Morison Fountain Pen-Hetokiwa Mfg.

[rosey]

I was hoping to find some information on a pen my friend acquired today at a yard sale. She bought several vintage pens and one is a big black pen, which is marked on the barrel: Morison Hetokiwa Mfg Made in Japan. I think it says Hetokiwa from what I can read under a magnifier. The nib is a flex nib marked Morison Iridium Pen <A>. I do know that the pen is at least 35 years old according to the seller.

 

I have done an internet search and a FPN search for information on this pen but have had no luck. The pen is a plunger fill. I am assuming since it's an old pen it might need to be fixed so any information on how to fix it would be nice. My husband tried to fill it with water and it would only fill a few drops.

 

Thanks in advance for any help I receive!

[Richard]

I do know that Morison pens (as distinct from Morrison with two Rs) are Japanese, but to the best of my knowledge the company that made them was named Kikaku Seisakusyo. It's certainly possible that the brand was sold to a different company somewhere along the line or that the company changed its name.

 

Your pen may not be a plunger filler. There are myriad models of Japanese eyedropper-filling pens with an ink shut-off mechanism that looks like a plunger. Try loosening the blind cap a couple of turns and then unscrewing the gripping section from the barrel. If it comes, you can then look at the exposed end of the shaft to see whether there is any trace of a broken-off or decayed gasket.

 

It's also possible that the pen really is a plunger filler; Pilot made some very nice plunger fillers, like this one:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/site/pilot_pf_rfb_restored.jpg

 

(I discovered that this pen, which belongs to a client, was a plunger filler when I began restoring the shaft packing.)

[rosey]

Thanks Richard for the great information on this pen! You are right it is an eyedropper. My husband checked it out and read your site about how to fill an eyedropper. The manufacturer name is not Kikaku Seisakusyo on this particular pen. When I researched it on the internet it gave that company name, but it does not match what this pen says. Hetokiwa Mfg. is the name on the pen. I would like to find out more information about the pen and the year it was made etc. Do you know any history behind this pen? Or do you know where to find this information?

 

We are in the process of cleaning the pen now, it sat in a desk drawer for 35 years. The elderly woman that sold the pen said the pens belonged to her son that died 35 years ago at the age of 16. She was just now going through his desk and cleaning it out.

 

We dip tested the pen earlier and it's got a nice flexy nib on it, which my husband has been wanting for quite some time. I'm going to see if I can purchase this pen from my friend.

I'm glad my friend purchased the pens so we could help her clean them and resac the Esties that are in the bunch. I will refer her to your website, Richard, when she gets ready to learn about her "new" pens. I may get her hooked on fp's yet. Too bad there wasn't a Parker "51" in that bunch!

[Johnny Appleseed]

You could try emailing or PM Ron Dutcher at KamakuraPens.com. He is also the owner of Lion and Pen. Unfortunately, he lives in Okinawa and due to the Typhoon he has been offline for a while (no power and all of that), so it might be a bit before he gets back to you - but he knows Japanese pens.

 

Stan might pop in here at some point to - you could try PMing him as well if he doesn't - FPN name is just "stan" I believe - another Japanese pen afficanado.

 

John

[Taki]

I did search in Japanese but there is not much info. I did find a page with some photos of Morison pens.

 

http://blog.omisekun.com/morisonfactory/

[Phthalo]

Being an eyedropper pen, it will be a lot older than 35 years, it's probably going to be from the 1930's/1940's. I have seen a couple of Morison imprints, but not the one you mention... I would love to see a photo of the barrel. I think Morison were around from the 1920's until the 1960's.

 

The pen will likely be made from ebonite. If it has a nice, glossy black finish, then it's probably also been lacquered with urushi, to prevent the ebonite from fading.

[Taki]

From what I have read in Japanese Morison was a manufacturer of economical lines of pens, and sounds like their business was very good in 1950's. I read in one Japanese site that someone bought a Morison pen in 2002, but at that time it sounds like they were making expensive pens(nib made by a late famous nib craftsman, Ginjiro Kaburagi) in small quantity. They put a flier adgvertising their new pens in Fuente, the magazine for a Japanese pen collector's group. I'm not sure if it is the same company, though.

 

I would like to see a photo of the nib. If it has JIS mark (Japan Industrihal Standard, a broken circle with JIS written vertically) that means the pen was made after WWII.

 

rosey, hope Stan and other experts can help you find out information on your friend's pen

Edited July 21, 2007 by Taki

[rosey]

Here are some photos of the Morison pen in question. Thank you all for the information you've given me so far. I had to wait to put these up until I could use my daughter's camera. Sorry these pictures aren't that great. That's about all my ability will allow! :embarrassed_smile:

Edit to add: sorry these photos are so large, not sure how to reduce them. And I want to add that this is now my pen. My friend was kind enough to give it to me and one of her Estie J's.

Edited July 29, 2007 by rosey