Miscellaneous Waterman notes from The American Stationer, 1900-1901

The newly-digitized volumes of The American Stationer, covering mid-1900 to the end of 1901, are of particular interest for the history of Waterman. What they tell about the introduction of the Spoon Feed is dealt with in a separate post; below are some more scattered notes and observations.

The September 15, 1900 issue has an entry on the Paris Exhibition on p. 8, with a fine illustration of the Waterman stand, shown below.

The scan of the September 1, 1900 cover is interesting, though a bit of a mess. It announces Waterman's receipt of a gold medal at Paris, showing a Waterman 14 closed, open, disassembled, and in section. The old narrow feed is clearly shown.

In the September 29, 1900 issue, p. 34, there is a description of a new colored enamel and plush easel display card, shown above. The pen to be shown would be held by clips on the left panel. I don't recall having seen an actual example, so if you have one and can share a photo, please let me know.

In the November 24, 1900 issue, p. 16, there is an account of a visit to Waterman's New York store, and specifically of the large number of silver items available for sale, and not just pens. Singled out for mention is the silver chatelaine shown above, with notepad and magic pencil as well as the case to hold a fountain pen. This ensemble is the same one shown in the back of the Waterman 1902 catalog (available through the PCA Reference Library), but I would bet that few Waterman collectors recall its presence. The magic pencil was likely sourced from Aikin Lambert; the other silver bits could have been as well, though there would have been no shortage of potential suppliers in that era.

Not illustrated, but there is mention of the release of a new Waterman catalog in the April 13, 1901 issue, p. 4. It had 24 pages, with a maroon cover printed in black, green, and gold.

Remex was a Waterman sub-brand, mentioned twice in the newly digitized volumes (July 13, 1901, p. 18; November 2, 1901, p. 24, below), yet in neither case identified as a Waterman product. Instead, the New York News Company is listed as the distributor.

In the May 4, 1901, Lewis E. Waterman's death notice appears on p. 21. It is strikingly brief. The usual Waterman ad on the front cover of the next issue, dated May 11, is replaced by the spare memorial shown below.

It may be that L. E. Waterman was by then so well-known as not to require any further encomia. Nonetheless, it is striking that aside from these two notices, nothing else marking Waterman's death appears in the pages of The American Stationer. The Waterman ads continue as usual, as do the mentions of the company in reports on the trade.