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The Fountain Pen Community -> Vintage Fountain Pens -> Ages of pens
Post Info TOPIC: Ages of pens
Scratch


Experienced

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Ages of pens
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Hi all,

As a novice I have wondered how one can identify the manufacturing dates of the various makes of pens. Is there a reference book which can be used?

Thanks for your help,

Roger

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Frank


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I have two general books on pens-

One "Antique Writing Instruments" by Schneider and Fischler, give the year
(or approximate) under the photo/description.

I would guess that most pen reference books give the approximate year(s) of production.

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Scratch


Experienced

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Thanks Frank for your reply.

This is the first time that I have found someone else on line at the same time as myself. Just about to head to bed as it is 1am

Roger

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jar


Seasoned

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There is no single authoritative book but lots of sources spread all over the internet. For example for Targas the best sources is Sheaffer Targa dot com or for Esterbrooks look here and for Parkers look here. For Conway Stewarts look here.

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Frank


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jar wrote:

There is no single authoritative book but lots of sources spread all over the internet. For example for Targas the best sources is Sheaffer Targa dot com or for Esterbrooks look here and for Parkers look here. For Conway Stewarts look here.


Great site for Targa info! Thanks Jar!
Should know you knew about a great  Conway Stewart site! :)

Another great source is Penhero (Penhero.com).
Good source for many Brands, especially Sheaffer and Parker!

 



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"When, in the course of writing events, it becomes self-evident that all pens are not created equal" (Federalist Frank)

We sell quality, known brands at reasonable prices!!

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Scratch


Experienced

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Thanks for those links Jar.

Looks like I'm going to have to dig deeper and find some more dedicated sites for some lesser known makes.

Roger

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DWL


***

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This is just an excellent parker site. I hope he gets all of the pics he needs to complete it.

http://parkercollector.com/


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Chthulhu


Rawr.

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Of course, with many pens there's no way at all to tell, and you're lucky to narrow it down to a particular decade.

My Parker Vacumatic is date-stamped 4th quarter 1945 for the barrel and 2nd quarter 1945 for the nib, but the cap and blind cap are obviously made from the same different piece of green pearl laminated celluloid from that of the barrel, and the long blind cap has a tassie and jewel which indicates it was made between 1937 and 1942.

My big Sheaffer's OS Lifetime balance is also an enigma: it was made in Canada, and has a WASP clip and an upturned nib; I have yet to find a reference that tells me when it was made, so I just think of it as WWII era and leave it at that.

My other Lifetime Balance is a slim model in marine green striated which puts it between 1937 and 1945, but that's as close as I can get.

For my modern pens, only my three UK-made Parkers have date codes.

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Mike Hungerford
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Experienced

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Possibly the worst make to date is Sheaffer's. You have to rely on catalogues, and even when catalogues are availables, the "start" date of a certain production may be determined, but not the end date. A combination of ads, clips, sections, nib imprint, barrel imprint, lever pins, and other details must be used. It's fun!

As for other general sources I have the Lambrou (FP of USA and UK) and the Erano (FP past and present) books.

Ciao,

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d i p l o
Titivillus


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Research pure and simple.  There wasn't alot of documentation collected in one spot since vintage pens were made to be used just like any other tool.



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DWL


***

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thats one reason why our advertisement gallery is such a wonderful research tool. I encourage everyone to add to it as often as possible. The bigger itgets, the more we all learn.

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