The Bankers Pen Company

On January 8, 2008, I added a post titled ~ Put Your Loose Change Here.  In that post I cleaned and restored a Bankers Pen Company Coin Filler.  I also discussed the history of the pen (c~1911), including patents for the feed and even some history of the 1 Madison Ave address.  I have reposted some of the photos of the pen and its components below for comparison, but will leave the link above to the old article to cover the restoration and history behind the pen.

I picked up the Post Card below recently as I remembered my coin filling Bankers Pen and its address.  So, I purchased the card and here are photos of the front and back.  The seller told me that the card came from an attorney’s office remains.  The attorney, H. E. Grosshans, practiced in the early 1900s and this fits with the order card and the dates of Bankers Pens such as the one below.  It appears that Mr. Grosshans considered sending in the order form, but may have simply put it back in his desk to be discovered ninety years later.

As you can see, Bankers offered two price ranges ($3.00 and $2.00) as well as three choices of nib (Medium, Fine, and Stub).  The opt out, or “I don’t know” style of nib was medium.

The reason that this pen, or another self filling style of pen was potentially what Mr. Grosshans would have received is that by 1917, the Bankers Pen Company  had moved to 76th Fifth Avenue.  Please see the Manhattan Pen Makers Project (link), for a reference to this.  This is an excellent reference site for NY Pen Company addresses.

I do not have access to the advertisement or solicitation that would have prompted the return of this card, but it is fun to match up a pen and some ephemera.  My next quest will be to find a Bankers advertisement from the same time period, prior to the move to Fifth Avenue.

Below are photos from the January 2008 article as well as a link to Schnell’s  feed patent, filed and issued in 1904.

Schnell Feed Patent

So, the search continues for a Madison Avenue era Bankers Advertisement.  If any of you know where to find one, I would love to hear from you!

Waltham Pens and Ted Williams

It is certainly easy to estimate the production period for this pen.  I came across this coupon which clearly shows an April 1942 date for the promotion of a Waltham Button Filling Pen, with Visualated section to gauge the ink supply.  All for $.35.  Not bad, when compared to a $3.50 pen that has the same attributes, but no personalization or streamlined design.  I wonder if the pen that they were using for comparison was the Parker Duofold, or Striped Duofold?  They were the predominant button fillers of the period and before.

Here is a photo of the pen after I took it apart.  The nib is gold plate as is the clip and cap band.  At 35 cents, who could complain?

The button filler is a bit different than the Duofold in that the metal unit is one piece (embedded) and screws directly into the barrel.   The button on the Duofold is a lone piece and not part of a unit, pulling directly out of the barrel.  I did not unscrew the button unit and fortunately the pressure bar was in great shape and I did not need to craft another.  As you can see, the bar has a pointed end which clicks into the button inside the barrel.  After cleaning the inside of the cap and barrel I reset the bar into the button.

The section is a see-through version and had to be scraped clean of old sac remnants.  As I mentioned above, the furniture is gold plate, so I gently cleaned the clip, band, and nib.  You can see that most of the plating had already worn off the exposed parts of the nib, so I merely polished it up.  The cap band was the only part of the pen to retain much of its gold color.

I inserted a size 18 sac into the barrel after coating with pure talc and cementing it to the section/feed/nib.  The button filler works well and the pen held water overnight and it released a steady stream.

Here is a photo of the completed Waltham Pen, a 1942 button filler.  It measures 5 inches closed and 6 inches posted.

This photo shows the visualated section, marketed as an ink viewing feature.  The  nib reads “Waltham / Duo-Way”.

The imprint, in “Genuine 23 -Carat Gold Leaf” as shown in the above advertisement, reads ~ Gaylord Hagge ~ as shown below.

I do not have any background on the Waltham Pen Company, or brand of pens.  Waltham was a name that was well-known as a producer of watches and located in the Boston, Massachusetts area.  The mail-in offer for this pen was to the U.S. Name-Plate Company in Chicago.  Another piece of the puzzle is that the celebrity name on the mail-in offer pen was Ted Williams, a popular baseball player for the Boston Red Sox during this time.  Clicking on his name will link to his baseball history and statistics. 1942 was certainly a time to use Williams in advertising as he was fresh off an incredible season where he hit .406, the last player to hit over .400 in a season.  It is not certain that the name on the ad is “the” Ted Williams, but the timing leads me to believe the intent is there . Perhaps these pens were produced in the Boston area (Williams / Waltham Watches) or in Chicago (U.S. Name-Plate / Button Fill). I have also seen an advertisement for Phoenix Pen and Novelty in New York City that produced a Waltham Combo pen in 1931, though I do not know if they are related.  Finally, here is a link to a December 13, 1942 (after the above coupon expired) newspaper advertisement in the St. Petersburg (FL) Times. Waltham Pens (the ad appears directly to the right of the linked article) The retail price at the drug store has now risen to $.59, but the offer of printing still stands.

I hope that an astute pen historian will comment with more information and I will add to this article if I receive further research.

Here are a couple of photos of Ted Williams, one being his plaque in Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame.

Waltham pens are still plentiful and fairly easy to find in the vintage pen marketplace.  They are fairly well made, though firmly placed in the third tier of vintage pens. I have also seen some Fountain Pen / Pencil Combinations that they produced.   With little resale value, it still provides a unique peek into third tier advertising, and even a link to one of baseball’s finest hitters.

10/24/09 EDIT:  Antonios Zavaliangos was kind enough to comment with some excellent information on Waltham Pens that I want to reprint here ~

“From what I found Waltham Pen Company was a name used by Starr Pen Co. which was established in 1935 by the Starr family.  These people bought the “remains” of Conklin Pen Co. and continued to make pens under the name Conklin.  They also made pens under the names Waltham Pen Co and Winchester Pen Co.  Apparently there is a 1948 complaint against them primarily for using the Winchester name as it was alleged that they tried to imply that the pens were made by or affiliated somehow with the Winchester pen company.  This is referenced in the Trade Regulation Reporter c. 1948.  Google books has a limited view link to this case and the name “Waltham Pen Company” is also shown there.”

Thank you,  Antonios for this information.

Duocraft Fountain Pens

Fountain Pen Restoration Article Number 100!  It is hard to believe that this is the 100th post here since November of 2007.  I hope that the readers have found a few that they have enjoyed.  Thank you for your comments, suggestions, corrections, and additions to many of these.  Hopefully the next 100 will be worth the read.  On to this week’s fountain pen.

Not a lot of information seems to be available to me on this Vintage Pen Company – Duocraft.  An exploded view of this large fountain pen is below and you can see the expected lever fill remnants of years of sitting are evident.  The sac has hardened and the jbar was corroded beyond use.  The most interesting part of this pen is the nib.  It is a three tined nib, more often referred to as a Music Nib.  More on that later…

As you can see, the pen needs a new j bar (large size) and sac (size 20), as well a general cleaning.

Below is a photo of the nib, a Warranted 14K No. 5.  The main problem with the nib is that it is very bent, and the tipping material is gone from the left tine.  This is work that is beyond my scope and as this is a unique nib, I decided to go ahead and get it re-tipped in lieu of replacing it with a spare regular nib.  You may recall that I have done this with another pen, a Parker Vacumatic in an article from October 13, 2008 ~ 1942 Parker Vacumatic Maxima. Greg Minuskin does exceptional work, and his turnaround times, and communication, are outstanding.

Below is a photo of the newly re-tipped Music Nib, which I received back in one week’s time.  The photo is complements of Greg Minuskin.

Music Nibs, so named as they are very useful in forming the characters necessary to compose music on music sheets, are available on a a few current pens.  However, they were rarely offered on vintage pens and this is the the first vintage music nib that I have run across.   Duocraft pens are often found with these nibs and it makes me wonder if they were aiming this product at the music community.  The design of the nib allows for fine horizontal lines and wide verticals and well as a very flexible flow.

I cleaned the old sac off of the section – cleaned the section and feed and inserted the retipped nib and feed back into the section. I reinserted a large jbar back into the barrel, checking for a firm fit.  The barrel and cap, including the gold furniture were thoroughly cleaned and polished.  Remember to take the time to clean the inside of the cap, as years of dried ink is usually lurking there.  As I mentioned  earlier, a size 20 sac was used and attached to the section/nib/feed unit before fitting back into the barrel.

Below is are two photos of the completed restoration.  The pen measures a large 5 9/16 inches capped and 6 1/2 inches posted.

The imprint is still crisp and did not need to be highlighted with white to be seen.  As you can see, Duocraft was in Brooklyn, NY.

My talents are not in calligraphy, but here is a quick writing sample showing the line variation that this nib permits.

These pens do pop up from time to time and at reasonable prices.  Should the nib be in good shape, they are an excellent way to show off your writing flair, and maybe compose a symphony or two!

Edit (10-14-09) ~ Please refer to this excellent article on another Duocraft Fountain Pen (with far more pleasing use of the pen and ink) that was kindly forwarded to me by the author. Thank you…

The Hintz Pen

The beginning of the 20th century was a booming time for the fountain pen as it established itself as a writing tool.  Hard rubber pens were produced by many companies and one retailer, in Reading Pennsylvania, sold his own branded eyedropper ~ The Hintz Pen.  J.G Hintz owned a Stationer’s store in Reading during the first half of the 1900s.  This advertisement shows an early photo of Mr. Hintz and discusses his wares.

Here is the Hintz Pen that I worked on this week.  Below is the exploded view, prior to knocking out the nib and feed to clean. There was quite a bit of ink to clean out as I had dipped the pen several times to enjoy the experience.  More on the nib later..  You can see that it is an eyedropper filled pen and black chased hard rubber (BCHR).  Fortunately, the pen has withstood time well and the chasing and rubber are in good shape, with minimal discoloration or wear.  As with all eyedroppers of the time, the section/feed/nib unscrew from the body of the pen and the ink was poured into the barrel (by an eyedropper type device).    The bonus feature of this pen is the gold overlay on the barrel.  It also has withstood time well and is clean and crisp.

Mr. Hintz sent out birthday post cards and Christmas reminder cards to his customers ~ advertising his product line.  I have been fortunate to find a few of these and pair them with the pen.

A couple of things stand out to me.  First – pens were a major gift and probably given most at special occasions such as Birthdays and Christmas.  Second – the cards were written using several different languages which reflect the high concentrations of immigrants in the United States at the time.

The pen depicted in the card directly below is very similar to the pen I have restored, though mine would have been more expensive than this one due to the  gold decoration.  I wonder what the SOLID GOLD pen looked like that is referred to below?

Below are photos of the completed pen after I have reinserted the feed and and nib and applied a bit of silicone grease to the section threads.  I tested the pen overnight for leaking and it held ink with no leaks.  The pen measures 5 7/8 inches closed and 6 7/8 inches posted.

I have placed an estimated  date of 1910 on this pen.  I have no direct evidence of this as the advertisements and post cards carry no dates.  My estimate comes from the fact that several eyedropper pens that look very similar to this have been placed at this time  by pen historians.  This brings up the question as to where these pens were produced.  Again, I have no Hintz records to go by, but can make a few guesses.   Reading, Pennsylvania is located west of Philadelphia, and about halfway between Philadelphia and Bloomsburg, PA.  Bloomsburg is significant as it was the home of  the Paul E. Wirt Pen Company . Clicking on the name will lead to and excellent history of Wirt Pens. This pen resembles photos I have seen of some Wirt Pens and it is not too long a stretch to think that they could have been produced by Wirt.   The nib suggests another producer.   It is a Franklin No. 3 (seen below).  The Franklin Pen Company also produced pens for other companies and the Franklin Nib would seem to make this the most likely scenario, given no hard written evidence.

The imprint and gold overlay, still crisp clean.

The Franklin / Philadelphia nib which leads to a guess as to where the parts were made. The nib, as with many of these vintage eyedropper nibs, is extremely flexible.

These regional pens pop up from time to time and it is fun to try and trace their history and relationship to the larger pen community.  Certainly, the Hintz Store sold a quality product and this one has survived after one hundred years.

P. W. Akkerman Button Filler

This week’s restoration comes to me from across the Atlantic ~ a P. W. Akkerman Button filler, from the Netherlands.  P. W. Akkerman, is (and was) a well respected retailer located in The Hague.  They were founded in 1910 and have thrived in the Netherlands ever since.

Below is a photograph of the pen after I have taken it apart.  You can see that the blind cap and the clip cap are both in very bad condition.  This is where the parts bin comes in handy, and I had both available from Duofold Junior donor pens from years gone by.

As with most button fill repairs, the pressure bar also needed replacing as this one had lost its rigidity.  I used it as a guide to cutting another to the correct size.  The nib needed to be cleaned and is the only piece of gold on the pen.  The clip and cap bands were at one time gold plated, but that had worn off  and all that is left is the steel base.  Someone had decided to scratch their name into the barrel and I spent quite a bit of time with find grain paper sanding it off.  After this was done, I used scratch remover and polish on the barrel and cap, restoring a bit of their former shine.

I fit a size 16 sac to the cleaned nib/feed/section and screwed this back into the barrel with the assistance of a bit of silicon grease.  I then  carefully placed the new pressure bar in to the barrel through the button hole, making sure it fit securely against the section unit.  Remember to smooth down the end of the pressure bar prior to insertion to guard against it shearing the sac.  I attached the newly cleaned button to the bar extending from the button hole and tested the mechanism with water.  The seals held overnight and the pen fills well.

Finally, I inserted the new blind cap and clip cap to the cap and barrel, producing the pen below.  Aside from the clip, which is badly discolored and a but pitted, it is a nice looking pen again.

The fountain pen measures 4 13/16 inches capped and 5 3/4 posted.  The nib is a Parker arrow nib and is imprinted that is was made in Canada.  This is the only marking other than Akkerman on the pen.  I do not know if this nib is original to the pen, and suspect that it is not.

I initially surmised that these pens were made in Parker’s English factory in Newhaven, as it so closely resembles a Duofold.  However, further research would lead me in the other direction…

Below is the imprint, referring to P. W. Akkerman and its two related locations.  I have corresponded with Mr. Paul Rutte (The Hague location) and he was kind to confirm that this was indeed an original Akkerman Pen from the late 30s/40s and was available for sale to the general public and not just a promotional piece.  He also mentioned that these pens were produced in Germany, and assembled in The Hague.   The excellent book Fountain Pens Of The World by Andreas Lambrou, confirms this as it states that Akkerman Pens were produced for them by Lamy in Germany.  The striking resemblance to a Parker is not so far fetched as the early history of Lamy is tied to Parker, as Josef Lamy actually started with Parker and when he went out on his own, several of his early pens resembled Parker’s (source ~ Fountain Pens of the World, by Andreas Lambrou).

,

Here is a photo of a Senior and Junior Duofold in the same Burgundy/Black Marbled pattern that were produced in the 30s in Janesville, Wisconsin.  The Junior model is almost identical to the Akkerman Pen.

And finally, an assortment of Parker products from the 1930s showing this same attractive pattern that Parker used.  Top to bottom:

Duofold Senior, Duofold Junior, Deluxe Challenger, Challenger, Challenger (small), and Challenger Pencil.

1939 Parker Vacumatic Standard

In case you hadn’t noticed, I love restoring Vacumatics.  They present a challenge, more steps, more chances for mistakes, but the reward is high.  The colorful shiny finish and transparency is a nice finish to the project.  They can’t all be burgundy double jewels, but some are better than others.  Large double-jewels are very nice looking pens and I enjoy the larger size for writing.

This weeks restoration is just such a pen.  Measuring in at 5 3/8″ capped and 6 1/8 posted it is a substantial pen in the hand.  I picked it up for just over $20 and these types of finds are why I don’t buy new pens.

As you can see, it came apart to its 13 basic components, not counting the destroyed  diaphragm.  All parts are in good shape, just a bit dirty.  The cleaning was done first, using an ultrasonic cleaner on the metal parts (except for the filler unit).  I really like this model as the speedline filler is still metal and the section and cap / barrel ends are all striped to match the golden pearl body.  As with previous repairs on vacs that I have covered (see the Categories List on the right of this page under Parker Vacumatic), it is important to clean the inside of the barrel, removing all of the old diaphragm.  It likes to hide by attaching itself to the side of the barrel.  Be sure to be gentle in removing it so you don’t scar the barrel, reducing its transparency.

This size Vacumatic took a Standard Size diaphragm which was attached to the speedline filler and inserted back into the barrel using a vac tool.  Always check the barrel by using a gooseneck light (before screwing in the section/feed/nib/breather tube) to make sure the unit and diaphragm are in securely and cleanly.  The light should show the diaphragm in a nice clean circle at the end of the barrel and the unit should move cleanly when the filler is depressed.  I usually put my tongue over the barrel to feel the vacuum suction a few times.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, a good Vacumatic diaphragm lubricant is available at richardspens.com.  It aids in getting the diaphragm and filler back into the pen with no bunching.

The finished product is below.  The pen measures 5 3/8″ closed and 6 1/8 inches posted, though I feel this pen is too large to post comfortably.

From the photos below you can see that this is the normal two-tone nib for these pens.  The pen dates from 1939.  Golden pearl Vacumatics first appeared in 1936 and the streamline fillers began replacing lockdown fillers in 1937.  During WWII, these filling units became plastic to conserve metals.

The nib on this pen, aside from being two-tone, has a nice generous medium nib, almost bordering on broad.  This is always a bonus when searching for vintage Parker Fountain Pens in the wild.

Pepsi Fountain Pen

Since it is a Holiday Weekend here in the US, I thought I would work on a fun looking pen.

Pepsi was invented in New Bern, North Carolina in 1893, and named Pepsi Cola in 1898. I am not much of a Pepsi drinker, but devotees will tell you there is a large difference to Coca Cola. I suspect the Coke devotees would say the same. In 1934 the Company began selling 12 ounce bottles of Pepsi for 5 cents, while their competitors were charging the same for 6 ounce bottles. This became a marketing thrust for several years and their sales campaigns and jingles stressed this difference.

Here is a post card that I have from that time period which again emphasizes the 5 cent value ~  (Edit:  Please see comment below and reference to the following website Pepsi and Pete, which mentions that the characters in the Postcard are Pepsi and Pete, developed and drawn by Rube Goldberg.   Mr. Goldberg was referred to in the title and contents of my post of December 21, 2007 ~ Rube Goldberg Ink Delivery Machine.  Thank you Eric for the information and links.)

During this time a Pepsi Fountain Pen was manufactured.  I do not know who made this pen ~ a few people have speculated it is an Eagle Pen product, but I have no direct evidence of this.  You can see that the logo on the pen and advertisement are the same, placing the pen in this same late 1930s period, I would speculate.

Below, you can see the exploded view of the lever filler.  The size 16 nib has hardened, but had not crumbled.  Two things stand out.  The clip is a Pepsi bottle that has tarnished.  I have seen pristine examples of these where the clip is actually a painted replica of the red, white and blue bottle.  This clip has no trace of the colors or logo at all.  Secondly, you can see that the nib is gold plate with the typical loss of gold towards the base.

The barrel, cap band, threads, and clip all needed work and intensive cleaning (I hate white pens).  The j-bar was brittle and needed to be replaced, as did the sac.

I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the pen barrel with a cloth and pen polish from Pentiques.  I cleaned the threads with Ink-X and a toothbrush.  As for the clip and cap band ~ they were cleaned with metal cleaner and a lot of dremel work. The section was scraped, removing any old sac remnants and a new sac was attached using sac cement.  The feed was cleaned and the nib just gently cleaned with a jewelers cloth.

Here you can see the finished product.  The gold band and clip look great.  As mentioned above, there is no trace of the original clip artwork which I would prefer to have had, but it certainly looks much better than when I found it (dark black).  If you can find one of these with the clip bottle artwork in good condition ~ I envy you.

The barrel and threads are also quite clean, though there has been a bit of yellowing over the years that I can not reverse.  The pen measures 4 7/8 inches capped and 6 3/16 posted.

Here is the Signature Pen No. 6 nib, which is in very good shape, aside from the wear to the gold plate.

A close up of the unique clip.

And finally, a little Photoshop fun…..

Shadow Wave Vacumatic

Parker Shadow Wave Vacumatics were not a special type of Vacumatic, but rather a new pattern of plastic used by Parker beginning in or about 1938. Initially, it appeared in the Junior line of Vacumatics.

I must apologize at first for the lack of my usual “before” photo. I took one, but deleted it before I had the opportunity to download it to my computer. I can assure you that it was not a pretty sight.  The silver was tarnished, the diaphragm in pieces, the grey celluloid stained, and the speedline filler had pieces of the diaphragm remaining on its collar.  The nib was also ink stained and dirty.

With that out of the way,  I performed the standard Vacumatic repairs.  I used a debutante size diaphragm and fit it to the filler unit after removing the old pellet.  The filler on this is the metal, before the transition to plastic.  Most of the earlier shadow waves were double jewel lockdown fillers.  The feed, breather tube, and nib were removed from the section and thoroughly cleaned.  Make sure to unclog the breather tube and make sure the channel in the feed is clear.  I had to redo this step as there was a clog in the tube.  Thin wire works well in solving this problem.

The silver trim cleans up well, but is not perfectly.  As with several other silver trimmed vacs I have restored, there is often some degree of minor pitting or scratching to the silver.  This set is minor, but does exist upon careful review with a loupe.

The pencil (note different clip indicating a mixed set) required no restoration, other than a good cleaning and polishing on the outside.  I placed new piece of 0.9 lead in the front feed and it is ready to go.

The pen measures 5 inches closed and 5 15/16 inches posted.  The pencil is 4 3/4 inches.

Shadow Wave Vacumatics were produced into the early 1940s, though they were not evidenced in Parker literature.  This pen, as noted in the photo above came with a fourth quarter of  1941 imprint (1).  So, it was produced at the end of the Shadow Wave design run.

Vacumatics and their history can be a bit muddled.  This pen is no exception when trying to pin down its place in the Vacumatic timeline.  The only thing that is certain is that the barrel is from 1941.  Research often becomes difficult for several reasons, two of which stand out.  First, no production is definite.  Parker may have produced variants at times to use up parts.  Second, over the course of 67 years, repairs may utilize replacement parts which can further confuse the collector.

My confusion on this pen is that the cap would seem to be wrong (from what I have read) for this pen.  It fits, and looks correct, but I have read that this should probably have a single band cap.

I will never know, as late 1941 was near the end of the run for shadow waves and they may have used other parts, or it may be correct.  Or, it may have been switched by a repairer or collector at a later date.  This is part of what makes pen collecting fun and aggravating at the same time.

Shadow Wave designs came in five colors ~ Black, Green, Grey (shown here), Burgundy, and Brown.  The blind caps were always black, and fillers were both lock-down (early) and speedline.  Another interesting variant in the Parker Vacumatic Timeline.

Artcraft Fountain Pens

Fountain Pen History in the United States tends to focus in the Midwest and Northeast during the first half of the 20th Century.  Boston (Moore, Carter etc.. ), New York Area (Waterman, Swan, Esterbrook, Morrison, Ingersoll, Wearever…), and Chicago and the Midwest (Wahl, Parker, and Sheaffer…) were hotbeds for fountain pen production and marketing from the early 1900s through the 40s and beyond.  One normally does not think of Alabama as a fountain pen distribution point, but the Artcraft Pen is an exception.

Below is a photo of the simple lever filler after I have taken it apart.  As you can see, the clip, cap band, lever, and nib are quite dirty, as is the barrel.  The j-bar had broken off and the sac was reduced to powder.

I replaced the j-bar and the sac (size 16) and trimmed them to fit the Artcraft barrel.  The metal parts were polished in the ultrasonic cleaner and then using Pentiques’ scratch remover, polish and wax.  Classified as a third-tier pen, it still has a few nice features.  I like the stepped clip, and all of the gold fixtures polished up and there was no deterioration of the gold.  Second, I like the brown swirl pattern of the plastic.  It is very similar to the pattern found in the Belmont pen/pencil combination that I wrote about in the post ~ Belmont Pen And Pencil Combination In fact, if you look at the two writing instruments (Belmont and Artcraft) you will see the levers, feeds and shapes are very similar. I have no documentation as to who made these parts, but it is feasible that they came from the same factory. One of the great mysteries, at least to me, is the origin of many of the components of the pens we restore.

The pen is 5 1/4 inches closed and 5/ 15/16 posted.  Restored, it is quite clean and writes with a flexy medium line.

Here is a close up of the logo for Artcraft, which I believe is an artists pallet.

The medium nib, with the Artcraft Pallet logo.

Now for a bit of history on Artcraft Pens ~  I owe thanks to Mr. Marvin Whiting of the Birmingham – Jefferson History Museum for helping me with this research.  When I found out that the Museum had an Artcraft pen in its collection, I requested his assistance with any information they might have on Artcraft.  He provided me with Corporate information from the Birmingham, Alabama City Directories (1925-34).

This research shows that Artcraft first appears in 1930 at 1424-26 3rd Avenue North in Birmingham, AL (this address is now a large Chevrolet dealership).  The President/Treasurer was Ford D. Cromer, James G. Erwin was Vice President, and Lillian Sharpley was Secretary. In 1931, the address changed to simply 1424 3rd Avenue North.  In 1932, Ms. Sharpley was no longer listed and in 1934 Harriett P. Cromer was listed as Secretar/Treasurer and the address reverted to the 1424-26 3rd Avenue.  Artcraft disappears from the Birmingham records after 1934.

I did some further digging on these names and Ford D. (Dalton) Cromer, was born in August 1886 in Christiansburg, VA and died in July 1967 in Birmingham. Interestingly, he was descibed as an industrialist and inventor.  Two inventions were patented – a shoulder rest for a telephone in 1959 and a fountain pen in 1934 (the same year that Artcraft disappears from the Birmingham City directory. The application date of the patent is 1932.  His patent is linked below.  If you read the patent closely, the only aspect of the pen he is patenting is the “ornamental design”.

Patent Link (click for full patent)

Interestingly, the pen in the patent is identical to the pen I restored.  The lever and clip have the same designs as in the patent.  This would place the production of this pen somewhere in the early thirties, presumably prior to 1934.  Mr. Cromer had patented these designs on the clip and lever as his own.

Ms. Sharpley, who was the Secretary from 1930 to 1932 was born in 1901 and died in 1983.  She was a graduate in 1923 of Auburn University (AL), where she helped start the YWCA on campus.  She can be seen here in a 1922 photo.  She was quite active in the YWCA nationally, starting to work there in 1933 in Baltimore, MD after her stint at Artcraft.  She went to graduate school at Columbia University in New York and remained active in leadership roles for the YWCA into the 1950s. How she came to Artcraft for a few years I can not imagine.

Artcraft Pens appear occasionally, but not often.  I know of one collector who actively seeks them.  They still are quite a mystery to me. I don’t know if they made some of the parts, or just assembled the pens in Birmingham.  I also do not know how they were marketed.  I did come across an Artcraft Printing Company in Mobile, AL that advertises that they were founded in 1929, but they responded that there is no relation to Artcraft Pens.

I had fun exploring this little corner of Fountain Pen History, and ended up with a nice pen in the process.  A very good week….

EDIT:  I received a comment (see below) that “The Artcraft Pen Company (with J.G. Erwin) moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1934.”  This would match the information received from the Birmingham directories that Artcraft disappeared from Birmingham in 1934. I have tried to email back to the commenter, but the address bounces.  If there is additional information, please let us know what happened in Argentina…

EDIT2:  (11-6-09) I have received another comment from a reader in Argentina that confirms the move of Artcraft from Alabama to Buenos Aires.  He states that he has a pen that has the inscription “ARTCRAFT PEN CO., ARG. INDUSTRIA  ARGENTINA” on the barrel.  It is black and has no logo, and a similar clip.  This would seem to confirm the comment that J.G. Erwin moved the Company to Buenos Aires in 1934.

Burgundy Vacumatic Standard

This week, I restored my first Burgundy Vacumatic.  I would have to say that it is a tie between this color and Azure Blue as my favorite common Vac color schemes.  At least to me, Burgundy seems to be the most difficult to locate and I am glad to have one.

Below is the standard “exploded view”.  The first generation vacumatic dates to the mid 1930s.  The date code is worn off of this one, but if my research is correct, it was produced in the 1934-7 area.  I have mentioned it before, but remember to extend the filler when removing (and inserting) it from the barrel using your vac tool of choice.  Leaving it locked may damage it beyond repair.

You can see that the pen arrived in good shape, with typical nib discoloration and barrel/cap ink stains.  Using a combination of ultrasonic cleaner and water/qtips, I was able to remove all of the internal ink stains.  The old diaphragm was hard-stuck to the barrel.  This is my new word for a diaphragm that has almost become part of the barrel as it has been in the barrel for so long under the pressure of the filler.  Some Vacs have softer diaphragm remnants that are easily removed (scraped) from the barrel and some require several sessions ~ this was the latter.

Upon completion of the diaphragm removal, I removed the old pellet from the filler (this is a first generation lock-down).  I used a debutante diaphragm and inserted it on the filler (see various Vacumatic Posts for process and photos ~ list at right under Parker Vacumatic).

Here is the completed pen.  It measures 5″ closed and 6 1/8″ posted.

Several factors make this pen attractive.  The burgundy color and gold furniture provide a good contrast, the nib is my favorite common vac nib with the gold arrow surrounded by the silver border, the burgundy striped double jewels, and finally the nib is a broad.  I have immediately put Quink Blue Black ink in it and it writes a very broad line.  Most of the Vacumatics that one runs across are fine to medium, and though I am not a broad nib fan, it is a nice change.

The only blemishes are a slightly curved cap band (middle) and a blind cap that is quite a bit darker than the rest of the pen.

I have mentioned this before, but these first generation vacs with their lockdown fillers, which allow for a longer section which matches the barrel and the double jewels, are the most collectible vacumatics,  in my opinion.

Thank you, as always, for the emails with questions and comments, and I will be back in a week or so with another fountain pen item.