Edward Todd was a venerable company that started out in the dip pen era, and though its fountain pens were not technically innovative, they often took a very distinctive path when it came to design. If you run across an American-made boxed and matching set of a metal pen, pencil, and pocket knife, odds are it's Edward Todd. Ditto for elegant solid gold pens with inlaid enamel decoration -- true vitreous enamel, and not so-called "cold" enamel, as used by Wahl-Eversharp and a few others.
And don't forget pens with fully enameled overlays, such as this recent acquisition. Not at all common, with most examples badly chipped. For some reason enameled overlays were much more popular in Germany and Britain -- though the European preference was for transparent colored enamel over guilloché.
I have an Edward Todd "Todd's Duplex" in black and pearl. Looks like a smaller Sheaffer flat top with a pencil on the end. No clip but originally had a ring on the end. I've never seen another like it. I've never even been able to find online another Edward Todd in celluloid.
ReplyDeleteIs this really unusual, or do I just need to get out more?
Uncommon, but by no means rare. This is a limitation with relying on online references, since any sales listings are likely to be ephemeral. We sold a Duplex combo in the box last fall, for example, and that's no longer visible online.
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