Untitled - Pen Collectors of America

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pennant
Inside the
Spring/Summer 2004 Vol. Xix No. 1 & 2
Featured Pens
6 But I was just getting used to it at the top!
by Daniel Kirchheimer
12 The Parker “51” Red Band Filler—What Were They Thinking?
by Don Hiscock and Dan Zazove
Features
11 A Tribute to Father Terry Koch by Victor Chen
15 Last Man Standing: The Final Tour of Sheaffer Pen
by Rick Conner
26 Waterman Calendar Blotters by Bruce M. Craig
28 From the Collection of Doug Flax
30 Is it Mint Yet? by Joel Hamilton
32 The Day Pen & Some History by L. Michael Fultz
36 Poems de Plume
Nibmeister by Rhonda Foster
Pens and Poetry by Simcha Raphael
Power to the Pen by Gerry Baksys
The Day the Elephants Came to Town by George Marlowe
38 The Allure of Hard Rubber Pens by Dan Carmell
50 A Memorial: Gilbert Ian Socas by Shaun Marie Trumble
In Brief
6
3 From the President by Sam Fiorella
48 Are You Familiar With the P.C.A. Library?
63 Annual Membership Meeting
67 Due Process
11
P.C.A. resources
66 Upcoming Shows
66 The Pennant Back Issues
67 Board of Directors
67 Corporate Sponsors
68 Our Contributors
69 Membership
70 Pen Repair Directory
71 Marketplace
71 Contributors' Guidelines
71 Show Supporters
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 15
1
pennant
the
Departments
3 Letters to the Editor
4 Readers Forum
24 oPen forum
40 Pens For Kids
Publishers
Pen Collectors of America
Stone Creek Elementary School
by Richard Kaufman
P.O. Box 447
Fort Madison, IA 52627-0447
Phone: 319.372.0881
Fax: 319.372.0882
Email: info@pencollectors.com
Web: www.pencollectors.com
White Rock Elementary
by Marlena Mackie
44 Tech Notes By Victor Chen
46 Repairs & Restoration
The Board of Directors
Sam Fiorella
President
Dan Reppert
Vice President
Victor Chen
Recording Secretary
Watching & learning by Victor Chen
51 Coming in the Winter 2004 Pennant
52 Pen Show Circuit
52 Philadelphia Pen Show by Bill Hong
54 The Great Southeastern Pen Show
Lisa Hanes Jack Leone
Saul KitchenerHoward Kaplan
Board members
by Suresh Enjeti, M. D.
58 2004 Los Angeles Pen Show
by Bruce Hirschman
62 14th Annual Michigan Pen Show
by Lee H. Chait & Li-Tah Wong
64 Local Focus
Kansas City Area Pen Club
St. Louis, Missouri by Bruce Mindrup
12
Craig BozorthL. Michael Fultz
Administrative
Bob Nurin Dan Reppert
Treasurer Librarian
Dede Rehkopf
Managing Editor
Terry MawhorterHeather Gonsorcik
Advertising Manager
Webmaster
Fran Conn/Pendapress
Art Director
Membership
Pen Collectors of America
U.S.–one year, $40
three years, $105
Outside U.S.–one year, $60
three years, $150 U.S.
Advertising
15
Deadline: February 15, 2004
Inside front cover (full-color) $1,100
Inside back cover (full-color) $1,000
Back cover (full-color) $2,000
Last page (full-color) $800
Full page (full-color) $700
Full page (black & white) $300
Flyer insert $300
Half page $150
Quarter page $100.
P.C.A. Repair Directory listing (3 issues) $75
Business card $50
Classified ads (per word) $0.50
On the Covers
Front cover: Sheaffer metal caps without the white dot.
Photo by Jim Mamoulides. Story on page 6.
Back cover: White dot Sheaffer of early Lifetime
2
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
From the president
for a dedicated team
of pen collectors
I hope you’ll enjoy this double issue of The Pennant. Unlike
any other U.S. based publication available today, The Pennant
continues to be centered on the who-what-where-why-how of
vintage and collectible pens.
✔ Who collects pens?
✔ What are they made of?
✔ Where was this made?
✔ Why do they do this?
✔ How do we restore them?
Simple questions that apply to thousands of different pens and pen collectors; questions
for which many times there is not one single simple answer. P.C.A. members continue to
explore and research vintage pen history in hopes of finding the answers. More importantly
they share their findings and knowledge right here in each issue of The Pennant. I hope
each of you reading this issue will pause and reflect for a few moments on the people—
your fellow pen collectors—who find time in their very busy lives to research and write the
articles on these pages. There is so much more involved than just filling your fountain pen
and writing out the words. Countless hours go into many of these articles. Dedicated volunteers check facts, edit and add photos to assist in bringing the articles to their final published form. No one becomes wealthy for their endeavors, but they do become enriched,
knowing they are doing their part to further our hobby of pen collecting. It’s a good feeling
to contribute to your hobby and I hope you’ll consider putting the P.C.A. on your agenda
for the coming years as a worthwhile volunteer effort.
This is the end of my term on the P.C.A. Board of Directors. As anyone who does time
with a volunteer organization will tell you, it can be a wild ride at times! Although I did
not accomplish all that I wanted to, I am pleased with our achievements and am confident
that the P.C.A. will continue to grow and improve under the leadership of the next Board
of Directors.
My sincere thanks to all of you who offered encouragement and support over the past
six years. P.C.A. members are simply the best!
letters
to the
editor
Using the P.C.A. Logo
I’m doing my ‘do it yourself’ business
cards over. I only collect and do not sell
pens. I just ran across the P.C.A. logo
and a thought crossed my mind. Do
you think it would be okay if I put the
logo on my cards with a JOIN NOW! tag
line. Remember I don’t sell, so I’m not
looking for an endorsement or anything like that. I just thought it might
get people
interested in the club.
—Roger Lemoine
Editor Replies: This is a great idea and
we would encourage all of our members to include the P.C.A. logo on their
collector cards. For those of you with
websites, the P.C.A. is happy to provide you with a graphic P.C.A. logo
link for your site.
Sharing Our knowledge
Two thoughts came to me when I
absorbed the fact of Frank Dubiel’s
death. First, Frank cleared the way for
other restorers and collectors to be
really, really grouchy while retaining
the respect of their peers. I and other
members of our community have benefited enormously from Frank’s groundbreaking work in this respect. More seriously, one of the first thoughts we have
when someone dies is regret of tasks
not done and unfinished business. Not
so of Frank—he put much of his encyclopedic knowledge of pen repair to
paper to survive him, and he did so at a
relatively young age. The natural lesson
we must take away is that those who
possess information about pens, and
skills at their restoration, should not
postpone committing this knowledge
to some permanent medium. Some of
us have done this to a greater or lesser
extent, but Frank went the furthest
in the area of repair. I hope that the
experts among us now, who are storehouses of invaluable knowledge, take
this lesson to heart. Don’t wait—get
going on ‘Da Other Book’!
—Daniel Kirchheimer
—Sam Fiorella
The pennant
REaders Forum
A Flip of the Coin
Submitted by Donald Harvey
There may be some truth to the old saw “you can’t teach
an old dog new tricks.” But with the median age of the United
States getting higher every year, and the number of computers growing in proportion to the number of senior citizens,
that adage may not he as true as it once was. Some of the savviest computer students are retired and devoted to the new
technology. Whether e-mailing their grandchildren, buying
airline tickets for their next adventure, or shopping and selling online, senior citizens are dominating the information
highway. Internet traffic for everything is almost gridlocked,
in part thanks to the flexibility of what scientists once thought
was the inflexible older brain.
As a consequence, online pen hunting is going off at a fever
pitch. Pen hunters are no longer scouring the fields and shops
the way they once did but are staring intently into the color
screens of their laptops and desktops. They can hunt down
pens of just about every make and model with just the click of
the mouse and need never endure the effects of cold, heat and
rain. Complete collections can begin and end on the Internet.
No aching feet. No arthritic knees. No sunburned faces. It is
truly the modern life.
But for a dwindling few of us, the Internet is just too
abstract. We want, no crave, the tactile feeling of holding an
Aquatic in our hands and tracing an imaginary signature across
blank paper. Maybe what we really love is the face to face we
get in an increasingly impersonal world. We love to haggle,
barter and otherwise negotiate for pens. Yes, love it we do.
Out in the field on a sweltering Florida morning, I was
thrilled to come across a Parker “51” set in the hard to find
buckskin color with double jewels, gold caps and best of all, a
Parker leather holder. The set was laying mixed in with some
other overpriced Esterbrooks, Bankers and Parker 21s. Trying
not to give away anything, I approached with my best poker face,
picking up all of the pens and trying not to look too excited. As
I moved through the lot looking at each and setting them down
one by one, I kept a tight grip on the “51” set just in case some
other pen shark made a grab for the discarded stuff.
The set was marked $50, a buy by anyone’s book and an
amount I surely would have been glad to pay. As a graduate of
the Ben Franklin—a penny saved is a penny earned—school, I
asked if the proprietor would take $25. Of course she said no,
but would go for $40. I went for the old split the difference
play but she wouldn’t have any of that. Still willing to happily
pay the $50 or $40, I suddenly reached into my pocket and
pulled out a shiny new state coin and said “I’ll flip you for it;
you win I pay $40, I win I pay $33.”
It appeared the whole idea was something she had never
encountered and frankly it was one I had never tried. A moment
of pure desperation compounded by the sheer need to get a deal
became a glimmer of absolute insight. Whoever said necessity
was the mother of invention wasn’t just whistling Dixie, as for a
T
4
brief second I had a flash of Tesla style genius. Really though, I
was as shocked and amazed by myself as she was by me. And to
my surprise, she said “Okay, but I get to call it.”
Wasting no time, I loaded the bright new quarter onto
my thumb and launched it, flipping straight up into the air.
Watching with painful anticipation, I said, “Call it!” and she
called heads of course. As the quarter somersaulted through
the early morning light I was trying with all my might to will it
to come up tails. The coin hit the center of my palm. I flipped
it over onto the back of my other hand, elementary school
style, and slowly lifted my hand to see what lay beneath. Before
I had a chance to focus on the coin at hand I could tell it was
mine by the way the dealer’s shoulders slumped down and her
face fell. The coin came up tails. The pen set was mine for a
cool $33, and I gave her the quarter too!
As great as this technique can be, I must say that it can only
he approached with the strictest discipline and only as a last
resort. It is not for the timid or those who are not built for tooth
and nail negotiating, as it takes a Frank Sinatra coolness to pull
off the whole action. Truthfully, I have tried it where it did not
work at all because the dealer wouldn’t go for it, as they thought
I was pulling a fast one. Another time the dealer nixed the idea
because we were too far apart on the price. All in all though, it
takes a dealer with a sense of humor, a gentle temperament and
a smidgen of gambler’s hunger to bite on that kind of bait.
Most of all it takes absolute resignation that you will pay
either price without hesitation or you can’t do it in good conscience. If you are willing to pay the $40 then go for the $33,
otherwise pay the money and go home with your new Parker
“51” set tucked safely in your top pocket and a feeling that you
did indeed get a great buy.
Some Are Magic
Submitted by Francis E. Ihrman
There must be as many reasons to collect fountain pens as
there are folks who collect them. My collection began when my
aunt gave me my grandfather’s old eyedropper, along with his
desk and chair. She told me stories about watching him write
his sermons sitting in the chair at his desk writing with the pen.
He wrote one copy in English and one copy in Dutch.
I had never seen or heard of an eyedropper pen. It took me
several weeks to figure out how to put ink in it. It was a major
thrill to discover how to add the ink. Unfortunately the section
had worn over the years. I tried to write with the pen, only to
have it spread ink all over the paper, the desk, and me.
Being rather stubborn, I did not give up but began looking for someone who could repair the pen. Someone told me
about two men in Florida who could do the job. Thus I discovered Lou and Howard Kaplan, who I now consider a couple of
my oldest and dearest friends. The pen had led me to Lou and
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Howard and the discovery of pen collecting.
Some time later I bid on a beautiful pen on eBay. Shortly after
that I got an e-mail from Sherrell Tyree, asking a question about
the pen. This led to a whole series of e-mail letters and eventually
another fine friendship. One day Sherrell asked if I was going to a
certain pen show. Another eye opener! There really were enough
people who like fountain pens to actually have a show!
In the meantime, with great patience, Lou was teaching me
how to refurbish pens. I went digging in the junk drawer of my
desk and found several Esterbrooks and a Parker “51”, which my
wife and I had used in college. Now they are once again in usable
condition and hold a place of honor in our collection along with
other pens from our families. Fortunately we are both from families who don’t like to throw things away.
For a while I went wild, buying any pen I saw if I could afford
it. Very gently Lou and Howard tried to slow me down, advising
me to focus. I’m still kind of eclectic in my collecting but thankfully have become a good bit more selective. We have neither the
room nor the funds to collect every fountain pen ever made!
One day Howard asked if I would like to help them at a show.
We jumped at the chance! My wife Diane and I now go to every
show we can fit in and “assist” The Great Parker. Lou and Howard
graciously let us feel that we are helping.
Now a great many pens have passed through our hands. We have
met many wonderful people. “I never met a pen collector I didn’t
like!” (Though some take longer than others to appreciate!)
A few times I’ve purchased a pen that made me want to write
forever. Once I felt so compelled that I wrote a whole novel by
hand. Although friends who have read my novel tell me they like
it, unfortunately to date no publisher has felt that way.
Sometimes I purchase a pen that does not seem to want to be
used, just admired. Rarely but sometimes I find one that begs to
go to work. Some are magic!
Saturday Morning
Submitted by Paul Erano
It’s early Saturday morning. Bright sunlight floods the
front room as I sit at my desk working on a piece about the Parker
“51”. My three-year-old Dalmatian, Andy, sits in what used to be
my favorite chair soaking up the sun’s warmth. I say ‘used to be
my favorite chair’ because Andy won it just two days ago after an
exhausting, prolonged battle in which I finally gave in to finding
him staring at me from my chair each morning despite whatever
threats I used to keep him off it. I’m still a little sore about it.
“OK, big boy,” I say looking at him, “anything you want to add
about the Parker “51”?”
He looks wordlessly at me from his glorious, sun drenched
chair. At fifty-two pounds, he’s small, even for a Dalmatian, and I
wonder if he knows I call him ‘big boy’ just to boost his ego.
“I thought so,” I reply.
I have hot, fresh coffee and writing to do. I’ve placed my laptop
aside to write this piece with my favorite “51”, a maroon pen with
alloy cap given to me by my father. It’s the very pen that started me
collecting. I’m hoping that writing with it will help me think up
something special. After all, what more could be written about the
Parker “51”?
“Why not begin at the beginning,” I say to Andy, and take
another sip of coffee. I jot down ‘sentimental value counts’, and
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 write a few lines about the pen’s understated appearance and its
overall quality, and what a great writer it is, too. Within minutes, I’m oblivious to Andy and to everything else around me. I’m
focused solely on the half-filled page in front of me. Suddenly, from
nowhere, a dull thump, thump, thump registers on my consciousness. I know that sound. It means my eleven-year-old daughter,
Sarah, is making her way deliberately down the stairs. She turns
the corner and gives me a big hug and a kiss.
“Whatcha doing?” she asks, arms still around me while looking
at the page on the desk.
“I’m writing, Sarah.”
“Can I watch cartoons?”
“It’s not even six o’clock,” I say. “Why don’t you go back to
bed?”
“Will you make me pancakes?”
“Go back to bed, Sarah.”
I turn back to my desk, a bluff and frail hope that she’ll turn
around and go back up the stairs and sleep for another two hours.
“Dad…”
I continue writing.
“Hey, Dad...”
“What is it, Sarah?”
“Can I have that pen when you don’t want it anymore?”
“Of course you can,” I tell her, knowing full well her bag of
tricks. If she brings the conversation around to pens, there’s no
way I’m going to pretend to ignore her. “You can have all my
pens,” I tell her. And I mean it, too.
I hear a squeak of springs from another part of the room to
where Andy has snuck, having decided to try his luck at lying
down on the sofa.
“Off the couch, Andy!”
I hear a thump as four feet return to the rug. There’s a cold
nose pressing against my elbow. It’s no use. The two of them have
joined forces.
“Don’t you just love Andy, Dad?” she asks from where she has
knelt to give Andy a hug. Andy is looking at me, too. He remains
perfectly still to accept Sarah’s crushing hug, but his tail beats the
rug furiously.
“Oh, yes, Sarah, I do,” I reply, staring down at the two of them.
I can see for the moment whatever thoughts I have about the
Parker “51” will have to be placed aside.
“Do you want French toast or pancakes?”
“I thought we weren’t supposed to call it French toast anymore,” she says.
“It’s still French toast,” I say, placing the pen on top of the sheet
of paper.
“Let’s make French toast, Dad,” she says and grabs me by the
hand.
“French toast it is,” I reply.
As I get up from the desk I notice the pen is uncapped, lying on
the sheet of paper. ‘What could possibly happen?’ I think to myself.
After all, it’s a Parker “51” and it can stay uncapped all day and be
ready to write the minute I get back. I’ll make French toast, and
Sarah can watch cartoons. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll watch
cartoons, too, and save the essay on the Parker “51” for another
day.
Previously published in the Erano Quarterly Pen Review. All rights
reserved
5
…But I was just getting
Whether guided by
Feng Shui or merely
practical necessity,
Sheaffer often made
its
White Dot the subject
of exterior redecoration
O
By Daniel Kirchheimer
One of the instantly recognizable trademarks in
the world of writing instruments is Sheaffer’s White
Dot insignia. Originally introduced in 1924, when
it was emblazoned on Sheaffer’s flagship Lifetime
pens, it eventually became the mark that represented
the brand as a whole, and it continues proudly to
adorn today’s Sheaffer products. Along the way,
the White Dot has been much traveled, and found
itself in a variety of locations, obvious and odd, on
Sheaffer fountain pens.
Sheaffer introduced its Lifetime pens in 1920,
and at first these hard-rubber articles were visibly
identified only by the words “LIFETIME PEN”
stamped on the nib; no cosmetic mark was present
on the exterior of the pen (in fact, the pens shown in
some ads for early Lifetime pens do not even have
the word “LIFETIME” on the point, though I am Fig. 1 • Initial White Dot on cap top
unsure whether such pens were actually produced).
In 1924, the simple and distinctive
White Dot debuted, and in the same
year the company introduced products made of celluloid. The top-line
Lifetime pens made of hard rubber
were phased out in favor of the new
material, dubbed ‘Radite’ by Sheaffer,
and whereas all non-overlaid Radite
Lifetime pens bore the White Dot,
only a small fraction of the hard rubber Lifetime pens that turn up have
this distinctive mark, because it was
introduced just before the termination of the hard rubber line. As a side
note, if the White Dot appeared on
hard rubber Sheaffers in 1924 prior
to the introduction of the new celluloid pens, the diminutive disc itself
may have represented the first use of
Fig. 2 • Chatelaine ring White Dot
celluloid on a Sheaffer pen!
6
The elegance
and timelessness of
this new symbol of
quality are not to be
overlooked. While
competitors’ logos
were distinctive
and recognizable,
they were also very
much products of
their times; how
quaint and oldfashioned do the
Waterman’s ‘Ideal’
globe emblem and
the Parker’s ‘Lucky
Curve’ banner
seem today? Yet
Sheaffer’s symbol
is the very distillation of simplicity: the most
elemental two-dimensional shape, rendered
in the purest color, and as abstract as could
be—no words, no literal figures …truly, the
symbol of a Lifetime.
The White Dot was initially placed in the
middle of the flat top of the cap on these early
Lifetime pocket pens, whether hard rubber or
Radite (Fig. 1). As the cap was cylindrical and
had a circular top, this location was natural
from a design standpoint. Some Radite pens
that had a chatelaine ring on top wore their
dot on the side of the cap near the top (Fig.
2). Pens are also found with the mark on the
flat end of the barrel (Fig. 3), sometimes in
addition to one on top of the cap, though it
is unclear whether this is original or a result
of parts being mated. Desk pens lacked a flat
cap top—because they lacked a cap entirely—
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
used to i t at the top!
Fig. 3 • White Dot on barrel end
Fig. 4 • White Dot above clip
Fig. 5 • White Dot on Balance pen
so the dot was relegated to a spot just aft of the lever, a location to be briefly
reprised on pocket pens in the late 1930s, as we’ll see.
An unusual location for the White Dot is occasionally spotted on these flattop
pens: above the clip (Fig. 4), foreshadowing things to come. The example shown
has another unusual feature, too—the clip is not gold filled, but instead is gold
plated, as evidenced by the visibility of a layer of nickel under the gold, producing a tri-color appearance in the worn areas. There is also evidence that this cap
may originally have been intended to be manufactured as a ring-top, which may
explain the dot’s location on the side.
With the introduction of the bullet-ended Balanced (later shortened to
‘Balance’) pens in 1929, Sheaffer had designed the cap top out of existence,
thus leaving the White Dot homeless, so a new placement for the badge was
needed on Lifetime pens. Sheaffer selected the area just above the pocket clip
on men’s pens (Fig. 5), and a similar spot for clipless items. This location had
the desirable property of displaying the dot (which seemed to have brashly
grown in diameter) in clear view to the world, rather than primarily being visible to the bearer.
In the late 1930s, there was an aesthetic shift in the U.S. towards a new
design theme for pens: a metal cap with a plastic barrel. Wahl-Eversharp
had its Coronet, Parker its Vacumatic Imperial, and Sheaffer’s entry was the
Model 47, or the Crest, as it was later known. The metal of the cap posed a
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 Fig. 6 • “First Year” Crest White dot
7
Fig. 7 • Crest White Dot on barrel end
Fig. 8 • White Dot on plastic cap top
Fig. 9 • Sheaffer metal caps .
Fig. 10 • Sheaffer Tuckaway
problem for Sheaffer, and they variously located the White
Dot in the middle of the barrel and on the very tip of the
rounded barrel end of these Lifetimes (Figs. 6 and 7). The
end-of the barrel location continued to be used for some
later generations of metal-capped pens (and, it seems, even
for some all-plastic pens), though the mid-barrel dot for
both lever- and vacuum-fillers seems to have been used only
on the first generation of the Crest designs that pre-dated
the more rounded cap and inner-spring clip design that followed. The next generation of pens included plastic-capped
models that had the White Dot perched on the blunted peak
at the very top of the cap (Fig. 8).
As touched on earlier, one of the interesting facets of
the White Dot story involves not where it was, but where
it was not. From the time of its introduction until the mid
1940s, the White Dot represented only Lifetime pens, and
all such pens bore the mark—except Sheaffer’s metal-overlaid instruments and some pens with all-metal caps (Fig. 9).
Sheaffer did not create an adequate mounting system for
the dot on a metal surface until the late 1940s, and so these
8
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Fig. 11 • White Dot on military clip pen .
Fig. 12 • Pre-war Canadian-made Lifetime
now… more clip! Sheaffer pragoverlaid and metal-capped
matically transplanted the dot
Lifetime pens are identito the area of the cap just below
fied as Lifetime models only
the business end of the clip (Fig.
by the appearance of that
11), where it would be invisible
word on their nibs. In 1940,
when pocketed. This placement
Sheaffer brought to market
of the respected rondelle below
the Tuckaway line, which
the end of the clip may have earconsisted of small, clipless
lier appeared in certain pre-war
writing instruments that (in
Canadian-made conventionalthe case of the pens) would
clip Sheaffer Lifetime models
become nearly full-sized
that have no parallel in U.S. prowhen the cap was posted.
duction (Fig. 12). An interesting
T he e a r lie s t d e s ig n fo r
aberration pops up occasionally in
these Lifetime pens, which
wartime pens–examples are found
were manufactured in leverwith a White Dot below where a
filler and vacuum-filler
military clip would end, but the
variations, had both barrel
caps sport a conventional clip
and cap overlaid with metal,
(Fig. 13), leaving the dot floating
with only the threaded barrel end and the point secFig. 13 • Wartime pens with White Dot on back of cap . somewhat adrift in the middle of
the cap on the opposite side from
tion in exposed celluloid.
the clip. I am uncertain whether
This time, Sheaffer shrank
the dot to its tiniest incarnation yet, and balanced it daintily on these examples are production errors, repairs, or regular models
the thin black ring of Radite that remained visible at the belt- produced from available parts.
During the 1940s, the White Dot continued to dwell at
line of the pen when the cap was screwed shut (Fig. 10). Again,
this unusual placement was indicative of the fact that Sheaffer its home above the conventional pocket clip on men’s plastic-capped pens; this placement enjoyed a long run into and
was not yet able to satisfactorily set the insignia into metal.
Around the time of the United States’ entry into World War through the Snorkel era. Finally, according to the March, 1948
II, Sheaffer issued pens with a military clip, which was intended issue of Sheaffer’s Review, Sheaffer devised a mounting system
to permit the pen to ride low in the pocket in accordance with for securely affixing the dot into metal caps using a tiny metal
armed services dress regulations. This was a creative solution eyelet mounted in a hole in the cap, with the plastic white dot
from a tooling-cost standpoint; Sheaffer shaped clips into a ‘J’ pressed into the eyelet and then mushroomed with heat from the
and attached them in the usual location but upside down so that inside to immobilize it. According to the Sheaffer’s Review artithey wrapped over the top of the cap. The designers of Lifetime cle, Lynn Martin, Manager of the Development Department, was
pens with this military clip had evicted the White Dot from so confident in this mounting system that he “promised he will
its former address above the clip, as above the clip there was personally eat every white dot that falls out!” Figure 14 shows
The pennant
Fig. 14 • White Dot on Triumph metal cap .
a vacuum-filler Triumph pen bearing this feature. The
combination of the filling system (the Touchdown system supplanted the vacuum-filler in 1949) and the lack
of the word “LIFETIME” on the nib (which Sheaffer
was forced to drop in 1947, sadly demoting the White
Dot to such purely ceremonial titles as the “Mark of
Distinction”) is consistent with a date of 1948 or 1949.
Due to the scarcity of pens found with this feature, I
speculate that this arrangement was short-lived and was
quickly replaced by the sleeker, simpler approach com-
Fig. 15 • Sheaffer Snorkel pen .
monly encountered, as seen in Fig. 15.
In 1959, the Pen for Men, with its numerous styling innovations, made
its debut. One of the often overlooked touches was the appearance of
the White Dot directly on the metal clip itself, which now provided a
nice, flat surface for the purpose, as did the clips on the similarly-styled
Imperial of 1961 and the reincarnated Lifetime of 1963 (Fig. 16). This
resting spot was subsequently used for a variety of models of Sheaffer
writing instruments, continuing up to the present day.
I realize that my exploration of the itinerant White Dot is far from
comprehensive, and if readers have examples of any other commonplace
or curious locations from any era, I encourage them to bring these to the
attention of the readers of The Pennant.
The author would like to express thanks to Jim Mamoulides for his photography and contributing important ideas and facts both directly and via his
web site (www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferWhiteDot.htm)
article, “The Sheaffer White Dot: 1924-Present.”
✍
Photo credits: Figures 1, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 14 Copyright © 2004 Daniel
Kirchheimer; Figure 2 Copyright © 2004 Max Davis/1001Pens.com; Figures
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16 Copyright © 2004 Jim Mamoulides/PenHero.com. All
Rights Reserved.
Fig. 16 • White Dot on PFM, 1960s Lifetime and Imperial .
10
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Father
Terry
Koch
A Tribute
by Victor Chen
On February 12, 2004 Jose Nicolas Parres y Parres initiated a tribute to
Fr. Terry for his decades of contributions to pen collectors everywhere. Encumbered
by prostate cancer, Fr. Terry was on his way to the pen show in Los Angeles, back
to the region where he grew up as a child, took his clerical vows and taught high
school science for many years. Los Angeles was also the location where he matured
his interest in pens, where his reputation as a master pen repairer grew and where
he mentored others in the craft of pen repair. Fr. Terry belonged to the local pen
club and he went to the first pen show there in 1987. While the LA Pen show was
an annual event for Fr. Terry, this visit seventeen years later was different because
he realized that he no longer had the energy or focus to continue his pen activities.
The tribute initiated by Nicolas, had begun as an email suggestion to the Zoss
list, took on a life of its own. Nicolas, who realized that contributions and good
will from everywhere, could never be all inclusive and could easily overwhelm his
efforts, placed a time limit of February 16 to sign on to
this tribute. A P.C.A. Limited Edition pen was selected as
a suitable token of our appreciation to Fr. Terry. Michael
Fultz engraved a plaque for the pen box. ✍
On behalf of all those who have a passion for pens and writing equipment, the following persons and organizations sent their
appreciation and gratitude in the form of a plaque to Father Terry Koch.
In recognition of a lifetime of dedication and service to the world of pens, we wish to thank you for your efforts. Please
accept a small token of our gratitude.
Jose Nicolas Parres y Parres
Michael McNeil
James Tappen
Elaine Poleshuck Candice Campbell
James E. Barkley
Mark Becker
Kim Sosin
Poe’s Cousin
Elaine Maddox Sandra Andina
Ron Lussier
Richard Victor
Michael Wascher
Joel Hamilton
Sherrell Tyree
Carla Mortensen
The pennant
Maria Celocruz
Leo Bravo
Paul C. Leiner
Edward B. Weyman
James S. Day, Jr.
Alan L.S. Steytler
Rev. Charles Greenwell
Vernon Davis
Edward Gaitley
Penpusher
JPJ & Associates Martin von Lindenberg Michael Humphress Vance Koven Rene Alvarez Vera Laurent Hodges
Thomas Zoss Spring/Summer 2004 Gerald Berg Henry Mosberg
Lex Villines Edward Sizemore Christopher Wigdor Max Davis
Sheila Chadwick
Laura Berkowitz Jimmy Tom Chris Burton David Leibowitz Ronald Meloche
Steven Booth Gregory Clark Wieland Triplett Nick Sweeney Catherine Picard John Rice Eddie C K Ma Danny Fudge Martin Smith Anita Chambers
Michael Walsh Gregory McKinney Glenn Hay-Roe Bart Grossman Wayne Samardzich Timothy Barker William Hong
Bill Keast
Chuck Swisher
James Sanders
Curt Zimmermann
David Nelson
Kimberly Brandt
Dan Cash
Rob Astyk
Roger Cromwell
Victor Chen
Michael Fultz
Michael A. Owens
Fountain Pen Hospital
Board of Directors of Pen
Collectors of America
Publications:
Pen World International
Stylophiles
Stylus
11
The Parker “51” Red Band Filler —
by Don Hiscock and Dan Zazove
Improving what many consider the
best-performing fountain pen ever
doesn’t sound like a worthwhile
assignment. Yet the
Parker Pen
Company started doing just that
within a few years of the premiere
of the “51”.
One of these efforts
resulted in the enigmatic
Parker
“51” Red Band. Many collectors
have seen or own examples of this
rare model, and there has been a
lot of speculation about the
function of this obscure filling mechanism. The
Red Band has
never been explained in terms
of exactly what
Parker Pen’s
research and development team
was up to at the time. This article
explains the background and
function of the
Band filler.
12
Parker “51” Red
Fig. 3c, Collector Clearing “51” partially
depressed plunger and fully expanded sac
(complete pen closed and collector cleared)
Fig. 1, Red Band “51” cross section
showing the pressure bar design
found in production pens. (Ref. 5)
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
— What Were They Thinking?
I
Improving what many consider the best-performing fountain pen ever doesn’t sound like
a worthwhile assignment. Yet the Parker Pen
Company started doing just that within a few years
of the premiere of the “51”. One of these efforts
resulted in the enigmatic Parker “51” Red Band.
Many collectors have seen or own examples of this
rare model, and there has been a lot of speculation
about the function of this obscure filling mechanism. The Red Band has never been explained in
terms of exactly what Parker Pen’s research and
development team was up to at the time. This article explains the background and function of the
Parker “51” Red Band filler.
The Red Band filler is an uncommon variant of the Parker “51” found in limited production examples marketed after World War II. The
Red Band “51” was designed to automatically
clear the ink collector to prevent flooding. The
solution was a sac-type pen in which the last bit
of vacuum from the expanding sac was deployed
when the blind cap was replaced, thus clearing any
excess ink from the collector. Red Bands are distinguished from the ubiquitous Vacumatic-filled
“51”s by (1) a shortened blind cap with a tiny vent
hole in its side, (2) a metal push button in place of
a Vacumatic plunger, and (3) a distinctive plastic
or anodized aluminum red bushing holding the
button mechanism in the pen barrel. (For more on
Fig. 3a, Collector Clearing
“51” fully depressed plunger
and compressed sac
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Fig. 3b, Collector Clearing “51”
showing fully open plunger and
partially compressed sac
Spring/Summer 2004 Below: Fig. 2, Red Band and Black
Band (Vacumatic) Fillers from
1947 Filling Instructions (Ref. 4).
13
Figure 3 shows the original patent art for the collector clearing
the anatomical differences of the Red Band and Vacumatic “51”s,
filler.
The key to the Red Band design is the collector clearing
refer to the Summer 2001 issue of The Pennant, “The Great Parker
pressure
bar and push button. These are illustrated in three main
Find,” by Victor Chen and Roger Cromwell, Ref. 1).
plunger
and
pressure bar positions: (1) fully depressed for filling,
From the beginning, Parker instructed customers to fill the
(2)
fully
open
for removal of the pen from the ink, and (3) fully
“51” differently from its other pens. Vacumatic pen filling instrucclosed
for
collector
clearing as the blind cap is replaced.
tions always state explicitly that the plunger was to be released
Parker
described
advantages of the Red Band Collector
only after the pen point was removed from the ink source in order
Clearing pen and the cam/follower
to ensure that the feed was cleared of
design of its pressure bar and plunger
excess ink. This was a particular point
as:
with the “51”, because the small feed
Parker
instructed
customers
to
“…An improved mechanism
combined with high ink capacity of the
for
filling the ink sac or resercompletely enclosed finned collector of
fill the “51” differently from
voir,
which is effective autothe “51” made collector clearing more
matically
to clear the collector
difficult than the traditional feed of the
its other pens and failure to
of
ink
upon
the completion of
Vacumatic pens. (Ref. 2, 4). Failure to
correctly
fill
it,
left
a
messy
pool
each
filling
operation…
without
clear the collector left a messy pool
special manipulation of the any
of ink when the prospective customer
of ink when the prospective
kind by the user…
first touched the pen to paper.
“…Is inexpensive to manuParker taught its repair stations about
customer first touched the pen facture,
is sturdy, and unlikely
the key differences in their service manto get out of order, and which
uals: “How then is a “51” filled? Those
to paper. Parker was clearly
is adapted to perform the fillfamiliar with the Vacumatic Pen know
ing operation in a substantially
that to fill you immerse the point comconcerned about the filling
foolproof and highly efficient
pletely in ink, press the filling plunger
manner…”
down, release it, hesitate a second and
differences and the resulting
The Red Band Fillers bear
repeat this operation 10 times. This
negative feedback from
an outward resemblance to the
fills the Vacumatic pen. The “51” pen is
VS pen, and some have specufilled in the same manner—except (and
customers.
lated that the two are related.
this is important) the plunger is held
The available references don’t
down on the last stroke, the pen is then
support this—the VS is a tradiremoved completely from the ink and
tional pressure bar/button filler, with no sophisticated colthe plunger released. This clears the trap properly preparing the
lector to clear. Only the blind caps are interchangeable.
pen for use. …Be sure that you know that the customer knows how
The records available don’t discuss what led to the program’s end,
the fill the pen, and that they are emptying the ink trap on the last
but several possibilities are likely. The Red Band filler gave up the
stroke.” (Ref. 2)
The factory was clearly concerned about the filling differences proven reliability and high ink capacity of the Vacumatic-filled “51”
and the resulting negative feedback from customers. As a result, and in its place offered a complicated mechanism more in common
around April 1944 they initiated Project X-101, the Collector with pens of the 1920s than the future direction of the remarkable
Clearing “51” Sac type pen (Ref. 3). Marlin Baker, the Parker “51”. It’s no surprise the Aerometric model that succeeded the Red
engineer responsible for the mechanical details of the original Band was a resounding success and went on to decades of commer“51”, was the lead on the program. From 1944 through 1947 there cial sales. These Collector Clearing pens remain an interesting evowere over sixty Development Orders completed by the Parker lutionary dead end in “51” history.
✍
shop on the program for a wide variety of feed, nib, cap, inner cap,
clip, plunger, and pressure bar/lever designs. This work resulted References: (1) Victor Chen and Roger Cromwell, “The Great Parker
in the Red Band “51” pens released into the market in 1946 and Find,” The Pennant, Pen Collectors of America, Vol. XV, No. 2, Summer
1947, and two US Patents issued to Marlin Baker and assigned to 2001; (2) Helpful Aids and Things You Should Know about Parker Pens
Parker Pen (Ref. 5, 6).
and Parker Products, Parker Pen Company, Undated, ca. 1946-47),
In order to receive a patent, a legal monopoly to practice an personal collection of authors; (3) X-101 Development Order Summary,
invention, several conditions must be met. These include (1) that Parker Pen Company, April 1960, personal collection of authors; (4)
the idea be unique and non-obvious to those skilled in the art, and Filling Instructions for Red Band and Black Band Pens, Folder 6026,
(2) full disclosure of all details relating to the invention. It’s this Parker Pen Company, (Undated, ca. Mid-1947), personal collection of
second part that provides such rich material for learning about the authors; (5) United States Patent 2,528,327, October 31, 1950, Marlin
history of some of our favorite pens, and the patent drawings and S. Baker, assigned to the Parker Pen Company: (6) United States Patent
discussion of the collector clearing “51” are a fascinating source of 2,619,070, November 25, 1952, Marlin S. Baker, assigned to the Parker
information.
Pen Company. All Rights Reserved.
14
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Last Man Standing:
The “Final Tour”
of Sheaffer Pen
by Rick Conner
On Friday, October 8, 2004 some 150 visitors descended on the city of Fort
Madison, Iowa from as far away as Alaska and Washington, D.C. to enjoy a rare
privilege: a guided tour of the headquarters of the Sheaffer Pen Co. , just across
the Mississippi River from Illinois.The event coincided with Fort Madison’s
Oktoberfest celebration (as well as homecoming weekend for the formidable
Fort Madison High Bloodhounds), and was jointly sponsored by Sheaffer Pen,
the Fort Madison Chamber of Commerce, and Pendemonium.
The pennant

Santa Fe Railroad Bridge. World’s largest double-span, swing-span bridge.
 Entrance to Riverview Park
T
The promoters billed this as the “final tour” of Sheaffer, and indeed the everpresent subtext for this event was this year’s announcement by BIC (the current owners of
Sheaffer) that they would be closing the Fort Madison plant in 2006. This closure would
not only cost the jobs of most or all of the 125 or so employees on the Sheaffer payroll in
town, but would also spell the end to nearly a century of pen design and manufacture in
the town whose name used to be proudly stamped onto every Sheaffer product.
At this writing, we hear many rumors as to the future of Sheaffer, and the local Fort
Madison Daily Democrat reported in covering the tour that Lee County development officials were attempting to find a buyer for the firm (and had at least a couple of unnamed
prospects on the hook). One might also take the recent hiring of three full-time factorybased sales reps as a hopeful sign. For the moment, however, it seems prudent to assume that
Sheaffer will in fact close its doors in Fort Madison within a very few years.
The mood, therefore, was decidedly bittersweet as collectors, fans, retirees, and local folks
gathered to steep themselves in the history of Sheaffer, and to see the sights and meet the
people behind this famous brand.
16
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Fort Madison: “Pen City”
Fort Madison is located in the southeast corner
of Iowa, just across the Mississippi River from
Illinois and a few miles north of the Missouri
border. The original fort was a log-built garrison for the First Regiment, U.S. Infantry,
erected in 1808. This installation lasted barely
five years on what was then the western frontier of the U.S. before it was burned and abandoned by its retreating troops in the face of
Indian harassment (instigated by the British)
during the War of 1812. Only the foundations
of the fort remained when the town began to
grow around it in the middle of the 19th century, and it was not until the 1980s that the fort
was painstakingly rebuilt in authentic fashion
by the volunteer labor of inmates from the
nearby Iowa State Penitentiary. This maximum-security prison, by the way, is another
Fort Madison landmark, and the largest such
 Sheaffer Pen headquarters
institution west of the Mississippi River; it is
the other reason why Fort Madison is someand very busy transportation artery. A 1940s-era Baldwin 4-8-4
times called “Pen City.”
In the middle of the 19th century, the Santa Fe railroad built “Northern,” one of the last steam locomotives to see revenue
a depot and shop in Fort Madison; although these have since service, was donated to the town by the railroad and stands in
closed (the depot is now an art museum), the Santa Fe line that massive and fully-refurbished glory along the BNSF right-ofruns along the river at the south edge of town remains a critical way in Riverview Park. Another legacy of the railroad was the
Santa Fe bridge, built in 1927, which allows cars and trains to
 Pendemonium storefront
cross the Mississippi at Fort Madison; this
bridge has a "swing span" that swivels like a
turnstile to allow ships to pass, and is the largest such bridge in the world today. One frequent user of the swing span is the old-fashioned Mississippi riverboat that houses the
Catfish Bend Casino, which twice annually
makes the commute between Fort Madison
and Burlington, Iowa a few miles upriver.
Sheaffer locations in and
around town
The early years of the 20th century saw the
emergence of Fort Madison’s most famous
corporate presence, the W. A. Sheaffer Pen
Company. Sheaffer’s presence in the town has
waxed and waned in tandem with the fortunes
of the company.
Walter A. Sheaffer was born in Bloomfield,
Iowa in 1867, the son of a local jeweler. In 1906,
he moved east to Fort Madison to take over a
jewelry shop of his own (at what is now 726
Avenue G, approximately where the modern
R.J. Allison jewelry shop now stands). Sheaffer
became interested in the young fountain pen
industry, and soon had worked out his own
technical innovations, chief among these being
the famous lever filler. Sheaffer’s pen used the
same soft rubber sac as other early self-fillers
(like the Conklin Crescent), but the lever made
The pennant
his pen more convenient to use and carry, and much more sleek
in design. He was granted patents on his designs in 1908 (for the
lever filler) and again in 1912 (for further improvements including the spring pressure bar). During 1912-13, Sheaffer swallowed
hard and invested his life’s savings into setting up a pen factory in
his shop; he then incorporated his firm and took up operations in
the upper two floors of the Hesse building just up the street from
his former jewelry shop (this building still stands, and is home to
the Ivy Bake Shoppe and Café, as well as private residences).
Walter Sheaffer was an astute marketer and promoter as well
as an inventor, and his venture proved to be very well timed and
successful; by 1917 the company was doing well enough to be
able to purchase the much larger Morrison Plow Works plant,
a short walk away along what is now U.S. Route 61 (Avenue H).
This facility, with modernization, sufficed for Sheaffer’s growing
domestic production for the next several decades, and gave birth
to such famous Sheaffers as the Lifetime, the Radite, the Balance,
the Vac-Fil, and the Touchdown, as well as the junior-line Craig
and WASP pens.
In 1937, W.A. Sheaffer retired as president, and was replaced
by his son Craig (who had worked in his father's factory from
the start). Four years later, the U.S. found itself involved in the
Second World War. To boost the war effort, and to offset the
loss of business in the pen market, Sheaffer pursued and won
numerous contracts for war production, and put its precision
manufacturing capabilities to work making bomb and artillery
fuses, communications plugs, and an intricate auto-tune head for
military radios. This war work was so extensive that the company
expanded yet again, converting a former paper mill at Avenue
O and 20th street into Plant #2 (or, the “War Plant”). Sheaffer
also moved into a former button factory at Avenue I and 12th
street (Plant #5), and opened satellite plants downriver in Quincy,
Illinois and to the northwest in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
After the war, Sheaffer quickly reconverted to peacetime pen
18
production. Although the Quincy and Mount Pleasant plants
remained in operation for a time, the bulk of fountain pen production for the U.S. reverted to Plant #1 (the old Morrison Plow
Works building). In about 1951, Plant #5 was razed and rebuilt to
become the new home of Sheaffer’s tool and die operations (which
were so highly regarded that they sold their services to other
firms), along with a screw machine works and deep-draw facilities
(for forming metal caps and barrels). Skrip ink was packaged in
Plant #2, which also served as a warehouse and shipping facility.
In 1952, coinciding with the introduction of the Snorkel pen,
Sheaffer completed construction of a brand-new and fashionably
utilitarian headquarters building on 301 Avenue H, next to Plant
#1. This building primarily contained administrative offices, as
well as a huge new employee cafeteria. Sheaffer had begun feeding its employees onsite during the war years, and the new facility continued this tradition in spades; it employed two full-time
gourmet cooks and a pastry chef, and had walk-in coolers large
enough to hang sides of beef with which to feed hungry penmakers. One retiree remarked that you could buy a home-baked cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee for fourteen cents, and no doubt
many Sheaffer employees often found lunch at the plant to be
their best meal of the day. From the entrance of this building,
you can still see the river marina where the Sheaffer company
yacht, the Wasp, was formerly moored.
The 1950s and 60s found Sheaffer at the peak of its influence; thanks to its development of a quality ballpoint pen and
its careful diversification into lowerpriced instruments, it adapted well to
the changing market, and often managed to outsell its Wisconsin arch-rival
Parker. During this period, Sheaffer
went international, opening plants in
the U.K. and Australia.
In 1966, Sheaffer was sold to the
diversified Textron conglomerate,
and thereby ceased to be a family-run
operation. The company was sold yet
again in 1988 to Gefinor, a group of
investors that included former executives of Parker Pen. At about this time,
Sheaffer facilities began a slow but
inevitable contraction; Plant #5 was
closed in about 1985, and Plant #2
in about 1993 (both buildings, along
with the Sheaffer water tower at Plant
#2, still stand at their original sites).
In 1997, Sheaffer was sold to its current owners, Société BIC of Paris, the
famous makers of disposable pens,
lighters, and shavers. The Sheaffer
payroll, which once boasted more than
2,500 employees during the immediate postwar years, is currently
down to something like five per cent of that figure.
In the year 2000, the old faithful Plant #1 (the Morrison Plow
Works building) was demolished, and it remains a vacant lot.
Today, the headquarters building at 301 Avenue H is the sole
Sheaffer facility in Fort Madison, housing manufacturing and
shipping operations, along with repair facilities and sales, and
some administrative offices.
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Current products
Sheaffer today offers a wide range of
pens encompassing everything from
blister-pack ballpoints up to limitededition commemoratives. A brief review
of the line follows for those not familiar
with the company’s recent production.
While fountain pens have largely
disappeared from the “popular price”
range, you can still get the very successful Viewpoint Calligraphy, a pen
based on the old NoNonsense model
that is sold in sets with interchangeable italic points; vintage fans will note
that the Viewpoint no longer has a
screw cap, but has gained a fashionable
rubberized grip section. The cheerful
Tagalong model is another NoNon
sense derivative, which sports a rope
by which you can hang it around your
neck. The all-metal Sentinel is available as a ballpoint or 0.7mm pencil.
Although the button actuated ballpen
 Hesse Building. First floor is Ivy Bake Shoppe and Café; second and third floor were the Sheaffer workshop.
may seem rather old-fashioned these
days, Sheaffer’s Greg Goss tells us that
the model is very popular with doctors and others who can’t
stop work to use two hands to operate a pen. The Circle
Grip is a stout metal-barreled twist-actuated pen with modish soft rubber rings on the grip, and is available as a ballpoint or rollerball.
Since the 1920s, Sheaffer has used the simple white dot as
a hallmark for its finest products. In the “White Dot” range,
the popular and long-running Prelude model was recently
joined by the slimmer Agio; both of these metal-barreled
pens are available in a huge variety of finishes, including
the new see-it-to-believe-it iridescent Rainbow, and can be
had as ballpoints, rollerballs, automatic-feed pencils (in the
Prelude range), and steel-pointed fountain pens. Some of
the shorter Agio Compact models are now made in vintagelooking plastics with gold-plate caps, recalling the old Crest
models of the 1930s (and 1990s). The Javelin is a stout satinfinished metal-barreled pen with ends that taper sharply to
 Sheaffer Jewelry Store cases inside Dana Bushong Jewelers
a square cross-section reminiscent of old PFM and Imperial
Inside Pendemonium
models. The Intrigue, a striking and original Sheaffer design,
is available in four writing modes, including a fountain pen
with a 14k inlaid point and unique cartridge/converter design
(it can be used as a fixed piston filler) and automatic-feed
pencils (the Intrigue and Prelude are among the few such
pencils available anywhere today). The Intrigue is offered
in six finishes, including the Silken Bark, a black-on-black
design textured through the use of high-tech physical vapor
deposition (PVD) techniques.
Sheaffer’s flagship remains the Legacy model, which has
the size and shape of the 1960s PFM (as well as the trademark
inlaid point), although it is made from brass rather than the
plastic of the older pen. Although the earlier Legacy models had a unique filler that allowed the owner to use either
cartridges or the traditional Sheaffer “Touchdown” filler,
the current Legacy Heritage models are strictly cartridge/
The pennant

Sheaffer clock inside Dana Bushong Jewelers
converter fillers. These are offered as fountain pens, ballpoints,
and rollerballs in eleven luxurious finishes, including solid sterling
silver in a barleycorn pattern, and three new “Look of Leather”
styles featuring a lizard-like texture created by PVD.
The newest addition to the Sheaffer White Dot line is the MPI
(“Multi-Purpose Instrument”), a ballpoint pen that has a tubular
yellow fiber-tipped highlighter that can be extended to highlight
as you write.
Inside the plant
Throughout the day on Friday, Sheaffer employees took small
groups of visitors through 301 Avenue H on tours that lasted
about 90 minutes. My own visit began at 9AM, in perhaps fittingly drizzly gray and somber weather; our guides, Greg Goss
and Bonnie Krogmeier, diplomatically forestalled any questions as
to Sheaffer's future, reading a prepared statement that referred us
to the head office at BIC.
20
Today, all Sheaffer brand pens are assembled in, and shipped
from, the plant on Avenue H. These include the “popular price”
pens and pencils (the Tagalong, the Sentinel, the Circle Grip, and the
Calligraphy), as well as the more expensive “White Dot” instruments
(Javelins, Preludes, Agios, Intrigues, Legacy Heritages, and the new
MPI). Some of the pens are made completely within the plant, while
parts for others are sent out for specialized processing and returned to
the plant for assembly. All fountain pen points, including the trademark inlaid points on the Intrigue and Legacy models, continue to be
manufactured in-house.
The typical metal-barreled Sheaffer pen begins life in the metal
fabrication area on the first floor, where brass is drawn into tubes,
cut, stamped, and shaped by hand on pneumatic equipment. There’s
nary a sign of computerized metal fab equipment; everything is done
by human touch. Most of these parts then move across the floor to
be either painted (with lacquer or matte finishes) or electroplated
(with nickel, gold, palladium, or other precious metals) on special
plating racks. Some parts are sent out to contractors to apply the
newer and more exotic finishes (like the PVD techniques used to create the Silken Bark Intrigue and the new “Look of Leather” Legacy
Heritage, or the Rainbow finish offered on the Agio and Prelude
lines). Parts are then sandblasted or polished to a high shine by industrial-strength buffing equipment. The plastics for the sections (as well
as for the barrels and caps of the less-expensive models) are cast inhouse. All pens are hand-assembled and packaged for sale onsite, with
each model having its own final assembly area within the plant; the
finer pens go in clamshell gift boxes, while blister-pack equipment is
used to package the less-expensive models on hang cards.
The various processes that go into making Sheaffer pens generate
quite a bit of toxic waste, so Sheaffer has a very large, well-secured,
and scary-looking waste-handling area on the first floor. It’s adjacent
to but comfortably distant from the large shipping and receiving area,
where one can also find the new offices of the full-time Sheaffer reps,
who take orders from dealers around the world for new pens and
accessories.
The second floor houses the tool-and-die operations, where
Sheaffer employees build and maintain the equipment used in pen
manufacture (prototypes of new models are also hand-prepared here).
Across the floor, the manufacture of Sheaffer ballpoint refills is done
on a single complicated machine that fits the balls into the refills, fills
them with ink (from large hoppers filled from 55-gallon drums), caps
them, and stamps them with factory nomenclature. A short distance
away, the point units of the Calligraphy model fountain pens are
assembled on a machine that employs automated optical scanning to
identify misaligned points; these are kicked out for hand adjustment.
One large room on the second floor is devoted to the manufacture of fountain pen points. Sheaffer employs a proprietary gold alloy
called (fittingly enough) “Sheaffer Gold” for its better pen points.
Received in ingot form, the gold is melted by an employee appropriately known as the “gold melter” (there’s something to put on your
Form 1040) and processed into sheets. The basic shape of the point
is cut from the sheet, polished, stamped with Sheaffer nomenclature
and hallmarks, and then carefully contoured (or “set”) into the familiar compound-curve inlaid shape. The hard metal tip is welded on
and ground to shape, and the point is then slit by fragile, paper-thin
carbide disks spinning at thousands of RPM. The Sheaffer plant is
one of the handful of facilities in the world, and possibly the only
one remaining in the U.S., where such points are made in production
quantities.
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
include not only the well-known senior models,
but also economy pens from the 1960s, ink bottles
and cartridges, packaging, and promotional materials. Tucked away almost invisibly in a corner was
a tray full of old but pristine “cutaway” pens, promotional tools that dealers used during the middle
of the 20th century to show how the pens were
made. The Sheaffer Archives also house an excellent collection of the desk sets for which Sheaffer
is renowned; in a sure sign of the influence of
the internet on modern collecting, Tom recently
bought one such set from eBay to include in the
Archives. In an adjacent room, you can find the
original Sheaffer boardroom table, as well as the
original Coles Phillips paintings commissioned by
Sheaffer for use in its advertising from the 1910s
and 1920s, and an original print of the famous 1912
Sheaffer patent.
The end of the tour offered an unexpected treat:
the opportunity to visit the Sheaffer factory store
and purchase new pens and accessories at generous
employee discounts, as well as a variety of closeout
models at jaw-dropping prices. The two cashiers in
the store were hard put to keep up with the lines
of eager pen enthusiasts looking for souvenirs, and
had to close briefly at least once during the day to
restock. The store also offered goods from the parent company; BIC disposable shavers were apparently big sellers.
Sheaffer residences

Original Sheaffer Jewelry Store in Fort Madison
Elsewhere on the second floor, the quality control department
uses military-spec sampling procedures to inspect incoming parts
and materials as well as samples of outgoing pens; here, workers
use a variety of gauges, tools, and inspection equipment (including
an X-ray machine and a 230-power magnifier) to check parts. To
insure that these parts meet spec, they compare them to “visual
standards,” pen satchels containing examples of both acceptable
and unacceptable parts. For instance, the visual standard for the
new Rainbow finishes illustrates how each part must include at least
four different colors, and must be free from pitting or scratches.
In the repair department, Sidney Brown heads a staff with more
than 70 years of collective experience in the repair of Sheaffer pens.
They can and will repair almost any pen Sheaffer ever made (with
the notable exception of Vac-Fil pens of the 1930s and 1940s). To
hone their craft, they use an assortment of “learner pens,” what a
collector might call “junkers,” spanning many decades of Sheaffer
production.
On the top floor of the building, in the former executive suite,
a team headed by Sheaffer retiree Tom Frantz (the firm’s former
patent attorney, and son of W.A. Sheaffer’s personal secretary)
has assembled the “Sheaffer Archives,” a formidable collection of
Sheaffer pens and associated items from past and present. These
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 Fort Madison was home to Sheaffer Pen, but was
also home to the Sheaffer family themselves. W.A.
Sheaffer’s first home in the town was a relatively
modest white frame house at what is now 1121
Avenue C. In 1909 he moved to the Albright house
(built by the daughter of Betsy Ross, the creator
of the U.S. flag), and in 1914 he moved again to
a handsome Victorian brick house at 833 Fourth Street (now
Avenue E). Finally, in 1924, the Sheaffers built a family enclave
on High Point, a bluff overlooking the town just uphill from the
penitentiary.
Also noteworthy is the Sheaffer Clubhouse (331 Avenue D),
a recreation and exercise center that W.A. Sheaffer built for his
employees in 1927 (the dress code for exercising ladies apparently
called for black bloomers and hose, and white shirts—spandex
had not yet been invented nor would likely have been tolerated in
those days of relative modesty). This facility became a YMCA in
the 1960s, and is now a private residence.
Just uphill from town, the Hillcrest Memorial Park serves as the
final resting place of Walter A. Sheaffer, his first and second wives,
and his son Craig. A decorative dwarf tree and a plaque mark the
simple Sheaffer plot at the edge of the park, and the graves themselves are equally unostentatious, matching the others in this small
and quiet cemetery.
Dana Bushong Jewelry Shop
At 805 Avenue G, across from the original W. A. Sheaffer store,
and behind a period display sign, stands the Dana Bushong
Jewelry Shop. When Walter Sheaffer left the retail business in the
mid-1910s, he sold fixtures from his store to Bushong, and the
21
current owners Skip and Michele Young proudly display these today. Step
into their shop, and you see two enormous and beautifully carved slidingfront jewelry display cases (whose doors have been permanently fixed open
to avoid what Mr. Young called “the Guillotine effect”), along with a handsome grandfather clock that still keeps excellent time.
Furniture, however, is not the only connection that the Dana Bushong
shop shares with Sheaffer Pen; for many years, Mr. Bushong was one of
the “legal forgers” who hand-engraved Sheaffer’s famous Signature and
Autograph pens. These pens were sold with stout solid 14k gold bands,
and the customers returned them to Fort Madison along with specimens
of their signatures for the ultimate in personalization. Owing to the
Sheaffer family grave sites
shape of the pens, machine engraving was not practical, and so skilled
artisans like Mr. Bushong did the work by hand. The Youngs continue
the Dana Bushong tradition, offering a selection of modern Sheaffer
pens for engraving.
For the weekend, Skip and Michele decorated the show windows of
their shop with a variety of Sheaffer and Bushong memorabilia, including
engraved pens, photographs, vintage news articles, copies of Sheaffer company publications, and even a pack of authentic “PFM” brand cigarettes
issued by Sheaffer in 1959 as a promotion for its new Pen For Men (these
were short unfiltered smokes, perhaps suitable for the manly kind of men
whom Sheaffer hoped to attract with its new flagship model).
Pandemonium at Pendemonium
In addition to the factory tour, the Fort Madison weekend provided a chance
for collectors from all over the country to get together and swap stories. The
nexus for most of this socializing was the Pendemonium store at 619 Avenue
G, from which visitors could see both the Mississippi River and the Sheaffer
plant. Hosts Sam and Frank Fiorella, along with Sam’s daughter Heather,
22
saw to it that visitors were kept fed (with a standup buffet
in the shop on Thursday night, a happy hour at the Lost
Duck brew pub for some fresh pumpkin beer, and a Friday
night dinner beneath the original Sheaffer factory site at
the Ivy Bake Shoppe and Café). Throughout the weekend,
Pendemonium employee Michelle Reed did yeoman duty
behind the antique cash register, dispensing pens, ink,
paper, and answers to questions from befuddled visitors.
For those with wheels and some spare time, Sam provided
a self-guided tour of Sheaffer sights in and around town.
If you were at Pendemonium Friday afternoon, you were
treated to a classic tradition of small-town America: the
Fort Madison High homecoming parade, which featured
a band and numerous improvised floats (including one
that inexplicably contained two high-school girls engaged
in a boxing match).
Sherrell Tyree was on hand at Pendemonium with
her capacious toolbox, fine-tuning and repairing pens on
the spot while chatting with their owners. I discovered
her in conversation with a woman who had a small case
full of exquisite Sheaffer pens, including a mint gold-fill
overlay, a brilliant red chased hard rubber flat-top, and
numerous unusual cutaway models; all looked as though
they had emerged from the factory just minutes before.
When asked where she had managed to accumulate such
a collection, she simply said, “Oh, I went to the attic.”
The woman was Georgina Frantz, the wife of Tom
Frantz (the curator of the Sheaffer Archives), and one of
the weekend’s volunteer guides. Despite her seemingly
solid family connections by marriage, Georgina’s own
career at Sheaffer did not always go smoothly. “There
was a pecking order at Sheaffer,” she told me, by which
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
married family men were considered first for desirable jobs, followed by single men, single women, and finally married women;
when Georgina married, she was exiled to the confines the Skrip
ink plant. Perhaps more fortunate was Letta Grosekemper, a fiftyyear Sheaffer veteran (and another of the tour guides) who for
decades has done what could well be the most exacting job in the
plant: the manufacture and grinding of fountain pen points and
nibs. If you have a Sheaffer of recent vintage that you enjoy, you
may well have Letta to thank for it.
The Sheaffer event attracted the attention of the press; Sam
Fiorella was interviewed by local television (which also set up
cameras in Sheaffer’s lobby during the tours), and the event ended
up on the front pages of the Fort Madison Daily Democrat and
the Burlington Hawk Eye. The latter also printed a feature on
Sherrell Tyree’s repair work. In the weeks preceding, these papers
had been running doleful stories about the potential economic
impact of the Sheaffer closing, and so the lead in the October 12
Daily Democrat has a similar tone: “You feel kind of like a vulture
picking over the corpse of a whale as you walk through the mostly
empty halls of the once giant pen manufacturer.”
Reflections
Even if you weren’t keeping up with the news, you could not help
but notice that Sheaffer Pen in the year 2004 is not what it once
was. Outside, the building looks a bit careworn, with rust blooming through paint on window frames; the building is surmounted
by a large illuminated sign with the trademark white dot, but when
I asked about photographing it, I learned that the sign is no longer
lit at night.
Things were cheerier inside; the building is old but tidy, pleasant, and well organized. There was plenty of empty space, most
used for storage (not unusual in plants such as this). The walls were
hung with card racks (presumably for the production control system) as well as motivational posters extolling the “BIC Way,” but
one could also see classic Sheaffer advertisements proudly displayed
in more than one office. The shipping area was relatively quiet during our visit, but was stacked high with boxes of pens waiting to be
sent to dealers, and the sales reps looked busy within their offices.
More than one visitor remarked on the relatively small number of employees at work, given the size of the plant. I myself saw
what could have been no more than two or three-dozen people
on the job, although admittedly we were not taken into some of
the more dangerous work areas. While some of the workers were
intent on their tasks and seemed disinclined to entertain visitors
(and who could blame them under the circumstances?), many
others eagerly welcomed the tourists, even setting out bowls of
candy and homemade cake. I must also particularly commend the
genial hospitality of our receptionists, members of the local Red
Hat Society.
Sheaffer is the last of the big full-line U.S. fountain pen makers of the past that remains in operation in its hometown in anything close to its original form. Parker no longer manufactures
pens in its Janesville, Wisconsin facility, while the U.S. operations
of Waterman and Wahl-Eversharp are but distant memories (along
with the dozen or two other U.S. makers that attracted national and
even global attention sixty or more years ago). And so, if these are
indeed to be the final days of Sheaffer in Fort Madison (and that’s as
yet far from certain), we must also give the company full credit for
being the Last Man Standing.
✍
All rights reserved
P.C.A. Pens Now Available from
Jim’s Fountain Pen Site
The Board of Directors of the P.C.A. voted at the 2003 Ohio meeting to turn over marketing and sales of the P.C.A. Limited
Edition pen to Jim Gaston, proprietor of Jim’s Fountain Pen Site. Jim is a long time supporter of the P.C.A. and is geared up to
offer the remaining P.C.A. pens to pen collectors worldwide via his popular website, Jim’s Fountain Pen Site. Effective immediately,
all sales of the P.C.A. pen will be through Jim Gaston. You may contact him at:
Jim Gaston
Jim’s Fountain Pen Site
www.jimgaston.com
email: jim@jimgaston.com
We wish to extend special thanks to Saul Kitchener who has overseen the shipping of the P.C.A.
pens. Thanks also to our dealer members who marketed these pens on their websites and in their
shops on behalf of the P.C.A:
John Mottishaw • www.nibs.com
Rick Horne • www.thesouthernscribe.com
Rick Propas • www.angelfire.com/mac/penguin0/
Doug Kennedy • Appointments
David Nishimura • www.vintagepens.com
and
Howard Levy of The Bexley Pen Company
Howard led us not only through the design process of this pen,
but showcased the P.C.A. pen on the Bexley website.
The pennant
oPen fo
Visit the P.C.A.
Website
While we may not have the fanciest website in the
world, it is certainly quite functional and offers a lot of
information for our members. We make updates and
place announcements on the site fairly regularly. This
is the place to go to find out what’s happening with the
P.C.A. between The Pennant issues.
www.pencollectors.com
Collecting from
a Philosophical
Angle
“Call them what you will—obsessive compulsive
eccentrics, materialist philosophers or pack–rat artists—collectors’ unruly passions make sense of our
world.”
Steven Winn
An Unusual Parker
Vacumatic
Hank Mosberg has acquired a rather unusual Parker
Vacumatic. It has the typical Parker Vacumatic imprint on
the barrel and is date coded 1942. However, it is made of
the same longitudinal striped material as the 1940s era
San Francisco Chronicle
Al Grosskopf alerted the P.C.A. to a fascinating article
published in the San Francisco Chronicle about the
eccentricities, compulsions and mysteries of collecting. You can only determine whether or not it helps us
determine why we collect and are so passionate about
pens. We’ve posted a link to the article on the P.C.A.
website. Take a look to find out more.
Parker Duofold.
We asked P.C.A. Director Michael
Fultz if he had seen this Vacumatic
model before.
Fultz replied, “I think (but cannot
prove) that these were made one
afternoon during WWII. Parker (and
other makers) had a habit of using
whatever parts were at hand rather
than suspend production.”
If anyone has any further
information about this unusual
Vacumatic, we’d love to hear from
you. Nice find, Hank!
24
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
r um
Renting at the
Conway Stewart Hotel
Looking for the perfect destination? What better place than the
Conway Stewart Hotel in the English countryside!
We spotted the listing below on an internet travel website:
Color photos
from
The Pennant
http://kayukay.co.uk/devonhotels/conway stewart.html
Leisure, business or touring, every stay will be a relaxing one in our
homely atmosphere. Spacious lounge, bar, log fire, and French doors
leading to the front garden a patio area. Wide Screen Digital Satellite
TV with good selection of DVD movies/VHS Movies.
Everything you could need for that memorable stay.
The Conway Stewart Hotel is named after the
In a perfect world, The Pennant would feature
pen manufacturer Conway Stewart.
full color photos throughout each issue.
All bedrooms are very tastefully decorated with full en-suite/private
Unfortunately for us and for you, color is
expensive and as a non-profit organization,
we have to pick and choose which
photographs will appear in color.
An alternative to full color in the magazine
is to provide you with additional full color
bathroom facilities, tea/coffee facilities, colour TV with email and
internet capability in each room.
Each bedroom features open beamed ceilings and feature windows.
We have a full size 1930s Snooker/Billiard table.
Table top football for the kids, too.
The ancient Stannary town of Tavistock is only 5 minutes away
with a daily pannier market, abbey ruins, shops and restaurants.
photos on the P.C.A. website. We hope to
Plymouth with its historic Barbican, Mayflower steps, and the
have a number of these added in the coming
Hoe are only 10 minutes away.
months and hope you will all enjoy them.
We have already provided a link on the
P.C.A. site to view the color photos originally
submitted by Michael McNeil and Melissa
Lowry for their article, “The Natural World vs.
The Machine Age: Writing Instruments of the
We are also conveniently located for the business traveler who is
visiting Roborough, Belliver, Estover Industrial
Estates, Derriford Science Park or Derriford Hospital.
Plymouth Airport is only 7 minutes away.
Daily Room Tariff including full English breakfast:
Art Nouveau and Art Deco Eras.”
Twin/Double room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(The Pennant, Spring 2003)
£50
Single Occupancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
£35
Children under 14 years
old sharing with adults . . . . . . . . . . . . .
£12 per child
Contact: Lorraine and Don Yendle. Telephone: +44 (0)1822 852437.
FAX: +44 (0)1822 852437
The pennant
Calendar B lotters
By Bruce M. Craig
I
I have long been a collector of writing instrument
ephemera. I know I am not alone. I do collect deep in the shadows of our most prolific luminaries, most notably Mike Fultz
who writes regularly on the topic. One can collect an enormous
amount of material related to pens and pencils without actually
collecting the items to which they relate. It used to be the cheaper
alternative. It is becoming less so. I know, I am an active eBay
bidder under the pseudonym of “pencil-and-pen-ephemera.” One
of my passions the last 5 years has been blotters, most notably
advertising blotters for wooden pencils (my whimsical side) and
Waterman calendar blotters (I assume
that Len Provisor casts a big shadow over
me even in this little corner). In both
instances, I thought the challenge would
be to find sufficient examples to make
them collections. After more than five
years, I have found how wrong I could be.
The story of pencil blotters will have
to wait; the horizons are still too unclear
even after more than 100 acquisitions. The
parameters of collecting Waterman blotters
now seem clear, but the reality of reaching the goal of collecting examples of most
of them seems even more distant. I resign
myself to discoursing upon the parameter, opening up myself to the
greater wisdom of readers.
On the surface, collecting an example of Waterman calendar blotters seems rather simple. As far as I have been able to determine,
the 3 1/2 by 6 inch blotters depicting a hard rubber Waterman pen
above a three line retailer advertisement surrounding a calendar were
printed from 1912 to 1925 in the United States and Canada. I am
in constant search of “out” years from this period, but to date have
only found one example in French and German dated 1928. Within
the period one would expect 14 Waterman calendar blotters, one for
each year. However, very soon, one notices that while some blotters
begin in January, others begin in March, April, May, June, July and
September (again, I still look for a different month!). This explains
why some blotters are identified as a single year (e.g., 1914) and others two years (e.g., 1914–5). After counting the months on these calendars, one finds that calendars not beginning with January include
9, 10 or 12 months.
The possible permutations begin to reveal the problem—14
years, 7 month starting points, 3 different month durations.
However, as any old hand who has seen a few of these blotters will
tell you, they come in different color combinations! The standard
is red and black ink on a white background. Not uncommon are
black and red on blue, black and blue on white, and black on white.
In later years the white background appears as a very pale grey. Less
common are black and red on yellow and black and red on orange—
and I am unsure these exhaust the possibilities. Theoretically, the
variations using combinations of the above suggest that a complete
collection would require 1,764 blotters! Experience indicates, however
that no color combination was maintained throughout the 14 years of these
advertising giveaways. The standard
black and red on white has been found
up to 1922 and may have been the only
colors used until 1915. Black on white
and blue and black on white are the
prevalent colors for 1922 to 1924.
Overcoming the quantitative collecting urge, one finds fascination in
the mottos and three line advertising
spaces which validated the printing
expense for the retailer (or wholesaler) underwriting free distribution to potential Waterman customers. Throughout the years
of production, the motto often surrounding an image of a hard
rubber fountain pen read: “Useful every day of the year.” In 1915,
beneath this motto was added: “Experimenting with this pen was
done thirty years ago—it has been the standard every since and
will remain so!” In 1916 the anniversary motto was changed to:
“Buy the Waterman Ideal pen and use it time and again!” In 1922
the “Useful every day of the year” was moved from the center to
outside the top border. Introduced to outside the bottom border
was a new motto: “An appropriate gift for the birthday, wedding, or
anniversary”
The variations in starting month and number of months on the
calendars clearly served two purposes. The most frequent alternative
a retailer could select to starting in January for a 12-month calendar
year was evidently September. This correlates with the fact that a
number of Waterman retailers were bookstores located on or near
I thought the challenge of
blotters would be to find
sufficient examples to make
them collections. After more
than five years, I have found
how wrong I could be.
26
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
And two of my favorites:
near college campuses. Printing
calendars of 9 months provided
additional space for advertising, including an area along the
bottom for a retailer to stamp
its address on a generic blotter.
This would save a small retailer
the cost of printing its name and
address in the center in a smaller space under the logo of the
Waterman sphere. Waterman
often used the space saved in a
10-month blotter for additional
advertising. A 1913 blotter in my
collection reads on one side:
“Ask to try regular safety or
self-filling types of the standard
pen.”
And on the other: “Insist
on the pen point being fitted
to your hand. Use Waterman’s
Ideal Ink.”
In 1922, the space allowed
on 10 month blotters was filled
on one side with images of
Waterman #3 and #4 size ink bottles, and on the other, with pint
and quart bottles. Throughout
the 14-year sequence, the center
space features an image of the
“standard” pen.
As indicated, on virtually all
blotters, one finds the name of a
retail store and its city and state
location. A street address (pre
zip code) is found on many along
with a selective description of the
merchandise sold by the retailer.
Invariably the items listed are
not writing instruments and
often quite unrelated to them. A
few examples:
• The Lockwood Shop—Kodaks,
Stationery, Framing; Lake Placid,
New York
• S. E. Bowen & Co.—Drugs and
Stationery; 46 Commerce Street,
Bridgeton, New Jersey
• B. S. Morgan—Jeweler and Opto
metrist; Cooperstown, New York
• E.R. Blackmer—Watches,
Diamonds, Jewelry, etc.; Fredericton,
Nebraska
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 • The Gleason Book Company—
Books, Stationery, Picture Frames,
Mouldings, Etchings, Water Colors;
Schenectady, New York
• J. Lemp, Phm.B.—Druggist and
Photographer; Tavistock, Ontario,
Canada
1915-16 nine-month blotter, starting with September
1912 single-year, twelve-month blotter
1916 single-year, twelve-month blotter
One can imagine the pre “Big
Box” retailers having countertop display cases of Waterman’s
located between and above
displays of various sundries.
Judging from the relatively small
sample of blotters I own personally, as well as information
gleaned from eBay offerings,
it appears there were few dedicated pen shops in most small
American and Canadian towns.
In larger cities, Waterman may
have offered franchises based on
retail location. Bookstores near
or on major college campuses
were targeted. I have examples
from Purdue, Ohio State, Penn
State and the University of
Tennessee.
There are many unanswered
questions. Why did Waterman
stop promoting blotters after
1925 (or should there be others found, 1926 or 1927)? The
stock market did not crash. Did
it feel the pinch from competitors such as Sheaffer and
Parker? Why are there few
examples of other fountain pen
manufacturer calendar blotters?
I have found only a Conklin
Endura 1924 calendar blotter.
Why would retailers choose as
starting dates March, April or
July (presumably May and June
dates were for graduations and
weddings)?
I may never find the answers
to these questions, so I will continue to pursue the quantitative
goal. Anybody have an orange
1914-15 nine-month calendar
starting in April?
✍
©All rights reserved.
1923-24 ten-month blotter, starting with April
27
ephemera
More from the
Collection of Doug Flax
Boston Fountain Pen Company envelope, (unable to read date) front and backside
Front and back side of the 1900 Parker Remittance Receipt, illustration of Jack-Knife Safety
J Ullrich & Co Envelope, 1893, Star
and Independent Fountain Pens and
Stylographic Pens
28
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
A.A. Waterman envelope, 1903
Parker Envelope, 1898, Jointless Lucky Curve
illustration
Laughlin Fountain Pen envelope, 1905
Puff Self-Filling Pen Co envelope, 1906
Mabie, Todd and Bard envelope
(unable to read date), highly decorated
American Fountain Pen Co.
Moore's Pen envelope, 1909
A.A. Waterman and Co. envelope
(unable to read date),
Modern Fountain Pen illustration
Parker envelope, 1897,
Lucky Curve illustration
The pennant
Is it Mint 1948
4
2
19
How often have you seen or
heard “it’s in mint condition”
applied to a fountain pen?
And as you looked over the
item, you saw scratches, dents,
dings, and brassing and
found that it also had some
ink on the feed and nib. Does
that seem like mint to you?
The cyber auction houses
(and we can’t hold them
responsible as it is the seller
who describes the pen) are
rife with descriptions which,
when we receive the pen we’ve
won, somehow doesn’t match
what we read. A quick review
of the ad that we relied on
when the decision was made
to bid suggests that the pen
we now hold in our hand has
been switched for another!
30
A
by Joel Hamilton
At the pen shows one dealer describes a pen as mint and another looks at
the same pen and declares it to be excellent, near mint or, a nice piece. Yet the pen
has been polished to perfection, an engraved name expertly removed while leaving
the barrel perfectly round and the nib, feed and section have had all traces of ink
removed. Is it mint? It looks to be in mint condition and certainly it could be sold
as such as there are no “tells” on this particular pen. If you buy this pen, take it
home and find that there actually is some wear on the very highest points, have you
been taken? Is there anything that we can do about this or are we doomed to rely
on the description of others and accepting that a pen is mint because the dealer is
an honest Jill and has no intent of taking advantage of you.
We have been in the business of restoring and selling pens for about seven years
now and, like you, have had to deal with this issue as both sellers and buyers of
pens. We have seen the cyber space over-grade and bought a few as well and witnessed the heated discussions at shows about the condition of a pen.
Like most others who sell pens, we use an operational definition for what we
consider to be mint and other grading of a pen and try to recall and disclose all of
its flaws. I am sure that our grading system differs from those used by others.
Since we were not around in the early twentieth century and most of us have not
worked in a factory that produced pens and shipped them to dealers, there is little
first hand knowledge of what mint really is. Can a pen be mint and not have the
original box and paraphernalia the original buyer received when it was purchased?
Were pens enclosed in cellophane or tissue when they were shipped? Is a mint pen
one, which has no marks, scratches or other wear? Is a mint pen one that has been
restored to mint condition?
There was a discussion about grading standards some years back on one of the
pen lists. It was a good discussion and it suggested that we want something on
which to base the qualitative descriptions of pens. It was a little disturbing at that
time to find that we did not then have, and still don’t, standards that define the
grading categories we use. While one person describes a pen as one grade, another
describes it as in better or worse condition. Some have alluded to a grading system
in their written works and on their web sites, but I have not yet seen an “industry”
standard offered, much less adhered to.
There are a number of variables to consider when describing anything. When
it comes to describing a pen, the list is fairly complicated.
Clarity, cut, color and carat define the condition of a diamond. Coins are graded
by at least two groups of collectors applying their own standards to various states
and even having sub-categories within each of those states. Watches and even furniture have defined standards that buyers and sellers use to decide if an item is in a
given condition. Even cyberspace has some standards, though they are in constant
flux. So, how can we address the matter of developing standards? Do we want to?
Yes! While it may be a difficult task to develop standards, it is a task worth doing!
Generally, the seller determines the condition of a pen, while the responsibility
for convincing the seller that the pen is in a lesser condition is shouldered by the
buyer. A true mint piece, one which has no wear (not the same as restored to show
no signs of wear), stickers and the original box commands a much higher price than
the same pen that is in a lesser condition. Obviously, price is correlated to condiSpring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Yet?
1948
191
7
tion. However, how do we grade a pen that is missing the box and
papers, and has some shop wear (the store was sold and the inventory was moved several times)? Is it mint, still? I think these are
questions that can and should be addressed.
The easy stuff is gathering a group of interested collectors who
have seen a lot of pens. It would also be helpful if the members of
the group had some experience with pens as they came from the
manufacturer. That may not be possible but, hey, it’s a start. Other
helpful experience might include having sold pens and developed
one’s own system of grading.
Once the group is established they would be tasked with developing the Pen Grading Standards. These standards would include,
at least, the following categories:
✔ Mint
✔ Near Mint
✔ Excellent
✔ Very Good
✔ Good
✔ Fair
✔ Poor
✔ Parts
✔ Trash Bin
Further, variables such as whether or not the pen has been
restored, brassing on metal parts, cracks, chips, dents, dings,
scratches, manufacturer errors, typical wear issues (like the obligatory ding in the barrel of a “51” Flighter, the dent in the crown
of a Duofold pencil or the split in a Balance cap), color, imprint,
fit and finish might be included. There are probably many other
things to add to this list.
Once the standards are drafted they could be distributed and
comments received from collectors. When the period for comments is completed and the initial proposed standards revised,
they should be published. It is intentional that no specific organization has been mentioned to champion this task. Isn’t it
obvious who that organization should be? Well, of course, the
P.C.A! Given that the P.C.A. is the largest organization of pen
collectors in this country, this would be the appropriate body
for the task. I can see some advantages for both the collector
and the P.C.A.
Standards are common among professional and non-professional
organizations. Standards are essentially the framework in which all
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 Write to
us…Tell us
what you
think!
Yes, You, the one reading this article
in your easy chair. We want to hear
from you. The P.C.A. invites you to tell
us
what your definition of “mint” is
in regards to vintage fountain pens.
We eagerly await to hear your
definition of “mint.” Email
info@pencollectors.com or mail to
31
Is it Mint Yet?
Continued from page 32
activity takes place; in this instance it is grading pens. The collector who is interested in
purchasing a pen and does so from a seller who
uses P.C.A. Grading Standards would be assured
that his purchase is likely to maintain its value
(assuming the same condition) if it is later sold.
The P.C.A. would potentially have even
broader recognition as a result of having
developed the standards. A Standards and
Review Committee could be established by
the Board. Pens could be sent to this committee for review and a certificate of authenticity
and condition could be issued. While there
may be some difficulty in keeping the pen
and the documentation together, with some
thought, this problem could be solved. A fee
could be charged for grading and documenting the pen. Esteemed auction houses and
those on the Internet too, could look to the
P.C.A. for grading a pen that they intend to
Esteemed auction houses and those on the Internet
could look to the P.C.A. for grading pens…
The Day Pe
Have you heard of Austin G. Day? How about his
brother, Julius? Julius’ son Henry? Henry’s son
Edmund? Their firm in Seymour, Connecticut,
the H. P. & E. Day Company? And why haven’t
you heard of one of the largest pen manufacturers ever? I explain here, but I would bet you
have heard of the L. E. Waterman Pen Company,
though.
H. P. & E. Day, Inc.was eventually controlled by
Waterman.
sell. The P.C.A. could even establish grading
training and issue certification once a participant has demonstrated the ability to properly
grade in accordance with the standards.
There may be some concern that the
P.C.A. would somehow be treading on the
grounds of the individual businessperson by
issuing standards. Hogwash! While the AMA
and APA require certification before members are allowed to practice their profession,
other organizations and individuals voluntarily submit to the standards that have been
promulgated by their association.
No one has to accept standards once they
are issued. It is up to the individual to do so
and to price their pens accordingly. At least
we would all have an idea of the condition
of a pen when a specific phrase is used to
describe it. It will still be up to the collector
to decide if a pen is graded properly–in accordance with the P.C.A. Grading Standards!
Oh, by the way, according to World Book
Encyclopedia:
“mint … -adj…in the condition of issue…”
Is it mint yet?
✍
All rights reserved
32
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
n&Some History
By L. Michael Fultz
M
My story is set earlier, starting in the 1850s.
The pen that illustrates this article has two patent
imprints—the first reads: “A. G. Day’s Pat. Aug. 10,
’68.” The other reads: “Pat. Oct. 2, ’77.”
Austin G. Day held several fountain pen patents,
the earliest from the 1850s. Elements of his pen patents include tubular feeds and several different ink
shutoff valves. The Oct. 2, 1877 patent listed on the
pen corresponds to U.S. Patent No. 195,719, application filed May 22, 1877, issued to John M. Might
and Charles W. H. Taylor, both of Toronto, Canada.
The patented invention was Might & Taylor’s sliding
radial collar designed to expel ink from a flexible reservoir. Neither Day’s nor Might & Taylor’s inventions
cover a self-filling device and the pens envisioned are
eyedropper fillers. The Day/Might & Taylor pen that
illustrates this article is an eyedropper filler but fills
by removing the gold filled cap at the end of the barrel.
Day’s tubular feed probably didn’t adequately
flow ink to the nib and so the concept of expelling
ink from the reservoir was to squeeze a drop of ink
out onto the nib. Neither Day’s nor Might & Taylor’s
inventions seems to address nor even acknowledge
the need to replace the ink in the reservoir with air
as the ink is used.
The Day/Might & Taylor pen was probably not
sold with a nib but was designed to permit the customer to use his dip pen nib. The example illustrated
is fitted with a #5 size unventilated John C. Aikin flexible gold dip nib. Exactly who sold these Day/Might
& Taylor pens and at what price remain mysteries.
It is a reasonable speculation to assume that they
were made by one of the various entities of the Day
rubber empire. These firms were founded in 1854 by
Austin G. Day, his brothers Henry P. and Julius Day,
and Thomas Sault. The business entities included,
first, the A. G. Day Company. They made both
molded and turned rubber goods and parts in hard
rubber. The firm also produced rubber insulated
electrical wire and cable. In the 1870s the firm was
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004  Day/Might & Taylor eyedropper pen
 Day/Might & Taylor eyedropper pen showing tubular feed
33
split into two parts, one making insulated
wire and the other producing hard rubber
products. By 1876, the name of the rubber goods company was changed to H.
P. and E. Day Company and was being
managed by Julius Day’s sons Henry P.
and Edmund Day. In 1902, it was incor-
The company produced fountain syringes,
urethral syringes,
rubber sheets,
rubber basins, pens,
pencils and pen parts.
porated and the name changed to H. P. &
E. Day, Inc.
The H. P. and E. Day Company produced many consumer and medical products including fountain syringes, urethral
syringes, rubber sheets, rubber basins,
etc., but also made dip pen holders,
fountain pens, and pencil and pen parts.
A review of company records shows that
H. P. and E. Day made pen and pencil
 Austin G. Day fountain pen patent
15,417 of July 29, 1856 
34
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
cases and pen/pencil parts for A. T. Cross,
Daniel Lapham, F. C. Brown/Caws, Paul
Wirt, Automatic Pen Company, John Foley,
Duncan MacKinnon and others; however,
after 1884, their largest pen/pencil parts
customer was L. E. Waterman.
After the Day firm was incorporated in
1902, the L. E. Waterman company gradually acquired an ownership interest in it.
Perhaps it was Waterman’s partial ownership of H. P. & E. Day, Inc. that retarded
Waterman’s acceptance of plastics for making pens. If so, it certainly stimulated the
Day firm to develop the rippled rubber
materials that Waterman (and Waterman’s
subsidiary Aikin, Lambert) used. Eventually
Waterman did adopt plastic barrels and
caps for its pens. These parts were also
turned by H. P. & E. Day, Inc. In 1946,
Waterman took total control of the Day
firm and turned it into a subsidiary but in
the 1960s both Waterman and Day were
bankrupt and out of business.
✍
All rights reserved

Might & Taylor, October 2, 1877 patent
‑
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Poemsd
Pens and Poetry
By Simcha Raphael
Pens and poetry are passions of mine
Each in their own ways
Reminding me to remember
To re-embody
To know inwardly and with depth
The essence and essential nectar of life.
Pens print on paper
Ephemeral expressions of eternity
Etching in manifest form
Remnants and elements
Stories and tales
Awakenings and encounters
Loves and passions
Of the ever-evolving
Human spirit.
And poetry
Words castles of the mind
Reveal ever-changing tales
Of the human heart
Poignant pristine perspectives
Multi-fold expressions
Of God’s creation
As revealed in various vicissitudes
Of the drama of life.
And this poem written with pen and ink
Upon crisp, consecrated paper
Is an outpouring
36
Of spirit, mind and body
A delightful delineation
Depicting a brief moment of time
A passing thought
An image
A sacred impression of mind
Birthed into life through the feed canal
Of a fountain pen
Flowing forth from wet womb of the
ink reservoir
As if from the source of existence itself.
Like an ancient scribal artist
Carving wisdom into Pre-Cambrian
rock formations
I write these words of poetry
Crafting a serendipitous meeting
Of the mundane and the divine
Gracefully fusing pen, ink and paper
Watching meticulously and methodically
As moist ink scribed upon this page
Dries ever-so-slowly
Leaving behind an indelible, delicate imprint
Of God matter
Etched forever in the data bank of soul
In this moment
Here-Now
And for eternity.
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
ePlume
Nibmeister
(for Richard Binder) by Rhonda
Foster
He exclaimed over my average pen
As if he’s never seen one before;
A rarity unearthed from the vaults of time,
Precious jewel that was found no more.
King Arthur may have pulled
The sword from the stone,
But this nib–Merlin
Has magic all his own.
Taking the pen with gentle hands,
He tweaked it, almost caressing;
Returned it to me for approval,
as if he conferred a blessing.
I traipsed away glowing with
Pride, beaming with pleasure;
Clutching my common pen, now
Converted to a treasure.
Where the ink once ran dry
It flows freely with grace.
The pen formerly idle, unloved,
Assumes an active place
Power to the Pen
By Gerry Baksys
A picture is worth a thousand words,
But what writes them,
Is mightier than the sword.
Thoughts may flow from mind to mind,
But a pen in the hand,
Saves them for all time.
Plays are written,
Songs are composed,
The pen makes possible all of those.
Grandma or President,
Waitress or friend, All rely on the power of the pen.
The Day the Elephants
Came to Town*
Submitted by George Marlow (a pen name)
It was summer, of course, but not
The tropic locale you would expect.
Just a small southern town.
The news was circus elephants.
Everyone knows they like peanuts
So why not offer an invitation,
not the written kind, but
one they could understand:
huge piles of peanuts—
enough to fill the town square.
Townspeople crowded to watch.
A great time was had by all
especially the elephant guests.
* This poem records an actual happening in 1938 and a photograph appeared in the August 28,
1938 issue of Life Magazine (page 68). It was written with a Parker “51” (fine nib) but the author
would have preferred to have used the Namiki Vanishing Point (medium nib) because it glides
with less effort. He feels a nom de plume is appropriate for a magazine devoted to the use of
pens.
The pennant
I am sitting here before an array of hard rubber pens from my small collection, trying to unearth why I
am so attracted to such simple pens. Most of the pens before me have no trim. A number don’t even have
clips! And a few just barely resemble what the average person would recognize as a pen. But each has a
compelling story to tell, full of life and history and then decades of dark neglect.
The Allure of Hard
W
What makes these early fountain pens so compelling?
Why are so many collectors attracted to this brittle material that often houses the most primitive of filling systems?
And why bother with pens that have such simple feeds
that they seem as likely to splatter ink on the page—or on
you!—as they are to write consistently. There are as many
answers to this as there are collectors, of course, but I want
to tell you why I collect and cherish hard rubber pens.
Of course, these pens are tangible history: the history
of soaring, spectacular mechanical development during
the peak years of the industrial age. Yes, these simple pens
represent both technological innovation and the growth
of literacy. There are volumes of mechanical advances
illustrated in a simple lever-filling hard rubber pen of
the 1920s: from the iridium-tipped nib to the channeled
feed, from the soft rubber ink sac to the lever system that
depresses that sac, to the clip on the cap to the threads
inside the cap that secure it to the barrel and earn it the
 Top top to bottom: Waterman 12 in MHR, Waterman 12 in BCHR,
Waterman 22 in BCHR
 Left to right: “Georges" Safety in MHR, Mont Blanc 20 Safety in BHR,
Moore Nonleakable in BCHR, Conklin Ringtop in MHR, Esterbrook Dollar
Pen in BHR
“safety” moniker.
It isn’t just step after step of mechanical improvements
that made these early pens such marvels, but also a degree
of freedom in a pen that could safely carry its own ink supply. To travel with a pen that rests safely in one’s pocket and
writes the moment it is uncapped: today we take such a thing
so much for granted that many people simply don’t carry a
pen, not even a Bic ballpoint! Instead, they depend on a disposable pen being available at the grocery register, the ATM,
and in any office they may land in. Even for those of us, oddballs that we are, who carry a rotating cast of fine fountain
pens, the ability to possess a working pen that we can carry
is a norm. But at the turn of the last century, it was a boon
to the literate minority who needed something more than a
clumsy cedar pencil at hand, even away from their desks.
38
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
The hard rubber pen, and soon afterwards, the “self-filling”
pen (any pen that didn’t require an eyedropper and a steady
hand to fill) met the needs of a society that was exploding in
complexity, a world that was just a few years away from premiering the automobile and manned flight—arguably greater
upheavals than our generation’s flight to the moon.
All of this can be savored in a humble hard rubber pen. I have
in front of me a very thin Waterman 22, the chasing and even
the imprint so worn as to be almost invisible but the embossed
barrel bands are still bright, telling me that the craftsmen of
Waterman knew how to make a quality gold-filled part for a
population longing to showcase its new prosperity. Why that
delicate tapered cap, why so thin? Well, I can only guess that
How many styles of hard rubber pens can be found between the
pens of that last decade of the nineteenth century and the hard years
of the depression, years that ground
down dozens upon dozens of pen makers and established the primacy of plastic for
pens and a million other manufactured items? There was also a
huge variety of shapes, sizes and mechanical variations: Filling
systems from early and well made plunger fillers and the first
piston fillers (with a celluloid sleeve for color!) to a dozen shortlived gimmicks (match fillers, coin fillers, sleeve fillers, and so
on) that unsuccessfully challenged the lever-fillers.
Then there are the varied patterns of the machine
chasing, from the common wavy styles that every
pen maker seemed to use
to the less common, like
the checker box of Moore
Non-Leakables. Here’s
something that today’s
pens don’t often offer,
some texture under your fingers! That chased hard rubber was
an attempt, very likely, to supply texture when color wasn’t an
option, but it also offered a grip on the pen.
How many colors? Not many, but enough to challenge the
collector, with black and red and mottled red/black predominately and a few well-heeled collectors fighting for olive ripples and the like. How many types of overlay? Well, this is an
area I’m not equipped to go into, having neither the knowledge
nor the wallet for it. But wouldn’t you like to pick up a neat
Waterman filigree at a show for a price you won’t gulp at? It’s
not impossible. A Waterman filigree can be bought for the price
of one of those nice modern Italian pens!
When hard rubber pens get talked about, we love to hear
about the overlays and the cardinal reds and the Waterman 7
Ripples. But almost every day, I see more humble hard rubber
pens sold for the price of a modern pen with a steel nib. You
know, those heavy brass pens with the lacquer that scratches
after a few months? The ones that only take seven drops of ink
in a converter—for which you pay extra?
Hold a simple hard rubber eyedropper in your hand. Feel the
warmth of the pen. Notice how unlike a Bic stick it is. Consider
how almost every piece of this pen—all three or four in the
eyedroppers—was hand made by a man at a simple piece of
machinery. Uncap that pen and look at the nib. Like as not, you
have a nib with flex that simply cannot be found in any modern
pen. And even if that nib is as rigid as a preacher’s celluloid collar, it’s still likely to have a smoother point and more character,
than that $80 pen with the “Iridium Point Germany” that never
saw Hamburg.
Come on, get some ink on your hands, enjoy those hard rubber pens!
✍
Rubber Pens
By Dan Carmell
this pen would have attracted the interest of a lady of the day,
someone a little tentative about innovation, so why not a pen
that rather closely follows the line and look of her elegant dip
pen? When I hold this pen in my hand and (carefully) post that
taper cap, I feel a tangible connection to another day, another
mode of life, one devoid of cell phones and laptops and lattes,
but full of good smells and, just possibly, a little closer to the
natural world we live in.
Another pen: a mottled red and black hard rubber Safety
Pen from a manufacturer we have forgotten today. This pen
isn’t just a Safety because its cap screws tightly onto the barrel;
it also has a nib that retracts into the barrel. When I uncap the
pen and turn a little knob at the base of the barrel and the nib
rises out of the barrel, the nib is ready to write because it has
just been immersed in the ink, which is now securely sealed in
the barrel. Do you think our taste for gadgets is a new one?
The early decades of the twentieth century were full of gadgets! What better a way to show off the splendor of your pens
than to make the nib rise up at the writer’s command? This pen
is fatter, too, ready for the businessman’s busy, harassed fingers,
turning the pages of industry. And now a clip can be slipped on
the cap, to be fastened to the heavy tweed of the country gentleman or the summer linen of the commercial traveler. Next
year, the clerks are saying, next year, the pens will come fitted
with a built in clip—no one wants a pen without a clip, that’s
yesterday’s world!
Finally, a last hard rubber pen to look at, likely the latest in
my collection, a humble Esterbrook dollar pen from the early
1930s. But what a pen! This pen, with its steel clip and trim,
steel Re-New nib is a lever-filler, possesses a comb feed, and can
be fitted with any one of twenty or so nib styles. This is a clerk’s
pen, a student’s pen, a pen of the factory foreman. But it is a
better pen than any man or woman could hope to own in 1883.
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 ©All rights reserved.
39
Pens
For Kids
Stone Creek Elementary
T
40
By Richard Kaufman
The pens were a big hit and my students are in the process of writing
thank you notes. Unfortunately, schools have gotten so tech oriented
that students do not get much in the way of handwriting instruction
anymore, but writing with a fountain pen certainly has provided them
with added incentive to learn proper cursive. That being said, you still
can see an immediate impact in terms of neater handwriting and printing. Using a fountain pen causes the students to slow down and focus
more on correct position and grip. I am sending along pictures of my
school as well as some of the students. Thank you to the P.C.A. for
making this day happen.
All rights reserved
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
The pennant
White Rock Elementary School
Pens
For Kids
42
E
Writing Instruments from the Quill to the Pen:
A forty-five minute trip in a 5th grade class
By Marlena Mackie
Excitement filled the air on Monday, April 5, 2004 as twenty-three White Rock Elementary School fifth grade students in Waukesha, Wisconsin put pen to paper.
Susan Wirth and Ross and Marlena Mackie (all writing instrument aficionados) facilitated the class. The writing
samples provided points for discussion including:
Contrast: Which looks better, magenta ink on purple paper, or magenta ink on white paper?
Scale: What happens to legibility when the writing is too small for the size of the point being
used?
Diversity: There are many different
kinds of good handwriting.
Wirth had a brief timeline showing when
papyrus, parchment and paper came in to use
along with the quill and dip pen. The fifth graders got to see and touch papyrus. They also
viewed a number of early writing samples: a 15th
century Spanish Cantorale written on parchment, a letter from 1835 written using a quill pen
and a land grant from the late 1800s written with
a steel pen on parchment.
The classroom walls were covered with
Wirth’s traveling display of handwriting. This
was an opportunity for the students to notice the
different impressions handwriting can convey.
The class had to see a selection of colorful fountain pens as well as some pen books. Each student was given his/her own copy of The Pennant.
Students enthusiastically practiced writing with a quill and a steel dip pen on parchment paper. Then after the Sengbusch inkwells were collected, students were given
a Hero fountain pen to try on sheets of
smooth paper. Finally, everyone was given a
stamped postcard and told to use their pens
to write the card to themselves. The cards
were mailed to their homes. Receiving something in the mail written several days before
can help provide the writer with more of an
objective impression of his/her handwriting.
In a later class, students could request one
of the Pens for Kids fountain pens and a botSpring/Summer 2004
The pennant
tle of ink. Each student requesting a pen had to write a persuasive
paragraph to explain the value gained by them receiving their own
pen.
Below is a sampling of comments from students:
• We really liked your stuff. I really hope you enjoyed
your visit to White Rock Elementary School. I think
your pen and writing presentation was the best.
• I liked all the different pens and all the different paper.
I really liked the different way we could write just by
changing the pen and the size of the pen. I really like
my writing now.
• Thank you for coming to our school. I really like how
you spent time with us…I really think I could be good
at this [writing].
• It was very cool, all the great things you let us use. It
was fun seeing the things you’d see each time you write
with a new pen and paper. I liked seeing pens from different times in history. I really liked the alligator pen, the
marble, the snake and the fancy one [metal overlay].
Fun with pens and a positive learning experience was had by
all. It was a good day in the classroom.
The author and the 5th grade class of White Rock Elementary
School are indebted to the P.C.A. Pens for Kids program for copies
of The Pennant and for the donation of the Hero fountain pens.
All rights reserved
Wanted
A teacher in Lorton, VA has contacted us and would like to have the
P.C.A. come in and give a fountain pen presentation to her sixth
grade class. If you are in the northern Virginia/DC metro area and
can spare an hour to give this class a little history on fountain pens,
please contact Sam: info@pencollectors.com or call 319.372.0881.
Donations
We have received donations of fountain pens for the P.C.A.’s Pens for
Kids program recently from:
Mark Zyniecki, Sherrell Tyree, Judy Skinner, Will Thorpe
and Chris Chalmers
Thanks to all who have donated to the Pens for Kids program. We
are always in need of useable cartridge filling fountain pens, either
new or used. Donations can be sent to: P.C.A.–Pens for Kids, PO Box
447, Fort Madison, IA 52627-0447
The pennant
TECHNOTES
Photos and Text By Victor Chen
During the past year I have answered a number of questions from pen collectors
on repairs and restorations. The following questions may be of
some interest to readers of this publication.
Q
A
Should I buy a mini lathe?
It is hard to give advice about lathes. The reason is
that a lathe is not one tool, but several tools with a
number of different applications.
Wood lathes are largely limited to turning and
drilling. A machinist’s lathe like the Sherline turns, cuts, bores,
laps, drills and so on. It requires you to take the first 2 or 3 or 4
steps in becoming a machinist. Most pen collectors don’t want
to do that. The difficult part is that it is not possible to know
if you would like to become a machinist until you try it out.
So it’s an expensive lesson. My friend Roger went down that
road because he thought it would be faster to do some of the
work he does by hand. He found out that it involved learning a
bunch of skills that he was not interested in learning, and giving up a chunk of his time that he was not interested in giving
up. He wanted a lathe for sanding, and a lathe is a very expensive sander. I told him that I could set him up with a chuck to
hold a barrel, along with a variable speed control. But in order
to preserve the imprint on most pens, it could not be used for
general sanding. So he is back working with his hands.
Before I started working on pens, I spent 25 years restoring
cars. I was around lathes a lot and put in some hours on them
here and there. When I got a lathe to do pen work, I didn’t
have a lot of illusions about doing something quicker than by
hand, but to do things that I couldn’t do by hand, like make
parts or to make tools that would help with my hand work.
When I got ready to buy my Sherline, I thought I knew
exactly what accessories I needed. I was mistaken because there
are still some accessories that I have never used, because three
years later, I still don’t have the skills to use them.
If you are interested in buying a lathe, one possibility could
be the Sherline “A” package with the 15" bed. That sets you
back about $500. I thought about getting the 24" bed, but
didn’t think I would ever need it and it turned out to be correct.
That saved me $100. I would advise you to buy accessories as
you need them and still, until you start to think like a machinist, you will end up buying accessories that you don’t need. For
example, suppose you wanted to line up the blind cap on a Vac.
That’s not a good reason to buy a lathe, because a chuck on a
drill can do that job just as well. If you wanted to make a feed,
44
 Victor’s Sherline lathe
then you would need a lathe, but you also need a mill, a lathe vise,
a tilting table, milling heads and a few other items. That adds up to
about $1,000 on top of the lathe—a very expensive feed.
Here’s my suggestion. Get a book on tabletop machining. Joe
Martin has one easily available and it’s based on the Sherline. It costs
about $40. Spend a little time reading it. Remember, this is a basic
book. If the text in it is boring, and the photos are only entertaining, don’t buy a lathe. If 3–4 parts in the book grab your attention,
because you want to do that kind of work, then you could he hooked
and you are ready to go for a basic kit.
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Q
A
Please sell me seals for a Pelikan piston filler.
I’m the piston repair guy at Penopoly. You are more
than welcome to the following information.
The Pelikan 100 unscrews at the filler. However,
it’s a reverse screw, so you unscrew clock-wise. Early Pelikans use
a cork seal while the later ones use a plastic seal. The P1 unscrews
at the section. It’s a regular screw, so turn counter-clockwise. Push
out the piston rod and the filler knob will screw off completely. In
the 400s and the later M series the fillers do not screw off; these
are a tight tolerance, friction fit. More recently a few models of
the larger M series do have a screw off filler and like others in the
series, they all use plastic seals.
So far so good, but this is where you start to encounter problems.
Where will you find replacement seals? There were slight changes
over time in the barrel dimensions and seal attachment points on the
piston rod. Pelikan does not stock older sizes. Furthermore, the last
production run of the 100 series was over 50 years ago.
The other problem is much more serious. Both acrylics and celluloids tend to shrink over time, but the shrinkage is not necessarily even. So you need a seal that can take care of these slight
changes in size. I size each cork seal and it fits on the original piston rod. For plastic seals, I’ve made an adapter for the piston rod
which allows me to use a cork seal. I make each seal individually for
each pen and I incorporate an additional wiper seal to take care of
the unevenness of the barrel. I’ve made this replacement seal and
adapter in such a way that if a collector wishes, I can take out my
adapter and replace the filler with the original seal for originality. The equipment to do this kind of work includes: a miniature
lathe to machine an adapter and size the seal; a source of cork and
cork cutters; and taps and dies to secure the adapter to the piston
knob. If you already have such equipment, you already know what
to do. Otherwise, it’s hardly worth your while to make this kind
 Pelikan 100 series filler units
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 of purchase to make a couple of seals. If you want to see how the
filler works, remember to use heat, because ink can really gum up
threads as well as parts held together by friction.
Q
A
Are the processes and treatments you use in pen repairs
and restoration reversible?
I take as my guide the Principle of Reversibility in
the Code of Ethics of the American Institute for
Conservation. Because this Code was set up more than
40 years ago to apply to paintings and works of art,
adjustments are necessary for pens, although it remains fundamentally useful for pens. I want to be clear that only treatment processes are reversible and materials in an object such as a pen cannot
be reversible. For example, cleaning a pen such as washing away
the accumulations of years of foreign debris is not reversible. It is
not possible to unclean a pen to its original dirty condition.
Reversibility means that after a treatment, some time later, a
professional pen restorer could undo the earlier work and apply a
more current treatment. The pen does not have to be resurrected
to its original state, but close enough so that an array of treatments
can be available again. The important condition for a conservator
is the ability to re-treat an object. We are describing those materials in a pen in terms of degrees and not in absolutes. Blackening of
hard rubber can he undone and redone many times. Crack repair
is an example of relative reversibility. A great crack repair will last
as long as the pen. Because of variations in the underlying material structure, the age of the crack, contamination of the crack
with foreign material such as ink or adhesive, a crack can open up
again. If that happens, it is possible to mostly undo the previous
treatment and re-treat the crack.
If re-treatment is important, then consolidation is
almost as important. Consolidating material means to
reduce the potential for further damage. Crazing is a good
example of consolidation: if crazing is not stabilized, then
pieces of a pen can begin to break apart. Crack repair falls
into this category as well as damage that can come from
clip bulging due to rust. Cracks and bulges can increase
in size and severity if they are not consolidated in time. A
professionally cleaned and polished pen, while not reversible and not identical to what it was, remains substantially
the same pen. Surface wear is no more than using the pen
for a couple of months. The pen is more ready for any
treatment than when it was dirty and rough. The polished
surface, other than its aesthetic qualities, protects the pen
from an array of human and environmental agents, the
first step in consolidation.
Good pen hunting!
✍
All rights reserved.
45
REPAIRS&RESTORATION
Watching & learning
by Victor Chen
O
One of the great pleasures after mastering aspects of a craft is to watch others who are at the top of their game
working their craft, be that as a chief, mechanic or surgeon. There is a world of difference between teaching pen repair to
an apprentice and sharing with someone the fine points of a craft. Frank Dubiel was a great teacher of pen repairs as well
as an acute observer of someone working on pens at a professional level. If you asked Frank how to repair a pen he would
set his face hard and lay down the “proper” step by step process. If Frank were watching you doing a procedure, his face
could soften and he could be absorbed by the work, even if it was different from the way he would do it. It was with this
memory of Frank that I sat down at the LA Pen Show and watched Osman Sümer replace the packing in a Montblanc
(MB) # 4 safety. He didn’t need to teach me how to do this procedure because I’ve already done my share of them.
Nonetheless, I was provided a nonpareil opportunity to watch his hands at work. For Osman, there was no need to think
about the procedure, he only needed his eyes to guide his hands while he talked to me.
Safeties were created as an effort on the part of eyedropper manufacturers to compete with each other as well as against
sac pens. Viewed as a marketing attempt to retain their share of the pen market, safeties were successful against other eyedropper makers, yet could not hold their own against sac pens. Seen as complications on pen mechanisms, safeties were
and remain today delightful pens.
Osman lives in Hamburg, Germany where he works on pen repairs and restorations. He frequently comes with a contingent of German pen collectors to pen shows such as DC, Chicago and LA.
Osman was working on replacing the packing unit on a hard rubber MB #4. He first drives out the pin in the turning knob, then wiggles the knob to loosen up the knob and pull it off the end of the piston shaft. Using section pliers,
46
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
the pin all the way home and replaces the spiral, feed and nib. Reassemble the unit, check
the work by blowing or sucking on the barrel
for tightness, and the repair is done.
In the range of pen repairs, safeties rank
in the moderate area of difficulty. However, a
word of caution is in order: a MB # 4 safety is
not a common pen and hard rubber can become
brittle; thus the greater the experience with
safeties, the less likelihood that something will
break. Osman also demonstrated a principle
of pen repairs: remove that part that is more
likely to break and is the hardest to replace. In
the case of the MB #4, it’s the spiral and feed.
There is a slight chance that the piston shaft
 Shaping the cork seal with a scalpel
 Osman Sümer repairs a Montblanc while Victor Chen
looks on.
Closeup of a cork seal 
he unscrews the packing unit holder from the
top of the barrel and pulls out the mechanism
that includes the nib, feed, spiral and piston
shaft. He pulls out the pin that holds the spiral gear in place on the piston shaft, because
leaving it in place has the potential to damage
the spiral and feed. He then pulls the packing
unit holder from the shaft and removes the
old cork.
Using fine steel wool to clean out the
inside of the packing unit holder, Osman gets
it ready for a replacement cork. He cuts a plug
of fine-grained cork and uses a 7.5 mm drill to
bore a hole through it. He checks the size of
the hole against the piston shaft, and uses a
round file to enlarge the hole to fit. Then he shapes the
cork with a scalpel to rough size and does an initial fitting.
When the cork packing is approximately the correct size,
he uses 180 grit sandpaper to shape the packing unit to its
final size. The packing does not have to be exact, because
cork has a significant amount of give and small variations
in cork size and composition will not affect the packing,
whereas large variations in the composition of the cork
will require another piece of cork. Using some silicone
grease in the cork hole, he fits the packing in the holder,
fits the piston rod in place and fits the turning knob on.
He screws the unit on the barrel and sucks on the barrel to
check for air tightness. After aligning the holes in the turning knob and the piston shaft, he inserts most of the pin in
and checks to see if the knob is binding. He then pushes
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 can break, although that can he repaired. A spiral cannot he
repaired, and during the twelve years that I’ve been doing
pen repairs, I’ve looked for my share of spirals. While the
more common spirals such as those in Watermans are easy
to find, others have never shown up.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Osman and I welcome him to this segment of The Pennant where Frank
Dubiel wrote on pen repair and restoration for many years.
The P.C.A. Board of Directors encourages others who are
actively engaged in the craft of pen repair and restoration
to submit articles for future issues. I certainly look forward
to talking with Osman in the near future as well as reading
articles from other repair folks.
Good Pen Hunting!
✍
All rights reserved.
47
Are You Familiar With
Serious about your pens? Ready to learn about them?
Make your next stop the P.C.A. Reference Library!
The world's largest archives of materials relating to antique pens and
writing equipment. Contact the P.C.A. Librarian today for your reprints.
—Dan Reppert, Librarian, wasp1908@mchsi.net
48
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
the P.C.A. Library?
New Fortunes in the
Stacks?
From John Schwab who sent along a very interesting
pamphlet from Soennecken. Unfortunately, it is in German so I
haven’t the faintest idea what it is about. Actually, it is an alphabet style book; I stand corrected. There are actually three of the
books:
1. Soennecken-Schrifthefte Latein
2. Soennecken-Schrifthefte BLOCK
3. I don’t know what this one was called. (Unfortunately the
cover is off). This item will be listed as: Soennecken C:1936
Alphabet guides 50pgs.
From David Stewart:
4. Pen Plus (2001) . . . . . . March/April/May . . . . . 60pgs
5. Pen Plus (2000) . . . . . . Sept/Oct/Nov . . . . . . . . 70pgs
6. Pen Plus (2000) . . . . . . June/July/Aug . . . . . . . . 60pgs
7. Pen Plus (2001) . . . . . . Catalog in German . . . 22pgs
8. Vintage Fountain Pens (1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13pgs
A Mirrored View Primer and History
From Peter B. Clarke: A 140-page listing (and growing) of
every pen model made by almost every manufacturer in the world
with dates. This is a Herculean effort. I will name it in the listing:
9. Clarke (2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140pgs
Pen Companies and their Pens. A listing of pen models
by whom they were made and when. It is also available for
questions to me about a particular model without having to
buy the whole listing.
From Francis Ihrman: A copy of a really neat little turn of the
century pamphlet from L.E. Waterman. It measures about the
size of a small blotter. It will be called:
10. Waterman, LE (c:1900) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10pgs
Small catalog/ Pamphlet
From Michael (Northwest Pen Works) McNeil:
11.Graphology: Reading Character from Handwriting by DeWitt
B. Lucas, compliments of the Parker Pen Company and
their dealers which will be listed dually as:
11a. Graphology (1929) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17pgs
Reading Character from Handwriting
11b. Parker (1929) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17pgs
Graphology: Reading Character from Handwriting
From L. Michael Fultz:
13. Waterman, L.E. (1929) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24pgs
Socially Correct Correspondence
14. Royal Manufacturing (1895) Catalog . . . . . . . . . . 18pgs
15. Horder’s Christmas catalog (1922) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16pgs
—Dan Reppert, Librarian, wasp1908@mchsi.net
The pennant
A M E M O RI A L
50
Gilbert Ian Socas
By Shaun Marie Trumble
Strolling the halls of West Miami Middle School with his trademark Hawaiian shirts and shaved head, Gilbert
Socas didn’t fit the stereotype of an English teacher. A ready smile lurked beneath his mustache and the
twinkle in his eye illuminated his glasses. Known as Ian to friends, he radiated exuberance, because he was
doing what he loved—sharing words and writing and everything that embraced, including of course, fountain
pens. His passion had deep roots, going back to his grandfather’s finca, or hacienda, in Cuba. On visits there
he would spend afternoons sprawled on the cool stone floor of the library gazing in wonder at the books.
Mornings, he would stand by Grandfather’s desk opening ink bottles as the magical pens were filled. For Ian,
the magic of those early days never faded.
He loved fountain pens, especially antique eyedropper fillers. Frankenpens were a close second; taking
junk pens and making a great writer was a challenge he loved. If he snagged a great buy and fixed it up for
next to nothing, gentle boasting about his fantastic deal would follow, all in the spirit of fun. Bookstore cafes
were a great place to meet other pen lovers, and he savored the oohs and aahs as he would pull his latest
treasure ornewest brew of ink from his leather case.
Pens and inks naturally lead to letters. But a letter from Ian was not just a letter, it was an event. Envelopes
were “Mail Art,” covered with paints, rubber stamps, stickers and drawings. Bright color was everywhere,
and shocking orange and hot pink envelopes often arrived in friends’ mailboxes. Spurning ordinary inks, his
italic nibs were fed with various home brewed attempts for the perfect sienna or antique blue-black blend.
His words vibrated off the pages, full of energy and fun, filled with stories of his students, garden, cats, family, and friends.
His co-correspondents—Baby, Billy, and the demure, eyelash-fluttering Tallulah, his personal favorite—
were glad to add their feline thoughts with a well placed paw smear of ink. When finished, they would continue to assist Ian by sitting on the paper batting at his pen, or by occupying his lap, purring and kneading.
Many of us first met Ian on the Internet pen boards, where he was usually found livening things up. His
wit and gentle ribbing infused the board with laughter of the kindest sort. Ready with a helpful hint, he would
offer advice on purchases or repairs, often taking a newbie under his wing, always willing to share.
His alter egos, the Mariachi Crickets, would appear on special occasions. Ian’s garden was not inhabited by
ordinary crickets. Instead, it echoed with the gaiety of tiny little musicians, partying through the night playing
Latin tunes. This seemed quite plausible to those who knew Ian. Fortunately for a generation of students, Ian
knew early he wanted to spread his love of words and writing. He studied teaching, and by age 20 he was in
a classroom. Some years later, lured away by “a nice salary, traveling to exotic locations, meeting celebrities”
and all the rest, he spent six years as a journalist and editor. Then, one day he did a personal inventory and
decided he was “not contributing anything to the world.” How typically Ian. Like his grandfather before him,
who had built a free medical clinic for the poor, Ian felt called to share.
He loved all his “kids” as he called them, but his favorites were the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Languages) students. Having lived in the U.S. until age six, returning to Cuba after a death in the family, then
back to Miami around age 12, he understood the difficulties of switching countries, and appreciated the extra
effort required to adjust.
Accordingly, English in his classes was not merely punctuated by ho-hum commas and periods. Humor,
wit, and a genuine love of the language were the rules in his classes. Fountain pens were a natural adjunct.
Used to encourage and improve students’ handwriting, they were also special rewards for superior work. He
kept a supply of Esterbrooks he’d personally tweaked for those occasions. The kids loved it, and soon were
researching and learning not only about pens, but the history of writing. Mr. Socas would bring in parts of his
collection to demonstrate, and another generation of fountain pen lovers was born.
Gilbert Ian Socas, just past his 50th birthday, passed away on December 26, 2003 , but his legacy survives.
In nearly 25 years of teaching, his passionate love of language, fountain pens, and life infused a generation of
students. Ian’s enthusiastic sharing means his gifts will continue to inspire future generations.
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Coming in the Winter
2004 Pennant
The Sheaffer Papers
How to Repair a Moore Safety
David Moak's NEW Mabie Todd CD-Book
Carter's Ink Blotters
Parker “51” Prototypes
Hartline Pens
History of Soennecken
Plus other articles on vintage pens you won't want to miss!
Contributors Wanted!
Have you been thinking about writing an article on vintage fountain
pens? Have a great photograph you'd love to share with your fellow pen
collectors? We'd love to hear from you. Contact the Pen Collectors of
America at info@pencollectors.com
The pennant
P. C . A .
Philadelphia Pen Show
2004 PHILLY PEN SHOW
A
By Bill Hong
Another January, another pen show in Philly!
As has often happened in recent years, some
very cold and slightly snowy weather (with
threat of more to come that weekend) greeted
the 2004 Philadelphia Fountain Pen Show, held
January 23rd-25th at the downtown Wyndham
Franklin Plaza Hotel. According to organizers
Geoff Berliner and Bernie Isaacowitz (Berliner
Pen), some 85 tables were set up this year,
making it a somewhat larger show than in the
recent past. Some of the comments from the
show veterans indicated that Saturday’s traffic
was reasonably brisk.
With no auction held this year, attendees could
concentrate on the offerings held in the pair of adja-
cent mezzanine ballrooms in the Wyndham. Space
was more than ample, allowing all to roam about
with little of the crowding normally seen at the
larger U.S. shows. Those used to the hustle-bustle
of the larger shows can find Philly a nice change,
with a more relaxed, intimate sort of feel. Lighting
was adequate if not spectacular; luckily most tables
could be set up away from the darker areas. The
timely appearance of
coat racks was appreciated, allowing show
day-trippers the chance
to jettison their winter
woolens.
With Philly being
comfortably midway
in location, a good
contingent of dealers
came from all over
the eastern U.S., featuring a number of
local ones from Pennsylvania. Some of the latter included Don Haupt, Bruce Speary, Tom Threllfall,
Joe Engel, Chuck Cohn, Ed Longazel and Frank Tedesco. As might be expected, many dealers in both
modern and vintage items from between the D.C./Richmond and greater New York areas were also in
attendance. The Zuckers (Penstop), Fountain Pen Hospital, Jonathan Steinberg, Norm Haase, Paul
Erano, Anne Poe Lehr, Bertram’s Inkwell, Bert Heiserman, Warren Granek, Bill Weakley, and Barry
Gabay were some of these who had set up tables. Richard Vacca (in his trademark hat) had his great
display of desk pens and inkwells on hand. Others from farther afield included the folks from Total
Office Products, Bittner Fine Pens, Susan Wirth, the Kaplans (a.k.a. the Great Parker), and Lee Chait.
52
SPRING/SUMMER 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
The Bowens were there, representing Pen World magazine
and sister publications such as In Sync.
One of the most consistently crowded tables was
Richard Binder’s—a steady line of customers wanting
custom nib modifications. Also providing general onsite
repairs were Roger Cromwell of Penopoly and Ron Zorn.
Roger told an interesting story (still being played out that
weekend) of his partner Victor Chen checking out a family’s basement back in California, purportedly containing
new old stock pens and other items from the 1940s. These
had been stored since that Japanese-American family’s
drugstore was closed down in the wake of Pearl Harbor
and their shipment to the internment camps. Perhaps
more news will be heard on that one!
AnnMarie Hautaniemi of Ink Palette and Sam and Frank
Fiorella of Pendemonium had some of the new (to the U.S.)
line of inks from Diamine of England. The newer Private
Reserve colors of American Blue and Burgundy Mist were
also available for snapping up by
the ink junkies for whom there
can never be enough….
One of the more interesting
bits of ephemera, which Bob
Novak (Vakpen) displayed, was
a 1932 Waterman Autograph
book, along with the correspondence addressed to the original
Pennsylvania owner that provided the signatures pasted into
the book. Many of the autographs belonged to Pennsylvania
and other American politicians, Government Cabin
et members, and other celebrities from a
broad range of fields. It even included a (probably machine-generated) signature from thenPresidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt in a lovely and still vibrant royal blue ink.
The Philly show is a nice example of a smaller, less harried show, offering a more than
ample choice of pens and related items, while featuring some well known folks in the hobby.
January weather notwithstanding, 2004’s show was a worthwhile trek. Mark your calendar
for the 2005 show, to be held January 20–23, 2005.
Of Note: The Philadelphia Pen Show, organized for many years by Geoff Berliner and Bernie
Isaacowitz of Berliner Pen in NYC has been sold to Bertram’s Inkwell of Baltimore. Bertram’s is also
the organizer of the Miami Pen Show.
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P. C . A .
The Great Southeastern Pen Show
The Great southeastern pen
T
SHOW
By Suresh Enjeti, M. D.
The tenth annual pen extravaganza held in the city that Margaret
Mitchell made famous metamorphosed this year from the Atlanta Pen Show
to the Great Southeastern Pen Show. Most of us who attended the show in
previous years would agree that the experience this year went far beyond the
name change. The venue was the same Holiday Inn Select, one exit away
from the Perimeter Mall on the Atlanta Beltway. The spacious ballroom
with 6000+ square feet of space and the hospitable hotel staff made the vendors at the one hundred plus tables feel welcome for the three-day event.
I arrived early Saturday morning, soon after the doors opened to the general
public and early enough to qualify for the Pelikano
reusable (cartridge)
pen which was given
away to the first one
hundred attendees. This was only
a small part of the
reward I reaped during the rest of that
day. As I entered
the hall it was obvious that the site was
just bustling with
activity right from
the very start. There
were familiar faces
all over the hall
that included new
pen dealers, vintage
pen purveyors, pen
repair wizards and
fountain pen manufacturers and distributors. Meander
ing up and down
the aisles were eager
collectors, both neophytes and veterans, and those of us who fall into neither
category and are struggling to establish our own identity in the multifaceted world of pen collecting.
It would be an encyclopedic task to describe all my encounters and
experiences and I have no intention of putting the reader through such an
ordeal. One of the highlights of the show for me was having Mr. Giovanni
Santini, the owner and creator of Ancora, practice his artistry on the Torre
de Piza pump filler that I acquired at last year’s show. When I handed him
the pen it was a scratchy writer and within a few minutes of his expertise
the nib was gliding across the pages effortlessly. Walking down the aisles I
54
Spring/Summer 2004
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P. C . A .
The pennant
P. C . A .
encountered a few splendid samples of vintage maki-e pens displayed by
David Ushkow, a first time attendee, and got an impromptu lesson in
the intricacies of maki-e in the mid to late twentieth century. Leave it to
Andreas (Andy) Lambrou of Classic Pens to dazzle us with some of his
unique maki-e, sterling silver overlay and CS series pens. His interpre-
tations of the honeybee on the body of a Pelikan 1000
and a Montblanc 146 are simply exquisite.
On one side of the hall Gary Lehrer was displaying his array of much sought after vintage American and
transatlantic pens. As much as I drool over the pens in his
catalogue every quarter on the internet, picking up and
inspecting his pens up close was an unparalleled experience. I was fortunate to see the prototype of the Newman
demonstrator fountain pen brought in by Steve Martin of
Artlite. Scott Woodside launched a new line of pens under
the mysterious banner, SPW. My first encounter with
the Namiki Emperor “Rabbit in the Moonlight” pen at
the Total Office Products table was memorable. As usual
Jimmy Dolive and Mort Epstein had an array of extremely
desirable modern and limited edition pens.
56
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
No show would be complete without the opportunity to witness the wizardry of pen healers Roger Cromwell and Richard Binder. Many visitors had
the occasion to witness their work as well as pick up a few pointers for future
use, especially in Roger’s seminar on pen repair. This weekend gathering of
Southeastern Pendom was graced by such luminaries as Sue and Lee Chait,
Frank and Sam Fiorella, Lou and Howard Kaplan, Allen and Lillian Gross,
Terry and Sonya Mawhorter, Dan Reppert, Dan Lanford, Susan Wirth and
a host of others.
The sponsors, Ancora Pen Company, Southeastern Pen
Collectors’ Club, Pen World International and Go-Pens.com
put on a stellar performance, organizing an immensely successful show. Our kudos go out to Jimmy Dolive and his team for a
job extremely well done. By Sunday evening I had my fill of pen
hunting for months to come and returned home with a few modest
acquisitions for my collection.
The pennant
P. C . A .
L o s A n g eP.l eCs. AP. e n S h o w
2004 Los Angeles Pen SHOW
By Bruce Hirschman
T
This year marks my ninth visit to the Los Angeles Pen Show. As
this show nearly always coincides with Valentine’s Day, there is a certain implicit obligation to share the weekend with the other half, at
least some years. So this year my wife and I decided to take a scenic
drive down highways 101 and 1, and stay with old friends in Pacific
Palisades. I could play in Pendom, while my wife could socialize the
weekend away. The daily 20- mile drive to the show venue was the least
I could do to spend Valentine’s Day with her.
After spending Thursday on the road, I first arrived at the show about
10:00 on Friday and was immediately struck by the level of activity
already underway. In every direction, at every table there were buyers,
sellers, traders, collectors…familiar faces, not
so familiar faces… the
heart rate was rising…
the show was in full
swing. And that oh, so
familiar feeling—where
do I start?
A quick look to the
left and I saw John
Mottishaw right by
the door. I’d brought
a couple of pens with
me for John’s attention,
so best to get them to
him as soon as possible.
He’s so busy these days
that a pen left on Friday
may get back to me a
week earlier than a pen
left on Sunday. I bid adieu to a recently acquired jade Wahl-Eversharp
Gold Seal Deco Band in need of retipping. It’ll be a great italic writer by
spring. Less luck with a friend’s Parker Falcon with a bent nib. Like the
T-1, this pen has an integral nib, so it’s not as easy to work with.
Next it’s time to wander the room, visiting with the people I only get to
see once or twice a year. A stop at Steve Halper’s table starts with a little
ritual—we pull out our orange Rossi pens. Usually George Kovalenko
joins in, but George was absent this year. Steve then showed me one of the
most beautiful modern custom Mother-of-Pearl pens I’ve ever seen; gorgeous pearl from top to bottom. If I collected modern pens, this would be
a dangerous area to be.
Further along, I ran into Peter Ford from Melbourne, Australia. This
is the third show in the past six months where I’ve seen Peter. He sure
spends a lot of time on the airplanes. This time over, poor Peter and his
wife Janet were forced to rest for a week in Hawaii on the way across the
Pacific. For those with any interest in Parker 75s, a show would not be
complete without Lee Chait. I wonder if there’s a 75 out there that Lee
58
Spring/Summer 2004
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P. C . A .
Los Angeles Pen Show
doesn’t know about. For all things Sheaffer, Dan Reppert was the man
to see.
So many others… how does one have time to visit the people
and see the pens? Regina Martini was in from Germany. Jonathan
Steinberg was ready to autograph his latest book. David “Vacumaniac”
Isaacson seemed not to be
without a Vac in his hand
the entire weekend. Of
course, what show would
be complete without Susan
Wirth with her huge sign
and her various italic nibs?
The “Great Parker” Kaplan
team, Sam and Frank
brand new Parker
expect from its
pulls something
Pockets, by
s h o w s . I t ’s n o t
son. What is that?
Secretary? What
such as the Pebble
ored by the cars
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 Fiorella (Pendemonium), Sherrell Tyree and Joel
Hamilton, Gary Lehrer, Michael Fultz…too many
to list.
At one point I find myself standing next to Dean
Tweeddale who pulls something out of his pocket
and hands it to me—it’s quite heavy; it says Parker,
but I don’t recognize it at all. It happens to be the
100. An attractive pen with heft—more than I’d
appearance. Seems like every time I see Dean, he
odd and interesting out of his pocket.
the way, are always of special interest at these big
uncommon for me to see the pocket before the perAn oversize balance? A Waterman 58? Sheaffer
are those white stars? Going to a great car show,
Beach Concourse d’Elegance, I’m usually as enamin the parking lot as with those in the show. Same
59
P. C . A .
thing happens at a pen show.
We had a Bay Area pen meet just two weeks earlier, so it was
a repeat to see so many of the locals in Los Angeles as well. Lex
Villines was set up with an interesting assortment of Italian, German
and Japanese pens, amongst other things. Father Terry Koch (unfortunately since passed away) made the trek as well; it’s always a pleasure to see him. Victor Chen and Roger Cromwell of Penopoly were
at hand, prepared for a weekend of pen repairs, not to mention their
hundreds of nicely restored vintage pieces. Rick Propas had his table
full of birds (Pelikans, for those who don’t know Rick).
As my interests have more recently gone towards machining
of pens, the show was a chance to talk at length with some of the
custom pen makers who were in attendance—Chris Thompson,
David Broadwell and Bill Durovchic. I have three of Chris’s pens
(two Duofold replicas and one Sheaffer Balance replica). Chris has
obviously been expanding his repertoire of late. He had a book on
Ebonite and some RHR samples; he’s trying to reproduce the old
formulae. And in addition to the usual Duofolds, there were some
Waterman 58 and Parker Giant replicas, amongst other things.
These pens even incorporated replica nibs (there’s not a big supply
of real Black Giant nibs). Thanks to Mike Jennings, I got to see a
nice side-by-side comparison of Chris’ Sterling filigree over red 58
with a couple of the real specimens. Well, between these three guys,
I learned a lot more about materials, tools and machining. Time to
get to work in my own shop now.
Saturday was very much like Friday, but just a bit busier. More
people were arriving, more tables set up, more pens, more pens,
more pens. A crescendo was building.
After a sixteen-hour plane trip from Portland—sure, it’s only a
two-hour flight, but we all know how airlines work now—Carla
Mortensen finally made it to the show. She organized the first (of
what is hoped will be many) Portland Pen Show. Timed to coincide
with a major Antique and Collectibles Show, the Pen Show was July
16–18. It should be the big event for the Pacific Northwest.
There are many ways to look at a pen—its beauty as jewelry, fine
machining, artistic expression, and the way the pen writes. That last
attribute is where Janet Takahashi excels. Janet is one
of the first people I met at my first LA pen show in
1995, and she was back again (after all, she is local).
Being an extraordinary calligrapher and artist, I got
a view of some recent samples of her work—quite
impressive. Last year Janet gave a few of us lessons in
Copperplate, and while I’ll never achieve her level of
expertise, even her brief instruction has yielded significant results.
It’s fortunate that the LA Pen Show no longer
sponsors an auction on Saturday evening, as this year
Saturday was Valentines Day and I had a more important evening engagement. As dusk arrived, I headed
back to the Palisades to a most fantastic gourmet dinner by the ocean. Did I say that my wife and her friend
60
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
are both gourmet cooks?
How could I even think
about making it in for
another day at the show
after that?
But, I did manage
the drive Sunday morning. (Was there really any
doubt?) Sunday was the
day open to the public, and
the line was the biggest
I’ve seen, stretching fully
across the lobby. Not only
was the main room full of
dealers, but the lobby area
stretching to the bar was
packed with tables tighter
than I’ve seen it in the past.
There were plenty more
new and vintage pens.
One of the first tables I saw on Sunday was PenstopOnline,
with Maryann and Steve Zucker, organizers of the NYC Pen
Show. This was my first opportunity to see Joe Cali’s custom
made pens. Not only is each pen unique, but they were also far
different than they appeared on the web site…
“objects are larger than they appear”.
Japanese pens, particularly maki-e, have been
gaining popularity of late and the LA Pen Show
left no shortage of treats for those who collect
or admire such things. Many were admiring the
work of Takehiro Fujita—an urushi artist who
came from Japan to demonstrate his talents.
Also, Yukio Nagahara—nib master from
Sailor—was in attendance to shape and smooth
nibs. While Sailor nibs took precedence,
Nagahara also worked on other
brands as time allowed. As it happened, I had a Vacumatic Senior
Maxima in my pocket with a
slightly scratchy oblique nib.
Why not? Ten minutes later, this
was smooth as butter. I’m not a
Vac collector, and was thinking
of trading this one away. Well,
no longer. It’s a keeper! Later
Sunday afternoon, I happened
by Nagahara during a relatively
quiet moment and left my friend’s
Parker Falcon with the bent
nib. After a lot of adjusting with
some very small tools, the pen’s
flow and smoothness has been
restored. Better than new, I’m
sure.
In conclusion, I must mention one very noticeable
absence from this year’s show—Frank Dubiel. I always
enjoyed stopping by his table to see what odds and ends
he’d brought, or ask some question, like… did you really
blow up Waterman 58s with firecrackers? Well, we miss
you Frank.
The pennant
P. C . A .
Michigan Pen Show
14th Annual Michigan Pen Show
By Lee H. Chait & Li-tah wong
M
The Michigan Pen Club held its 2003 show at the Cobo Hall building in downtown Detroit, a change from the
Southfield Westin Hotel of prior shows. One side of the room was all floor-to-ceiling windows and had a great view of the river
and Canada, and the early morning sunlight was magnificent. The room itself was large and spacious for the amount of tables,
so there was plenty of room for dealers and buyers.
Lighting was enhanced by additional temporary lighting brought in for the show. The bright sun caused some problems on
Sunday, so the curtains were partially drawn.
Pen World was the major sponsor and was giving out door prize subscriptions. Additionally, coffee was sponsored by Joel Hamilton
and Sherrell Tyree of Inkpen, and Sam and Frank Fiorella of Pendemonium. It turned out that both were unable to attend although
Sam and Frank were driving to Detroit but had to turn back to Iowa due to a family emergency. Both were missed.
The usual suspects were there including Jimmy Dolive of Total Office Products, Mike Conway, Gary Lehrer, Susan Wirth,
Jim Rouse of Bertram’s, Bill Weakley, Lou and Howard Kaplan of the Great Parker, and Terry Mawhorter. Ernesto Soler and
Richard Vacca and his wife were also present. Roger Cromwell traveled from the west coast to perform on-site repairs and Sergio
Kullock made the trip from South America. There were also many local club members taking tables to sell or trade their pens.
The preferred hotel was the Marriott Courtyard about four blocks up Jefferson from Cobo Hall and directly across from the
Renaissance Center, Global GM headquarters, which they bought from
Ford. The $79 rate was reasonable and the hotel staff was very accommodating. Their new privately operated restaurant opened on Thursday
and five of us got a great free Friday lunch to help them with their breakin process. Their fitness center was huge and the indoor pool was great.
Official name: Michigan Area
Nearby were many choices for food and other activities, including gamPen Collectors Club or MAPCC
bling at the casinos.
Website: www.michpens.com
Friday we set up in the hotel and Saturday was the one-time set up at
Cobo. The club would not be able to have had the show at Cobo without
Contact info: LTW@Parker75.
com or 248.935.6757
the one-time set up due to the logistics of getting to and from the showroom from the roof top parking or drop-off areas. The building is huge,
Officers:
and I likened the task of finding the room to finding a particular area on
President–Eric Fonville
an aircraft carrier. Fortunately club members ran a shuttle service trans Vice-President–Stan Goodman
porting dealers between the hotel and Cobo, and the many signs put up
Treasurer–Greg Zierk
helped.
The slow sales were off-set by the ability to walk to many local restau Secretary–Doug Ritchie
rants and activities. Craig Bozorth grabbed the bus to Canada on Friday
How many members?
and snagged a lunch of six lamb chops and a box of cookies from the
Approximately 60
Tunnel BBQ and nearby bakery.
Where do you meet? At
The weather was cold although not unbearable. Public days were slow
members’ homes around metro Detroit
for some and good for others.
This is the only club-run show in the country. It is a good show to buy
How often do you meet?
at due to its Midwest location and proximity to the pen country of Iowa
Three times a year and then at the
and Wisconsin.
Michigan Pen Show
With an adequate amount of volunteers from the club, the task of getHow long in existence?
ting dealers to the Hall with their goods can be handled but it seemed that
Since 1989. Club formed after the first
task fell to a very limited number of people during this particular show.
Michigan Pen Show, which was a small
The same people also ran the shuttle service from the airport to the hotel
gathering of local pen aficionados.
on Friday and Saturday and were able to take some people back to the
Dues? Thirty five dollars per calendar
airport on Sunday.
year.
Overall, the show was a good time. My take on things from talking to
other attendees after the close of the show on Sunday, was that the dealers
would prefer a hotel with the show at the same hotel rather than a separate
location a significant distance away.
About us
62
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
Annual Membership Meeting
The Pen Collectors of America held its 2004 general membership meeting and reception on Friday, November 5
at the Clarion Hotel in Dublin, Ohio. The meeting attracted over 50 members, with people spilling out into the hallway.
2004 marked the fourth year the P.C.A. has held its annual membership meeting in conjunction with the Ohio Pen
Show. Sam Fiorella, President gave a brief “State of the P.C.A.” presentation followed by introductions of the 2005-2006
Board of Directors.
Craig Bozorth, incoming P.C.A. President, spoke about projects and plans the new Board of Directors hopes to work
on during the next term. Craig thanked the current outgoing directors for their service to the P.C.A.
Drawings were held for numerous pen related items donated by many of the exhibitors and show attendees. The drawing was organized and run by AnnMarie Hautaniemi.
Attendees were treated to a lovely selection of wine, cheese and fruit.
Sincere thanks to Terry and Sonya Mawhorter, organizers of the Ohio Pen Show, for arranging meeting room space
and catering for this annual event.
The pennant
Local Focus
Kansas City Area Pen Club
K
The Kansas City area pen club has been having regular meetings on the 4th Saturday of even numbered months at Crown
Center outside of The Pen Place. The next meeting will be
February 25, 2005, and the theme is red pens. The KC membership is growing with each meeting! Themes for meetings have
included Sheaffer History and the Parker “51.” Contact Dennis
Bowden for more information at sales@parkvillepen.com.
64
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Local Focus
Join us
St. Louis, Missouri
By Bruce Mindrup
The St. Louis area pen club has held three meetings in 2004 and
reports are that all have been enthusiastically attended. For information on
the next St. Louis area pen meeting and to get on their mailing list, please
contact Bruce Mindrup (email:brucem@gtec.com) or Jake Leventhal (email:
jakespens@earthlink.net).
Tampa, Florida.
Ray Roewert in Tampa, Florida has formed the
TampaBay Pen Enthusiasts Club. If you’re in the
Tampa, Florida area, contact Ray for further information—email: rroewer1@tampabay.rr.com or call
727.743.8890. Ray also reports that a website for
this group will be established soon.
Florida
The Florida Pen Collectors Club has a new website
up and running. Check it out at www.tryphon.it/fpc.
D.C. Metro Pen Club
The D.C. Metro Pen Club holds informal pen meetings
every few months. According to club member Harry
Shubin, “We have no dues, no formality, just good
pen chat. Please come, bring some pens, and spend a
couple of hours with similarly afflicted folks.”
The D.C. Metro Club exhibited for the first time this
year at the Washington DC Fountain Pen SuperShow.
30 new members joined. The club maintains an online
message board at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/
DCMetroPenClub/
For information on future meetings or to sign up
for their email meeting notifications, please contact:
Harry Shubin, phone: 703.812.5306, email:
shubin@mwzb.com
Seattle Pen Club
The Seattle Pen Club meets monthly on the 3rd
Saturday, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. in the glassedin meeting room in the food court area of Third Place
Commons in Lake Forest Park’s Towne Center mall.
The room is next to the Kitto restaurant. Watch for
the Seattle Pen Club signs. Most meetings have a
theme pen and you are encouraged to bring along
vintage and modern pens alike. The
Seattle Pen Club
hopes to have a website available soon with club
information. For further information, please contact
George Long , phone: 206.365.5998 or email: george.
long1@comcast.net
There are fountain pen clubs ranging from the very
organized to the casual-get-together popping up across
the nation. The P.C.A. is always happy to
publish contact information for local clubs. If your club
is having a special event or
you have a group photo, we’d love to publish your stories and photos.
Submit to: info@pencollectors.com.
The pennant
P. C . A .
Upcoming Shows
Location and dates may be subject to change; please contact the show organizers to verify information below.
The P.C.A. keeps an up-to-date listing of current and pending U.S. pen shows on the P.C.A. website.
Go to www.pencollectors.com and click on events. Courtesy of Susan Wirth.
Raleigh Pen Show
January 21–23, 2005
Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel, Philadelphia, Penn.
Contact: Jim Rouse at
jimrouse@bertramsinkwell.com
Phone 410.539.7367 FAX 410.539.0610
June 2–5, 2005
Embassy Suites Hotel, Cary, N.Car.
Contact: Terry Mawhorter at
linklady@cyberzane.net
Phone: 740.454.2314
Los Angeles International Pen Show
February 18–20, 2005
Manhattan Beach Marriott, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Contact: Boris Rice
bborisrice@cs.com
Miami Pen Show
July 8–10, 2005
Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Fla.
Contact: Jim Rouse at
jimrouse@bertramsinkwell.com
Phone 410.539.7367 FAX 410.539.0610
April 1–3, 2005
Holiday Inn Select, Atlanta, Ga.
Contact: Boris Rice at
bborisrice@cs.com
Chicago Pen Show
April 28–May 1, 2005
Westin O’Hare Hotel, Rosemont, Ill.
Contact: Don Lavin at
dlpens@aol.com
New England Pen Show
May 21–22, 2005
Holiday Inn Select, Somerville, Mass.
Contact: Rob Morrison at
robmorrison@charter.net
Portland Pen Show
July 16–17, 2005
Embassy Suites Hotel
Contact: Carla Mortensen at
carla_mortensen@hotmail.com
Washington D.C. Fountain Pen Super Show
August 11–14, 2005
Sheraton Premier Hotel, Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Va.
Contact: Bob Johnson at bjohnson@pencentral.com
N.Y.C. Pen Show
September 5–11
Crowne Plaza Times Square, Broadway at 48th/49th
Contact: Maryann/Steve at
auctions@penstoponline
Show organizers are encouraged to submit show details for this column to the editor.
The Pennant Back Issues
Back issues of The Pennant are available.
Most are photocopies. All are $10 each + $4 postage and handling in the U.S. per order, overseas postage will vary.
All requests for re-prints should be addressed to:
Dan Reppert, P.C.A. Librarian, P.C.A. Library,
P.O. Box 447
Fort Madison, IA 52627-0447
e-mail: wasp1908@mchsi.net
1993—March, July, October
1999—Spring, Fall, Winter
1994—February, May, August
1995—Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter
1996—Spring, Summer/Fall
2002—Spring, Summer, Winter
1997—Spring, Winter
2003—Spring, Summer, Winter
1998—Spring, Fall
66
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
Due Process
P. C . A .
Board of Directors
Due Process—The P.C.A. elections
Every two years the P.C.A. holds elections for the Board of Directors. Our board is composed of nine directors representing the membership. Ballots are mailed to all members in
good standing.
A nominating committee appointed by the P.C.A. President meets early in the year to
present a slate of nominees for the election. The nominating committee is composed of two
P.C.A. Directors and three non-director P.C.A. members. This year’s nominating committee
was chaired by Saul Kitchener and included members Dan Reppert, John Mottishaw, John
Strother and Cliff Harrinton. The slate of nominees included:
Craig Bozorth*
Eldon Braun
Lee Chait
Victor Chen*
Dick Egolf
L. Michael Fultz*
Warren Granek
Joel Hamilton
Derry Harding
Clifford Harrington
AnnMarie Hautaniemi
Bert Heiserman
Kristin Keller
Pete Kirby
Bruce Mindrup
Carla Mortensen
Marie Picon
Len Provisor
Arthur “Dan” Reppert*
Jim Rouse
Peter Sacopulos
Dean Tweeddale
Lih-Tah Wong
Dan Zazove
Ballots are returned via mail to
an independent CPA who tallies the votes and presents the
election results to the Board of
Directors. The nine nominees
receiving the most votes are
elected to the P.C.A. Board of
Directors.
*Denotes Current Director
Congratulations to all!
We are pleased to announce the
new P.C.A. Board of Directors
for the 2005–2006 term:
Craig Bozorth
Victor Chen
L. Michael Fultz
Joel Hamilton
AnneMarie Hautanemi
Bert Heiserman
Carla Mortensen
Len Provisor
Dan Reppert
Sam Fiorella
319.372.0881
sam@pendemonium.com
Dan Reppert
319.372.3730
wasp1908@mchsi.net
Victor Chen
510.444.4119
vwchen@pacbell.net
Craig Bozorth
786.275.0394
B4AWL@aol.com
L. Michael Fultz
312.440.1303
FultzPens@aol.com
Lisa Hanes
813.264.7028
lisa@penkreations.com
Howard Kaplan
954.229.7240
GRTParker@aol.com
Saul Kitchener
707.996.9720
just4halibut@vom.com
Jack Leone
513.983.8341
bexleone@fuse.net
Corporate Sponsors
BEXLEY
Stylophiles Magazine
2840-B Fisher Street,
Columbus OH, 43204
614.351.9988
15114 S.E. 47th Place
Bellevue, WA 98006
425.746.7998
Sanford North America
Levenger
Parker, Waterman, Rotring, Sensa
2711 Washington Blvd
Bellwood, IL 60104 800.323.0749
420 South Congress Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33445
561.276.2436
STYLUS
The P.C.A. invites pen manufacturers and wholesale
pen distributors to be a Corporate Sponsor of the Pen
Collectors of America. Contact Sam Fiorella for details:
sam@pendemonium.com
979 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06905
203.352.1817
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004
67
P. C . A .
P. oCn. A
C
t r.i b u t o r s
Dan Carmell lives in the San
Francisco Bay area with
several terriers, is a member of the Pan Pacific Pen
Club, and has been collecting fountain pens for eight
years with a focus on whatever vintage pen catches his
fancy—from Parker Flighters to Hard
Rubber Safeties. His only regret is that
he didn't start collecting when he was 11.
Lee Chait started collecting pens in
August 1998 at the DC Supershow. He
collects Parker 75s, Premiers and T-1’s
and Parker historical materials and goods
of the same vintage. He attends a majority of pen shows and writes reviews for
the Southeast Pen Collectors’ Club Pen
Tracks publication. He is a major contributor of Parker pens and ephemera to
www.Parker75.com.
Victor Chen recently retired
from his position as Professor of History at Chabot
College. Chen continues his
Tech Notes column, a regular feature in The Pennant.
Rick Conner is a professional
engineer who has worked in
the surface and air transportation industries for 25 years,
about as long as he has been
collecting and using fountain
pens. He has yet to decide
how to focus his collection.
Bruce M. Craig has been collecting writing instruments
and ephemera for over 30
years. He is currently creating a data file of retailers from writing ins tru
ment-related adv ert is i ng
ink blotters. He is an Aging
Program Specialist for the U.S. Administration on Aging in Washington, D.C. and
lives in the Mount Vernon area of Va.
Dr. Suresh Enjeti is the Chief
of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care
at the University of Tennessee College of
Medicine in Chattanooga. He grew up in
India where he used steel nibbed eyedropper pens for med school exams. A Mont-
68
blanc Hemingway in 1992 started him as a
collector of vintage and modern pens.
Sam Fiorella is a long-time pen
collector and is the current
President of the P.C.A. and
co-owner of Pendemonium, based in Fort Madsion, Iowa.
Rhonda Foster has always
loved pens and writing. A
Peoria flatlands attorney, she
considers law her job, writing to be life. Her collection
of pens is eclectic as is her
personality, marking special
occasions or achievements.
L. Michael Fultz is a writer, pen
collector and manufacturer
and a contributing editor to
Pen World International and
editorial director of Penbid.
He makes and sells his own
line of precious metal, vulcanite, and/or acrylic fountain
pens. He lives in Chicago or in Milton,
Wisconsin with his wife Martha.
Joel Hamilton is a native of
Kansas City, Missouri but
has lived in sunny southern
New Mexico for more than
thirty years. After retiring
in 1999 after 25 years in
public service in Corrections and Juvenile Justice,
he and sister Sherrell opened Ink Pen.
He is primarily a Parker collector.
Bruce Hirschman lives with
his wife Deborah in Pacifica, California. He has been
collecting fountain pens for
about fifteen years, with a
particular interest in pens of
the 20s to early 30s. Following a thirty-year career in
software development, Bruce has recently
been machining vintage-styled fountain
pens in the back corner of his garage.
William Hong is a materials engineer, working for a non-profit
research institute tied to the U.S. Defense
Department. He has used fountain pens
for more than thirty years, starting in ele-
mentary school. He has been collecting
modern pens for fifteen years and vintage
pens for over six years.
Francis Ihrman is a retired
Presbyterian Minister living
in Arthurdale, West Virginia and a loyal member
of P.C.A., and a collector of
Carter Fountain pens. He
enjoys pen shows whenever able to attend. His wife
Diane tolerates his collecting graciously.
Most P.C.A. members have met him in Lou
and Howards “The Great Parker” booth.
Richard Kaufman has been
a teacher for the past 31
years and has taught 2nd
through 7th grade for
Irvine Unified School District. His only joy greater
than a new pen is having a
student find success in the
classroom. Other interests include architecture and spending time in the solitude
of the desert.
Daniel Kirchheimer has
been collecting fountain
pens since one late summer
day in 1974. He has a special fondness for Sheaffers,
though he performs specialty restoration work on
many brands, including
dent removal for Parker "51"s. His other
hobbies include playing blues guitar, lockpicking, gemology, and barbecue, though
he collects only pens because collecting
anything else is just plain silly.
Jim Mamoulides was initially
drawn to fountain pens through his interest in calligraphy, but didn’t become an
avid collector until he lost a Montblanc
ballpoint and began a search of pen stores
and the internet to find a replacement for
it. His interest in the history of fountain
pens led him to focus on vintage pens and
his articles and photography can be found
on his website PenHero.com.
Bruce Mindrup , Ph.D. is a
mediator and clinical social
worker in private practice
and an adjunct professor
for the Union Institute and
University in Jerseyville,
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
P. oCn. A
C
t r.i b u t o r s & P h o t o g r a p h e r s
Illinois. He collects fountain pens
(particularly Parker “51”s).
Simcha Raphael , Ph.D. is
an aspiring scholar and
poet who works as a psychotherapist and teaches
Religious Studies at La
Salle University, in Phil
adelphia, PA. He is completing a manuscript of
poetry and reflections on grief entitled Kaddish Echoes: Poems of Night
Time, Poems of Mourning. He is the
father of a six-year old daughter and a
fourteen-year old son, both of whom
write with fountain pens.
Dan Reppert collects off-brand
Lih Tah Wong is a collector of
Sheaffers such as Univer,
W.A.S.P., and Craig.
He is the present vicepresident and librarian
of the P.C.A. He worked
for Sheaffer for over 12
years, and is currently
involved in historic building renovation
in Fort Madison, Ia.
the Parker 75 family. With such a singular focus he launched the Parker75.
com website in February 2001, which
was the very first Internet site focused
on one line of pens and its branches.
Dan Zazove is a business insolvency attorney with the law
firm of Kaye Scholer LLC
in Chicago. He’s been a pen
collector since 1980 and
along with Mike Fultz and
Don Lavin, co-sponsors the
Chicago Pen Show. He has
written a number of articles
on pens and related ephemera and has a
strong interest in the Parker Pen Co.
Shaun Marie Trumble
lives in Western Michigan with her husband Doug and three extremely spoiled
cats. An avid writer, gardener and bottled ink addict, she writes a weekly column and carries on an extensive snail
mail correspondence.
Membership
Special NEW MEMBERSHIP LEVELS
Special MEMBERSHIP LEVELS
President’s Circle Level
$150 per year
Six issues of The Pennant (2 of each issue)
Two free classified ads
Complimentary P.C.A. Lapel Pin
Fifty pages of reprints from P.C.A. Library
Acknowledgement of sponsorship,
each issue of The Pennant
Certificate Of Sponsorship
Patron Level
$100 per year
Three issues of The Pennant
Twenty-five pages of reprints from P.C.A. Library
Acknowledgement of sponsorship in
Sponsor Level
$75 per year
Ten pages of reprints from P.C.A. Library
Acknowledgement of sponsorship in
Regular Membership
$40, 1 year; or $105, 3 years
One free classified ad
Access to library, $.15 per page
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004
Regular Membership
Outside U.S. and Canada
3 issues of The Pennant
1 free classified ad
Access to library, $.15 per page
$60/1 year or, $150/3 years
Members at special sponsor levels will receive certificates
redeemable for classified ads and library reprints to be presented
at time of redemption. Certificates will be included in Sponsor
Packet.
The P.C.A. membership year runs from January–December.
Membership renewal notices are sent each November to those
due to to renew. If you join the P.C.A. between October 1 and
December 31, your membership is automatically extended
through the following year. As a current member, don't forget to
send any updated personal information to Lisa Hanes at info@
pencollectors.com. If you've moved, changed your name, changed
your email, added a FAX line, or made any other changes, it will
not be correct in the listings unless you tell Lisa! This year, we
are pleased to offer for the first time, new membership levels with
added benefits. As a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, the
P.C.A. is only as good as the support it receives. Your contributions keep The Pennant arriving on your doorstep three times a
year, help support the P.C.A. projects and enable the P.C.A. to
continue to grow and improve. When you renew your membership this year, we hope you’ll consider one of our special new
membership levels which are detailed at the left. Even if your
membership is not up for renewal, it’s easy to upgrade to one of
the new membership levels—simply drop us a line or email us at
info@pencollectors.com. Thanks for your support!
69
P. C . A .
Pen Repair
Pen repair directory
BROADWAY PENS
BRAD KNAPP
PEN HAVEN
BERTON A. HEISERMAN
456 S. Broadway
Lebanon, OH 45036
Home: 513.932.2220, Work: 513.932.6070
FAX: 513.932.9988
bknapp@go-concepts.com
www.broadwaypens.com
Repairs most brands including Parker Vacs, Sheaffer Snorkels,
Sheaffer and Wahl Plunger Fillers.
3730 Howard Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895
Home: 301.365.4452 Work: 301.929.0955
Fax: 301.365.4750
Website: www.penhaven.com
Email: bheiserman@comcast.net
Specialties: Total restoration to all models. Plastic crack repairs.
Replace bands, rings and crowns, Waterman 100 Yr. barrel ends and
cap-tops. Plating.
FOUNTAIN PEN HOSPITAL
10 Warren Street
New York, NY 10007
800.253.7367 • 212.964.0580
FAX: 212.227.5916
Website: www.fountainpenhospital.com
Email: info@fountainpenhospital.com
Repairs and restorations for all pen makes, models and filling
mechanisms.
PENOPOLY
ROGER CROMWELL & VICTOR CHEN
THE FOUNTAIN PEN RECYCLER
MIKE CARTER
31 Fairmount Street
Nashua, NH 03064-2523
Phone: 603.882.5384
Email: richard@richardspens.com
Website: www.richardspens.com
General repair and restoration of vintage pens; nib adjustment and
smoothing.
MAIL: P.O. Box 28083
Store: 7000 57th Ave. N., Ste. 103
Crystal, MN 55428
Home: 763.434.7921 Work: 763.535.1599
FAX: 763.535.1892
Email: carterinx@aol.com
Repairs to all makes and models.Repairs on most vintage pens,
including Sheaffer vacs–fast turnaround, excellent communication.
INKPEN VINTAGE FOUNTAIN PENS
JOEL R. HAMILTON
1602 Arizona Avenue
Alamogordo, NM 88310
Phone: 505.437.8118
Email: inkpen5326@aol.com
SHERRELL TYREE
10009 Roe Avenue
Overland Park, Kansas 66207
Phone: 913.642.3216
Email: st3836@swbell.net
Website: www.ink-pen.com
Repairs on most vintage pens, including Sheaffer vacs–fast turnaround, excellent communication. “Your pen is our priority.” All
work guaranteed.
70
1271 Washington Avenue, PMB 598
San Leandro, CA 94577
Email: roger@penopoly.com
Website: www.penopoly.com
Restoration and repairs on all makes and models.
RICHARD BINDER
THE SOUTHERN SCRIBE
RICK HORNE
1868 Mt. Meigs Road
Montgomery, AL 36106
Home: 334.263.4169 Work: 334.263.4169
FAX: 334.263.4169
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST Monday thru Friday
Email: penfix@thesouthernscribe.com
Website: www.thesouthernscribe.com
Expert repair on Eyedroppers to Snorkels, difficult & unusual repairs
including cracks, goldplating, black hard rubber color restoration,
mother of pearl and abalone panel replacement.
Y
Advertise your pen repair service in The Pennant’s Pen Repair
Directory. Your listing reaches nearly 2,000 members three times
annually. $75 for three consecutive issues. Mail, fax or email your
listing. Please include your name, address, phone number, e-mail and
a brief description of your repair services.
P.C.A. – Pen Repair Directory
P.O. Box 447, Fort Madison, IA 52627
Fax: 319.372.0882 or email: Terry Mawhorter,
Advertising Manager, linklady@cyberzane.net
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
P. C . A .
Contributor guidelines
The Pennant invites you to submit articles of interest to the
P.C.A. membership. All contributions should be submitted as
email attachments, on floppy disk or on CD using standard
word processing software.
Articles. We welcome articles dealing with pen collecting, writing instruments, pen manufacturers, ephemera, news about your
recent “finds,” and letters to the editor. The Pennant Author’s
Guidelines document is available upon request, and members of
the editorial staff and P.C.A. Board are available to assist you.
Illustrations. When submitting illustrations, please be certain
that they have been scanned at no less than 300 pixels per inch.
They may be submitted as email attachments as JPG files or
on disk or CD as JPG or TIF images.
Deadlines for submission of articles are February 1, June 1 and
October 1. Contributions are subject to editorial review and
should be sent to: P.C.A., Attn: Editor, The Pennant, PO Box
447, Fort Madison, IA 52627-0447 or via email to: sam@pendemonium.com.
_______________
All opinions expressed in The Pennant are those of the authors and
do not necessarily represent the opinion of the P.C.A., its directors, or
members.
P. C . A P e n S h o w S u p p o r t e r s
The P.C.A. expresses its gratitude to the sponsors of the following Pen Shows for graciously donating table space. Thanks for your generosity!
Philadelphia Geoff Berliner and Bernie Isaacowitz
Miami Bertram’s Inkwell
Los Angeles Boris Rice, Stan Pfeiffer, and Chris Odgers
San Francisco Harvey Raider and Detlef Bitner
Great Southeastern Jimmy Dolive and Boris Rice
Ohio Sonya and Terry Mawhorter
New England Rob Morrison
Michigan Michigan Pen Collectors Club
Chicago Michael Fultz, Daniel Zazove, Donald Lavin
Raleigh Sonya and Terry Mawhorter
M arket place
Wanted: POLITE COLLECTOR would like to buy
pens, pencils, advertising material, display cases or other
information regarding the Hartline Pen Co., that was
located in Tampa, Florida, and for a short time in Michigan.
Please contact me at 786.275.0394, collect is fine. Or e-mail
me: b4awl@aol.com. Thank you, Craig Bozorth.
PFM’s are the best! Sac protectors
and other PFM parts available. Always buying, selling and
repairing Sheaffer PFM’s. Jim Beattie, 3730 Augusta, Elkhart,
IN 46517. www.IndianaPens@msn.com
For Sale: average size Waterman pen collection, collecting for three years, sold as one lot, contact Jim
White, Arizona. 480.671.9323 email: backupjim@aol.com.
Custom nib modifications and repair
service by Deb Kinney. Call 919.613.7126 or email:
debkinney@alumni.duke.edu
Paul Erano’s Quarterly Pen Review, Show reports,
pen reviews, articles and essays on ink to ethics. $25/year.
PO Box 1385, Ballston Lake, NY 12019. Email: plerano@
aol.com
Buy • Sell • Trade in The Pennant Marketplace. Your classified ad reaches over 2,000
pen enthusiasts. P.C.A. members are entitled to one or more free classifieds annually
based on membership level. Free ad may be up to 25 words in length. Marketplace
ads $.50 per word. Deadlines for publication: February 15, June 15 and October 15.
Mail to: P.C.A. Marketplace, P.O.Box 447, Fort Madison, IA 52627 or email:
Terry Mawhorter, Advertising Mgr. linklady@cyberzane.net
The pennant
The Great Southeastern
Pen Show
ATLaNTa, GEORgIa
Presented by
www.go-pens.com
April 1–3, 2005
The Holiday Inn Select
Atlanta Perimeter Dunwoody
4386 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA 30341
770.457.6363
Special Show Room Rate of $74 and free parking
Seminars • Complimentary Coffee & Continental Breakfast
Pizza Party • Wine & Cheese Party
For Information Call:
Mort Epstein
888.867.7367
sales@go-pens.com
Jimmy Dolive
888.867.7367
sales@go-pens.com
Boris Rice
281.496.7152
Bborisrice@cs.com
The Show is one exit away from the prestigious Perimeter Mall. The show is in early spring
when Atlanta is in full bloom
72
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
The Pen Mechanic
Vintage Fountain Pen & Pencil
Repairs & Sales
I repair almost any vintage, make & model.
Specializing in Waterman’s Rivet Clips and
100-Year Pen Barrel End replacements.
Reasonable rates and fast turnaround.
Bill Enderlin
301.585.0600
P.O. Box 197
E-mail: thepenmech@aol.com
Vintage Writing Instrument Repair, Restoration and Appraisals
und!
One
naro
r
u
T
k
Wee
Lever / Button Fill $25
Parker Vacumatic $30
Sheaffer Vacuum Fill $30
Conklin Nozak $35
All others call
All work warranted. Large parts inventory.
We buy!
Aaron A. Svabik
PO BOX 2866
Youngstown, OH 44511
330.507.pens
repairs@pentiques.com
info@penopoly.com
The pennant
Luxury
Pen Storage
Call us or visit us online:
800.525.6456 or www.WatchCases.com
The perfect gift solution for watch and pen aficionados.
Tuesday–Friday, 9–4. Most Saturdays 10–3. Call to Verify.
Editor Wanted
Lugano Pen Trunk: “Simply the finest pen storage box
ever created!” This mammoth pen case holds up to 105
fine writing instruments. The inner frame is made from
solid oak, and the exterior is completely wrapped in
fine Italian calfskin leather. Painstakingly crafted in
Italy for Venlo. Smaller cases available.
Lugano: $1,699 mention this publication and
get 10% off.
74
The Pennant
Needs You!
Of course it is volunteer like all of us, but just think of the
rewards, prestige, exposure and other benefits it will bring.
Not to mention something to do with all that
free time you have.
Email us at: info@pencollectors.com
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Ohio pen show
A premier vintage Pen show
November 3, 4, 5, and 6, 2005
Featuring Long Time Exhibitors ■ Many Exclusive To The Ohio Pen Show!
Vintage Pen Auction ■ Seminars & Parties
Exceptional Pre-Show Buying ■ 30+ Tables Thursday, 100+ Tables Friday
150 Tables Saturday and Sunday
Vintage and modern pens, inkwells, and a full range of pen related items
Clarion Dublin Hotel • Columbus, Ohio
$87/Night ( Toll free, 1.866.372.5566)
Weekend Registration: $50.00
(Includes Significant Other And/Or Child)
Terry and Sonya Mawhorter, Show Organizers
740.454.2314 ■ www.ohiopenshow.com The pennant
Bexley Pen
Pendemonium
Spring/Summer 2004 Show Patrons
Luxury Brands USA
Inkblotters.com PenWorld Magazine
pentrace.com 75
Pen Haven
3730 Howard Ave • Kensington, MD 20895
The Southern Scribe
Expert Pen Repair
Photos on my Website
Vintage Pens Sold
Collections Appraised
Single Pieces and
Collections Purchased
Open: Sat–Sun, 12 pm–5 pm
Authorized Dealer for
Ten Brands of New Pens
Competitive Prices
301.929.0955
Fax 301.365.4750
9–5 CST • Monday–Friday
Email bheiserman@comcast.net
Vintage Fountain Pens & Accessories
Professional Repair & Restoration
Berton A. Heiserman 301.365.4452
www.penhaven.com
www.thesouthernscribe.com
Rick Horne
334.263.4169
1868 Mt. Meigs Road • Montgomery, AL 36107
Second Raleigh Pen Show
June 2,3,4 & 5, 2005
Vintage Parts Exchange Thursday, June 2
30+ tables Thursday (beginning at 10am!)
90+ tables Friday
special trading section available June 3 for weekend registrants
• seminars
90 tables saturday and Sunday
Vintage and modern pens • Full range of pen items
vintage pen auction
embassy suites hotel • cary, north carolina
$94/ call 1.800.embassy or 919.677.1840
free hot breakfast and evening reception included in room rate
free airport shuttle
weekend registration: $50.00 (includes spouse, significant other and/or child)
Terry & Sonya Mawhorter, show organizers
www.raleighpenshow.com 740.454.2314
Show Patrons
76
Bexley Pen
PenWorld Magazine
Pendemonium
Luxury Brands USApentrace.com
Inkblotters.com
Triangle Pen Club
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
The finest store for
watchcases and winders
www.WatchCases.com
1.800.525.6456
Luxury Storage Cases:
Fine Watch and Pen Boxes.
Free Shipping. Guaranteed Products.
Complete listings on your 2004 P.C.A. CD-rom
Todd & Theresa Nussbaum
Owners
4132 W. Villa Rita Drive
Glendale, AZ 85308
Email: pen-king2@cox.net
Website: www.isellpens.com
Email: wasp1908@mchsi.net
Are You Looking for the Perfect Gift for a Favorite Pen Collector?
Consider a Gift Membership in the P.C.A.
Now you can give a gift that will inform, delight and remind someone you know that you are thinking of them everyday of the year! Complete
all of the requested information below, print clearly and send this form, along with your check or money order, made payable to:
Pen Collectors of America, Attn: Bob Nurin, P.C.A. Treasurer
P.O. Box 80
Redding Ridge, CT 06876
Please send a Gift Membership for (check one):
Inside the U.S.:
Outside the U.S.:
■ One year $40 U.S. ■ One year $60 U.S. ■ three years $105 U.S.
■ three years $150 US
Send membership to:
Name of Gift Recipient _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mailing Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
City _ __________________________________________ State/Province __________ Country_____________________________________
Postal/Zip Code__________________________________ Email_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Phone (______)_ _________________________________ FAX (______) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Gift card message_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Check this box if this name should be omitted from publication as a P.C.A. member. ■
Your Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mailing Address _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
City____________________________________________ State/Province___________ Country_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Postal/Zip Code__________________________________ Email _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Phone (______)_ _________________________________ FAX (______) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The pennant
Authorized Dealer: Aurora
Pelikan, Parker, Waterman
Laban, Sailor, Platinum
Rotring, Schneider, FILCAO
Conway Stewart
1001
Pens
www.1001Pens.com
Vintage pens, pencils, desk sets, pen and watch ads,
all major brands.
www.vintageparkerpens.com
Our new website coming soon! Site devoted to Parker only.
www.1001inkbottles.com
For the best collection of ink bottles.
email:
maxpen@wanadoo.fr
78
CUSTOM NIB MODIFICATIONS
SPECIALIZING IN VINTAGE AND LIMITED EDITION PENS
We offer competitive prices on Pelikan, Omas, Namiki and Sailor pens
• Re-tipping (any size)
• Flow adjustments
• Re-grinding
• Crack repair
• Straightening
• Original Replacements*
*A large stock of vintage nibs is available especially Waterman’s and Parker
Stub, italic, oblique, calligraphy and
flexible tips made to custom specifications
•Re-tip on nib only............................................................... $60
(extra charge for Stub, Oblique, Xbroad, or Xfine)................ $10
• Nib Removal and Resetting (Whole Pen Charge)................... $20
• UPS Third-day insured for $100............................................ $6
(Any amount of insurance is available. Please add $.50 per $100 over $100)
Limited service from mid–May to mid–September.
John Mottishaw
P.O. Box 46723
Los Angeles, Ca. 90046
Telephone: 323.655.2641
Fax: 323.651.0265
e-mail: sales@nibs.com
Visit our web site at www.nibs.com
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant
Inkpen Vintage
Fountain Pens
™
Sales • Search • Purchase
Repairs on most vintage pens including
Parker and Sheaffer vacs.
Fast turnaround, excellent communication.
All work guaranteed
Joel Hamilton
505.437.8118
inkpen5326@aol.com
Sherrell Tyree
913.642.3216
st3836@swbell.net
Visit our website
www.ink-pens.com
“Your Pen is Our Priority!”
Kensingtonpens.com
2776 N. Triphammer Rd., Ithaca, New York 14850
1.888.311.1025 • 607.257. 8502 • Fax 607.257.4961
www.inkpalette.com • fpinks@lightlink.com
Fine Vintage Writing Instruments
All Brands, specializing in the
Rare and Unusual
Cliff Harrington and Mark Hoover,
Proprietors
4090 A Howard Ave.
Fine Fountain Pens
& Writing Supplies
Norman G. Haase
hisnibs@hisnibs.com
www.hisnibs.com
The pennant
Spring/Summer 2004 Telephone 301.530.1183
Email: Kp@kensingtonpens.com
We Exhibit At All Major Pen Shows
79
Society of
Inkwell Collectors
Join Us!
Newsletter
Convention
Books & Accessories
Networking
P.O. Box 324
mossville, il 61552
Phone: 309.579.3040
inkwellsociety@aol.com
WWW.SOIC.COM
80
Spring/Summer 2004
The pennant

Untitled - Pen Collectors of America

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