Hoban was published in 1992. Few people used the fledgling internet in those days; Google didn’t exit. If you wanted to learn about Esterbrook Pens you needed to buy Hoban’s book or talk to other pen collectors at pen shows.  ↩

3. Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, and Wahl  ↩

Parker 45 Signet

Introduction

Parker 45 Signet Pen and Pencil Set

My last post was about the Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen. I mentioned that I used that pen all through high school and college. When I graduated from college in 1965 I received a graduation present of a Parker 45 Signet[1] pen and pencil set. In those days I rarely carried more than one fountain pen. I retired the Student pen when I started using the Parker 45[2].

The picture above shows the pen and pencil set. For a change I can precisely date the set since I received it in June 1965. Like the Student Cartridge pen, the Parker 45 took ink cartridges. Unlike the Student pen, the Parker 45 also used an aerometric converter that looked much like the filler built into the Parker 51.

One distinctive feature of the Parker 45 was that it used screw-in, interchangeable nibs[3]. If you had a fine nib in your Parker 45 and wanted to use a broad nib to sign a document, you simply unscrewed the nib and screwed in a broad nib. After signing the document you could replace the broad nib with the original fine one.

Parker 45 History

Parker 45 Signet pen and pencil—uncapped pen

I’ve written a brief history of the Parker pen models in conjunction with my post on the Parker Big Red Duofold. That history can be found here and also at the Parker Models tab at the top of the blog window. Left out of the history are the second tier models such as the Parker 45. I’ll remedy that below.

The Parker 45 was first manufactured and sold in 1960. According to the excellent article on parkerpens.net, the Parker 45 was made until 2007. That article has some wonderful pictures of the very wide range of Parker 45 styles, including a set of very rare models.

The Parker 51 was the top-of-the-line model for most of its existence. During those decades, Parker introduced many less expensive models that were similar to the 51 but could be manufactured and sold for less to accommodate customers who couldn’t afford their most prestigious model. Parker created the Parker 21 and also the Parker 41 to fill this void, but they were not popular. Perhaps they looked too much like cheap knock-offs of the Parker 51 plastic barrel models[4].

With the Parker 45, Parker added some luxury and innovative features that made that model desirable in its own right, rather than being just a cheaper version of the 51. While the 51 sported a hooded nib, the 45 had a semi-hooded nib. That is, you could see more of the 45 nib than the 51 nib. See the picture below.

The screw-in, interchangeable nib feature was very unusual among Parker pens[5]. Another interesting feature was the unique finger grip that is perhaps the distant ancestor of the grip on the Lamy Safari. One more unusual features of the Parker 45, at least at that time, was the use of either a cartridge or removable aerometric convertor. Nowadays a converter (aerometric or piston) is a very common filling system on new pens , but when Parker introduced it few pens had a cartridge-converter system.

Description

Parker 45 Signet (top) compared to a Parker 51 Signet

In previous posts, I’ve used a modern Parker Duofold Centennial for comparison. This time I’ve added the Parker 51 Signet, which is the “big brother” to the 45 Signet. You can see that the 51 is a little longer when posted and a bit wider than the 45. The posted length of both the 45 and the 51 are less than the Duofold Centennial because the Centennial posts right near the end of the barrel while the other two post a good way down the barrel. The indentation on the 45’s section is a finger grip.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below.

Parker 45 compared to a Parker 51 and a Parker Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Parker 45	Parker 51	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	22	25	29
Length capped	mm	135	135	138
Length uncapped	mm	127	127	127
Length posted	mm	146	153	172
Max Barrel Diameter	mm	11	12	13
Mid-Section Diameter	mm	10	10	11

Details

Parker 45 filler

With the barrel unscrewed you can see that the Parker 45 has an aerometric filler similar to the Parker 51. The main difference is that the 45’s filler is a converter and pulls out allowing you to replace it with a cartridge. The 51’s filler is fixed in place.

The clip is the standard Parker arrow that had been used since it’s introduction on the Vacumatic in the early 1930s.

Interchangeable Nib

Parker 45 nib-feed unit screws into the barrel

The picture shows the nib-feed unit and the barrel. To change nibs, you simply unscrew the nib unit and screw in a new one. It is still possible to find Parker 45 nib-feed units at pen shows and on eBay. The Signet model came with a 14k gold nib, although it was not marked as such. There was also a less expensive Octanium nib unit which was generally used on plastic models [Update: My thanks to Geoffrey Parker—great-grandson of the founder of Parker Pens, George S. Parker— for informing me that originally all Parker 45 pens came with 14k nibs. The Octanium nibs were added some time after the introduction of the 45] . Because the nib units are interchangeable, You can occasionally find a 14k unit on a low-end plastic Parker 45.

The nib size is marked on the underside of the feed. Here it’s medium

Summary

The Parker 45 was one notch below the Parker 51 on the luxury scale. The Signet model was the top of the line Parker 45. I don’t believe that a solid gold model was ever made. Even though the Parker 51 was priced higher than the 45, the many innovative features of the 45 made it a popular choice, even in the luxury market.

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1. Parker uses the term Signet to refer to any pen in their lineup that is made of Gold Filled Metal (GFM), that is, a pen that has a high quality gold finish but is not solid gold. The term Insignia was also used for this model. I’m speculating that this is the name used in England for the GFM model.  ↩

2. As I mentioned in the post on the Student Cartridge pen, I currently carry a Student pen converted to an eyedropper and filled with Noodler’s Dragon’s Napalm.  ↩

3. Parker didn’t invent the screw-in, easy to replace, nib and feed. The inspiration probably came from Esterbrook, which had been making fountain pens with screw-in nib and feed units for almost 30 years when the Parker 45 came on the scene. According to Richard Binder’s chart Esterbrook produced 69 different nib styles that could be used with their fountain pens.  ↩

4. The Parker 21 and 41 models were only made of plastic. There was no Signet model. The most significant difference between the Parker 51 and the Parker 21/41 was that the 51 had a gold nib while the others had Octanium (steel) nibs. Most other features were similar, to the plastic Parker 51s, with the exception of the clip. The Parker 51 had the distinctive arrow clip, whereas the Parker 21 and Parker 41 had plain clips.  ↩

5. The only other example of a screw-in nib unit among Parker models was the VP, which was introduced two years after the 45. The VP was only made for a few years and, shortly after its introduction, the screw-in unit was replaced with a push-in unit. This push in unit became a major feature of the very successful Parker 75.  ↩

Sheaffer Student Cartridge Pen

Introduction

Sheaffer Student Cartridge Pens c.1955 - 1970

The Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen was an innovative pen that introduced features that have found their way into the design of modern pens[1]. The pen was produced from the mid 1950s to around 1970 1980[2]. The basic design was still being used for calligraphy pens into the current century, albeit without the transparent barrels and slim profile.

I chose to write about this pen because I used it during almost the entire time it was made. I stumbled upon the Student Cartridge pen when I started high school in 1957. This was a time of transition from the ubiquitous use of fountain pens to the adoption of “modern” ballpoint pens. Like most of my fellow students I used a ballpoint[3] for a while and couldn’t afford a “fancy” fountain pen. The Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen was priced cheaply enough that if you could afford a ballpoint pen you could afford one of these too. They cost about a dollar and a pack of five ink cartridges cost 49 cents[4].

I usually kept two of these pens in my shirt pocket, one containing washable blue ink and the other containing red. Sometimes I switched to a permanent black ink cartridge instead of the red one. I kept one or two spare cartridges[5] in my pocket in case the pen ran out of ink during an exam.

Because it took so little pressure to write with a fountain pen and my penmanship looked better when I wrote with one, I used a Student Cartridge pen all the time. Ballpoints of that era had a nasty habit of clogging and either refusing to write or producing thick, ugly blobs of ink. Nowadays we think of ballpoints as always writing without a problem and the refills lasting for ages, but that was not the case in the 1950s.

Converting to an Eyedropper

A Sheaffer Student pen converted to an eyedropper

The section of a Sheaffer cartridge pen screws into the barrel using a very fine thread that takes many turns to close. I imagine this is because the end of the section that goes into the barrel has a blunt syringe-like point that has to penetrate the thick plastic ink cartridge to start the ink flowing. The fine threads and slow progress with each turn gives excellent leverage to pierce the cartridge end with a neat, small hole that lets the ink flow into the section to the feed without spilling any ink into the barrel[6].

It occurred to me that this design is also optimal for an eye-dropper conversion[7]. All I had to do was coat the threads with silicone grease, fill the barrel with Noodler’s Dragon’s Napalm ink, and screw the section into the barrel. I’ve been writing with the pen for several months and it’s still half full. It has never leaked. As usual with this model, the ink flows consistently and the pen is entirely free of problems.

Sheaffer Student Cartridge Pen History

Sheaffer Student fountain pen

The history of the Sheaffer Pen Company goes back to 1912 when W. A. Sheaffer patented the first lever filling pen. I’ll save the detailed history for a separate post just as I did with the equally important Parker Pen Company. I want to talk specifically about the history of the Student Cartridge pen because there seems to be so little written about it. I suppose that’s because it was at the bottom of the Sheaffer pricing hierarchy. Nevertheless, this is an important pen historically because it contained many of the characteristics that we find in modern intermediately priced pens[1].

Before the Student Cartridge pen, demonstrators were, in fact, demonstrators meant for salesmen to show the inner workings of a pen. They were not meant to be used by the customers. The Student Cartridge pen changed that perspective: the concept was that customers like to see the inner workings of their pen. When combined with an ink cartridge using a translucent shell to show the ink remaining, these pens became the first pen to solve the historic problem of how to keep the pen owner informed of how much ink is left in his pen. Previous attempts used a tiny clear area just above the section or, as in the case of the Vacumatic, a barrel that was difficult to see through—and then only when the ink hadn’t coated the inside of the barrel.

I don’t know if the Student Cartridge pen was the first pen to use disposable ink cartridges, but it was among the pioneers[5]. Early models had a cigar shape with both ends rounded in a way similar to the fountain pen style of the 1930s. Later models had the ends squared-off so that they were more cylindrical, reminding one of 1920s fountain pens, such as the original Parker Duofold.

Description

Sheaffer Student Cartridge and a Parker Duofold Centennial

As in previous posts, I’ve used a modern Parker Duofold Centennial for comparison. The Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen is noticeably shorter and thinner, although still much larger than a Kaweco Sport.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below

Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen compared to a Parker Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Sheaffer Student Pen	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	10	29
Length capped	mm	134	138
Length uncapped	mm	120	127
Length posted	mm	147	172
Max Barrel Diameter	mm	10	13
Section Diameter (middle)	mm	9	11

Details

Student pen nib

The has a firm medium steel nib. The grip is rounded and tappers slightly towards the nib. It is comfortable to write with although I usually prefer a slightly wider grip.

Student pen clip

The clip carries the Sheaffer name and is strong and firm. There is very little chance that a student will spring[8] this clip. Because the process of gold-plating used today creates a very thin coating of gold over base metal, it is not as durable as the older gold-filling process used on the 1920s Conklin Crescent. The clip may be polished repeatedly without fear of exposing the base metal beneath. The clip is attached to the cap by a stiff metal rod that provides the spring action when you press on the back.

Writing Sample

I usually don’t include a writing sample because they tend to show as much about the ink and paper as the pen. However, since this pen is already inked, and with Dragon’s Napalm at that, I’ve provided a brief sample.

Writing sample using a Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen filled with Noodler’s Dragon’s Napalm ink

Summary

Light shining through the barrel of a Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen filled with Noodler’s Dragon’s Napalm ink

The Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen was a tough, sturdy, inexpensive fountain pen that could stand up to almost anything a student might inflict on it. I’ve dropped them from a height of five feet without ever causing any permanent damage.

There are tons of these pens still around more than 40 years after they stopped being made, which is a tribute to both their toughness and the inexpensive price at which they sold. You can find them at flea markets, pen shows, and on eBay. As an experiment, I bid on a few of these pens as they came up for sale on eBay. I wound up with three of them at an average price of about $13 including shipping. All worked perfectly. In fact, there are no delicate parts to break on this pen. Perhaps you could damage the nib if you dropped it point down on a hard surface. These pens compare quite favorably with modern pens. They are cheaper than almost every well made modern pen and if grease the threads with silicone you can use them as eyedroppers with an ink supply that writes for three or four times longer than an ink cartridge.

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1. Specifically, the Student Cartridge pen had a transparent or translucent body, a metallic cap, filled with an ink cartridge, and had a solid, reliable, well-made nib that was good enough to bear the Sheaffer name.  ↩

2. Thanks to Penemuel for providing the information that the Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen was still being produced into the early 1980s. I couldn’t find any information online about the dates of production.  ↩

3. Strange as it might seem, in the mid 1950s it was by no means clear that these cheap, throwaway ballpoint pens were anything more than a fad and that the fountain pen would be superseded by these inelegant pens. There was a lot of concern that the ink used in ballpoints would fade after a few years and documents written with them would fade away to blank paper. People were counseled to make out and sign checks with a fountain pen because ballpoint ink might not last.  ↩

4. I wound up with a lot of these pens because there was frequently a special where a pen and two five packs of cartridges were sold for little more than the cost of the cartridges.  ↩

5. During the mid 1950s to early 1960s other companies, in addition to Sheaffer, used ink cartridges in their lower priced models. Parker used a disposable cartridge in the Parker 45. Esterbrook created a cartridge pen during this time in a desperate, but unsuccessful attempt to fend off bankruptcy.  ↩

6. This design works so well that you can refill a cartridge many times with a syringe without enlarging the hole in the cartridge each time the section is screwed into place.  ↩

7. Modern pens, such as the Kaweco Sport, copy this design and also make ideal pens for an eyedropper conversion. If fact, if you gave the Kaweco Sport transparent model a medal cap with a clip, it would look and function a lot like a mini Sheaffer Student Cartridge pen.  ↩

8. A clip is said to be sprung if it is bent away from the cap so that it doesn’t grip the shirt pocket tightly. It usually took very little force to spring the clip of a cheap pen. However, a pen meant for students, such as the Student Cartridge pen, had to be tougher than the average pen. In this case the clip was made of heavy-duty steel and firmly attached to the cap. It would be very difficult to spring the clip of a Student Cartridge pen.  ↩

Post 004 Conklin Crescent Model 20

Introduction

After reading Ed Jelley’s excellent review of the new Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler pen, I thought it would be interesting to do a review of the original Conklin Crescent pen. It is obvious that the current Conklin Pen Company wanted to pay tribute to the iconic crescent filler made during the early part of the Twentieth Century[1].

The new Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler—from Ed Jelley’s review

Conklin Crescent Filler c.1920

As usual, Richard Binder’s website has an excellent summary of the history of crescent fillers from the original Conklin to several modern crescent fillers.

Conklin Pen Company History

The Conklin Pen Company was founded in 1898 by Roy Conklin in Toledo Ohio. Their best know pen was the crescent filler, which was so popular that, for a brief time in the 1920s, the company was one of the Big Four[2].

The early Conklin pens had a slip cap. The screw on cap was introduced in 1910. Crescent filler pens were made of hard rubber, sometimes with gold or silver filagree overlays like the Peter Pan pen discussed in the previous post. Other models had solid gold or silver coverings with elaborate embellishments. The last crescent fillers were made in 1928.

By the middle 1920s it became clear to most pen manufacturers that plastic pens would supplant hard rubber. Conklin introduced its Endura[3] model in 1926. These lever filling plastic pens were made until 1932. They came in several colors and patterns similar to the Parker Duofolds of that era.

One of the most beautiful pens Conklin ever made was the Nozac[4], which was made from 1932–1938. The pens were either round or 10 sided in the early years, but later models had 12 or 14 sides. A nice innovation was the word gauge. A measuring scale was engraved on a transparent section of the barrel. The scale was calibrated in thousands of words remaining so that you could tell how much longer the pen would write before running out of ink. I have a few of these later model Nozacs in my collection. One of these will be the subject of a future post.

The depression of the 1930s took a severe toll on the Conklin Pen Company and they were virtually bankrupt by 1939. The company was sold to a syndicate in Chicago that made cheap pens and wanted to capitalize on the prestigious Conklin name. However the Conklin pens made in Chicago were so bad that most vintage pen collectors avoid them. The Conklin Pen Company limped along until it went out of business in 1948.

Description

Conklin Crescent Filler and a Parker Duofold Centennial

As in previous posts, I’ve used a modern Parker Duofold Centennial for comparison. The pictures shows that the two pens are about the same length when posted. The Duofold is noticeably wider and the massive 18K nib outshines the smaller Conklin 14k nib. However, the Conklin nib is a very flexible nib, which is just about perfect for writing with significant line width variation.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below along with the corresponding measurements for the new Conklin Mark Twain and the Parker Duofold Centennial. For the Mark Twain, I used the measurements provided by Ed Jelley in his review[5]. Note that Ed Jelley’s measurement of the Mark Twain’s weight was made with the pen filled whereas my measurements are made when the pens are empty. I would guess that the ink in the Mark Twain weighted about two grams, which would make the weight of the Mark Twain and the Duofold about the same. The Conklin Crescent is a little smaller than the Mark Twain when capped, but a little bigger when posted.

1920s Conklin Crescent compared to a Conklin Mark Twain, and Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Conklin Crescent	Conklin Mark Twain	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	15	31	29
Length capped	mm	138	142	138
Length uncapped	mm	124	…	127
Length posted	mm	172	165	172

Details

The nib is extremely flexible; it takes very little pressure to spread the tines.

Conklin nib

The clip on the Conklin Crescent is gold-filled and shines brightly. Because the process of gold-plating used today creates a very thin coating of gold over base metal, it is not as durable as the older gold-filling process used on the 1920s Conklin Crescent. The clip may be polished repeatedly without fear of exposing the base metal beneath. The clip is attached to the cap by a stiff metal rod that provides the spring action when you press on the back.

Conklin Crescent clip shines!

Conklin Crescent clip attachment

Since the crescent is the defining part of this pen here is a picture of each side of the crescent. Notice the important slip ring that grips the barrel and slides between the crescent and the barrel. In the position shown, the slip ring keeps the crescent from squirting ink inadvertently because the crescent can’t be depressed. However, if you turn the slip ring so that its slit is directly under the crescent, then the crescent can be depressed to fill the pen with ink.

Conklin name on the crescent

Conklin Trade Mark on the crescent

The engraved crescent encompassing the word CRESCENT helps to date the pen. These markings were used on the crescent from 1918–1928. There was no design change during these years so it is impossible to refine the manufacture date any closer than this interval. Another constant was the engraving on the barrel.

Conklin engraving in the barrel

Conklin engraving of the model number “20”

Summary

The vintage Conklin Crescent Pen was a great pen in its day and remains a pen that is worth using today. The super flex nib would be fun to use. If you find an old Conklin Crescent with a dried out ink sac, it is generally fairly easy to replace the sac. Replacement sacs are available online and at most large pen shows. It takes a bit of skill to disassemble any pen that uses an ink sac, so practice on a junker before attempting to open a valuable pen like the Conklin Crescent, or find someone who is experienced to do the repairs.

It seems as if the crescent would get in your way when writing, but if the nib and crescent are aligned there usually isn’t a problem. One advantage the crescent fillers have over the more common lever fillers is that they won’t roll off a table!

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1. The original Conklin Crescent filler was made of hard rubber and was decorated with a pattern of wavy lines etched into the surface. This is called chasing. I assume the modern Mark Twain Crescent is made from plastic.  ↩

2. The Big Four pen companies during the early 1920s included Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, and Conklin. Sometime in the late 1920s Wahl displaced Conklin from the number four spot.  ↩

3. Plastic was believed to be more durable than hard rubber. Undoubtedly the name Endura was chosen to indicate that these pens would endure for a long time.  ↩

4. The Nozac was designed by Louis Vavrik. Once again Conklin chose a name that described the pen. Nozac appears to be a play on the words no sac. The pen used a twist filler mechanism.  ↩

5. Ed’s review of the Mark Twain gives the weight in metric units and the length in English units (inches). To make the comparisons in the table, I converted the English units to millimeters.  ↩

Post 003 Salz Peter Pan

Introduction

Today’s post features what is probably the smallest pen ever made: the Peter Pan pen from the Salz Brothers Pen Company. Pens we think of today as small, like the Kaweco Sport, look like giants when seen next to the Peter Pan pen.

Short international cartridge, Peter Pan pen, Kaweco Sport, and Duofold Centennial,

Salz Brothers History

The Salz Brothers Pen Company was founded around 1920 in New York City by Ignatz[1], James, and Jacob Salz. Salz initially produced high quality pens, but over time the quality deteriorated. The company went out of business around 1950. Some nice examples of early Salz pens can be found at PENS PAPER INKS…WHATEVER!, including this 1920s pen and pencil set. The website also gives a brief history of the Salz Brothers Pen Company.

Salz pen and pencil set from the 1920s. Image from PENS PAPER INKS…WHATEVER!

There is limited information available about the Salz Brothers Pen Company. Richard Binder, an extremely knowledgeable pen collector and highly respected nibmeister, has some useful information.

Worthpoint has some details on the later years of the Salz Brothers Pen Company including the name change to Stratford Pen Company.

Description

Peter Pan Pen

My Peter Pan pen is an early[2] model, probably from the early 1920s, and is typical of the style popular in the early twentieth century. The barrel was made of black hard rubber and overlaid with a gold filigree pattern. There is a solid area where a name could be engraved. The gold overlay on the Peter Pan was, in fact, actually gold filled, which meant that 10% of the material used for the overlay was made from 18K gold.[3]

The pen was too small to hold a lever or button filler that was typically used when this pen was made. You can see from the picture above that even a short international cartridge would have too big a diameter to fit inside the barrel, in addition to being too long.

The Peter Pan Disassembled

The pen has a small ring at the top of the cap. A ribbon or chain was passed through the ring so that the pen could be worn by a woman around her neck. The pen then served a dual purpose: a writing instrument and a piece of jewelry.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below. The Peter Pan weighs in at ridiculously light 4 grams, or only 14% of a modern Duofold Centennial. It is interesting to see that the Kaweco Sport, which is considered a small pen today, is just about twice as long as the Peter Pan pen.

Early 1920s Peter Pan compared to a Kaweco Sport, and Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Peter Pan	Kaweco Sport	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	4	9	29
Length, capped	mm	56	105	138
Length, uncapped	mm	53	100	127
Length, posted	mm	77	134	172

Details

The nib of the Peter Pan pen is usually described as a No. 1 0, that is, the smallest nib size in use.

Peter Pan No. 0 size nib

The nib is inscribed “Peter Pan 14 KT”. As mentioned earlier, the pen is an eyedropper filler, that is, the ink is squirted into the barrel and the nib/section is screwed back into place.

I was curious about the ink capacity of the barrel, so I measured it[4]. The Peter Pan pen can hold 0.4 mL of ink. This volume is about 1/100 of an ounce. According to Wolfram Alpha, this is the equivalent of 2/3 of a plain M&M, although I imagine it’s not as tasty.

Looking down into the barrel looks like a satellite photo

The engraving on the cap says Salz Brothers and 18 K - 1/10, which indicates that the hard rubber body is covered with a gold filled alloy.

Engraving on the cap

Summary

The Salz Brothers Peter Pan pen is an example of the pens produced during the early years of the company (1920s). The materials and workmanship were of high quality, unlike the pens made during their later years. I am fortunate to have another Peter Pan pen in my collection. It differs from the one shown here only in that the gold filled exterior is solid (not a filigree pattern) so the hard rubber doesn’t show through.

It’s too bad more isn’t known about the Salz Pen Company, but I suppose that is because they only made quality pens during the first part of their existence. There would be little interest in the low quality pens made during the later years.

I can’t resist one more comparison shot:

The little gun and the big gun

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1. Ignatz was quite a playboy and spent much of his time in nightclubs. Apparently he mixed with the wrong type of people and was shot at the entrance to his home one evening. New York Times Abstract  ↩

2. The original Peter Pan pens, like this example, were superseded by increasingly larger models that were needed to accommodate non-eyedropper filling systems.  ↩

3. Gold filled pens were of much higher quality than our modern gold plated equivalent. The gold doesn’t wear off as easily as gold plating, although heavy use will eventually cause brassing where the gold is worn away.  ↩

4. I filled a syringe with water and noted the amount of water. I then slowly pushed down the plunger squirting water into the barrel. I stopped when the barrel was full and noted the amount of water remaining in the syringe. Subtracting this number from the original amount gave the amount of water (or ink) that was needed to fill the barrel. That number turns out to be 0.4 mL. Since a milliliter and a cubic centimeter are the same volume, this is also 0.4 cc.  ↩

002 Parker Big Red Duofold 1928-29

Introduction

The Parker Pen Company was founded in 1888 by George S. Parker. Parker has made pens continuously since then and is still in business today[1]. Parker was one of the Big Four pen companies that dominated the fountain pen industry during its Golden Age. For more information, see the companion article Parker Models found at the tab above.

This picture, like all the illustrations in this post, shows my 1928–9 Big Red Duofold Senior.

Duofold History

The Duofold was launched in 1921 with the Big Red model, which has since become the most recognizable Duofold color. Originally the pen was made from hard rubber, but in 1926 Parker plastic models. Plastic pens quickly dominated the market and were the mainstay of pen manufacturers ever since[2]. Duofolds sold for $7, which was considered outrageously expensive at the time. Nevertheless the public fell in love with the pen and were willing to pay this extravagant sum to own one[3].

Description

Big Red Senior from 1928–9

I own several Big Red Duofold Seniors. The specific one shown in this post was made in 1928 or 1929[4]. It has two thin gold bands on the cap, that distinguish it from earlier models that had either no band, or a single large band. Later models, know as Slimline, although also having two thin bands, had caps that tapered somewhat so that the top of the cap had a smaller diameter than the bottom where the threads were located.

The weight and size of the pen are given in the table below. The Duofold Senior weighs in at surprisingly light 21g compare to a modern Duofold Centennial that weighs 29g. The extra weight of the Centennial is due to the brass casing for the filling mechanism. The size of the Senior and Centennial are virtually identical, which shows how carefully the designers of the modern pen were to be faithful to the 1920s design.

The 1928–29 Duofold Senior compared to the Duofold Centennial

Measurement	Units	Duofold Senior	Duofold Centennial
Weight	g	21	29
Length, capped	mm	138	138
Length, uncapped	mm	130	127
Length, posted	mm	171	172

Details

The nib of the 1928–9 Duofold Senior is appropriately sized for a pen of these dimensions, that is, it’s quite big. It is, of course, made from 14K gold, which was the standard for that day.

The nib is inscribed “Parker Duofold Made in USA” [5].

The 1920s Duofold pens carried over the button filler mechanism that was used in the Jackknife Safety pen and other predecessors of the Duofold.

Pushing in the button would cause a thin metal strip to bow towards the center of the barrel causing the ink sac to compress. Releasing the button while the nib was immersed in ink caused the ink sac to fill.

The imprint on the barrel is somewhat worn, but it is clearly legible.

The imprint reads George S. Parker—Parker Duofold—Made in USA[6].

The clip was large and gold-filled.

The engraving on the clip reads “Pat. SE 5–16” at the top and “Parker ” written vertically.

Summary

The 1928–29 Parker Duofold Senior was one of the most prestigious and expensive pens of its time. It was meant to reflect the importance of the user and to make a statement. The large size and the amount of gold in the nib was meant to impress people. This was the kind of pen that was used to sign a bill into law, or, for lesser mortals, sign a mortgage contract.

This particular unit has some flaws. There is a series of gauges in the barrel where a tool of some sort seems to have slipped. The imprint is worn, but easily readable. Also, it looks like the lip of the cap had a chip knocked out and later glued into place. These noticeable flaws made the pen less valuable and I purchased it for somewhat less money than a pristine unit. Perhaps some day, if the mood strikes me, I might fill this pen with ink and write with it. A little extra wear probably won’t hurt the value of this pen as it would one in better condition.

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1. Parker did stumble in the 1980s and was bought out by its management, who quickly sold the company to a conglomerate. The conglomerate moved the headquarters to England and subsequently to France.  ↩

2. Plastic pens could be made in a large number of colors and patterns, whereas hard rubber pens came in only red and black. Early plastic Duofold colors include red, black, jade, mandarin yellow, lapis blue, and pearl.  ↩

3. Parker, aware that large Duofold Seniors were too expensive for many people, introduced a smaller and less expensive model named the Duofold Junior, which sold for $5. Also sold at $5 was the Lady Duofold, which was similar to the Junior model except that the clip was replaced with a gold color ring on the top of the cap. The ring was used to attach the pen to a neckless since women’s clothing styles didn’t include pockets. My mother, who was a young girl during the 1920s, told me how much she disliked this style of ladies pens because, inevitably, the pen would work its way loose, unscrew from the cap, and she would look down and find just an empty cap dangling from the neckless.  ↩

4. How is the date of a pen determined? The most common method of dating a pen is by comparing it to contemporary magazine advertisements. Looking at a series of ads in dated magazines for Parker Duofolds during the 1920s shows all the major and minor modifications made during the years it was produced. In particular, Glen Bowen’s book, Collectable Fountain Pens is filled with ads arranged chronologically for each manufacturer.  ↩

5. Beneath the inscription are the additional characters “.47.”, however I don’t know the significance of this.  ↩

6. The Parker Vacumatic pen, which followed the Duofold, had the year of manufacture as part of its imprint. Thus a “9” in the imprint would mean the pen was made in 1939.  ↩