Vintage Fountain Pens

Waterman Rippled Rubber Vintage Pens

By Gary Lehrer | Published March 21, 2015

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 …

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Changing Colors

By Gary Lehrer | Published March 18, 2015

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.

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Waterman Safety Pen – Vintage Pens

By Gary Lehrer | Published March 16, 2015

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 …

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A Customer’s Waterman 42 – Vintage Pens

By Gary Lehrer | Published March 14, 2015

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 …

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Pelikan Lizard & Red – Vintage Pens

By Myrna Lehrer | Published March 11, 2015

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 …

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Vintage Pens Esterbrook Travel Case

By Myrna Lehrer | Published March 9, 2015

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 …

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Esterbrook Renew-Points Storage – Vintage Pens

By Myrna Lehrer | Published March 7, 2015

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 …

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Esterbrook Point Selection Chart – Vintage Pens

By Gary Lehrer | Published March 4, 2015

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 …

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The Vacation Necessity – Waterman Vintage Pen Ad

By Gary Lehrer | Published March 2, 2015

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Get A Point To Suit Your Own Handwriting – Waterman Vintage Pens

By Gary Lehrer | Published February 28, 2015

Apart from being one of the most popular brands in the history of vintage pens, Waterman really nailed it with their nibs – or points! I enjoy a few things about these ads: the obvious popularity of fountain pens in common magazines, the prices of the pens (and contrasting them to the prices of new and the same vintage pens today), and in particular for this ad, the wonderful description of a point. Fountain pens often come …

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