Spors Fountain Pens / Live Update

I have posted several articles about Spors Fountain Pens and their advertising.  I have found their pens interesting, challenging to restore, and local, as they were marketed out of LeCenter, MN.

For reference or if you missed these articles written over the last couple of years, here are links to each of these articles ~

Made In Japan ~ February 13, 2008
Spors Fountain Pen Entertainment Center ~ September 17, 2008
Spors Fountain Pen Advertising in 1927 ~ March 25, 2009

I have recently received some correspondence from the grandson of Frank (Franz) Spors, Mr. Dennis Spors.  He is still operates a consulting business in Michigan and uses the same Company Name as his grandfather.

He shared some interesting information on the Spors Company.

Quoting from an email correspondence that he has kindly given me permission to share ~ “The fountain pens were the beginning of a business that lasted as a wholesaler into the 1960’s. In the beginning primarily stationary and novelties were featured. Later there were yearly catalogs of items, even diamonds and watches. Spors Company provided all of these to independent retail outlets throughout the Midwest. Their strength was the sales network. With the growth of chain outlets expanding into small towns, the business did not survive in that form. The business does however continue.”

In the articles above, I have mentioned that some of these Spors Pens were made in Japan and WWII obviously stopped the shipment of these pens to Minnesota distribution.  Mr. Spors shares this additional interesting information on his grandfather and the challenges of the World War.

“Frank had to be careful during WWII and not try to order anything from the enemy / neutral sources. Given that most of his cousins were German Staff Officers, the FBI watched him throughout the war.”

Once again, thank you to Dennis Spors for sharing this information with me on the Spors Company and its founder, Frank (Franz) Spors.

I have acquired a 1933 Spors catalog and will be sharing some pen advertisements from it in the future as I get a chance to scan them.

Happy Fourth of July.

Parker Duette Junior

This latest restoration is of a 1932-32 Parker Thrift Time Duette Junior.  I mentioned the Duette in my post of February 17, 2008 – Tres Moderne . That post covered a pen that is identical to this one, except it was made in Canada, and its imprint and nib reflect this.

This Duette Junior was a depression era pen that Parker sold for $3.00. It was produced at the same time that the Duofold Line was being produced, and was a lesser priced option during hard economic times.

The repair was standard for a button filler. Below is a picture of the pen after I have taken it apart.

The pressure bar is a two part original, but unfortunately the bottom has corroded and it is now too short for the pen and will have to be replaced.  As with the Moderne, the cap jewel is a gold screw-in that screws into the cap and sets the clip, which reads, PARKER.

The sac came out in almost one piece, which made for simpler cleaning of the barrel.

I polished the clip, nib, cap jewel with polish and a dremel and a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner.  I had to use a new pressure bar and trim about 1/8″ off the bottom to assure a proper fit in the barrel.  Remember to smooth the bottom of the bar to prevent it from cutting into the sac and destroying the filling system.  I used a size 16 sac in this pen.  I had first inserted an 18, but it was too tight in the barrel.

The section is friction fit, unlike its more expensive relatives, the Duofolds.

These are also referred to as Depression Era Pens, Thrift Time Pens, and School Pens. Produced in the 1932/33 time period, they were not advertised heavily and as I mentioned above, were sold for $3.00. There was also a slightly larger size produced.

Numerous colors and designs were produced. My collection is limited to these two black specimens.

Both of these have flexible Parker nibs. I have sampled one other from a fellow collector and it also had some flex to it. I am not sure if this is indicative of all of these pens, but it is a a nice alternative to many of the rigid Parker Duofold nibs of the time period.

More National Geographic Fountain Pen Advertisements

A trip to the Used Book Store yielded a few more interesting advertisements last week.  Even better when they relate to restored pens!

This first photo is from the National Geographic dated March 1951.  It depicts a Sheaffer TM Valiant Touchdown Fill. Comparing this Thin Model to the previous Thicker version is exactly what my photo from the post titled 1949 Sheaffer Valiant Touchdowns – The Big Ones shows. I have put a copy of that photo after this advertisement.

My post titled Valiant TM Touchdown shows the restoration of this very 1950-52 pen.

The next advertisement is from a November 1949 National Geographic and again depicts pre-snorkel Touchdown sets.  Notice both the closed nibbed (triuimph) Sentinel Deluxe and Valiant, as opposed to the lesser priced Statesman Set.

Esterbrook Pens are a popular choice among collectors due to their availability, colors, ease of repair, and each of nib change.  I restored a mid-1950s CH model in this post from May 8, 2008 ~ Fountain Pen Restoration 101.  The photo below from the March 1951 points out (no pun intended here) the ease of switching out the nibs on these pens to fit ones writing style or needs.  Below the advertisement I have attached a photo of two previously restored Esterbrooks and their approximate production dates as they more closely resemble the pen in the advertisement.

The next two photos promote the very popular Parker 51, which I have discussed in numerous posts.  The first is from the February 1945 National Geographic and the final advertisement is from the November 1949 NG.

This first advertisement is for the time period before the Vacumatic was phased out and the Aero-metric took over as the filling system on this model.  The next to last paragraph is especially interesting to me as it states that “Parker 51’s will be more available”.  Given the time period and the fact that the war time rationing by Parker and other pen makers was ending, this was a true statement.

The final paragraph mentions the mid 1940s Vacumatic Colors of Black, Blue Cedar, Dove Grey, and Cordovan Brown.  The days of the Aero-metric and more colors were still a few years away.

Vacumatic 51 Restoration posts that have already been published here are as follows:

Black and Gold Parker 51 Vacumatic ~   September 25, 2008 (photo below)

Final Year for 51 Vacumatics 1948 ~   January 15, 2009

A pen that looks very much like the $15.00 1945 pen below was featured in the first post and I have placed a small photo under this advertisement.

Finally, this 1949 advertisement for the Aero-metric fill 51, which had just replaced the Vacumatic version.  The post war economy was heating up.  They mention the increase to eight colors and even offer sets up to $275.00.

These advertisements continue to be a great way for those of us who are not able to get our hands on original catalogs or sales materials to study the history of fountain pens.  Next stop ….  the public library.

US Made / Canadian Assembled Parker 51

This week’s pen is another Parker 51.  I don’t mean to repeat myself with another Cedar Blue 51, but this is a bit different.  It was assembled in Canada, and that comes with a little bit of history.

First the restoration ~ the photo below shows the component parts prior to restoration.  The collector and nib are quite clean.  This is due to the fact that I ran them through the ultrasonic cleaner prior to help get them separated.  As you can see, all of the parts are in good shape, and the pen has a plastic speedline filler, consistent with its 1946 date.  The pen is Cedar Blue in color.

I have added a second photo here of the filler unit and nib/feed/collector here for reference.  This is what they should look like prior to insertion to their respective ends of the barrel.  Always put the filler unit in first so that you can see into the barrel to make sure it has settled in correctly and the vacuum effect is efficient.

Below is a photo of the pen after assembly, showing the correct placement of the filler in the rear of the barrel and a successful placement of the shell around the collector/feed/nib.  A bit of tweaking is always necessary to get the nib perfectly lined up in the shell, but this is simple as the collector is friction fit to the barrel and can be adjusted quite easily.

Closer examination will also show that the cap has changed between the before and after photos.  51s present a myriad of combinations when it comes to caps.  There were well over 20 different caps made for Vacumatics, and there is very little guarantee when you find one in the wild that it is the original cap.  Collectors switch caps (I just did here) and it is very difficult (if not impossible) to determine if the cap is original.

The cap that came with this pen was a Lustraloy with plain silver clip.  As this pen dates to 1946 (see below), I felt that a blue diamond clip was more appropriate.  I know it is not original, as it came from my parts bin, but it looks better.  Should I ever resell this pen, it is very important to let the potential buyer(s) know of this change.  I only wish this was a common practice.

On to the history lesson.  Much of this came from the Parker 51 book, by David and Mark Shepherd.  Anyone with an interest in 51s should pick this book up.  It is a great read and the photos are comprehensive.

The date code on the barrel of this pen reads Parker “51″ Made in USA T6.  This indicates that the pen parts were made in the Janesville, Wisconsin factory, shipped to Canada and assembled there in 1946.

The Canadian division of Parker was started in Toronto, Ontario in 1923.  It began strictly as an assembly location, assembling pens to be distributed in the UK.  At the time, laws prevented product to be produced and shipped from the US to Great Britain, so the Canadian solution was devised.  Eventually, the Toronto location began to manufacture as well.  During WWII it manufactured war parts for Britain.  By the time the 51 Vacumatic came along, during and after WWII, these pens were manufactured in Toronto, as well as simply assembled there.  This pen (well, at least the barrel) was assembled only in Toronto, based on the T6 imprint.  Had it been manufactured there it would have had a “Made in Canada” imprint and no “T” before the date code.

Business must have been good in Canada, as Parker expanded after WWII and opened up an ink production facility in London, Ontario.  They also began making 51 Vacumatics in England in 1947.

The pen comes with a 1946 marked fine point and fills well.  No nib smoothing necessary with this nib.

So the next time that you run across a Parker 51, make sure to check the imprints ~ they always tell a story.

Sea Gull Fountain Pens

POST # 85

Another Parker Vacumatic clone here.  I have posted another article on a Wilson Fountain Pen (link) back on February 9, 2009.  Wilson Fountain Pens were made in India.  This pen, a SEA – GULL is very similar in design, and until I handled it, I assumed it was a vacumatic fill as well.  As you can see below, the surprise was that it is an aero-metric.  So, SEA – GULL took two Parker items ~ the design of the Vacumatic, and the Aero-metric filler and combined them into this interesting pen.

Restoration is quite easy.  The metal sac guard is friction fit and can be pried off of the section quite easily.  The old sac had hardened and broken inside of the sac guard.  The section was cleaned and the old sac remnants were scraped off of the tip.  The cap ring and clip were polished and no gold was lost, so they are not cheap gold plate.  However the nib is gold plate and much of it had already worn off, so I polished it down to the silver color.  I attached a standard rubber size 16 sac to the section and refit the sac guard/pressure bar.

Below is a photo of the completed filling assembly.  It tested well in taking on water after a night of drying.  The unit simply screws back into the barrel.

Here are a couple of photos of the completed pen, measuring 4 3/4″ capped and 5 1/2″ posted.

A close up of the nib reveals the familiar Parker Arrow (?) and “Sea – Gull / Special Pen”

And in case you did not know, the Special was the Best in the World, as declared on the pressure bar.

The imprint is quite faded, but reads

SEA – GULL

FOUNTAIN PEN

This photo captures three pens ~ Top to Bottom ~

Sea-Gull

Parker Vacumatic (early 1940s)

Wilson (India) c 1940s-50s

There is not much information available on Sea – Gull Fountain Pens.  What I have been able to gather from several sources is that they were produced in Japan in the 1950s.  The filling system would seem to support this. I have seen photos of others that are solid in color.  If any of you have additional information…as always, please let me know.

Green Marble Junior Vacumatic

In two previous posts on Parker Marble Junior Vacumatics -

Parker Vacumatic Lockdown Filler

1935 Parker Silver Pearl Vacumatic Junior

I discussed the restoration of the other two marbled color Vacumatics of the mid-1930s.  Though smaller Junior sizes, they are highly sought after due to their interesting colors and barrel transparency.  Below is a photo of the pen after I took it apart.  Nothing extraordinary here and the lockdown filler, though very dirty, worked fine.

The restoration was as with all of the Vacumatics previously discussed.  These models use a standard size replacement diaphragm.  I needed to clean up all of the parts and the barrel had typical staining and diaphragm remnants stuck to the inside.  As I always state, and it is very important – make sure to remove all traces of the old diaphragm from the barrel.  Even when you think they are all gone, use a goose neck flashlight to recheck.  This will make reinserting the restored filler and diaphragm so much easier.

After total cleaning, the pen was reassembled and here are completed photos.  As with my other two marbled vacs, this pen dates to 1935.  The Grey and Burgundy Pearl Juniors were introduced in 1934 and the Emerald (this pen) a year later in 1935.  As with the Burgundy pen, the furniture was gold, the grey being silver.

The transparency is good on this pen after cleaning, but not quite as stunning as with the grey and burgundy pens from the previously mentioned posts.

The pen measures 4 13/16 inches capped and 5 11/16 inches posted and the nib is a Parker medium.

Here is a photo of the three Marble Junior Vacs together with a Vintage Parker Violet Ink bottle from the same era.  Yes, I still use this ink, but not in these pens.  Reds, Browns, and Violet inks tend to stain – and I do not want to have to clean these barrels again.

A little Photoshop enhancement to highlight the colors and the amber transparency of this pen.

These make a nice subset of Parker Vacumatics.  There are so many variations in the Vacumatic run, that it is nice to find a smaller subset that can be completed fairly easily, especially if you are willing to find them unrestored and do the work yourself.  Happy Searching!

Marxton Flat Top

Large Flat Top fountain pens from the 20s and 30s are some of my favorite pens due to their size and comfort in my hand. They also tend to have large nibs that hold up to extended use and their sacs hold more ink.

This weeks restoration is an example of another of these. In case you missed them, here are a few more large flat top posts from the past:

A Dixie in Illinois – November 26, 2008
A Dixie in Michigan – August 1, 2008
Universal Fountain Pen – December 23, 2007

Below is the  Black pen after I have taken it apart.  You can see that the j bar is broken at the top, which is quite common.  The sac is still shaped, though hard as a rock.

I used a new j bar and a size 18 sac in this repair.  I thoroughly cleaned the section of all remains of the old sac and shellac.  This is necessary to assure a solid adhesion to the new sac.  The feed and nib were cleaned.  The nib is a plain 14K Warranted nib that is similar in size to the Warranted No. 8s found often in these over-sized flat tops.

The clip was previously polished vigorously and has lost much of its gold plating.  This is the only negative to the pen.  The lever, cap band, and nib are still shiny gold.  The clip is imprinted with “MARXTON” below a wreath.  The lever has a wreath at the circular lift point.  There are no imprints on the barrel, though there is a smooth section for an engraving.  The rest of the cap and barrel is a series of six tight lines from top of pen to bottom separated by a smooth alley.

Marxton Pens were a brand of Eclipse Pens.  You can refer to a post on Eclipse with references here.    Marxton and Park Row were lesser brands under the Eclipse banner.  Marxton gets its name from the founder of Eclipse, Marx Finstone.  This is the only Marxton that I have touched, but I have seen photos of some very colorful large flat tops.

I would date this pen to the late 20s / early 30s time period, though I have no direct advertising evidence.   The pen measures 5 5/16″ closed and 6 3/8″ posted.

Lucas Fountain Pens

Here’s an eyedropper with some wear it, and at the ripe old age of 102, why not…

It is a Lucas Fountain Pen, priced at $2.00 in 1907.  First the fix, then a little fun history.  You can see from the photo below that it breaks down in to five simple parts: barrel, cap, section, feed, and nib.  Barrel, cap and section were in quite good shape.  the barrel and cap had a lot of dust and dirt, but no signs of old ink.  The feed and nib were a different story.

The feed’s channels were caked with dirt and grime and the nib was blackened on front and back.  I took an xacto knife and carved out the inner channels on the feed to clean it up.  The nib took several times of grinding down with a Dremel and Simichrome, which I prefer not to use unless there is cause for a strong cleaner.  The Gold Plate nib was such a time, and after many attempts, I was at least able to get it to the point where it is readable, usable, and aesthetically pleasing.  The finished product can be seen below.  It measures 4 7/8″ closed and 6 3/8″ posted

The nib reads GOLD over PLATE with a Diamond Pattern in between.  Though it is gold plate, quite a bit of the gold coloring survived the grinding polish.

So, who is George Lucas and what is the history behind this pen?  At this point I know nothing about Mr. Lucas or his Manufacturing Company.  I have checked patent and corporate records to no avail.  As you can see from the four views of the box that this pen came in, the pen was made specifically to be sold at the Jamestown Exposition of 1907.

The Jamestown Exposition took place from April 26,1907 to December 1, 1907.  It was planned for many years in Virginia, and was to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia Colony.  In the early 1900s, Expositions (or Worlds Fairs) were popular and took place around the country.  This Jamestown Exposition did not take place in Jamestown, but in Hampton Roads, Virginia, near Norfolk.  There were mixed reviews on its successes, and attendance was never what they had hoped, but it did lead to aid in the development of the area and the establishment of the Norfolk area as a Naval Headquarter.  Clicking on the links below will provide more background on the Exposition as well as some interesting photos.

First, here are the front and back of a Postcard I found that give us an idea of what Jamestown/Hampton Roads looked like in 1907.

Jamestown Exposition ~ Wikipedia

Jamestown Exposition ~ Gallery

The marketing tactic on this pen was to show a $2.00 price on the box, and offer the pen for $1.00 (presumably at the Exposition) as a sample. One could then mail $2.00 to Lucas and receive a duplicate pen in the mail.   Given the large numbers of people projected to be at the Fair from around the United States, this was Lucas’ way of exposing his pen to the masses. Unless I uncover more about Mr. Lucas and Lucas Manufacturing, I would say that it was not successful.  However, it may be that the pen was a one-time Exposition proposition and Lucas had no other aspirations beyond December of 1907.

I have italicized the writing on the sides of the box as it is difficult to read as posted here.

“On receipt of the selling price $2.00 a Fountain Pen guaranteed an exact duplicate of the pen enclosed.  Will be posted to any address in the United States and Canada. Geo. F. Lucas Mfg. Co. Inc. 410 Law Building, Norfolk, Va.”

“Directions: For good results, reservoir must be filled with writing fluid.  Occasionally the ink flows too freely if this is neglected”

Interestingly, this last message is a good one.  I was just reading the other day about how someone was having problems with a vintage eyedropper and that it tended to emit a blob of ink when the pen started to run low on ink.  The given solution was to make sure the section/feed/nib were sound and to make sure the pen was filled with ink. Mr. Lucas’  instructions would seem to agree.

A little bit later in the century, Virginia would again find itself on the Fountain Pen Map.  Chances are that if you are a collector, you have run into a vintage Arnold Fountain Pen….but that is a story for another day, and another pen.

Morrison Wartime Pens

The discovery of this matchbook cover a few months ago had me on the lookout for a Morrison “Patriot” Fountain pen. I finally found one recently, and proceeded to work on it’s restoration.  This is the only piece of fountain pen ephemera that I have found on a matchbook cover.  I suspect that there are others out there and if you have some, please comment.

Here is a photo of the same pen depicted on the matchbook after I took it apart.  This photo shows the syringe filler, still attached to the section.  As you can see, the barrel is quite dirty and the gold furniture is tarnished.

I used a bit of heat and was able to  twist off the syringe tube ~ it is friction fit to the section.   The plunger can be pulled out through the front after the plunger grip is unscrewed.  The photo below shows the filler after it has been taken apart and the cartridge has been cleaned out.

The dilemma with these pens is that the filler was never meant to be repaired..just used through the limited life of the pen.  So, in repair, there are a few options.  First, one can repair the filler to its original condition and this involves rebuilding it by repacking the cartridge and rebuilding the plunger washers.  Secondly, one can simply turn the pen into an eyedropper.  The section screws into the barrel and a seal could be developed.  Third, a sac could be attached to the section and the pen could be simply filled by squeezing the sac and then attaching the barrel.

Fortunately, I had a simpler solution.  I have had the Morrison set below for about 10 years sitting in the back of my pen chest and when I checked its filling system, it was the same.  I was able to take the filler unit off of the Red Morrison and shellac it to the Army Patriot.

Here is the filler below after the switch and water test.  I shellacked the unit to the Patriot after fully cleaning the section, nib, and feed.   After the shellac had dried, I water tested it overnight to make sure that the seals are still effective.  There was no leakage in a 24 hour time period and the unit was ready to be reinserted into the pen.

First, the barrel and cap needed a good cleaning, as did the gold clip and clip ring.  Do not attempt to clean the Army insignia at the cap top as it is covered with a very thin gold plate.  The rest of the furniture may be polished.

Below, is the completed pen, polished and ready to write.

Here is the cap top logo of the US Army.  These Morrison Pens also came with cap tops of the Navy and Air Force. (Thank you to richardspens.com for this information)  You can see the gold plating on this logo has worn down over the years.  These pens were produced during WWII and marketed to the general public, appealing to the patriotic fervor of the time.  The matchbook states that they could be a “GIFT FOR MEN IN THE SERVICE”.  In fact, they were not military pens as they did not meet the military code for pens, having clips that were not military issue.  For a quick overview of Military Clips, refer to my post of  March 21, 2008, Sheaffer Skyboy Surprise .

The nib is a large 14K nib in medium point.  There is no Morrison marking on mine and I do not know if this is common or a replacement nib.   Morrison certainly had their own marked nibs on earlier pens.

Here is the logo, highlighting the unmistakable Army Green color.

The pen measures 5 3/16″ closed and 6 1/2″ posted.  As the matchbook shows, this was sold for $6.25, including pencil, which is missing from my pen.  In my experience, the Army pens are more commonly seen than the Navy or Air Corps.   I have no idea whether this relates to the manufacturing numbers or not,  but it does relate to the number of US Service Men and Women.  The number of Army and Army Air Corps personnel significantly outnumbered the Navy during World War II.

As with V-Mail ink, reallocation of Pen Factories machinery and materials, and Military Clips, this is another interesting part of Pen History during this time in United States History.

Pencraft – Chicago

I really wish someone would pen a biography of  “George Kraker, Midwestern Pen Builder”, so that I could refer to it in my many posts regarding his various pens.  I can’t resist picking them up and restoring them.  This is the nicest to date ~ a classic large mottled lever filler.  I have numerous Kraker – produced pens from Minneapolis,  Kansas City, Grand Haven, Michigan, and Libertyville, Illinois.  This is my first from Chicago.  The history shows that Kraker was producing pens in Chicago in the early 1920s, after he left Kansas City.  At the same time he had his hands in Pen Companies in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.   Ultimately, he moved on to Grand Haven, Michigan and produced pens there until 1928/29.  Many of his pens have been covered in posts here during the last two years. To read and see more, click on the Kraker link in the Categories on the right side of this page.

As I stated, this is my first Chicago Kraker.  However, it is not my first Pencraft.  These were made in the future in various locations.  On June 1, 2008 in this Pencraft post, I discussed the restoration of a Pencraft pen from Libertyville, IL.

You can see that the restoration is a simple lever-filler.  The hanging pressure bar is inside the barrel and in good shape, so I did not remove it.  I was able to take off the red jewel cap top to reveal the hanging  j-bar and inspect it for damage.  None being found, I let it remain in the barrel.  The gold furniture polished up well and there is no loss of any color.

Two items on this pen stand out from other Krakers of the time.  First, the section.  It is mottled just like the barrel and cap.  This is a nice touch that I have not seen on any of the other Dixie, Yankee, Belmont, and other Kraker brands that I have worked on.  Second is the nib, which I will highlight below.

Here is the section and the size 18 sac that I fit to the section and trimmed to fit into the barrel.

The finished product is highlighted by the section matching the barrel and cap.  This is a nice touch in any pen and a bit unexpected, at least by me, with these pens.

This Pencraft is a large pen, measuring 5 3/8 inches closed and 6 7/8 inches posted.

Here is the Pencraft “L” Nib.  It is quite large, comparable to the Large Warranted 8 nibs of the period.

Below is the imprint.  Pencraft, in the traditional Kraker Script of large first and last letters, followed by Michael George Co.  Michael George Co. is a Company name that Kraker used in various locations, transposing his first and middle names (George Michael Kraker).

Finally, another signature ~ the transparent colored jewel cap and barrel ends seen on many past posts here.

For a few other of these end caps, check out these past posts:

Belmont, Rexall, and Yankee Cousins
dated May 22, 2008

A Yankee in Michigan dated January 27, 2008

There are many Kraker collectors out there ~ most with much more impressive collections.  It is easy to see how we get hooked.  The pens are diverse, affordable when compared to the Parkers, Wahls, and Watermans of the period, and always seem to have interesting variations.