Mabie Todd Swan Plug Filler (Archive Photos)
In the early years of fountain pen production, many filling systems were developed.
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In this Swan, a plug is removed from the feed so that an eyedropper can be inserted to fill the pen.
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The long wire attached to the plug was intended to assist ink flow, with some success.
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The pen was made in 1907 or 08 and did not remain long in production as better systems came along. It is quite rare now.
Re: Mabie Todd Swan Plug Filler (Archive Photos)
Very unusual! It reminds me of the Rider pen I used to own, that similarly filled from the feed end.
Re: Mabie Todd Swan Plug Filler (Archive Photos)
As eyedropper fillers go, this seemed a little more convenient than unscreing the section.
Re: Mabie Todd Swan Plug Filler (Archive Photos)
How fascinating! Thanks for sharing. I can't help but find all sorts of filling mechanisms interesting.
Re: Mabie Todd Swan Plug Filler (Archive Photos)
One of those interesting blind alleys. It was a good pen with reliable ink flow and less liable to blobbing than other eyedroppers.