What Pen Would My Soldier Use?

[OcalaFlGuy]

I also had another angle to the Esterbrook Dollar pen theory.

 

Esterbrook put A LOT of emphasis on institutional sales. I'd argue more than most any other maker. (Hence the

myriad of "branded" Esties.)

 

Based on that I'd say that there was a better chance that most late adolescents of the day would likely at some time

have used an Estie in school. Then, when they had some of their first and lowest paying jobs, THAT'S the pen they'd

be very likely to gravitate to. (And IMO, Ernst was Dead On with his pricing thoughts.)

 

I would think that Esties would have been widely available at multiple places around most US military bases.

Very possible as Government Issue.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[2GreyCats]

I've thought for some time that an Estie J, either blue or red I think, is what Steve Rogers had in his pocket.

[dorothynotgale]

I've thought for some time that an Estie J, either blue or red I think, is what Steve Rogers had in his pocket.

Well, of course you KNOW he'd have a US-made pen, a nice one that he could sketch with in between bouts of smashing people with his shield. Probably a large one, bought new after his hands grew.

 

*has elaborate headcanon regarding Steve's Serious Opinions on Writing in the 21st Century*

[jar]

Remember that the US soldier entering WWII would vary considerably. There would be the young kid just out of high school, the older man who was likely leaving a job and family, the recent college grad, the professional ...

 

Look at pictures from the period of the lines at recruiting offices and the variety of folk.

 

When my Dad went overseas he took his fountain pen with him. It was a Parker Vacumatic and he gave my mother a "51" to use to write to him but most of the letters from him appear to have been written in pencil. You can even see signs of erasures in some.

[rwilsonedn]

Seems like there are many variables. Did the soldier take the pen with him, buy it on a base or on leave in England, or did his family send it to him? Was he in a combat unit, in support, or on a desk? What was his economic status? 1943 is a bit early for a soldier to have liberated a European pen, except maybe a French pen from Algeria.

ron

[Tom Aquinas]

Depending on the theater of war it could be a Pelikan 100N with a metal nib instead of a golden one. He could have pilfered the pen from a fallen high-ranking German officer or from an overrun command post. Most German soldiers likely used very soft pencils who would write even on wet paper but in an HQ you might find some FP's for signing orders etc.

 

The German government banned gold in domestic production fountain pens around 1938 or 1939.

 

As regards pens a soldier might carry, Parkers were popular but in the field the indellible pencil was very popular (the risks of the lead base were not really regarded) and whatever their unit issued.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Tom Aquinas

[Mags]

I checked with my great uncle and as he was a Canadian soldier in WWII the pencil suggestion stands. Fountain pens were used in branches more than other ones. He enlisted in Moose Jaw, SK and had to be Navy as he and his Dad liked the whites uniform. Anyhow he ended up a Petty Officer and underwater welder and used an Esterbrook pen as duty officers even non commissioned had to sign in ink. He also had a pen gifted to him by his sweetie so he wrote her frequently so while he still to this day is a pencil guy over a pen he was actively writing weekly to his fiancé and later wife as he moved around to his postings.

 

Great Uncle Fred is 95 and resides in Florida which he moved to in the 50's. He was active at cape caniveral as a foreman welding launch pads, my aunt was well respected and often out photographing Florida citrus ...she went down in a plane crash but returned to her passion of photography though never flying again. Now deceased she is forever remembered and her family has taken in Uncle Fred so he can avoid these cold Canadian winters.

[Vintagepens]

Keep in mind that collectors are looking back over past times through the prism of collecting. That is, they think in terms of what is collected and desired nowadays, and not necessarily what was popular and widely used back then.

I've sometimes called this the LeMat syndrome (this revolver-cum-shotgun is/was extremely rare and esoteric, but historical fiction writers just can't seem to resist sticking one into any American Civil War story).

 

Wooden pencils in the discussion so far nicely illustrate this.

So too the almost reflexive suggestion of a Pelikan -- even though Pelikans represented only a very small fraction of German fountain pens in use at the time.

 

Even Esterbrooks weren't the most common cheap pen in the USA at the time. They get mentioned, though, because they are the most common cheap pen of sufficient quality to be of interest to collectors.

 

Many, many more pens were bought back then by makers like Wearever.

 

There is a Consumer's Union article from 1942 that reviews fountain pens. Take a look at it, for while it does include some top-tier models, it gives the nod to brands almost universally shunned by 21st-century collectors.

[rwilsonedn]

[snip]

 

There is a Consumer's Union article from 1942 that reviews fountain pens. Take a look at it, for while it does include some top-tier models, it gives the nod to brands almost universally shunned by 21st-century collectors.

David:

This sounds fascinating. Do you have a link to it?

ron

[Mags]

http://www.wishbookweb.com/

 

 

here is the link to sears catalogues and a service man writing kit for $1.79

[dorothynotgale]

I'd like to thank everyone who has commented and offered their opinions on this. There's so much to learn, and so many new avenues of research to pursue. Your info is invaluable even just in terms of pointing me in the right direction, and I really appreciate it.

[kazoolaw]

Most likely though would be a wooden pencil.

http://www.gmanreviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Saving-Private-Ryan-Pencil.jpg

[Vintagepens]

David:

This sounds fascinating. Do you have a link to it?

ron

 

I've not had time to do a full search, but I don't think it is posted online anywhere, including the PCA library. My memory may be a little fuzzy on the details; from what I recall, there were two articles in Consumer Reports on fountain pens, one a year or two into the war (for the USA), the other immediately postwar (I have that reference: vol. 11, Nov 1946, pp. 290-93; ballpoints were reviewed pp. 287-90).

[Vintagepens]

There's a summary of the first review, from 1944 here (Zoss list archive).

[rwilsonedn]

There's a summary of the first review, from 1944 here (Zoss list archive).

Thanks! That is really interesting, even in summary. It is hard for me to relate to that war-time save-reuse-everything perspective. As in rating the Vac above the 51 because it writes as well for the same price, and emphasizing getting an old pen serviced instead of buying a new one. In some ways though, the author seems to align with most collectors today: thinking the major-brand pens are pretty good, and disliking the no-names and poor Wearever. But then, if a decent Sheaffer was less than a dollar more expensive than a Wearever ...

ron

[Vintagepens]

In the Zoss discussion there was talk of scanning the review and giving it to the PCA to put in the Reference Library. The same should be done for the 1946 review as well. I know I have copies of them myself, but in photocopy and somewhere at my workspace, not at home.

 

You see what I mean about very different approaches between then and now? It's still more apparent in the 1946 review, where for example the Venus is top-rated. We think the 51 is tops, but Consumer's Union back then took a skeptical stance towards its expense and novelty. Then again, they didn't get to see, as we do, how the better pens held up over the years, while the cheapies warped and wore out.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Well, CR's appraisal of Esterbrook and Wearever seem just as relevant today.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Kaweco]

Hello

I second voormas` idea about German soldier`s writing articles. There was a handbook for Amerian soldiers during ww2 to learn about the complete personal war equipment of German soldiers, wheappons amunition, cloths, mess kits and so on. As writing articles they had a Pelikan 100 or a Kaweco or an Osmia fountain pen besides paper and pencil.

The pic shows a fountainpen from an American soldier. I bought it at a local fleamarket near the US Headquater in Heidelberg/ Germany.

Kind Regards

Thomas

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/Thomasnr/sheldon004_zps2087c0b5.jpg

Edited June 29, 2013 by Kaweco

[georges zaslavsky]

Sheaffer Valiant Triumph Vac fill or Parker 51 Vacumatic

[cadfael_tex]

My grandfather was a driver for General Omar Bradley. I have a glass ink well and pen rest that belonged to the General. Not sure if it adds anything to the discussion but there it is if it does provide any clues.