Is "tortoise" actually... tortoise?

[katherine]

Perhaps this is a silly question, but I've been looking at different Pelikan models and I noticed that for some of the "tortoise" pens, there's quite a bit of variation. Are they actually tortoise shell? (I'd always assumed they were tortoise-look celluloid)

[carlos.q]

Please be assured that no tortoises were harmed in the manufacture of those Pelikan pens.

[katherine]

Even the older ones? Like these: http://www.thepenguinpen.com/pelikan/detail/torttray.jsp

[fountainpenkid]

Even the older ones? Like these: http://www.thepenguinpen.com/pelikan/detail/torttray.jsp

Yes, even them. Actual tortoise shell wouldn't be a very good pen material.

[katherine]

Oooh. Okay. This occurred to me while I was brushing my teeth this morning, then I started reading wikipedia and it seems that glasses and guitar picks used to be actual tortoise shell, so it seemed plausible that some pens were.

Thank you!

[amk]

No actual pelicans are used in the making of a Pelikan, either. Just in case you were worried :-)

[katherine]

Wait, they're not made of pelican bones?!?!?!?!

(This is why bird bones are hollow, right?)

[Biber]

Tortoise shell has traditionally been used for many applications that you wouldn't think were possible: http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/UtleyPages/KeyedBugles/Shaw/7070/Shaw.html. Apparently it's quite pliable when heated and can be molded much as sheet plastic can. I can't imagine there's much work/crafting being done with actual tortoise shell these days.

[katherine]

Yeah -- it's been illegal since the 1970s. But there were definitely some pretty cool looking earlier Pelikans that have quite varied colors that are "tortoise" which is what got me wondering!

[Chrissy]

Tortoiseshell, as it is often called, was always made from turtle shell rather than tortoise shell, even in it's hey day when it was legal to use it for jewellery boxes and other 'objects of virtue'.

Now it is not legal to use tortoises or turtles for making such products and only 'faux' or 'simulated' material is used instead.

[inklord]

The term 'Tortoiseshell' has for a long time also been used to name color patterns reminiscent of those found in natural polished tortoise or turtle shell material, e.g. for color patterns of domestic animals (cats, guinea pigs) and lacquer ware; to my knowledge, celluloid and celluloid derivatives had been used to imitate real tortoiseshell or were produced in tortoiseshell patterns, such as in the cellulose acetate barrels of some Pelikan pens.

[fountainpenkid]

Tortoise shell has traditionally been used for many applications that you wouldn't think were possible: http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/UtleyPages/KeyedBugles/Shaw/7070/Shaw.html. Apparently it's quite pliable when heated and can be molded much as sheet plastic can. I can't imagine there's much work/crafting being done with actual tortoise shell these days.

Thank you for the info! I stand corrected and intrigued.

[amk]

I've seen some really gorgeous work in tortoiseshell - tea caddies, boxes, with tortoiseshell inlay. An idea of just how lovely the material can be:
http://www.antiqueboxes.com/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/1512?opendocument&part=2
(You may be able to guess that antique boxes are another part of my collecting life...)

[katherine]

I agree, many of them are beautiful! But typically the tortoiseshell parts seem to be flat. With a pen they'd have to be shaped into cylinders.

[kazoolaw]

.

Now it is not legal to use tortoises or turtles for making such products and only 'faux' or 'simulated' material is used instead.

Not illegal everywhere:

http://fp-hakase.com/products/tortoiseshell/97245.html

http://fp-hakase.com/products/98192015_06_23_R.JPG

[katherine]

That's pretty. Water buffalo is a lot less endangered though. I'm from the Philippines, and water buffalo-everything is pretty common -- salad servers, shoe horns, etc etc.

[kazoolaw]

That's true, which is the black material, which can be imported to the U.S.

The tortoise colored is, well, tortoise.

http://fp-hakase.com/warning-regarding-ivories-and-turtle-shells.html