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 …
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 …
Although this isn’t a fountain pen, it does surround the culture of writing. The Gorham Postal Scale was used to weigh letters, books, newspapers and other small parcels to calculate the amount of postage required (of course, in that time, it was still measured in cents. The particular one shown in this advertisement is made of sterling silver and guaranteed to be accurate. Only $10.00! Postal scales are still used today, but they are very different, and probably …
The March 2015 Catalog #74 opens Tuesday, February 24, 2015 for subscribers, and March 2nd to the public. You can always browse the other active Catalogs #73, #72, #71, #70, #69 and #68 (10% off Catalogs 68 through 70). Click here for more information on becoming a subscriber and getting first dibs on the Catalog goodies.
Celluloid is, unbeknownst to many, a type of plastic. It’s a class of compounds created from cellulose nitrate and camphor. Celluloid was used frequently as the material for vintage pen caps and barrels because it was more durable than hard rubber and because it was available in a myriad of colors, not just cardinal or black. It’s not used as often as plastics/acrylics today for pens because it’s not as stable as these materials, even …
Waterman came up with some pretty good lines for their Ideal fountain pens – this time, that they worked both on land and sea because they didn’t get seasick! Of course, that doesn’t mean the user wouldn’t. Truly the “ideal” fountain pen!
The simplicity of an eyedropper is one of the reasons to love it. The less parts there are, the less there is to break. One of our customers loves eyedroppers because of how easy it is to disassemble to clean thoroughly. What is your preferred vintage pen filling mechanism?
At first glance, one probably has no clue what this could be! In the good days, when handwriting and cursive was taught in elementary schools, an individual teacher would have to grade and correct an untold number of handwritten papers of many, many students. Pictured below are various stamps, designed with the intent to assist a teacher in correcting papers. The stamps have various corrections on them: Use more pushing motion Watch the down stroke …
This 1917 Crocker fountain pen (#263) uses the unusual “hatchet-filler” mechanism. Crocker was founded in the late 1890s by Seth Crocker, who then went on to start the Chilton Pen Company. This is a black hard rubber ring-top model with a gold-filled knurled cap top and an extra-fine/fine flexible nib. This Crocker Boston #3 is in near mint condition! (Still available!). The Crocker is a wonderful vintage pen. The hatchet-filler came in 1913, after the “blow-filler.” …
