Unusual filling mechanism: #3 Blow-fill in Red Mottled Hard Rubber (very rare). Yes, the user put the pen into his mouth and blew through a hole in the bottom of the barrel to pneumatically depress the bladder. Then, with the nib in the ink bottle, the user released the pneumatic pressure and the ink was drawn into the bladder. Eventually, Crocker supplied a rubber syringe (bulb) which fit over the end of the pen to replace the (unsanitary) use of the mouth. When Seth Chilton Crocker left the Crocker Pen Company (owned by his father) and started the Chilton Pen Company (his own company), the blow-filler mechanism was replaced by another pneumatic filling mechanism using a sliding barrel with a hole in the end which the user covered with his or her finger – a big improvement (see item # )! This is a very early “Cone Cap” example, without cap threads. Fine, triple flexible “Warranted” nib. Near mint. Item #132 in Catalog #82.
