Mabie Todd & Bard Overlay Eyedropper Filler

[Deb]

This Swan eyedropper filler is unusual in that the overlay is smooth, a quite uncommon feature as Swan overlays are usually patterned. This is a Mabie Todd & Bard pen. The name Bard was dropped in 1907 so the pen dates from before that. Comparing it with the images in advertisements I have collected, I think this pen dates to the 1890s. The overlay is stamped "The Swan Pen Pat Feb 8 81 Feb 21 82 Mar 6 88 Mabie Todd & Bard New York" Like all pens of this date, it's very slender when compared with modern pens. This, I suppose, is because people were used to writing with the very thin handles of dip pens. The pen is 13.4 cm capped.



It came in its original hard-shell case, somewhat scuffed and ink stained. Unusually, the original eyedropper filler is still there. The bulb has hardened but replacements for these are available online. The medium nib is a replacement, the original having been oblique according to the stamp on the barrel. Late Victorian pens are, naturally enough, quite uncommon. This pen is a survival from a world almost unimaginably different from today. The pen came across my workbench several years ago. Quite uncommon then, such pens rarely appear for sale now.

[Hawk]

Very nice, Deb. The hard shell case makes the pen more interesting and desirable. Would be nice to own.

[Roger W.]

Great pen! It does seem like the early stuff is a lot harder to find though, we may find more come through collector estates and I fear there isn't the demand for that kind of volume. Interesting fact - you should be calling it a dropper filler as "eye" wasn't part of the equation until the 1930's. You'll notice on early instructions it is just "dropper".

Roger W.

[Deb]

Very nice, Deb. The hard shell case makes the pen more interesting and desirable. Would be nice to own.

Thank you, Hawk. Sadly it was moved along years ago.

[Deb]

Great pen! It does seem like the early stuff is a lot harder to find though, we may find more come through collector estates and I fear there isn't the demand for that kind of volume. Interesting fact - you should be calling it a dropper filler as "eye" wasn't part of the equation until the 1930's. You'll notice on early instructions it is just "dropper".

Roger W.

Thank you, Roger. Good point about the name of the filling system.

[FredRydr]

I don't keep those metal eyedroppers for long. My experience is best described by the lovely solid 18k gold early Kaweco eyedropper (pen on right) with flex EF nib to die for, but for one problem. The heat from my hand quickly expanded the ink and gas inside the barrel and I couldn't write more than a few words before the next burp. I tried different levels of fill, and adjusted flow, but I'd met my match and decided to let the lovely pen go to a more understanding owner. Eyedroppers with all hard rubber barrels have been more forgiving. Am I alone in this?

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