Pens In World War Two

[WanderingAuthor]

Pen-making materials (Steel, rubber, plastic) were pretty damn short during the war, so it doesn't surprise me that the set you have doesn't match. They would've been making pens out of whatever odds-and-ends they could find during the 1940s. In fact, a friend of mine has a very fine collection of wartime Parkers. They're all mismatched hobnobs of oddities, a testament to how much rationing was affecting the British (they were all English-made) pen industry during the War.

 

I'm not surprised by this - but I'd be very interested to know if you can recall the exact models your friend had. I understand they weren't standard, but it would give me an idea what Parker was making, and what they may not have made (or, of course, what your friend couldn't find an example of...).

[Shangas]

You can ask him yourself. He's a member of the FPN. He goes under the username "Skybird". I have seen them, but I haven't actually taken a close look at them. He's shown them to me at pen shows and pen-club meetings, though. They're very unique and interesting.

[chrmanusiwa]

Regarding this subject herewith a picture of Anne Frank writing her diary with her fountain pen. Investigation doesnt show what kind of brand she used till now. During wwII some German fountain pens been used in the Netherlands. Even when there is a short of products, the Dutch official distributor still have Osmias in stock like the Osmia 224 i got from my wifes grandfather

[mattwiggins]

Great thread! My main hobby (and the hobby that brought me here as I began researching this very topic) is WWII reenacting/living history so I can share a few things that I've learned.

 

The pen sets thing makes a lot of sense. Despite the Army's efforts to keep everything standard and uniform, these were young men who were coming from civilian life and were all of a sudden one of millions. Looking through photographs you find lots of little individual things that they do to make themselves stand out from their comrades, and having a pen would be a great one. Just yesterday I was looking up some information on two brothers who were sergeants in the company my reenacting group represents and found that one of them wrote in his journal about the crossing of the Waal River (the river crossing depected in A Bridge Too Far). While it's hard to say exactly what he wrote it with, it does look like this entry was written in pen. Considering he was killed 6 days later in combat, he must have had a pen with him on the front lines somehow. Here's an image of the diary entry: http://www.orthmilitaria.com/images/1a1aparaf11_h2cc.jpg

 

Recently I ran across a series of pictures of items in personal effects bags sent home to relatives of deceased American troops. Here are two that have pens: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4882337501_a54e593fff_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4882945250_87aea0a4f5_b.jpg

Don't know if someone can ID them, would be nice to know what they are.

 

As far as issued pens, I recently ran across a reference to ink bottles meant for field desks and there were specific Army issue bottles made of black rubber or plastic. Unfortunately I can't remember where I saw that but I'll keep looking.

 

When I can get to a scanner I'll scan a picture of a pen in the GI Collector's Guide. I don't think it's a fountain pen though.

 

Here's a link to pictures and info on wartime pencils: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/design/milclips.htm

Edited May 16, 2011 by mattwiggins

[Chris]

Dear ladies and gentlemen of FPN,

 

What a joy it is when a thread like this turns up so much fascinating material. Rather like any group of enthusiasts (and a fellow commuter is a steam engine fanatic), it is down to us collectively to assemble the information and double check our facts because, as was said earlier, no one else will do it for us. But, apart from our common interest in fountain pens, inks and paper, we also can call upon so many other talents that help in our quest for enlightenment on any aspect of our interest since we all have or had other 'day jobs'.

 

So, do please continue to contribute to this thread and add to others in a similar vein that have been posted previously so that we do indeed develop a source of expertise.

 

For my contribution, I can only say that visits to places like Churchill's home, Chartwell, and the Cabinet War Rooms in London (well woth it if you are in the area) indicated to me that pencils predominated, dip pens were provided, typewriters were important and individual fountain pens were personal and valuable. I wonder whether similar situations regarding writing materials existed for 'the other side'.

 

Chris

[trent]

Alas, I have seen photos of Pelikans with swastikas on the clip. I cannot know if these were authentic or fakes forged for the Nazi memorabilia market. Unfortunately, Nazis tried to promote the party in all products of daily use---there were Nazi cigarette brands, for example, one of which was called Trommler or Drummer. I doubt that the directors of Pelikan could have refused to make special edition luxury pens for high Nazi officials; most companies had to cooperate in some way. Recently I saw a guide book to a Nazi art exhibition from 1943, and it was full of advertisements for Mercedes, Nymphenburg china, and even the German branch of Eberhard Faber pencils.

Edited July 23, 2011 by trent

[WanderingAuthor]

Alas, I have seen photos of Pelikans with swastikas on the clip. I cannot know if these were authentic or fakes forged for the Nazi memorabilia market. Unfortunately, Nazis tried to promote the party in all products of daily use---there were Nazi cigarette brands, for example, one of which was called Trommler or Drummer. I doubt that the directors of Pelikan could have refused to make special edition luxury pens for high Nazi officials; most companies had to cooperate in some way. Recently I saw a guide book to a Nazi art exhibition from 1943, and it was full of advertisements for Mercedes, Nymphenburg china, and even the German branch of Eberhard Faber pencils.

 

I'm not surprised. I'm sure there are examples of just about any model of German pen produced at the time with swastikas. What I was pointing out earlier was that, as far as I know, none of the pen manufacturers had a special relationship with the Nazi party. As you point out, the directors could hardly have refused to produce such models even if they'd wished to - and I'm sure the personal opinions of specific directors in particular companies were all over the map. But I don't know of any German pen companies with the sort of relationship with the NSDAP that IG Farben, for example, had. I don't know of any that were conspicuously led by rabid Nazis. And I think that's all we can reasonably ask.

[trent]

Absolutely, I agree---even if swastika Pelikans exist, it does not mean that the Pelikan company per se was led by Nazis or Nazi sympathizers, nor does it mean that the company had any special relationship to the party. If the party wanted a series of swastika pens, there would have been no denying the request without dire consequences.

[sadiemagic]

Great thread! My main hobby (and the hobby that brought me here as I began researching this very topic) is WWII reenacting/living history so I can share a few things that I've learned.

 

The pen sets thing makes a lot of sense. Despite the Army's efforts to keep everything standard and uniform, these were young men who were coming from civilian life and were all of a sudden one of millions. Looking through photographs you find lots of little individual things that they do to make themselves stand out from their comrades, and having a pen would be a great one. Just yesterday I was looking up some information on two brothers who were sergeants in the company my reenacting group represents and found that one of them wrote in his journal about the crossing of the Waal River (the river crossing depected in A Bridge Too Far). While it's hard to say exactly what he wrote it with, it does look like this entry was written in pen. Considering he was killed 6 days later in combat, he must have had a pen with him on the front lines somehow. Here's an image of the diary entry: http://www.orthmilitaria.com/images/1a1aparaf11_h2cc.jpg

 

Recently I ran across a series of pictures of items in personal effects bags sent home to relatives of deceased American troops. Here are two that have pens: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4882337501_a54e593fff_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4882945250_87aea0a4f5_b.jpg

Don't know if someone can ID them, would be nice to know what they are.

 

As far as issued pens, I recently ran across a reference to ink bottles meant for field desks and there were specific Army issue bottles made of black rubber or plastic. Unfortunately I can't remember where I saw that but I'll keep looking.

 

When I can get to a scanner I'll scan a picture of a pen in the GI Collector's Guide. I don't think it's a fountain pen though.

 

Here's a link to pictures and info on wartime pencils: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/design/milclips.htm

 

Well, certainly some men on the front carried fountain pens. My father was a private first class in WWII, assigned to the 8th infantry division (the Golden Arrow) in the Third Army. He served in the Northern France, Rhineland, and Eastern European campaigns. He went to war with a small Sheaffer Balance brown striated FP given to him by his sweetheart (later to be his wife and my mom) and he wrote home to her regularly with it. I have the cards he sent, and the envelopes which contained his letters (my mother apparently destroyed the letters after his death) and they obviously are written in fountain pen ink.

 

What I cannot figure out is how he got the ink. Sadly both he and my mom are long gone, I would love to ask him that now!

[WanderingAuthor]

What I cannot figure out is how he got the ink. Sadly both he and my mom are long gone, I would love to ask him that now!

 

I can't offer a specific answer, of course. But I do know that soldiers were very clever "foragers" when they needed to be. I remember reading about an issue of Stars and Stripes (I think; some Armed Forces publication) published in Italy with at least one printing plate made from sheet zinc scavenged from a coffin and worked into a plate... Compared to that, ink would be downright easy. After all, this was in a time when the stuff would be all over the place. Stores, offices, homes, almost any place would be likely to have some ink on hand when you needed it. And I never recall reading of any particular wartime shortage of ink. I'm sure quality may have suffered here and there, if ingredients had to be substituted. But I've never read of anyone complaining of a shortage of ink - as I have read in certain other times and places.

[EdwardHowland]

From what I know, the US military did not buy and issue fountain pens during WW2. The olive drab pens made by Morrison were marketed to service personnel, but were not government issue -- no matter what some wishful eBay descriptions may claim.

 

As has already been noted, dip pen sets were bought and issued by the Navy. I have seen a number of them, all clearly marked as such. I have not seen any for other branches of the military, though they may exist.

 

I suspect the British and Canadian forces followed a similar pattern, though my experience there is more limited. I understand that the RAF did buy some early ballpoint pens for issue to flight personnel, but that would seem to be an exceptional case.

 

I have seen, rarely, on EBay some of the flat Esterbrook ink wells labeled "Property of the U.S. Army Air Force."

[daynix]

I recently purchased a very nice, near mint Eversharp doric in black that is marked "U.S. Government" - as a retired military man, I've had many, many cheap ballpoint pens with the same marking. It seems a little strange that the government would purchase such an expensive pen for distribution to its personnel, but "the pen does not lie."

[daynix]

"Other things that were rationed included cigarettes, makeup, plastics and certain metals, such as steel. During the War, more fountain pens were made with gold nibs than steel, because steel was needed in the war-effort. Pen-companies even advertised that people should take better care of their pens, because pen-repair materials, such as metal (for nibs), plastic (for pen-barrels and caps), and rubber (for the ink-sacs), were all now valuable wartime resources."

 

Source:http://scheong.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/blackouts-raids-and-rationing-the-blitz-and-the-home-front-of-wwii-pt-i/

 

Definitely true for American pens, not so for European - Pelikans, for instance, show up with CN nibs, and Montblanc pens have various styles of steel nibs, with gold wash, etc. Italian pens fall into the same category - in Germany, I believe gold was declared a war material and was required by the government.

[benn093]

I know from family members who served, and those who stayed behind in the UK, that fountain pens were carried and used but were mostly pre-war manufacture. My father carried an old school pen with him, possibly a cheap Mentmore, that was a gift from his mother before the war. Every piece of paper still in the family's possession from then, from old leave passes to the odd letter, seem to have been written in blue-black inkThere is an interesting photograph in a book about rationing in wartime ("The Wartime Kitchen and Garden")that accompanied a BBC (I think) TV series and shows ration books being issued. Although each clerk had an inkwell and dip pens, fountain pens were being used by all present. One photo does show a farmer's wife doing her weekly ration points calculation using a goose quill and a pot of ink, though! I believe in the UK that Stephens won the contract to provide fountain pens to the civil service and that they ere either black plastic/bakelite or hard rubber. In the Canadian War Museum there is a Parker Challenger on display, used to sign a surrender document.

 

In my late father's diary, for 1944, he wrote that he had bought a pen for his sister's birthday. This was when he was in Rome, very soon after it was declared a free city, so there must have been some manufacture then, if only for the souvenir trade.

 

I have served in the Royal Air Force and am now in the Canadian Forces (RCAF but serving aboard HMCS Vancouver off N.Africa) and have managed to find older pens in many ports we have visited. And up in Alert, near the North Pole, a cheap but serviceable Pilot disposable has worked well and survived countless flights in a C-130 without leaking or freezing!

[WanderingAuthor]

In my late father's diary, for 1944, he wrote that he had bought a pen for his sister's birthday. This was when he was in Rome, very soon after it was declared a free city, so there must have been some manufacture then, if only for the souvenir trade.

 

Or some shops that still had old stock on hand.

 

I have served in the Royal Air Force and am now in the Canadian Forces (RCAF but serving aboard HMCS Vancouver off N.Africa) and have managed to find older pens in many ports we have visited. And up in Alert, near the North Pole, a cheap but serviceable Pilot disposable has worked well and survived countless flights in a C-130 without leaking or freezing!

 

What ink do you use? The Noodlers Polar series?

[tigger23505]

While not a fountain pen. The US Navy, had a contract at some point before or during the war for Swiv-o-dex ink wells that were factory marked PROPERTY OF US NAVY. One of the unique things about the Swiv-o-dex design was that the ink well was resistant to tipping as ships rocked and rolled.

 

The principle purpose of the inkwell and desk pen was keeping the ship's log. Maritime law has long held the Ship's log and the Engine Room Bell book to be legal documents both are to be preserved if possible in case of accident. Pencil was not acceptable as it could be erased.

 

Photo graphic evidence includes photos from the Japanese Surrender on the USS Missouri.

 

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/japansur/js-8g.htm

 

Photo #: SC 213700

 

At the foreground end of the table, the inkwell is a swiv-o-dex

[Shangas]

Just a small point of information and interest I thought I'd bring up. While I'm sure some people who have contributed to this thread probably know this fact, this is for the people who don't know...

 

Because a number of people in this thread are discussing fountain pens during the War in relation to military as well as to civilian use, I think it's important to note that prior to the end of WWII, the United States did not have a dedicated and separate airforce.

 

Prior to the late 1940s, the United States had a Navy and it had an Army. However, it didn't have a separate airforce. Throughout the duration of WWII, aerial operations of the U.S. military forces was conducted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), which at the time, was officially part of the U.S. Army, and was not its own separate entity.

 

It wasn't until...1947, I believe, well after the end of the war, that the United States Air Force (USAF) existed.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Shangas

[WanderingAuthor]

Just a small point of information and interest I thought I'd bring up. While I'm sure some people who have contributed to this thread probably know this fact, this is for the people who don't know...

 

Because a number of people in this thread are discussing fountain pens during the War in relation to military as well as to civilian use, I think it's important to note that prior to the end of WWII, the United States did not have a dedicated and separate airforce.

 

Prior to the late 1940s, the United States had a Navy and it had an Army. However, it didn't have a separate airforce. Throughout the duration of WWII, aerial operations of the U.S. military forces was conducted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), which at the time, was officially part of the U.S. Army, and was not its own separate entity.

 

It wasn't until...1947, I believe, well after the end of the war, that the United States Air Force (USAF) existed.

 

You're right about the USAAF - but they didn't conduct all aerial operations for the US military. There were naval aviators who flew off aircraft carriers, and also naval aviators who flew out of various naval airfields. And, of course, there were Marine aviators as well. (The Marines, for anyone who doesn't know this, fall under the Department of the Navy.) The USAAF conducted most of the aerial operations in the European theater (I'm sure there were at least a few Naval operations there), while the Navy conducted most of the aerial operations in the Pacific theater (Marines and Navy pilots flying off aircraft carriers, mainly), although there were a few USAAF units involved. Beyond the main theaters, I'm not really sure just who flew where...

[Parker51]

In regard to the clip question, which was mentioned earlier in this thread, military clips do not necessarily indicate that the pen was made any time even near World War Two. I have a 1927 Wahl-Eversharp with a "Soldier's" clip. this was how it was marketed, per the 1927 Magazine advertisement I was able to match the pen to.

 

In regard to Pelikan pens and World War Two, the histories of Pelikan that I have read mention the prohibitions the German Government imposed on industry as related to the use of Gold, from well before the outbreak of hostilities. Thus there are many years of Pelikan production in which pens which otherwise would have had gold nibs, did not. (One must remember that well prior to the beginning of hostilities the German Government was having budget problems and restricted the use of a variety of materials which by their nature had to be imported, in an effort to maintain currency reserves, by avoiding unneeded imports and to stimulate the use of domestic alternatives where available.)

 

Which brings us around to the very real possibility that combatants on all sides might have been writing with the same model of Fountain Pen. I have seen advertisements from the 1930s highlighting how much a Parker Vacumatic sold for, after import duties around the world. While the volume of sales to the continent from the US after hostilities started likely was significantly decreased, the reality was that until very late in 1941, the US was still making and selling high quality Fountain Pens, and if one could not, at any price purchase a new fine European made fountain pen with a Gold nib, well, for those with the money, they likely could get a nice new US made pen, even if they no longer where being officially imported.

[daynix]

Just a small point of information and interest I thought I'd bring up. While I'm sure some people who have contributed to this thread probably know this fact, this is for the people who don't know...

 

Because a number of people in this thread are discussing fountain pens during the War in relation to military as well as to civilian use, I think it's important to note that prior to the end of WWII, the United States did not have a dedicated and separate airforce.

 

Prior to the late 1940s, the United States had a Navy and it had an Army. However, it didn't have a separate airforce. Throughout the duration of WWII, aerial operations of the U.S. military forces was conducted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), which at the time, was officially part of the U.S. Army, and was not its own separate entity.

 

It wasn't until...1947, I believe, well after the end of the war, that the United States Air Force (USAF) existed.

 

You're right about the USAAF - but they didn't conduct all aerial operations for the US military. There were naval aviators who flew off aircraft carriers, and also naval aviators who flew out of various naval airfields. And, of course, there were Marine aviators as well. (The Marines, for anyone who doesn't know this, fall under the Department of the Navy.) The USAAF conducted most of the aerial operations in the European theater (I'm sure there were at least a few Naval operations there), while the Navy conducted most of the aerial operations in the Pacific theater (Marines and Navy pilots flying off aircraft carriers, mainly), although there were a few USAAF units involved. Beyond the main theaters, I'm not really sure just who flew where...

 

Actually, there were a large number of Army Air Force pilots and units flying in the Pacific theater. Actually, there were were a number of Pacific Theaters - Central Pacific (under Nimitz), SW Pacific (under MacArthur),and the China-Burma-India theater (SE Asia). MacArthur was very concerned to have his ground based air support him and found that Naval Air didn't have the punch or staying power of his heavy bombers and other ground based units. I purchased a pen from a retired Naval officer who loved his Eversharp Skyline - I restored it and returned it to him.