Do you ever think "who made this pen"?

[Wmundstock]

I often find myself thinking about these things...

The last pair of pens I bought are from around 1983, and this make them 37 years old.

I was just a five year old kid, who didn't even knew how to write, when someone made these nice pieces of art in West Germany. Berlin Wall was still up with people trying to escape it and I had no idea. Meanwhile someone was polishing the tip of the nib in multiple, hypnotic, figure eights so that I could write smoothly so long after.

I'm a big fan of handcrafed things, and these thoughts (stupid or not) make me respect the pens and their makers. I wish I could make something that would still be appreciated after 37 years.

Makes me womder: Who crafted them? Is the person who tested the pens still alive? What is he (or she) doing these days? Do they own a montblanc pen today?

Does this nonsense ever cross your mind? Share your thoughts....

[silverlifter]

I wonder who owned these pens before me. What they used them for, inked them with, those sorts of things.

For a pen that is 75-100 years old, it may have had several owners, each of whom may have viewed the pen quite differently. What is clear, given the state of these pens, is that each of my predecessors cared for the pens, otherwise they would not be here for me to enjoy all these decades later. It therefore behoves me to be just as considerate, and ensure that they go on to lay down beautiful lines for the fpgeeks that will come after me.

[Fermata]

I wonder who owned these pens before me. What they used them for, inked them with, those sorts of things.

For a pen that is 75-100 years old, it may have had several owners, each of whom may have viewed the pen quite differently. What is clear, given the state of these pens, is that each of my predecessors cared for the pens, otherwise they would not be here for me to enjoy all these decades later. It therefore behoves me to be just as considerate, and ensure that they go on to lay down beautiful lines for the fpgeeks that will come after me.


That is almost the script for The Yellow Rolls Royce

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059927/

Each successive owner treating their pen, or car, in a very different manner.

Pen history is my interest, pens with a past, but I also think of the person who sat at their work bench 90 years ago, perhaps being paid on piece rates, putting the eleven pieces of the Duofold together and never imagining that it would still be in use in 2020, possibly by their great grand child.

[FredRydr]

...Pen history is my interest, pens with a past....
You might want to seek out pens engraved with the original owner's name. I make it a habit to enter such names into a search engine to see what turns up, and I've been able to sell pens with interesting history (even with photos), e.g.: Florida department store magnate Sol Mass's red ripple Waterman 55 (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/24377-FS-Waterman-55-ripple-14k-F-flex-Mabie-Todd-Swan-Eternal-44-stub-amp-F-flex-(2-nibs!)) or Saturday Evening Post/Cosmopolitan illustrator Harrison Fisher's blue nib Waterman 7. (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/22368-Waterman-s-No-7-full-set-of-seven-pens-with-color-coded-nibs)

[Fermata]

...Pen history is my interest, pens with a past....
You might want to seek out pens engraved with the original owner's name. I make it a habit to enter such names into a search engine to see what turns up, and I've been able to sell pens with interesting history (even with photos), e.g.: Florida department store magnate Sol Mass's red ripple Waterman 55 (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/24377-FS-Waterman-55-ripple-14k-F-flex-Mabie-Todd-Swan-Eternal-44-stub-amp-F-flex-(2-nibs!)) or Saturday Evening Post/Cosmopolitan illustrator Harrison Fisher's blue nib Waterman 7. (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/22368-Waterman-s-No-7-full-set-of-seven-pens-with-color-coded-nibs)

I have done the same Fred, even tried to return the pen to any descendants if the engraved name is sufficiently unusual.

I have only had one very distinctive name engraved on the cap, this was from an artist who worked in London doing posters for the Indian Railways and then moved to America where he painted many of the posters for American War Bonds, his name was William Spencer Bagdatopoulos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Spencer_Bagdatopoulos

Due to the unusual last name I managed to trace his daughter, I told her that I had her father's pen and would she like to have it, as a gift. Even though it was more than a few years ago I can remember the sweet words in her email back to me as if it was yesterday.

'That bastard left me and my mother for a whore in California, keep the damn thing.'

[FredRydr]

...I can remember the sweet words in her email back to me as if it was yesterday. 'That bastard left me and my mother for a whore in California, keep the damn thing.'
Great story! That factoid could be added to the Wikipedia page for readers to have a better understanding of Mr. Bagdatopoulos.

[carlos.q]

...Pen history is my interest, pens with a past....
You might want to seek out pens engraved with the original owner's name. I make it a habit to enter such names into a search engine to see what turns up, and I've been able to sell pens with interesting history (even with photos), e.g.: Florida department store magnate Sol Mass's red ripple Waterman 55 (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/24377-FS-Waterman-55-ripple-14k-F-flex-Mabie-Todd-Swan-Eternal-44-stub-amp-F-flex-(2-nibs!)) or Saturday Evening Post/Cosmopolitan illustrator Harrison Fisher's blue nib Waterman 7. (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/22368-Waterman-s-No-7-full-set-of-seven-pens-with-color-coded-nibs)

And sometimes, when you can't find the pen's history you can indulge in some creative fantasy and write up a story:
https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/23939-An-engraved-pen-with-a-story?p=235163&viewfull=1

[penwash]

Due the unusual last name I managed to trace his daughter, I told her that I had her father's pen and would she like to have it, as a gift. Even though it was more than a few years ago I can remember the sweet words in her email back to me as if it was yesterday.

'That bastard left me and my mother for a whore in California, keep the damn thing.'

That is a sobering account of something that I tend to keep in a romanticized state in my mind whenever I see a person's name on the pen I am restoring. :)

[Chrissy]

Due the unusual last name I managed to trace his daughter, I told her that I had her father's pen and would she like to have it, as a gift. Even though it was more than a few years ago I can remember the sweet words in her email back to me as if it was yesterday.

'That bastard left me and my mother for a whore in California, keep the damn thing.'
Wow! It just goes to show that you never know what stones you might be turning over when you make contact with someone who may once have been connected to a specific pen. :blink:

[Deb]

Reverting to the original question I generally know which company made a pen though there are many insoluble mysteries around, especially among 1920s/30s giveaways. If something more particular is intended, like which worker made the pen - yes, I do think about that though it was most likely a fairly large group of people who saw the pen through from raw materials to the finished article. I think especially about the people who made vintage nibs and I wonder why so few manufacturers today can do such a good job.

[Chuck Naill]

I have an Autopoint Rocket mechanical pencil with Arthur Fleagle imprinted on the barrel. There is a small paper inside the box reading that Jig Woods gave it to him in 1947. This is one of the premium versions of the Rocket in gold and burgundy.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Great name! Fleegle was one of the Banana Splits - it was fun being young. :)

[FredRydr]

...I think especially about the people who made vintage nibs and I wonder why so few manufacturers today can do such a good job.
'Tis true. Of course, they were making new nibs at the time. ;-)

[guyy]

I lived near Janesville when i was young. Parker workers were people like my neighbors. However, although many of our neighbors worked in Janesville, all of them worked in the GM plant (also closed now).

[pajaro]

I have wondered whjo made the resin my 144Rs and 164Rs were made from. They are pretty pens with that particular combination of red and gold trim.

[Wmundstock]

Thank you all for sharing your stories and thoughts. I no longer feel weird about thinking about these things :)

To be honest, I used to avoid pens with initials or names, but reading some notes above, I changed my mind. The stories behind these names may be cool things to know (or make). :)

Best regards.
Walter Mundstock

[penwash]

Thank you all for sharing your stories and thoughts. I no longer feel weird about thinking about these things :)

To be honest, I used to avoid pens with initials or names, but reading some notes above, I changed my mind. The stories behind these names may be cool things to know (or make). :)

Best regards.
Walter Mundstock

Walter, pondering the history of the pens we have is part of the enjoyment of having a pen collection. At least to me it is.

I have always been fascinated with retro/vintage/antique things. But fountain pens have the seldom-found balance between utility + ease-to-use + history + craftsmanship + accessorizing + tinkering + curiosity. This combination makes collecting and using them so fascinating to me.

[carlos.q]

This thread made me look up some of the names on my "personalized" pens. I have a Parker 51 with the name "Alex Toth" who, according to Google, was a famous cartoonist... or maybe a college professor in Tampa... or a baseball player... who knows?

[Johnny_S]

Sometimes your mind works overtime. I bought a boxed Parker set from the 1940s, inside was a note written on the box lid.

'Happy Christmas William, think of David whenever you use these pens, Mother.'

The pens had never been used.

[guyy]

Sad to say but The Inevitable has recently visited former owners of my pens. Many if not most obituaries are now on line, bringing to the surface the personal details of people who lived mostly before the internet. Before death, one might have had to do some tedious & potentially fruitless research in government records or historical society archives, but upon death information suddenly becomes available to the armchair researcher. I am not curious enough to do any serious digging, but dilettante that i am, i will try an internet search.

For example, Gertrude Martin, who had an Autograph Snorkel set lived long — 102 years — and prospered as a grocer. James B Hillestad who acquired a nice Parker 51 set as a young man lived to the same age as my own father and died just a few days after him in a nearby town.

Names on older pens are harder to trace unless they’re unusual. I know Bernard Gackstatter married in 1933 in Rockford, Ill & died in his forties in 1949. I’ve had his first year Parker 51 longer than he did. Harry W Colby? I don’t think i’m going to know anything about him other than he kept his red-veined grey pearl Balance in great shape.

[RobJohnson]

Sometimes the name of a famous person does not add anything at all. I bought on ebay a Montblanc 149 that was a gift from Sony to George Michael for $460, new and unused with good provenance including a letter from Sony.