Morgan Pens?

[lemanfan]

Just won this pen set our my local eBay ripoff:

 

http://www.elenfors.com/images/pens/148811865_1.jpg

 

Since the name "morgan" is a bit generic, I have a hard time googling for history of these pens.

 

The nib on the FP is marked "WARRANTED 14 K 2 MADE IN THE USA".

 

Are these known to anyone? I bought them here in Sweden, and the seller guessed that they from the 1930-ies. At that time, it was apparantly common for importers to rebrand pens as their own, so that could possibly add to the confusion.

 

The picture is from the auction, will take my own soon.

Edited September 3, 2012 by lemanfan

[northlodge]

Just won this pen set our my local eBay ripoff:

 

http://www.elenfors.com/images/pens/148811865_1.jpg

 

Since the name "morgan" is a bit generic, I have a hard time googling for history of these pens.

 

The nib on the FP is marked "WARRANTED 14 K 2 MADE IN THE USA".

 

Are these known to anyone? I bought them here in Sweden, and the seller guessed that they from the 1930-ies. At that time, it was apparantly common for importers to rebrand pens as their own, so that could possibly add to the confusion.

 

The picture is from the auction, will take my own soon.

 

 

 

 

I might be mistaken but I think these very same pens passed through my hands a couple of years back. Anyway, when I had pens like these, I did some research and found that the Morgan company was one of many that operated in a small area of new York (cannot recall the actual address, but it was information available on the web).

 

If I recall correctly they were actually a well constructed pen set.

 

 

 

[lemanfan]

 

I might be mistaken but I think these very same pens passed through my hands a couple of years back. Anyway, when I had pens like these, I did some research and found that the Morgan company was one of many that operated in a small area of new York (cannot recall the actual address, but it was information available on the web).

 

If I recall correctly they were actually a well constructed pen set.

 

Cool! It's a small world.

 

Do you mean New York City or the Empire State?

[northlodge]

It was some time back, but I find a site that listed a number of pen manufacturers that were operating within afew blocks of one another in New York city I believe. perhaps one of the many FPN'ers from that part of the world will provide more details

[dbm]

Morgan Pen and Pencil Co. 116 Nassau Street, Manhattan

[chelydra]

I've read in several places (or maybe I just keep coming across the same quote on different web sites) that Morgan made THE BEST NIBS IN THE WORLD in its heyday (circa 1910-20?) and that MontBlanc (in its earliest incarnation as Simplo or Simplex) actually bought the European rights to whatever it was that made Morgan nibs so special. I'm not sure of the details (they may leased some nib-masters), and it may even have been some other company than MontBlanc (it was not Pelikan, whose earlier nibs came from MontBlanc), but I definitely recall this was said about Morgan nibs from New York city!

 

I also recall that Morgan went under pretty early... maybe bought out by Waterman or Wahl?—possibly early 1920s. The photos posted above by lemanfan and dbm are the first photographic evidence I've seen that Morgan pens ever existed—I was beginning to think Morgans were just a legend, perhaps invented by some Yank resentful of German technological supremacy.

Edited September 3, 2016 by chelydra

[dbm]

There is also a Japanese pen company named Morgan as well........with beautiful nibs. I have never found an earlier pen than 1930's

 

morgan fountain pen.tiff

[dbm]

I have recently acquired some more Morgan pens, and a couple of Japanese ones which I think were a higher quality than the company based in New York.

[tmenyc]

Thanks for the info in this post...a Morgan has found me, and it is one very lovely little writer!  It's only 4 1/8" long, with a nib that writes like a supertanker. 

Tim

 

[amberleadavis]

1 hour ago, tmenyc said:

Thanks for the info in this post...a Morgan has found me, and it is one very lovely little writer!  It's only 4 1/8" long, with a nib that writes like a supertanker. 

Tim

 

 

What a cutie!  Thank you for sharing.

[John T]

They do exist, this one came to me via a antique mall in Virginia... Interestingly enough given the comments above it came with a Waterman #2 nib... I will let you know how it writes after the shellac dries and I get it back together. 

[John T]

4 hours ago, John T said:

They do exist, this one came to me via a antique mall in Virginia... Interestingly enough given the comments above it came with a Waterman #2 nib... I will let you know how it writes after the shellac dries and I get it back together. 

So this pen will go in the case with the rest of my pens and I will enjoy that it was the first pen I resacked, (and I like the celluloid) but the nib is so scratchy and scary flexible that I will never use it to write...