Search the Community

I recently found this Esterbrook Model B Dollar Pen. I bought the pen for $10 and should have taken "before" pictures so you could see what I was dealing with. The Clip: As purchased, the clip looked as though it was caked with ink. It wasn't ink...it was corrosion. Spending a lot of time in the ultrasonic improved things but, ultimately, I used a wad of "Never Dull" to clean up the clip. At some point in the process it occurred to me that, "hey..the clip is supposed to be stainless steel. What is this corrosion doing on stainless steel?" (I went to college). I grabbed a magnet and tested the clip. The magnet would support the weight of the entire cap from the top of the clip. I tested my two other Dollar Pens...no magnetic attraction. Discovering this caused me to initially postulate that this pen was from sometime during WWII. It is my understanding that Esterbrook transitioned to plated steel furniture during the war and even dispensed with the cap ring. But wait! This pen has a cap ring and it is not of steel as it is not attracted to the magnet...and then there's the lever... The Lever: The lever appears to be stainless steel. It also is not your typical Dollar Pen lever at all. It is a lever like one would see on a J Series pen as it has the groove down its center. Based on this, I have modified my theory and am now postulating that this pen is from either the early war years, before the cap ring was eliminated or (more likely) the late war years when material restrictions were relaxed and during the time when the Dollar Pen was about to be phased out for the transition to the J Series. I am not an Esterbrook collector and am not familiar with all of the variants out there. At the present time, I own three SJs, an LJ, two Model Bs (including this one) and a Model H. I would appreciate the input of those of you more familiar with Esterbrooks from the 1930s and 40s. Oh...the nib is a "hard floor victim" 2886. I have a replacement on the way here as I write this. Cliff