Mercedes 50 Vintage German Fountain Pen

May 20, 2012

Hi FPNers,

i just found this mercedes 50 vintage fp on ebay. It is pistol fillers and looks pretty gd as well. But i have never heard of this brand and i cant find any history on the internet either. I am just wondering can anyone brief me some information in regards to this pen

Cheers =]

May 20, 2012

I also have one, it is a Heidelberg pen. Heidelberg was at one time the fountain pen capitol of the world, having some 15 or perhaps more factories in the neighborhood of the University city.

It was made into the '60s...perhaps a bit longer.

Perhaps Thomas - 'Kaweco' has written a thread about it. He is a pen historian, here in Heidelberg.

I am quite satisfied with mine. It has a semi-flex nib which was 'normal' for German pens of that era. (Semi-flex and 'flexi'-maxi-semi-flex nibs were normal for German pens until @'65.((MB made semi-flex until 1975.)

Mine has an OM nib.

An OM or an OF nib with some flex is not 'scratchy'.

As noobie when I ran into that nib, I did not know any thing about Oblique nibs and through it scratchy. I didn't realize that the OM and OF nibs are more sensitive to the hold than an OB.

I am very glad I am lazy...had I been energetic, I might have ground at the nib in ignorance.

May 20, 2012

Nice looking pen. Let us know how you like it.

May 21, 2012

I also have one, it is a Heidelberg pen. Heidelberg was at one time the fountain pen capitol of the world, having some 15 or perhaps more factories in the neighborhood of the University city.
It was made into the '60s...perhaps a bit longer.

Perhaps Thomas - 'Kaweco' has written a thread about it. He is a pen historian, here in Heidelberg.

I am quite satisfied with mine. It has a semi-flex nib which was 'normal' for German pens of that era. (Semi-flex and 'flexi'-maxi-semi-flex nibs were normal for German pens until @'65.((MB made semi-flex until 1975.)
Mine has an OM nib.

An OM or an OF nib with some flex is not 'scratchy'.
As noobie when I ran into that nib, I did not know any thing about Oblique nibs and through it scratchy. I didn't realize that the OM and OF nibs are more sensitive to the hold than an OB.

I am very glad I am lazy...had I been energetic, I might have ground at the nib in ignorance.

I am trying to google "kaweco" about this pen =] this reali raises my interest.

What a shame someone out bid me on ebay on the last ten seconds =[

I messaged the owner and he told he got it from Germany, and he is planning to go there again. Hopefully he will get some more of these back.

I kinda find some information about the mercedes pen company which started by an ex-employee from Montblanc during the 1950s.

May 21, 2012

Mine is a few years later than that 'early' '50's pen. Mine is latter half of the '50's beginning of the '60's.

I had an impression Mercedes started before the war. I don't have the fact on hand...need a hypnotist. :embarrassed_smile:

I had a cap that fit a 400, and that pen, both were as well made as Pelikan or Geha.

The founder worked for MB once is also an impression I have.

If I had a brain that will hold more than beer, I'd remembered what Thomas said.

But when standing under Niagara Falls of new facts, it's hard to hold.

It's not Thomas's fault, one has to have been exposed to a fact, so one can file information in an 'opened' folder. Then it can be sorted before, or after what ever fact is in it.

Thomas has talked to many of the actual owner/managers or families of the early pen companies.

He comes from a pen family, his uncle worked for Kaweco back in the days when it was King of Pens.

April 1914,Kaweco finalized a deal with the Worlds Best nib maker, (US) Morton. Kaweco bought the machines and imported the whole family's of American workers to work in and train their factory. August came and the Americans went home. Until the first bankruptcy in 1930, Kaweco made the best pen in Germany.

In other threads on it, I tell of how to make Kaweco potato soup, while making nibs, the Morton way.

Germans would refer to their pens as Kaweco's even when they were not.

None of the two pen books I have mention Mercedes pens.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Bo Bo Olson