Eagle
1930s
About This Model
Eagle and Epenco fountain pens are among the innumerable "third-tier" pens from the Depression years, and indeed, most of those one sees today are pretty rough. However, if the history is parsed a bit, one learns that there are Eagles and Epencos, and while they are siblings, they are quite different. Eagles came from a strong tradition, the American descendants of the Berolzheimer pencil company in Germany who formed the Eagle pen and pencil company. Eagle pencils have been around in the US forever; their pens of the early 20th Century were imaginative and often innovative. However, the Depression hit Eagle hard, and their response was the sub-brand called Epenco. Many Epencos have very nice styling under the wear and tear: marbled barrels, whimsical designing, layered features that pop out from the depths of the plastic. They generally write well and are serviceable when found and restored.
About This Pen
This Eagle is a very attractive example of the Eagle/Epenco line that somehow managed to avoid use and wear. It was probably made in the early 1930s, after Eagle shut down the name for pens but had not yet swung fully into Epencos. It needed very little non-mechanical restoration. Eagles and Epencos came in a range of sizes; this one is a little larger than most I’ve seen, like a big Wearever, at 5 1/4″ long and 1/2″ wide just south of the cap edge. My guess is that this pen is made of rolled celluloid sheet, with 1/16” vertical stripes in marbled green and tan alternating with 1/32” marbled silver bars, lending an almost faceted appearance. The plated cap ring has an alternating “T” and inverted “T” pattern, and is untarnished. The stepped clip is marked “Eagle” and is missing some plating at the steps. The nib is marked “Epenco”, and is marked “Epenco Iridium Tipped”. The section has a clear ink window that cleaned up well. The nib writes a smooth, wet fine/extra fine line.
Price: $44 Sold