Below is the pen after I took it apart. The lever is a hanging one, and in good shape, so I left it in.  You can see that the main concern is the dirty yellow barrel and cap, and need of a new sac.

I spent a considerable amount of time cleaning the barrel and cap, both inside and out.  The hardest part was the inside of the cap.  The yellow cap and inner cap were caked with old blue ink and it took numerous trips to the ultrasonic cleaner and swabs with q tips to finish that job.  As you can see, the pen is now very clean.   The threads cleaned up with a toothbrush and ink nix.  I polished the nib on both sides.  It is a very nice Warranted 14K, with a triangle logo.

The pen measures 4 3/4 inches closed and 5 1/2 inches posted.

Here is a close up of the imprint, which reads ” RUETTELL BROS. DUBUQUE, IA”.  (Edit ~ Buettell – see below)

A brief search of Ruettell Brothers in Dubuque came up empty.  There were Ruettell Brothers Clothing Stores in Crookston, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota throughout the 1900s, and certainly during the time of this pen.  My only guess is that they opened a location in Dubuque in the 1920s or 30s and used these as promotional, sales, or employee pens.  I will continue to research the connection, but nothing comes up yet.

Edit:  January 17, 2012 ~  A reader, Mike May, from Dubuque has corrected my reading of the above imprint.  It is Buettell Brothers, not Ruettell Brothers.  He also provided a link to this note in Publishers Weekly of 1893

Dubuque, Ia.—The Daily Telegraph of this city describes the new firm of Buettell Brothers Company, importers and jobbers of books, stationery, etc., as follows: ” The firm has only recently been established here and has already proved itself to be one of the live and progressive institutions of Dubuque. It was organ ¡zed in the latter part of January, 1892, and was ready for business and had three representatives on the road taking fall orders in June. The officers of the concern when it was organized were E. A. Buettell, president; Dr. E. R. Jackson, vice-president, and J. L. Buettell, secretary and treasurer. The firm had a commodious four-story building erected especially for their purpose on Iowa Street, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, in the wholesale district. This firm is the only exclusive wholesale house of its kind in the State. They carry a full line of books, stationery, drug sundries and make a specialty in window shades and fixtures. E. A. Buettell, who is considered one of the best posted stationery men in the West, has had charge of the business since its start. The business increased very rapidly, and in September Wm. A. Buettell became connected with the new firm and has now charge of the order department. The constantly increasing business makes it necessary to call its present secretary and treasurer, A. C. Buettell, into active service. He was recently elected to that position and will sever his connection with the H. B. Glover Company on January i. For fifteen years he has been with that firm and for over twelve years has filled the responsible position of book-keeper in their office. The affairs of this house are in the hands of young men born and raised in Dubuque. They are full of push and energy and the trade will find them prompt and reliable in all their dealings. The present travelling force will be increased January I, making in all five representatives. The territory covered extends over the greater part of Iowa, also large portions of Minnesota. Wisconsin, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska.”

It appears that Buettell Brothers was a long standing business in Dubuque.  A quick Google Search shows that they were also a publisher of Post Cards for years as well, and had a large Office Building for years in the downtown area of Dubuque.  Mike’s information certainly puts this 1920s/30s pen in better perspective, as they were a very active business at this time and thereafter.

Encyclopediadubuque.org, another link provided by Mike,  provides this additional information and a photo of the Buettell Building which was demolished in 2001 ~

“BUETTELL BROTHERS COMPANY. One of the cities largest importers and wholesalers in 1911, Buettell Brothers Company was established and incorporated in 1892. Located at 819-859 Clay Street, it was the only exclusive wholesale stationery house In Iowa. Officers in the company included E. A. Buettell, President; W.A. Buettell, Vice President; and A. C. Buettell, Secretary and Treasurer.

In addition to stationery, the company carried special lines in different seasons including valentines and sporting goods for the spring, fireworks for midsummer, school goods for the fall, and holiday goods for winter.”

I admit that I am drawn to looking at the cap and barrel ends and they make me think of some National Pen Products pens from the 20s and 30s.  Perhaps they produced these for Buettell – Chicago is not far away….

I have been to Dubuque a few times, and it is a beautiful city on the Mississippi River in Eastern Iowa, across the River from Illinois.  On my next visit I will have to look for a few more of these….

Esterbrook Nurses Pen – August 5, 2011

This week’s restoration is a Nurses Pen produced by Waterman (US). You can see the exploded view of the pen below.  Note the hardened sac, and discoloration around the lever.

I did  a thorough lever fill restoration.  I started by cleaning the pen completely.  The section needed to have the old sac removed and the feed needed to be cleaned and have the channels scraped of old dried ink.  I polished the Waterman nib in an ultrasonic cleaner and with a jewelers cloth.  The lever was gently cleaned with a jewelers cloth.  I dumped the cap into the ultrasonic cleaner as the build up of blue ink was deep and caked on and under the inner cap.  Once the entire pen was cleaned, I attached a size 16 silicone sac (see below) after it was trimmed for size.  I decided on silicone due to the light color of the pen and my desire to keep it as white as possible.

The completed pen measures 4 7/16 inches closed and 5 7/16 inches posted.

Here is the nib, an unremarkable Ideal 14K.

Waterman made these pens and often sold them in sets.  Some contained a matching pencil and thermometer holder.  Others had a matching pen with a red cap top, to match the black one seen on my pen.  Supposedly the red pen was to be used by the nurse with red ink for night hospital charts and the black pen used with black ink on day patient charts.  Apparently the previous owner of this pen had no black ink and used blue..

Below is an advertisement from a May 1942 Saturday Evening Post, found in my collection.  This is one of the few advertisements I have seen for this pen.  It was included in a larger promotion for the war time Commando.  I have isolated the Nurses Pen section in the second photo.

Waterman also made these pens in Canada, and the ones that I have seen have red and black jewels on the cap top, instead of the bands seen in these US pens.

I probably will not use this pen to preserve the white color.   It does, however, make a nice partner to the Esterbrook Nurses Pen, and another interesting corner of fountain pen history.

Waterman’s (top) / Esterbrook (bottom) Nurses Pens

Many more pens in the repair queue, as well as some interesting historical curios for 2012 – see you in the New Year!

The first Waterman pen of this vintage that I worked on was a non-taperite Waterman Crusader, covered in this post ~

Waterman Crusader – January 24, 2011

Having always  before concentrated on early Waterman’s, I became attracted to the clean art-deco look of the Crusader.  Recently, I had an opportunity to purchase a used Citation that needed restoration and I jumped at the opportunity.   You can see the pen below, after I took it apart.  There are two main problems with restoring these 1940s pens.  First, the sections are often very tightly attached at manufacture and separating them from the barrel can be problematic.  Secondly, if you do get the section apart, the nib and feed are extremely difficult to knock out.  The plastic is quite easy to crack and the nib is hooded and has to be removed in a reverse direction.  As you can see below, I was successful in removing the section, but there is no reason to tempt fate and I cleaned the nib and feed by running the entire unit through an ultrasonic cleaner for about 120 seconds.

The barrel and cap needed to be cleaned up, so I applied scratch remover, polish, and wax to each.  the finished result, after I attached a size 16 sac is below.

The pen measures 5 5/16 inches closed and 6 1/8 inches posted.

Citations were produced in 1945 and after.  The advertisement above is from 1946, and highlights a few other early Taperite models – the Stateleigh and the Corinth.  The Crusader below, was not produced until about 1948 and after.  Both have clips that I think are really cool, and though not particularly strong, are visually appealing.

The reverse of the postcard has this 2 cent stamp. Using this stamp as a guide, the postcard dates from 1952 to 1958.

Below are the two instruments after taken apart.  The blue cartridge with red tip was taken from the section, which was filled with blue ink.

Not much internal work needs to be done (other than rinsing in an ultrasonic cleaner) as this is a standard cartridge pen.  Below is the finished product ~ a pen measuring 5 3/16 inches closed and 6 1/16 inches posted.  The pencil measures 5 1/4 inches and takes 0.9 mm lead.

The nibs and sections on these are notorious for chipping and losing their plating, but this one has survived unscathed.  I would estimated it to be a medium width.

The link in the first paragraph directs you to previously stated C/F information, and here is a small extract:

“The CF (Cartridge Fill) is intriguing purely from an historical perspective. It is thought of as the first modern widely produced and distributed cartridge pen. I also happen to think that it is pretty sharp looking and reflects the 1950s modern deco styles.

It comes as no surprise that the designer was Harley Earl, a famous automotive designer. Pen companies often contracted with designers to come up with innovative and current designs to attract buyers.”

C/F pens were produced by Waterman, starting in about 1953 and until Waterman shut down its US operations.  After that time, many of the C/F pens found today were made in France.  This set has a “Made in USA” imprint.  That, and the 2 cent stamp above place the set in the 1953 to 1958 period.

As you can see, the set came in an attractive box.

The cloth pen holder lifts up to reveal space for eight cartridges.  Six were found in these slots.  Unfortunately, they have dried up.  As cartridges are no longer produced for these pens, the cartridges are valuable as they can be used again after being cleaned and filled with syringe.

While on the subject of C/F cartridges, here is an advertisement, from my collection, showing the cartridge above being inserted in a pen.  It also shows the various levels and prices of C/F pens produced in 1955, the date of this advertisement.

These pens are not highly sought after by collectors, though some French models command high prices due to their materials.  I find the design interesting and am glad to have added a US set to my collection.

As you can see below, the eleven (11) parts came apart successfully and only two need replacement.

~ Diaphragm

~ Breather Tube

You can see from the first two photos that the breather tube is bent.  In fact, after testing it, it revealed a small crack and it needs to be replaced.  Even with the bend in the tube, I would recommend replacing it, as a leak is not far ahead.  I purchase a long cord of tubing from Woodbin, and it can be cut to the exact size necessary for Vacumatics, 51s, Skylines, and any other pens requiring breather tubes.

Here is a photo of the nib / section / feed and breather tube after all have been cleaned and reassembled.

This pen takes a debutante size diaphragm and I successfully attached it to the plastic speedline filler and inserted the filler back into the barrel after cleaning the barrel thoroughly.  Remember to insert the filler first so that you can scope into the barrel to make sure the diaphragm sits correctly and there are no problems sticking or twisting.  After this is completed the nib unit can be screwed back in.  The pen measures 5″ capped and 5 5/16″ posted.

Here is the finished product, a clean example of a 1946 Vac Major in Silver Pear, with nice transparency ~ a pen produced near the end of the Vacumatic run.

You can see from the dates that Artcraft was a going concern during these dates.  I am uncertain if this drawing is of an actual Artcraft building, but think there is a chance that this was a 1950s version of the Company that started in the late 1920s in Birmingham, Alabama, only to up and move to Argentina in the mid 1930s.

I would also think that this certificate (translation = Bearer Bond) was issued during the period that these pens (restored in my post of June 23, 2011 – Artcraft in Argentina) were produced.  Actually, I think the top pen would be more likely to have been produced in this period.

Another small piece of the Artcraft international story. Thank you, Rodrigo!

Indian Fountain Pen

Well, a few months later, I ran across another and was able to swing a trade to acquire it. These never seem to be in pristine condition, but this one seemed to be in fair condition. Below, is a photo of the pen, after taking it apart.  You can see that the green pattern is in very good shape.  The first thing that jumps out is the dirty nib.

After cleaning the nib, it is apparent that it is beyond salvage, and needs to be replaced. Here is where a spare nib drawer comes in handy. Nibs can be purchase on their own, or harvested off of “lost cause” pens. I have a future article in draft on some pens that I purchased for next to nothing due to their horrible condition, but the nib is in great shape and ready for transplant into another needy pen.

This Indian an example of a pen (and pencil combo in this case) in need of a transplant.  The gold plated nib in the top photo is the original nib to this open and it a pitted and damaged Iridium Gold Plate No. 4.    I had a “Very Smooth Made in USA”  medium nib which is identical in size and fit perfectly in the section.  It is in the second photo below.

After polishing the exterior of the pen and pencil barrels, including the clip, lever, and pencil casing, I inserted the new nib and feed into the section.  As you can see, the fit was perfect.  I then inserted a new size 16 sac into the barrel, still using the old jbar, which was in great shape.

The final result is below.

The Combo measures 5 1/2 inches closed, and 5 7/8 inches posted

In the two photos below, taken with the yellow Indian from the March 10, 2011 post, you can see the different clips on each pen.  The yellow pen retains its original “Iridium No. 4″  nib.

As I mentioned in the first Indian Pen article, speculation is that these were a brand produced by the Arnold Pen Company, possibly in the 1930s.  I have no direct evidence of this, but have read the educated guesses. If anyone has direct evidence, please pass it along.

I have also seen a red and blue patterned Indian Pens. Be on the look out for them. They are a nice colorful addition to any collection.

Here is a photo of the pen after I had taken it apart.  The lever was intact and in good condition.  You can see on portion of the sac – the remainder was dust.  Note the bad staining and discoloration of the barrel and cap – common with these older lightly colored pens.

I first worked on the section/feed/nib.  I cleaned the section by scraping off all remnants of the old sac, leaving a smooth surface on the shank.  I also used a qtip and water to fully clean the inside of the section which almost always has years of caked-on ink.  The feed was cleaned briefly in water and then I scraped out all of the channels with and exacto knife.  The nib, a Warranted 14K Number 8, was cleaned in my ultrasonic cleaner and then dried and touched up with a jewelers cloth.

The barrel and cap (inside and out) were first given a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner and then scrubbed with a dremel and barrel polish.  The results are below.  Except for the lever anchor line (seen through the cheap plastic) the pen is very clean.  I was even able to clean out the threads of the barrel to their original yellow – not an easy task on these pens.  The pen measures 5 18/64 inches closed and 6 1/2 inches posted.

As you can see, the pen is branded in two places – the cap clip and lever.  I have no information as to who made Townsend pens.  Some people I have talked to have speculated that they were a sub brand produced by National Pen Products in Chicago, though I have not seen any proof of this.  Others have speculated that they were produced by Eclipse.   I do not lean in either direction and look forward to hearing from someone with additional information.

I have seen several Townsend pens.   The unique green marbled ends of this pen is a very nice touch and does remind me of the ends of many Eclipse brands.

Of course, the Townsend name surfaced again, many years later.  Cross Pens uses this name for one of its recent lines of pens.  Just try searching the internet for information on this vintage brand, and you will soon find out…

If you have any other Townsend Fountain Pens that  have survived, and information about them, I would love to hear from you.

10-12-11 Edit:  A reader has sent an email stating that they have a Wearever that is very similar to this pen.  This is another possibility of a producer of this pen (or the parts for this pen). 

Artcraft Fountain Pens – August 18, 2009

Cromer Artcraft Lifelong Fountain Pen – March 2, 2010

An Artcraft Wedding – January 11, 2011

Artcraft in Argentina – June 23, 2011

Artcraft Gold Ringtop Fountain Pen – September 2, 2011

The fourth one listed covered the restoration of two Argentinian produced Artcraft pens, including some magazine advertisements related to the Escritor. These posts over the years have led to a fellow collector and I communicating on the Artcraft brand in his country. He has provided me with several photos of Artcraft pens from Argentina and surprised me recently with this advertisement.  It is a great find for those interested in both US and Argentina branded Artcraft Pens, and even for Parker and Waterman enthusiasts..

This is an amazing piece of Artcraft history for a couple of reasons. First, it compares the Artcraft pen to two iconic pens, the Parker Vacumatic (looks to be a mid to late 1930s first generation version) and a Waterman Patrician.  Second, the Artcraft pen used for the comparison is almost identical to the pen restored in my post of August 18, 2009 titled Artcraft Fountain Pens ~ photo below.

Clearly, the advertisement is pointing out the similarities and differences of the three brands.  Much current discussion is spent on the three tiers of fountain pens during this time period.  Parker and Waterman are universally placed in the first tier.  Artcraft is clearly not.  As a fan of their pens, I enjoy seeing it advertised along side of them.

While on the topic of Artcraft, here is another another link to an Artcraft Site, produced by a friend and fellow collector:

Artcraft Collection

Finally, thank you Rodrigo, for this wonderful gift, and for allowing me to share it!