Vintage Waterman's Ink Names

[Dave Johannsen]

Well, I've been using Waterman's "Tropic Green" (the one with a palm tree on the label) for some time now and really like the color. So, after discovering the name "Patrician Purple" (has a gondola on the label) I managed to find and purchase a bottle of that (it's on the way from Canada). Now, I would like to try to acquire all the vintage Waterman's colors - well, at least those with the nifty picture labels. In addition to the above, I know of "Aztec Brown" and "Carnation Red." Are there any other colors that I have missed? What is pictured on these bottles? Presumably there is a black and a blue-black and a blue, but can these be found with cool picture labels? Does anyone know the dates during which these cool ink bottles were produced (the bottles are "tip tank" shaped and have metal caps, if that narrows the range). Thanks for any information.

 

 

 

Dave

[johnboz]

Hi Dave - Congratulations on discovering the joys of vintage ink!

 

The Waterman Inks you're referring to were made from the late 1930s or early 1940s through the late 1950s (that's a guess). There were two styles of boxes and labels. The early boxes and labels had a graphic that covered the entire area. The later boxes and labels had graphics inside of an oval. If I had to guess, I'd say the switch was made in the mid-1940s, probably after WWII.

 

The Patrician Purple is one of the most intense purples around and it seems to perform differently than any other ink I've tried. Tropic Green is a wonderful green, as you know. Aztec Brown is pretty tough to find and Carnation Red seems to turn up fairly often. There's another "picture label" ink and that's South Sea Blue. It's my favorite blue of all-time. There is also a black, blue and blue-black. During WWII, black became V-Black.

 

I've attached a few photos so you can see what the boxes and designs look like. I hope this helps!

 

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/johnboz/WatermanInk-3.jpg

 

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/johnboz/WatermanInk-5.jpg

[Kabe]

I love the fact that the blue balck laberl actually seems like a cut and paste job

[Dave Johannsen]

Hi Dave - Congratulations on discovering the joys of vintage ink!

 

John:

 

First, thank you for the great posting of the photos - it's really interesting to see the change in box styles. Beside the Tropic Green that's always in one of my pens, I've now got bottles of Patrician Purple and Carnation Red on the way. I've also got a line on a quart size master bottle of Tropic Green, but I'm not sure that I want to spend the money on this as it's only for personal use (and no matter how much I like it, I'm not sure that I can ever get through even a small portion of a quart).

 

As for the production period of these inks, it seems to confirm a theory that I had. Namely, that these picture labels were probably launched in response to the Carter's Ink Cubes. Though the labels aren't quite as snazzy as the Carter's, it seems not so tough to find the Waterman's bottles with useable ink (those Carter's bottles seem almost always to be dried up). Did any other makers go down the picture label route? (I'm pretty comfortable in saying that neither Quink nor Skrip ever did anything like this.)

 

I find that I'm using vintage ink more and more, now. Probably half of my pens are filled with vintage ink at any one time. Beside the budding interest in these Waterman's inks, I've got a fair amount of vintage Quink, a couple of bottles of Sanford Penit, and some Skrip Blue-Black (I won't call my Parker Penman inks "vintage" :-)).

 

You know, I've really been meaning to order a copy of your book, as soon as the 15th rolls around I will grab a copy. I really look forward to learning more about these great old inks. By the way, do you know anything about Crescent ink or Signet ink (by Russia Cement Company)? So many ink makers and so few pens to fill... (sigh)

 

 

Dave

[johnboz]

I think that it makes sense that the picture labels were produced to compete with Carter's cubes. Another factor is that Waterman was one of the first companies to name their inks with descriptive color names, so instead of Washable Purple (Skrip) it's Patrician Purple. Maybe they thought they needed pictures to enhance the images that were conjured up by the ink names. Skrip eventually started with the descriptive names (Emerald Green, Melon Red, Persian Rose, etc...). Quink didn't use more descriptive names, although Superchrome and "51" inks did (Cobalt Blue, China Red, Jade Green, etc...). I don't think any other manufacturers used pictures that changed depending on the color of ink.

 

You are also correct about the differences in Waterman's Inks and Carter's Inks. Carter's Ink is almost always dried up. Those cubes are very difficult to find with good ink still inside. Waterman's bottles are not at all uncommon to find completely full with no signs of evaporation at all.

 

The Waterman's ink selection is my favorite of the vintage inks. Collectively, they're by far the most attractive colors, in my opinion.

 

I've got a few bottles of Crescent ink and might have one of Signet, but I don't know much about the companies. Sorry.

[Dave Johannsen]

I've got a few bottles of Crescent ink and might have one of Signet, but I don't know much about the companies. Sorry.

 

Google books turned up a large number of advertisements for Signet ink. It seems that it was in production from at least the late 'teens. I didn't take the time to really look for the latest advertisement (to establish an end of production date). Google turned up nothing especially useful for Crescent inks (I don't think that there's any reason to link them to the Conklin company).

 

Anyway, today's mail brought great looking 2oz bottles of Quink Washable Brown and Green, and Permanent Red. The box flaps have Vacumatic advertising, so this nails down the manufacture date to a reasonable range. It's time to go break out the dip pen and see how the inks have stood up to the years.

 

 

Again, thank you for everything,

 

Dave

[Dave Johannsen]

The box flaps have Vacumatic advertising, so this nails down the manufacture date to a reasonable range.

 

In fact, the box flaps tout the new Blue Diamond guarantee. Since Parker introduced the Blue Diamond in 1939, this really narrows the production range to probably a couple of year window.

 

 

Dave