Swastika Pen

[Guest ClanPeters]

I have a pen of interest that I'm trying to track down its manufacturer, history and value. If anyone has any information, or links/resources on where to search, that would be great!

 

It is a fountain pen, appears to be gold-plated with swastikas and soldiers/ or possibly rockets.

 

The markings that I can make out along the nib are:

 

_ARRANT_ _

525

8

 

The dashes represent letters that I cannot make out.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited June 16, 2011 by ClanPeters

[jgrasty]

The nib probably says "WARRANTED", but that's common for nibs of the period, so not really helpful.

[Vintagepens]

The pen is an Italian safety; hard to tell the manufacturer, possibly Montegrappa. Overlays were made by specialist firms working as subcontractors, though some also bought the pens, applied the overlays, and retailed them themselves.

 

In context, these are clearly not innocent Indian swastikas: they are the Nazi emblem, paired with the fasces emblem of the Italian Fascists. In both decoration and overall design, the pen would appear to date to the second half of the '30s, though early '40s would also be possible.

[RedSox04]

Definitely looks like a Montegrappa

[saintsimon]

The latest possible year for this piece of political propaganda is 1943, before Italy switched sides from the Axis to the Allies.

 

But I would rather guess May 1938, when Hitler's first official visit to fascist Italy took place and was staged as a big propaganda event (there are videos about it on youtube ). The pen looks like a commemorative piece or a gift for valued politicians and officers.

 

The first time I see double axes in a fasces, though.

 

Re value: there are certainly some folks who have wet dreams about owning such stuff, but the only value it has is to serve as a reminder of the worst of humanity. Donate it to a historical museum or something like that. It would be illegal to sell it in Germany, for example, as it bears the symbols of unconstitutional organisations.

Edited June 20, 2011 by saintsimon

[greencobra]

I beg to differ, and realizing I do not have the credentials that David does and for the sake of argument, this to me looks like an Indian pen. The symbol between the swatstika looks like the "arms of life" although I'm far from being a Hindu scholar.

[MidnightBlue]

Looks Indian to me. The other knuckleheads would have made it in black. Thanks

[saintsimon]

Arms of life on a fasces? No way. These are clearly stylized fasces between the swastikas. Look colsely. The axe heads are not on a body but on a block of bundled fasces.

 

Anyway, nobody at that time would have interpreted them as Indian symbols.Here's why

 

http://www.viaggio-in-germania.de/briefm1.jpghttp://www.reise-nach-italien.de/briefm2.jpg

(pics linked from http://www.viaggio-i...-mussolini.html)

 

 

This is the fascist version of the classicals fasces (from wikipedia):

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Italian_Fascist_flag_1930s-1940s.svg/800px-Italian_Fascist_flag_1930s-1940s.svg.png

Edited June 20, 2011 by saintsimon

[USN Air TrafficController]

indian - clockwise fascist - counter clockwise

[MidnightBlue]

I just looked at some flags at a Hindu event and the flags symbol was clockwise!!!!!!!Thanks

[akrishna59]

the hindu symbol is usually straight vertical and horizontal lines (though variations may exist in rare cases) and not with a clockwise slant (right) as the nazi swastika. i have spent some years studying WW II history and the axis / allied powers and also hindu spirituality purely as a hobby.

 

the pen may have been related to the nazis / fascists or it may be just a "bold" design made by someone later.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[sanpei]

Is a safety produced by Vulcan, I seen and owned some of them in the past,

as correctly said saintsimon was made as souvenir for the italian Hitler's visit

on 1938, nazi swastica and fasces appears on overlay.

 

S

[HeartMan]

I gave my boys fountain pens for their Bnai Mitzvah. This is definitely not a Bar Mitzvah pen.

[diplomat]

Is a safety produced by Vulcan, I seen and owned some of them in the past,

as correctly said saintsimon was made as souvenir for the italian Hitler's visit

on 1938, nazi swastica and fasces appears on overlay.

 

S

 

Sanpei is da man!

[WanderingAuthor]

I gave my boys fountain pens for their Bnai Mitzvah. This is definitely not a Bar Mitzvah pen.

 

That may be the greatest understatement of all time. Just looking at that photo gives me the creeps.

 

I do respect that there are people who collect these for reasons other than a sick fascination with the culture that produced them. But I could never bring myself to own anything like this. I am not Jewish myself, but I would have been sent to the camps for two separate reasons, ocular albinism and AS - and probably as "anti-social" as well, since I really am not the sort to fit in well in a fascist society. Most of us with AS aren't.

 

And, by the way, I do understand and very much respect the fact that Italy was not nearly as active in this regard as Germany. Just as not every German was a Nazi, with the "lax" approach under Mussolini to "eugenic hygeine", no doubt many Italians never even suspected the full extent of the evil their government had allied itself with. And many more of them actively worked to thwart that evil. Since this is an Italian pen, and I've just made a rather negative comment, I think it is only fair to point this out.

 

Again, I'm not suggesting simply owning this pen means anything particular about the owner. But, as an individual, those symbols are engraved in my mind in the context of nightmare. And the occasion it was manufactured to mark does nothing more to endear the pen to me, either.

 

Which is a pity, actually. I can't be certain of this - my reaction to the symbols is too strong - but I have a suspicion that if that exact pen were made with less objectionable engravings adorning it, I'd find it appealing.

[Left FPN]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

[Pepin]

Sorry, but that pen doesn't look Aryan at all. That design screams Eversharp Doric copy!!!

 

Btw, how does it write? Have you checked for gold content? Could be solid gold!!!

[saintsimon]

Sorry, but that pen doesn't look Aryan at all. ...

Hitler didn't either, nor did the Duce, but this pen was made for their meeting in 1938, as confirmed by sanpei.

[sumgaikid]

Have to agree with David,Sanpei and Saintsimon--definitely looks like Italian

fasces and clockwise swastika(the Luftwaffe had the symbol painted on the

tails of their planes in that direction)on an Italian safety pen.

 

An interesting pen to own,perhaps,but not one that I'd be taking out in public

every day............

 

 

John

[somnath1077]

Okay, so given that the pen is a souvenir from 1938 commemorating Hitler's visit to Italy, how much would it be worth today?