Wah-Oxford Histry

[Wahlnut]

Quote: YOU SEEM TO KNOW A LOT ABOUT WAHL EVERSHARP PENS .I HAVE A PEN THAT HAS "

WAHL OXFORD MADE IN U.S.A BY EVERSHARP" ON THE BARREL NIB IS A WAHL OXFORD #2 14 K.CAN YOU TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PEN?I CAN,T FIND ANY INFO ON WAHL OXFORD.

THANKS

KEITH

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Reply:

Actually the Oxford label appeared in 2 different eras. The last was the mid 1930's with the appearance of the Wahl Oxford pen. By that time the name "Wahl" had been dropped from the Eversharp Corp. as the company name had become by that date, line of products. From time to time, Eversharp found it necessary to resurrect the Wahl name as an "in use" brand or trademark. It happened again in the mid '40s when the name Wahl was put on the nibs and pocket clips of the Skyline pens for about 6 months.

 

Well, the Oxford name first appeared beginning back in the late 20's. The Wahl Company as it was then known, had a number of contracts for "private label" pens for well known shorthand and handwriting courses: The Greg Pen (shorthand) and The Palmer Pen (handwriting), to name at least 2. (speculation:)But when these contracts ran out, the pens that were in production for these private labels, were left in the inventory with no place to go.(end speculation) I have a couple in my collection that were clearly destined to be Greg Pens (Mottled hard rubber with 3 cap bands, and other tell-tale marking endemic to Greg Pens), and guess what? They have Oxford pocket clips!

 

OK, flash forward to the early-mid '30s The Equipoised pen is waining and will fade away by 1934, The Doric pen is running well and into the end of its very successful first generation and there will be another 3-4 years of later style Dorics to follow. Doric by now has taken over the "top of the line" status. The Equipoised name has ceased to be seen in print according to the ads in magazines by 1934. The student model dorics are doing ok, but they are baby dorics. The later Dorics and their multiple configurations were becoming complicated and a little costly to Eversharp from a line-diversity standpoint. ("Shut-Off" systems, Adjustable Nibs, Magic or Mystery Feeds, making and marketing both a lever fill and a plunger vac fill, etc)

 

So, (speculation) There seems to have been a need to fill the space of a full sized round barrel lower price pen (end speculation) and The Wahl Oxford emerges. 2 bangs for the Eversharp Corp. buck: a pen that is really a good quality pen at a "reasonable price" without the costly do-dads of the Doric and the ability to refresh the use of the Wahl name in a way that does not cloud the supreme status (corporate-wise) of the relatively new Eversharp Corp name. Thus, the wording on the barrel of Wahl Oxford pens "By The Makers of Eversharp". Oh, and there is a minor additional bang in that for decades people have respected the the Eversharp name as being synonymous with the very popular, reliable mechanical pencil of the same name. Neither Wahl nor Eversharp ever gave up on reminding people about the pencil, both, I surmise, as a reminder about the pencils and as a recommendation to those who used the pencil but had not yet bought the fountain pen.

 

There were many plastics used in Wahl Oxfords that were never used in Dorics, or the later Pacemakers, Airlites, etc, and there were some innovative filling systems like the 5 twists filling system, for example. There was also a good quality line of desk pens in the Wahl Oxford line.

 

Well maybe that helps you a little.

 

Syd

[philm]

An example of a pen of the type Syd is describing -

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/DSC_0038-1.jpg

[philm]

Someone just pointed out that my link to the photo above had been broken, so here is another photo. I am thinking it was is the one I posted back in 2007.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/wahl%20eversharp%20pens/wahloxford4a.jpg

 

Phil

[DanDeM]

Syd:

Many thanks for posting this. I'm in the wrong end of the pool when it comes to Wahl/Eversharp, and have been scratching through this forum for some Oxford background.

 

For the hellluvit one day last week, I stopped into a Pawn Shop. Found a really clean, Green Marble Flake (good color, no spinach) with the Wahl Oxford,,,etc. barrel imprint. The pen differs from phlim's in that it has only one, wide cap band with black, conical cap and barrel jewels. No branding on the clip (which is mounted high on the cap) or lever. Still mid-30's?

 

The pen was still inked, which made a small mess when I tested the nib on my thumb nail...but I guess it's not call "the wild" for nothing. The nib imprint is Wahl Oxford 14K #2. Snagged it $10.

 

Did I do OK?

[ihimlen]

The speculation (and especially the dating) seem to work very well from the historical point of view: Here is the patent for the Wahl Oxford Twist-filler: 1,990,441

The twist-fill Oxfords first appeared in c. 1935/36 and before that (probably 1934 or thereabouts) there were the LF Oxfords that are pictured above. These were pretty nice, quality pens and only in c. 1938 - 9 the Oxford slid into 3rd tier quality when it comes to plating work - later Oxfords are still relatively good quality when compared to other cheaper pens of that era.

 

i.

Edited May 15, 2011 by ihimlen

[UptheWahl]

Syd -

 

Interesting discussion, but I don't think I agree with you as to the Gregg connection. Of course, Wahl produced flat top pens to be marketed by Gregg, but they are typically thin (size 2 nibs, if I recall) and I have only seen them in Rosewood and Green. The early Oxfords were made in a range of colors (probably the same colors available in Wahl celluloid pens of the period). Moreover, they were available in both the No. 4 and No. 7 sizes. The No. 7 size is identical to the oversize Deco Band except for the bands and clip, and absence of a Gold Seal.

 

Here are some examples from my collection. The Jet (black) and Lapis pens are both the oversize models.

 

 

http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv185/UptheWahl/LA%20penshow/EarlyOxfords.jpg

[Readymade]

Found a really clean, Green Marble Flake (good color, no spinach) with the Wahl Oxford,,,etc. barrel imprint. The pen differs from phlim's in that it has only one, wide cap band with black, conical cap and barrel jewels. No branding on the clip (which is mounted high on the cap) or lever. Still mid-30's?

 

The pen was still inked, which made a small mess when I tested the nib on my thumb nail...but I guess it's not call "the wild" for nothing. The nib imprint is Wahl Oxford 14K #2. Snagged it $10.

 

Sounds like a later-style Wahl Oxford circa 1939. $10 is pretty good! Congrats!

 

@UptheWahl: most interesting! More examples to lust after...

[SigmaZuiko]

I have a late 1939 example with the same Wahl Oxford 14K #2 stamped nib, Made in the USA by the makers of EVERSHARP, low clip with no engraving, a thick gold filled band, black non-removable jewels on both ends, and it comes in Red Pearl. I believe it is a "Wahl Oxford Regular" as it does not have an ink window (I saw an Oxford Special go on ebay a couple of weeks ago in the same color). I severely over payed for the condition it was in, but it works and that's all that matters to me!

 

I'm guessing Blotto's is also a "Regular"

[DanDeM]

Thank you Readymade & SigmaZulko.

The pen sits beside a splendid yellow/black marble Gold Seal, and the two look a little lonely. These are quite special pens, I'm learning. Beautiful materials, well made and an interesting history. I think I'll pursue a few more of them.

Thanks again.