Carter’s
This pen is something of a mystery. It probably is a Carter’s, so would be from the early 1930s. It looks like the Carter’s lower level pens in their catalog, but since it’s missing its clip that’s hard to confirm. There is no imprint, and all Carter’s pens I’ve seen have borne imprints. But, BUT, it has a Carter’s gold nib, which carries some weight toward identification. It’s a smaller pen, a touch more than 4” long and .4” thick just below the cap edge. It’s a lever-filler, made of a marbled green celluloid with black tips, also a Carter’s “could-be” pattern. Finally, the lever is a two-piece unit with a linking piece also seen in some Carter’s pens. Is it a Carter’s? Probably, but I can’t go further than that. The cap and body show wear but cleaned up quite nicely. There are no significant nicks or scratches, just 90 years of use and storage wear. Its only trim is the single cap ring and the cap crown, with the stub of a clip; and those are generally clean plate although the clip-less crown is a bit dented. The nib? It’s a very firm, quite decent writer, fine perhaps extra fine line. That makes this a Bargain pen for sure.
Sold Price:
$50
Carter’s
Carter’s was one of several American pen manufacturers that made excellent pens but just could not compete with the Big 4. Carter’s was a major producer of inks and other office supplies (“You know us for our inks…”), and added fountain pens to their line in 1924. Carter’s pens were around only from 1924-32 before the Depression ended pen production, so now a Carter’s pen in good condition is not seen all that often now. This pen, from the 1930s, is of jade (“Coralite”) celluloid and is in excellent condition. The pen’s model number is not clear, but it has the post-1930 rounded black crown and matching base of their higher end model. Except for one very faint line of what is probably ink stain from posting the cap, this pen is without blemish. It is a slimmer pen, which makes it appear longer than its 5 ⅜” capped length. The trim is gold and clean; the clip is spring-loaded and strong and the two cap rings are both tight. The lever, which is supported by Carter’s own secondary spring, does protrude just a tiny bit, but it is tight and strong. The nib is gold, marked Carter’s 14K, and appears to be factory-stubbed. It writes a smooth, wet stubbed broad line.
Sold Price:
$225
Carter’s Dip Pen
This is a curiosity, for a Carter’s collection. It is a dip pen, sold in the early 1950’s with a bottle of Carter’s ink, for writing cards. At 3.2″ long, this is not a serious writing pen, but it’s cute! It’s made of extruded plastic, probably polystyrene. The Signature branded nib is a 6, and is glued into the barrel. From the writing sample, one can see both what it was like to use an early dip pen, and how important a feed is to a nib’s functioning — this pen has no feed, and I must have dipped it ten times to get this information written. That said, it does write very smoothly! Its listed price is if sold alone, but I’ll discount even that price by 50% with the purchase of any pen.
Sold Price:
$0
Columbus Extra 38
Probably a 1950’s pen, this 38 closely resembles Columbus’ smaller celluloid models from the 1940s, but this is made of a resin. The Italian pen forum does show a picture of an Extra 38, but its nib and crown are both different from this one, which of course further complicates the identification. However, this bewildering model nomenclature is often seen in Italian pens; names and line continue with the pens changing. All of that said, it is a beautiful smaller pen. At 11.9cm capped and 1.2cm across just below the cap line, the pen feels full-size in a smaller hand, and is certainly not petite. It is of beautiful marbled resin, in green and black with mother-of-pearl, with gold trim. The piston works flawlessly, the pen fills and empties easily. In another post-WWII touch, the piston itself ends with a plastic gasket, as seen in Pelikans, not a cork. As with so many Italian pens, it is a wonderful writer, a long-tined nib that writes fine/medium with a nice touch of flex and shaded line. It will write wonderfully for anyone but will possibly hold its nib alignment better with a right-handed writer. This is a pen that can be carried in a bag without worry, and would make a delightful first vintage Italian pen for a growing vintage collection.
Sold Price:
$105
Commander
What is a Commander? I have no idea; there is no information available about them. From its appearance, this is an American pen of the 1930s, in delightful plastic with green, gold, and yellow stripes. It has a completely clear ink-view window, and appears after its cleaning to have not been used. It is a little smaller, at 4 3/8” long capped, but fits well in the hand. The nib is steel, marked “Commander Pen”, and writes a nice fine. This will be a nice steady writer, and its nib should conform well to the writer’s hand. Finally, this pen was imprinted for Anne M. Regan, so there is a 10% discount awaiting a buyer or recipient of that name!
Sold Price:
$30
Conklin
This pen is from the mid-1920s, and is a ringtop in black hard rubber, a lever-filled pen. It is Model #26P, designating in Conklin code its lever-filled mechanism and purse size. The barrel and cap are chased, with a delicate wavy design Conklin called “ribbon”. At 4 5/16” long, this is a smaller pen, but it does not feel too small to use without posting. The hard rubber barrel and cap are in excellent condition, without significant scratches or marks, and the chasing is uniform throughout. For some reason the section shows a bit more wear than the rest of the pen, but it is not disfiguring. The lever and gold 1/4” wide cap ring have the appearance of 14K rather than plate, but there is no indication of that. The gold nib is marked “Conklin 2 Toledo”, and writes a wonderfully flexible fine to BB line. The writing sample is by a right-handed writer.
Sold Price:
$125
Conklin
This is a lovely little ringtop pen that is either a lower level Conklin or not a Conklin carrying a Conklin nib. It is typical ringtop size, just short of 3.5″ long capped and .4″ wide just south of the cap. It is plated in bright yellow gold with a basketweave pattern. Contrary to most Conklins and Conklin catalogs I’ve seen (although catalogs from the era often have some artistic license in the illustrations), the absence of any imprint or brand marking is atypical, particularly on the lever. In addition, the top of the lever is near the bottom of the barrel, opening out and away from the tassie; Conklins in the catalogs generally open out away from the nib. The stamped pattern is in the Conklin catalog, however…so this might stay a mystery. Those comments aside, the body is beautiful, unmarrred by scratch or dent. The nib, a Conklin 2, writes a wet fine line with substantial flex; there is a bit of singing in the nib. This is a wonderful little pen for notes; I hate to say that it will fit one’s hand better if posted, but it’s true.
Sold Price:
$115
Conklin Endura
This Conklin Endura Junior set is from 1929 to the early 1930s, in marbled blue celluloid. Although Enduras were around for a good ten years, this one is easy to date because of the celluloid, which was all new in the late 1920s. And, as noted above, the Enduras became Symetriks after 1929, although one generally assumes that some of the earlier model were available for traditionalist customers. This set is very attractive, and has probably received very little, if any, use in its 95 years. The pen’s ossified sac had no dried ink inside, the barrel was held to the gripping section by a scrap of paper, and there was no ink in the cap. There is some characteristic darkening at the top and bottom of the barrel, and perhaps a touch of deterioration in the barrel at a few points, but with the sac having disintegrated many years ago, the deterioration from the sac’s gassing out certainly stopped as well. The trim is clean and shiny, no missing plate. The spring-loaded clip is strong. The nib is original, and writes a firm fine line with some feedback that was typical of the era, as well as significant shading that one could call flex. This nib wants to be written with by an underwriter, not this overwriting lefty. The pencil is in nearly perfect condition. Since it carried no sac, it has no darkening or deterioration, and writes perfectly. This pen and pencil are being sold together as listed, but the pen is available without the pencil for $185. If that happens, I’ll have to keep the pencil!
Sold Price:
$200
Conklin Endura Ringtop
Enduras were Conklin’s mainstay through the middle to latter 1920s; they were very solid, well-engineered pens. This Endura is typical: in their Mahogany color, a very substantial pen with a ringtop, not one of the more dainty ringtops. Just short of 4 1/4″ long capped and 3/8″ thick below the cap edge, this is a shorter pen but not a small pen. The marbled celluloid is quite clean, with no disfiguring marks or scratches. Enduras are easily identified by two shallow circumferential grooves on the body and two on the cap; they complement the gold trim well. The gold trim is complete and untarnished, although there is still a bit of minor scratching on the crown, from the ringtop. The imprint is complete and easily read. The nib is most likely this pen’s original, marked Conklin Endura, with the characteristic half-moon vent hole. It writes a luscious medium, quite fast (as can be seen from the writing sample), and it sings as it writes. The singing is in the metal; the nib was pretty thoroughly tuned. Even considering its age, this is a sturdy pen; it can be carried in a bag.
Sold Price:
$85
Conway Stewart “Conway”
Although struggling to survive by the 1960s, and by now now producing other desk essentials, Conway Stewart was still producing fountain pens. Their use of injection-molded plastics was the base for most of their late production, and used in all of their pens. The Conway 103 is a mid-1960s pen that came both with a same color cap and a metal cap. This pen is in green, with matching slip cap, a squeeze filler. It has a 14c gold nib, imprinted “Conway”, and is a smooth, soft fine to medium with some flex, the typical Conway Stewart writing experience.
Sold Price:
$70
Conway Stewart “The Universal Pen”
In Conway Stewart’s circular and impenetrable naming logic, “Universal” was used on a variety of model lines from the 1930s-1950s. This is “The Universal Pen”, a No. 479 late series model, probably from the postwar 1940s, in marbled green and black. It is in truly outstanding overall condition, a description I don’t often use. Of celluloid, it is 12.8cm long, with a domed crown. The dome is in dark, might have been black, hard rubber (vulcanite in England). The trim is in excellent condition, untarnished. The imprint is shallow but complete. This is a very shiny, fresh pen, showing almost no marks of use. The nib is 14c gold, marked Conway Stewart; probably the original nib. It is a wet, soft, wonderful writer.
Sold Price:
$130
Conway Stewart “The Universal”
The Conway Stewart No. 479 pens, known as “The Universal” model, were mainline pens from the early 1930s until 1950. Most were marbled in dark colors and bandless, which fits this pen exactly. It is 12.5cm long capped, 1.2cm across just below the cap edge, with a domed crown that might be vulcanite. The celluloid is “deep raspberry with black veins”, in very attractive used condition. It is bright and shiny, there are no deep scratches, but there is some evidence of use wear. The trim is very nice, with Conway Stewart’s imprints on both clip and lever. The base of the barrel, which is without tassie, is chipped, probably from impact at some point, but there is no apparent fragility from it. The nib is probably the original Conway Stewart 14ct, and it writes a typically English wet line, super smooth. It writes better with a more gentle hand. It comes in an original CS box and instruction/warranty sheet, both appropriate to this pen but came to me from a different source; it is not this pen’s box. A good sturdy pen for steady use with a wonderful English nib!
Sold Price:
$105
