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I hate when that happens.Quote:
Originally Posted by FredRydr
Jon, I know for a fact that's a Szant-O-Matic pen and pencil set. Only two sets were made before the California company failed due to a mixup in celluloid ingredients causing the other set to spontaneously combust, in turn resulting in a fire that burned half the town to the ground. How's your set doing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Szanto
Smokin'.Quote:
Originally Posted by FredRydrJon, I know for a fact that's a Szant-O-Matic pen and pencil set. Only two sets were made before the California company failed due to a mixup in celluloid ingredients causing the other set to spontaneously combust, in turn resulting in a fire that burned half the town to the ground. How's your set doing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Szanto
BTW, I finally did a deep FB search and found the thread where some of the pen cognoscenti weighed in on that set. There was no easy way to export the thread but I'll pull the images and salient text and repost here later.
Just a post-script on my image of the "No-name" and a response regarding why this can be so fun... and the value of having a wide net. When I got these a couple years back I posted in a couple places, people thought they were cool, but there was one Facebook pen forum that had just the right people to chime in. Took me a while to find the thread but I'll pair some images with the comments they made. It really takes the detective work to another level and make it interesting in new ways (and, of course, you can always just be owning a POS pen).
My friend Allan Goforth jumped in quickly to mention that the material looked like a pattern that Waterman had used called "mahogany Then the next person to respond was Luis Leite, who said (and offered a photo):
https://i.imgur.com/fb7KPr7.jpgQuote:
"A custom order and made by Swan . You have similar pens with same clip, lever ,shape and plastic, with Swan imprint and also with Monogram or Belmont imprint for the Rexall stores .On the left you have a Mogram set and on the right a Swan pen."
Then Rick Krantz mused aloud as to whether it was a material Conklin used. Jonathan Veley chimed in:
The article includes this nice photo (which I rotated for this post):Quote:
" The plastic is most often associated with Eagle - which made Monogram and Belmont pens for a time. I've got a Michael-George, a Belmont and an Eagle compared in this article."
https://i.imgur.com/tn1TfGw.jpg?1
Marc Shiman then offered the following:
As is often the case, we have to go and hunt down stuff. Later in the thread he posted this comment/photo:Quote:
"Mabie Todd towards the end used that same clip and plastic. I don't have any photos of Swans with two cap bands though. All that means very little, by the end of US Mabie Todd, I doubt they were making their own components and were probably buying them from the same place this company did. Camel also used this plastic"
https://i.imgur.com/YU8Nd3v.jpgQuote:
"Conklin Nozac and Camel parts - I don't have a cap for the Conklin, so was thinking of trying to make one from the Camel. The Conklin cap pictured was for size. A lot more ambition than capability."
One of our occasional contributors on FPG, Daniel Kirchheimer, offered up the following, a delightful addition:
https://i.imgur.com/dN4rcNK.jpgQuote:
"Color is not perfectly accurate but you get the idea..."
The rest of the thread involved somewhat tangential topics, mostly relating to the difficulty of pinning down exact names on colors/patterns. Some of these objects were originally termed by fairly vanilla labels, like "Brown", and various other names have come into play. The dedicated collectors know all these details... or keep at it as much as they can!
I hope this has been of interest, especially in furthering Will's initial reasons for posting: that objet obscur du désir can certainly be worth obtaining.
Yes there is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrawler
Click on "go advanced", then "Manage Attachments", Browse - select your file, upload and at the bottom of the box you will see add... I have just done it with this relatively obscure Swan - a silver split lever from 1919 - the only year that they were made.
Attachment 41449
Cob
That's a wonderful pen with a glorious stub. Envy.
This curiosity is called "Stylus". Certainly strange and I suppose obscure. It came with a horrid steel nib - I fitted an Esterbrook Relief nib that I had by me:Attachment 41450Attachment 41451
Cob
I had a one off pen made by a NY inventor.
This was a lever filled pen, early 50s. The pen and nib were quite short, the cap was in two parts, one sleeve had a glass container the idea being that you could fill the pen whilst travelling. I found the patent for the pen and later offered the pen to the descendants of the inventor, not interested.
The design fault was that you could not fit the nib into the narrow neck of the glass bottle, which in any case only held around 1-2ml.
"They come as a boon and a blessing to men,
the Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley Pen."
The Harris pen is fairly obscure. Or at least I do not come across them very often. This model is a 1927 Harris University pen. It was, as its name suggests, aimed at students. The cap jewel unscrews and can be replaced with a different to reflect what colour ink is in the pen. I rebuilt this pen with parts from two identical pens and have kept the scrap in my pieces box.
Attachment 41523
The most obscure FP brand in my collection is this 1935 Edel Chromstahl that I bought from Lexaf some 5 years ago:
Attachment 41525
Are Summit pens obscure? I never see anyone discuss them. The pen at the bottom is a lever filled 1940 model. The one at the top is a 1930s bulb filler. These pens are characterized by being heavily chaised.
Attachment 41543
Summits are not at all obscure in the UK but are probably not well known elsewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrawler
I have seen one or two Summit pens, but I don't remember the chasing being their distinctive feature.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrawler
Love those two pens, btw.
Let's swing to Italian pens.
This is a vintage Lalex pen. I don't know if it has a specific model number, but it's marked Lam. Oro (Laminato Oro, or "gold-laminated" in English).
Look at the chasing pattern on the gold. I think it's very cool.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/934/4...0f3424de_c.jpg
The interesting part is that, for a pen that looks like a C/C filler, it actually has a fully functioning (albeit small) piston filling system. I cleaned it up, put some silicone grease to improve the suction and the pen fills with water (and ink) once more.
Vue-All. It's my latest acquisition.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...754788a1c2.jpg
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
Lighting isn't great, but here's an extremely rare Rex, a German pen, in excellent condition. I plucked this from a table at the DC pen show two days ago. I haven't tried writing with it yet.
Attachment 41566
Not exactly obscure (they are school pens after all) but uncommon around here —
Above: LUS Giubileo Scuola with adjustable steel nib. Student version of the Giubileo 53.
Below: Lincoln Giubileo Esport. Very similar to the Scuola. Not sure if this was a sub-brand, OEM version, or a knock-off.
Attachment 41567
I have had a few Langs-made National Security pens that had the same chasing as yours.Quote:
Originally Posted by penwashI have seen one or two Summit pens, but I don't remember the chasing being their distinctive feature.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrawler
Love those two pens, btw.
Cob
This kind of chasing is called Guilloché or "Engine Turning". It is unfortunate that I do not have a good camera/light set up so that I could show off just how pretty it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cob
Yes, it is attractive - very similar to the chasing found on post-war black Onotos - which is known as "barley corn"Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrawlerThis kind of chasing is called Guilloché or "Engine Turning". It is unfortunate that I do not have a good camera/light set up so that I could show off just how pretty it is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cob
Cob