The things fountain pens have been used for! There was the Waterman 20s during the prohibition era, but the fountain pen pistol patent shows some really creative thinking. This patent was filed for Gaylord Products Inc. in 1954. This was a single shot pistol, designed to be easy to assemble, disassemble, to clean, maintain, operate, and to be reliable in use.
Where can I find ephemera like the Waterman lucky tokens you posted about? A variety of ephemera is still circulating today: ash trays, tokens, posters, ads, pen displays, and more. You can find ephemera in a few places, but you will probably have the most luck at the following: eBay Estate sales Antique stores Flea markets Brick & mortar stores that are getting rid of old items (this is not as common as that stock depletes) …
I have read conservative recommendations on the life span of an ink: one year. Wow. I have definitely used inks longer than one year, and own inks that are much older than one year old! If it doesn’t smell really weird, and if is clean (doesn’t have chunks or slime in it), it’s very likely perfectly okay. I like Sheaffer Skrip King’s Gold – it’s a legible yellow that shades nicely when used with a flex …
It’s fun and interesting to see patents – the originals behind the pens we love so much now. This patent was filed by Lester W. Ormsby, for The Parker Pen Company. Looking at the patent, one may recognize a Parker-like appearance about it. This was a novel cap construction to allow venting in the interior to maintain pressure, but without drying out the nib.
Why do you sell storage/display cases, slotter boxes, and slotted display trays? What is the point of these? A lot of people use cases with elastic loops to store their pens,which can work really well. If you want an option that will not have a snug elastic loop against the barrels/clips of the delicate pens in your collection, the combination of these items is something to consider. They provide an attractive, tidy way to display …
I thought this post would be fun to show some flex while listing a few of the pen brands. My favorite happens to be Waterman, because my first vintage pen was a red ripple Waterman 52V with a F-BBB wet noodle flex nib. I’m still crazy about it. I later added a few Mabie Todds (Swan, Swallow, Blackbird), a Wahl-Eversharp (Skyline, Doric), Pelikan (400NN x 2), Montblanc (220, 22, 344), and in the Waterman range: 52V, …
This may be a stupid question, but what can I put into my vintage pen? They always say there’s no such thing as a stupid question, and that’s true. Fountain pens are meant to be used with fountain pen ink. Do not use calligraphy inks, liquid acrylic inks, India ink, or anything other than fountain pen ink. Fountain pen inks are designed to flow through the fine channels of the feed, and other (non-fountain pen) …
It’s interesting to compare vintage flex nibs to modern flex nibs. My preferred, unmodified modern flexible nib is the OMAS extra flessible nib (in this case, an extra-fine). The OMAS nib is a 14KT gold nib, just like the nib on the Waterman 94 I compared it with in the writing sample below. The vintage nib felt softer, bounced back faster, had better feedback (i.e., it let me know when I was pushing it far enough), and …
Aside from interesting ephemera and useful tools like the Signagraph, Waterman created some other handy items. The Waterman 20S was a prohibition era flask from the 1920s. It was supposed to look exactly like a Safety Pen, but was an innovative and sneaky rubber flask! Considering the average size of other vintage pens, the Waterman 20S was comparatively huge. Below, the Waterman 20S next to a Waterman 420 and Waterman 20.
What is blotting paper? How do I use it? Blotting paper is a highly absorbent type of paper which we fountain pen lovers use to absorb excess ink from whatever we have written on. For inks that don’t dry quickly enough, you can use a blotting sheet or a rocker blotter to prevent smearing of the ink across the paper, on to your hand or clothing, or to prevent shadow printing onto another page when you close …
