Esterbrook Flo-master Set

[Speterson1000]

Here is a great Flo-Master set. I have a bunch of the pens, but this is the only set. Ink and cleanser are dry, my guess is they are from the 50's. Neat to look at.

[Vargouille]

I saw one of these on Etsy, but decided that it was too much of a novelty to purchase. Looks cool, though.

[nxn96]

Looks pretty messy to me. Wonder how it did in the market. Not very well would be my guess.

[Rabbit]

Looks pretty messy to me. Wonder how it did in the market. Not very well would be my guess.

I haven't done any research at all so I don't know if this is true, but I was talking to a guy at the Ohio pen show who said the ink was found to be really toxic or something so they had to stop making them. Maybe someone can confirm that?

 

I think that set is pretty neat though. I've bid on those before on eBay but always seem to lose. They don't fetch a whole lot, but I guess I have just never been agressive enough to get one. I'd like to eventually get one though just so my Esterbrook stuff would be that more complete.

 

--Stephen

[watchin]

The first time I saw a Flo-Master was in my kindergarten class. It was messy (as was evidenced by the teacher wearing the ink on her hands for days) and smelled really bad (we had to open the windows because our eyes were all watering so bad) and the wet fiber 'nib' gave off a horrible sqeaking sound that made two girls start crying.

For some reason, I really liked the smell of the ink even from across the room but it was definitely what we would call toxic today. Amazingly we can still sell cigarettes but Flo-Masters are just too dangerous.

-William-

[oiaaron]

I have a few bottles of the ink. The tips to the cans were sealed with a lead stopper, my guess is the ink would not be safe for consumption.

[northlodge]

for "the archives" here is a shot of the English version, which I stumbled upon recently:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bfg]

They were popular with artists but it is true that the inks were found to be toxic. I have a nice flo-master pen. Wish there was something i could use in it.

[PaFitch]

They were popular with artists but it is true that the inks were found to be toxic. I have a nice flo-master pen. Wish there was something i could use in it.

 

Farmboy has turned them into highlighters. Recently I noticed in a Dick Blick catalog that they sold refillable markers with marker ink and also replacement fiber tips. I've wondered whether that ink and the tips could revitalize a Flo-Master.

[amberleadavis]

These are so cool!