Filed only several months after the eye dropper patent (No. 293.545), L. E. Waterman filed a patent for the Waterman fountain pen. Our gratitude again to James Hart for providing this patent image for sharing.
From the US National Archives, a copy of the L. E. Waterman patent from 1884 for the eye dropper pen. How interesting to see the early start of Waterman on record! Thank you to James Hart for providing this patent for sharing.
Waterman produced some beautiful rippled ebonite (hard rubber) vintage fountain pens around 1920 to 1930. Red ripple is not particularly uncommon, but the red ripple with nickel trim is much more rare. The blue-green ripple is very attractive, and both the olive and rose ripple are particularly beautiful. Although Waterman invested a lot financially to perfect their colored rubber, it could not compete with the celluloid pens that other pen manufacturers were producing. Waterman soon discontinued …
Actually, they only changed the names. I know quite a few people who were disappointed in Waterman changing the names of their classic inks. My favorite names were Florida Blue, Havana Brown, and South Sea Blue. I wish they had kept those and renamed the others! Inspired Blue just doesn’t feel as descriptive as South Sea Blue. Nevertheless, Waterman inks are reliable and dependable inks which are a good choice for vintage pens.
The Waterman eyedropper-fill safety pens were produced around 1905 to 1935. Safety pens have nibs that can be extended and retracted by turning a knob at the bottom of the pen’s barrel. These vintage safety pens are all eyedropper-fill – there are no sacs or any other system aside from the barrel that you fill with ink directly past the retracted nib. Ink is dropped into the open end to about one-half inch from the top. Waterman …
Azizah, one of our customers, sent us these two pictures of her Waterman 42 Safety filler. She picked this 1930 vintage eyedropper in red ripple hard rubber out from our Catalog #74. Azizah loves music nibs and she told us she just couldn’t miss this opportunity. She shared these two pictures with us; one of the pen itself, the other a writing sample – the nib is no big deal, she joked. Watch for a post on …
Pelikan has recently relaunched their 101N series in Lizard, Red Tortoise, and Brown Tortoiseshell. They look very similar to their vintage counterparts and feel quite similar in terms of the size and design. Pen #15 below is a 1937 Pelikan 101N Lizard. It has a delightful double-broad, flexible, italic nib. This specimen (no pun intended) is in near mint condition. Although you can find the modern Lizard, it won’t have a nib like this on …
Continuing on the (now vintage pens!) Esterbrook trend! For the traveling sales person, Esterbrook had handy cases with slots for various Esterbrook pens (such as the lovely pastels), along with smaller slots across the top for nib units, with corresponding numbers. There was also a nib selection chart with writtng samples tucked into the case. With so many nib units to choose from, it only made sense to carry a selection of pens and nib …
Now in the vintage pens category, Esterbrook’s interchangeable nib system was so great because it offered users the ability to have just one or two pens, and a huge variety of nibs. There were dozens of different nibs, each with its own number and name, that we could wonder how on earth a retailer could keep them all organized and easily available for sale. Esterbrook developed systems for this, of course, one of which is …
Esterbrook was one of the largest fountain pen producers in the US, founded in 1858. They produced an inexpensive but remarkably high quality pen. Walter Sheaffer used to challenge his new salesmen during their training classes about how to convince the retailer to buy Sheaffer pens rather than Esterbrook pens, when the Esterbrooks were a lower cost investment for his shop, and just as good as the Sheaffer pens for his customers. The Esterbrook Pen Company …
