Figural novelty pencils, then and now

Is there a collector who doesn't long for a time machine when looking at old catalogs? Some now-iconic rarities were expensive luxuries when new, but many were not. Studying old catalogs highlights how what is valued now wasn't necessarily what was valued then. Nowadays collectors generally value silver pens far more highly than their gold filled equivalents, for example, but their respective valuation was the exact reverse when they were new.

I recently ran across a particularly dramatic example of this in an Aikin Lambert catalog brochure from the 1880s (the title page features the company's exhibition award medals from Philadelphia [1876], Paris [1878], Sydney [1879], and Melbourne [1880], and D. F. Foley is listed as one of the firm's four principals, so the catalog predates his founding his own firm in Feb 1888). The last page lists a selection of figural novelty pencils -- now very rare and desirable -- and their prices.

A magic pencil in the form of a champagne bottle was only $1.25 in gold plate or celluloid, $2 in sterling silver. Other designs such as bullets, obelisks, bells, and telephones fell into the same range. This was cheap in both absolute and relative terms, as a look at other pages demonstrates.

In the same price range we find your basic small gold-nibbed dip pen in various forms, all of which are in plentiful supply today. For the price of a single run-of-the-mill boxed #1-size dip pen with gold filled holder and pearl taper, you could have had two figural novelty pencils!

Too late now, alas -- the exchange rate has changed rather dramatically in the last 130 years. The novelty pencils shown above are all American made, though not all are Aikin Lambert products.

ADDENDUM: The brochure was printed by the prominent New York firm of Mayer, Merkel & Ottmann, at 21-25 Warren Street (name and address in the bottom margin of the back cover). This helps narrow the date, as the two senior partners retired in 1885, the company continuing as the J. Ottmann Lithographing Company.

Stylomine 303 self-filling safety

After an absence of too many years, I was back in Europe last week for the Hamburg and London pen shows. Travel is broadening when it comes to collecting, too. Had I never left the USA, I would probably never have learned about the pen featured here -- nor, finally, have had the opportunity to acquire one.

While to all outward appearances a normal black hard rubber French safety, it is nothing but. Instead of a turning knob at the end of the barrel, there is a blind cap. Turn it counterclockwise -- the opposite direction the end knob of a safety is turned -- and the nib extends from the barrel. Keep turning, and the blind cap comes off, revealing a rubber bulb. No eyedropper required: this safety can be filled from a bottle by itself. Note that the barrel threads are set back from the barrel mouth more than is usual, allowing the mouth to be dipped into ink for filling without getting ink into the threads.

As far as I know, these pens were sold almost entirely in France, yet they are very rare even there. A solution in search of a problem, perhaps -- but a wonderful bit of gadgetry! Coincidentally, a European pen friend was able to acquire another example just a couple of weeks ago, in mottled hard rubber with a gold filled overlay.

A Gorham pen with a twist

Dip pens by Gorham often have a bold helical pattern, but normally all in sterling silver. This pen combines the usual silver with ivory, to stunning effect. I've not seen another example, though I do have an unmarked pen of very similar construction combining silver with wood instead of ivory.

An unusual ink sac

When I started to take apart this Eagle coin-filler, I knew it was in good condition. It was still a surprise to find that its original sac was intact, and of unusual construction.

Instead of being made with a molded end, this sac is actually a section of rubber tubing with a stiff rubber plug glued into the end. Not a very desirable design if the pressure bar presses evenly on the whole sac, but perfectly serviceable given the one-piece bar used here, which cannot compress the sac at its bottom end.

Søren Kierkegaard's silver dip pen at auction

Only just spotted this -- sale took place on September 18, with the pen selling below low estimate at kr 60,000 (€ 8,050) to the Københavns Museum. Catalog entry with full details and more photos here.

Retipping, 1912

More people are offering nib retipping services and prices are coming down, but we have a long way to go before we get back to the rates of 1912! This Aikin Lambert bill tells the story: 30 cents plus postage, five cents cheaper if prepaid with cash or postage stamps. No extra charge for straightening, at least for this job.

Three unusual stylographic pens

A notable recent addition to my stylo collection is shown above. The overlay is English-hallmarked sterling silver, and the pen itself was sold as red hard rubber. On receipt, however, it turned out to be red casein (the section and tip are in fact red/orange hard rubber), explaining the darkening of the cap and forepart of the barrel, as well as the (undisclosed) puckering and cracks in the cap characteristic of casein exposed to too many moistening and drying cycles.

The overlay bears the maker's mark of Charles Westwood and Sons, a Birmingham silversmith who supplied overlays to a number of British penmakers. The date stamp is for 1910/11. Otherwise, the only mark is found on the posting end: "Rd No. 569229/10", which would correspond to 1910 -- unfortunately, the relevant record at the British National Archives is not yet digitized. The posting end also displays the ends of what appears to be a single long metal crosspin, and upon closer inspection this pin would appear to anchor a black hard rubber barrel liner which extends all the way to the barrel mouth. Casein, of course, would not have held up to being used as a reservoir -- this pen is an eyedropper-filler -- so the pen's makers prudently lined the barrel with impermeable hard rubber.

Another newcomer to the collection is this safety. Yes, a stylographic safety: turn the end knob, and the stylograph tip retracts into the barrel. This too is English-made, though this example came from Canada. The triple-C logo that appears twice on the box top is that of the Copp, Clark Company -- a Canadian firm that still exists, though it has now left its original core focus on publishing, stationery, and board games to concentrate on financial services. In the Canadian Almanac and Miscellaneous Directory for the Year 1915 (a 1914 Copp, Clark publication), a full-page ad for the British-made National fountain pens appears on p. 527, listing Copp, Clark in Toronto as the sole agent for Canada. The Security Safety is not illustrated, but receives prominent mention: "THE 'NATIONAL' SECURITY SAFETY FOUNTAIN PENS can be carried in any position, and are non-leakable. Made in 4 Nos., as follows. . . ." Despite this ad, the Security Safety does not appear to have been a popular item on either side of the Atlantic. Neither my Canadian nor my British correspondents have seen another, though perhaps now that this one has been shown around, more eyes will be watching when the next turns up.

Though the first of its brand I've seen, the National is not my first safety stylo. That honor goes to the Moore shown above, which I've owned for quite a few years. I've never seen any mention of it in ads or catalogs, and most collectors are surprised to learn of its existence -- though it is by no means unique, as I have seen at least two other examples.

Korean faker pops up again

Our old friend in Korea has been lying low on eBay for a while, but now has listed one of his creations again -- this time explicitly describing the cap and barrel as newly-made reproductions ("Very sophisticated, can not be distinguished from the original").

This may be a slight improvement over his earlier doings. Nonetheless, it is still flagrantly illegal in that the barrel bears a counterfeit (oh, sorry -- "reproduction") Parker Duofold imprint. Using registered trademarks without authorization is a big no-no, of course. We'll see how long before eBay steps in this time.

NOTE: Our faker is still using sunpawel as his user name; the last three of his "reproduction" Mandarin lots all went to the same buyer, fatnibs.

Graf Zeppelin dip pen

When the Graf Zeppelin visited Estonia in 1930, one of the more noteworthy souvenirs of the occasion was this silver dip pen in the shape of the famous airship. How many were made and how they were sold is not known. They are not common, but I have seen several examples over the years. Though they have considerable heft, many are disfigured by dents -- typically towards the tail, as if the pen had been idly rapped against a table edge.

The details -- gondola, engine nacelles, tailfins -- are in low relief, allowing the pen to be held comfortably for writing. Clearly, this was intended as a functional novelty item.

This example, like most, is lightly engraved with the owner's name. It bears the usual Estonian silver hallmarks (835 fine, rather than the 925 of sterling), but no maker's mark. Quite a few of these Graf Zeppelin dip pens are marked with the "OV" stamp of Tallin silversmith Oskar Vük, leading many to assume that Vük was the maker. Yet the absence of a maker's mark on the other specimens indicates that a maker's mark was not required, and that the "OV" stamp may in fact be a retailer's mark (noting also the very real possibility that Vük was the manufacturer, but left off the "OV" stamp on pens to be sold to other retailers).

Canadian stationary trade journal links

George Kovalenko recently published a list of links to a most informative Canadian monthly, which started publication in 1884 as Books and Notions, changing its name by 1896 to the Bookseller and Stationer. With varying appendages ("and Fancy Goods Review", "and Canadian Newsdealer", "and Office Equipment Journal") it retained this name into the 1920s, if not longer.

This list was published at Lion & Pen, and its original URL is here. The entire site is now down, however, with no information forthcoming about when or if it will become available again. George has kindly allowed me to republish and expand upon his list here, so that it may remain accessible to interested researchers.