Some Mabie Todds

[marcshiman]

This is what I collect.

Plastic Mabie Todds were introduced around 1926 under the name of "Eternalite". They had been producing their Eternal line of pens since the early 20's in hard rubber. The Eternal pens were made with a nib made from fairly thick gold, and usually they aren't terribly flexible nibs. They moved on from hard rubber in the early thirties. They officially closed in 43, but for all intents and purposes, the late 30's are really the end.

I collect the plastic American pens. There's quite the genre of British plastic pens that carried on from the 30's to the 50's, but I have never have been as interested in them. After the Eternals, Mabie Todd more or less stopped advertising (I can't find much), and the quality of the pens went down. However, the post-eternal pens with the thinner gold nibs have more flex, and they continued to make unusually large nibs for lower quality pens. The 6 size nib remained right up until the end, and for me, those are the pens I cherish the most.

The picture below is a range of pens through the years beginning with the Eternals on the left. This was my whole Swan collection about a year ago up until I got serious about collecting them.

[Malcolm]

Fantastic, marc...thanks for sharing.

[Jon Szanto]

Handsome pens, thanks Marc.

[Sevenof9]

Thanks Marc. they are glorious. are you using them? 7

[marcshiman]

7 I use some - but I'm primarily a collector/dealer. I don't carry them around, for me that's generally for modern pens. But when I'm at home, I'll take one out and use it from time to time.

[RuiFromUK]

I am drooling. WOW what a stash of Mabie Todd's.!!!

[KBeezie]

MT-Pen-Gasm...

[Cob]

A fascinating collection of Mabie Todds; are they all Swans or is there a Swallow or two there on the right?

It is interesting that the first eight counting from the left are as far as I can see identical to models produced in England; I imagine that they are pre-1930 - perhaps pre 1927. You are fortunate to have such lovely examples of the jade material - so often discoloured.

Turning to the ten on the right, the first is especially fascinating - presumably a 242/54 it has the beginnings of the tapered cap favoured in US production from the early 30s onwards. Did the US models continue to carry numbers? I should be interested to know about this point - especially in regard to the glorious model seventh from the right. And the pen second fro the left of it appears to have been made from a material that was very popular with Waterman's.

Finally the date I have for the end of Mabie Todd Inc. is July 7th 1941.

Thanks for posting your picture of these super pens.

Cob

[marcshiman]

Hi Cob,

No Swallows in the bunch - you can almost always tell a Swallow by a single cap ring. Of course there are exceptions, as I have a ringtop Swallow with a stacked coin bands. Go figure.

There are two different "eras" of the eternalites - you can see the lapis blue has a stacked coin band and a "1915" clip - around 29 (I believe) they switched to a alternating black celulloid/gold band arrangement for cap bands (jade on the black pens). I think at this point, British Swans went to a clip that had the letters S-W-A-N in a vertical alignment. I don't remember seeing any British pens with the Swan (image) clip. Of course, they then re-used the stacked coin band in those two big streamlined pens, so getting clear dating is very difficult.

I also don't remember seeing a British 6 size pen in anything other than hard rubber or black plastic. I have an L844 and a L644, but both are hard rubber. Pens 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11 from the left all have 6 size nibs. The little ones on the end are 54's (4 being the nib size). After the step clips, they largely stopped numbering them.

The odd bird in the 10 on the right is 5th from the right. Its the only twist filler I've ever seen in an American Swan.

They can largely be ordered (but not dated) by their clips - in order you have 1915 step clips, swan step clips, arrow clips, and then top mounted clips. So numbers 2, 3, and 4 on the right are actually earlier eternals. Number 4 from the right is actually a combo, but I haven't found the pencil components to complete it. The flattop combos are terribly scarce, so its not like I can cannibalize another one, and the Fyne Points don't fit.

In between 41 and 43 they moved the rest of their operations to Arlington, NJ - actually there is no Arlington, NJ, its a district of Kearny, NJ that never incorporated. During their heyday operating from Downtown Manhattan, they turned barrels in that Arlington facility. They sold their facilities to Camel in 43, who was owned by Wearever at the time (I'm led to believe).

The years might be wrong, all my research is back home.

[marcshiman]

Here is the last of the Swans - the Swan Capacity Pen, a piston filler (!) made in Arlington NJ.



Sorry about the horrible picture. I cropped it out of a tray picture.

[marcshiman]

Cob,

Here are swallows.

[FredRydr]

My red and black mottled hard rubber Eternal 44 with factory stub nib is used regularly. It has the stacked coin bands like those on the left in Marc's photo. So that pen all the way on the left shows an alternative band arrangement for those HR Eternals? Was it used on all sizes?

Fred

[marcshiman]

Fred,

I believe the triple bands came before the stacked coin band (22 or so). I have some older catalogs, I'll confirm it when I get home.

[marcshiman]

I wish I could edit.

Actually, the three cap bands MHR pen has a Swan clip. So I'm clueless, MT is a mess when it comes to figuring this out.

[Cob]

Hullo again. The dates i have come from Mabie in America. Moak says that Mabie Todd & Co NY was dissolved on July 27th 1938 and the next day was incorporated in New Jersey; the New Jersey company was dissolved in July 1941.

Turning to stacked coin Eternals, I have just one, an English BHR, clipless, with no model number and a curious domed MHR finial; nib is a No 4.

3s.jpg

The leverless you mention, bears a strong physical resemblance to one of mine pictured on the left here - note the clip which is occasionally found on L3xx models. I have sold the one on the right which was numbered L330/64. Mine carries no number; I suppose it would be a L300/64; both pens are English. ALso Moak makes no mention of Leverless pens in the American range so if yours was made in the USA (or at least stamped as such) then it is very interesting indeed

2.jpg

Cob

[Kaputnik]

Those are some beautiful pens. I've got one that's just like the green one 8th from left. It writes very nicely.

And I'm a Marc, too.

[marcshiman]

Hullo again. The dates i have come from Mabie in America. Moak says that Mabie Todd & Co NY was dissolved on July 27th 1938 and the next day was incorporated in New Jersey; the New Jersey company was dissolved in July 1941.

Cob

Well, then I'm sure you are right. My research about the Arlington site came from David's notes, so I'm sure we are talking the same thing. I'm just doing it from flawed memory.

[southpaw52]

Very nice looking pens.

[FredRydr]

The view I like best is the top of the caps with the white swan against a black background.

Fred

[Alex2014]

My oldest MT (MT&B)