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| Tips for Fountain Pen Collectors I’ll confess. This article was not written with the broad strokes of a fountain pen. I typed it on a modern computer. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t longed for the nostalgia and simplicity of past times — the sensual appeal of putting a finely crafted fountain pen to paper. Maybe you feel that way, too. There’s a practical side to collecting fountain pens. You may stumble upon a treasure-house of pens at the flea market or a thrift store — selling at a fraction of their worth. You can buy limited edition pens today that will become tomorrow’s collectibles. Intricate and elegant, pens are tiny works of art that don’t require much space or special preparation to store or display. It’s no wonder that over 30,000 Americans belong to pen collectors groups, and many more pursue the hobby on their own. The idea for the first "modern-style" fountain pen came from an insurance salesman in 1883. Lewis E. Waterman wanted to carry a reliable pen to his customers so they could sign contracts. His options included a "dip" pen, that required he lug along a bottle of ink and bulky case. Or a newly invented reservoir pen with ink stored inside. Odds were, though, that this pen would drop puddles of ink on the paper. Neither pen was acceptable. There was a big advantage to a built-in supply of ink, Waterman decided. The problem was eliminating spills. As the reservoir pen was used, the ink emptied and created a vacuum. When the user tipped the pen, air rushed into the chamber and forced gobs of ink out. Waterman invented a set of thin grooves in the channel leading to the reservoir. Capillary action drew ink to the nib, and grooves allowed air to enter the reservoir as needed. Waterman’s pen worked well. In 1884 he produced about 500 pens. Waterman assembled them himself on a kitchen table and sold them with a written guarantee. Selling insurance was now a thing of the past. Eventually Waterman further refined fountain pens by fine tuning the nibs and adding intricate designs and gold bands to the barrels. A Waterman pen won the Medal of Excellence at the 1900 Paris World Exposition. When Waterman died a year later, his pens were selling at the brisk rate of 1,000 per day. Similar circumstances led George Safford Parker, a school teacher from Wisconsin, to improve fountain pen designs. Parker sold another company’s fountain pens to augment his skimpy teacher’s salary. However, these pens, too, were unreliable — sometimes delivering too much ink, other times no ink at all. Parker purchased tools to repair the pens, finally deciding he could make a fountain pen that performed better. He went into partnership with W.E. Palmer and incorporated the Parker Pen Company in 1892. At that time, if you put a fountain pen in your pocket, your body temperature would warm ink in the feed tube forcing it to the pen’s point. Take off the pen cap and you’d get — yuck — a glob of ink all over your fingers. Parker’s first signature pen, the "Lucky Curve" solved this problem with a rubber feed bar which reduced leakage. Parker’s first pen barrels were made of hard black rubber, the only ink-resistant, easily machinable material available at the time. It could also be heated and formed easily. These pens were filled with a medicine dropper — but soon this method was replaced by the "self-filling" sac pen. Collectors prize Parker pens made between 1900 and 1915, many featuring gold, silver and mother-of-pearl overlays. One of the most legendary of pens, the Parker Snake Pen, came from this era. Crafted from black hard rubber, the eyedropper filled pen has a sterling silver or gold filled, green-eyed snake wound around the barrel or cap. Originally selling for $10 to $12, it can’t be had for less than $12,000 today. Also a great find: the Parker Duofold, an over-sized red orange fountain pen with a gold point. Introduced in 1921, the Duofold originally sold for $7, nearly twice the accepted cost of a pen. Parker reintroduced the Duofold of the 20s in 1987 in anticipation of the company’s 100th anniversary. In 1990 Parker expanded the line with versions in marbled blue, marbled maroon or black plus a special edition burnt-orange Duofold centennial fountain pen and mechanical pencil. The fountain pen’s heyday lasted till WW II. During this time, Sheaffer’s was selling its finest pens from $8.75 to $10; some less expensive models for as little as $3. Today, on the collectible market, many pens command prices from $75 to $700. As with most collectibles, a pen’s rarity and condition affect its value. Cracks in the cap or barrel threads may be restored by professionals, but it’s often costly to have such work done. Fountain pens in gold or silver, or with gemstones are often valuable, while more common black pens fetch the least dough. Ultimately, though, you’ll want to buy the pen you like — because the truest worth of an item lies in its value to its owner. Pens to search for: Tips for peak pen performance: |
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