1970S School Fountain Pens

[austollie]

When it comes to fountain pen collecting, my primary interest is where it all started for me, that is German student fountain pens from the 1970s.

 

I thought it timely to undertake a review of the key pens of the era and to discuss their differences. For this review, I have focussed on seven pens from my collection, which all date from the mid-1970s, the time that I started primary school in Germany.

 

In the photo above, you can see from left to right:

• Standard blue Pelikano Model 4. This was released in 1973, although it looks largely the same as the Pelikano 3 that it replaced. Whilst the Pelikano pens were available in red, blue, green, yellow and black, most German shops only carried blue and red pens. Blue was by far the most common colour.
• Pelikano Model 4 in black: This was released a little later than the blue version and, as far as I am aware, was not sold in great numbers in Germany. I bought this one as NOS from the USA.
• Pelikano Model 4 Antimacchia: This is an export only model, destined for those nations (e.g. Italy) where kids did not like the metal cap and wanted to see a bit more colour.
• GeHa: This particular pen is a special edition Jeans model. This special edition gets a different clip as well as a barrel in a jeans-patterned barrel, complete with painted on contrast stitching. GeHa, having less market penetration than Pelikan, pushed the innovation angle. The two key innovations are a reserve tank built into the feed and a cleverly different cartridge. Whilst one can use a GeHa cartridge in a Pelikan (and in any other pen designed to take international cartridges), international cartridges will not fit in a mod-1970s GeHa pen (that all changed, once the GeHa was bought by Pelikan).
• An ERO office pen: Whilst Pelikan and GeHa had the bulk of the student market, there were many companies producing pens with similar styling. One of these is this ERO office pen.
• Montblanc Carrera: Up until Montblanc decided sometime in the 1980s that it wanted to be a pure luxury product maker, it produced several lines of pens designed to appeal to older students. The Carrera is the most of common of these.
• Pelikano Happy Pen: These were an attempt by Pelikan to appeal to older students and to offer some differentiation from the standard Pelikano that was seen as beginner’s pen. I suspect that Pelikan styled this pen to look more like the Montblanc Carrera. Colours aside, it is identical to the Pelikano Model 4.

 

All of the pens above are cartridge fillers. All take two cartridges, albeit the GeHa pen only takes proprietary cartridges and the Montblanc Carrera was also available as a piston filler for the export market. All pens come with steel nibs. In the case of the Carrera, a gold plated nib was available. Student pens are designed to be inexpensive and robust, hence the sturdy steel nib.

 

In the photo below, I compare the standard Pelikano 4 with the GeHa model to highlight the innovations in the Geha. The little orange tab that can be seen at the end of the GeHA fed is for the reserve tank. If you run out of ink and the spare cartridge in the pen has already been used, you can use the clip of the pen to push the orange tab into the feed, thus releasing enough ink to write a number of pages. The orange tab can be reset after use. Whilst I question the utility of the feature, after all the pen already has a reserve cartridge in the barrel, it does make for a nice marketing gimmick. Where the product development people got really clever is to devise a special cartridge that has a thinner end that will only fit GeHa pens and a standard end to fit all pens that use international cartridges. I take my hat off to the person that came up with that one, long before other firms embraced the idea of creating a monopoly for replacement cartridges. GeHa went one better out the door by creating a proprietary cartridge that would also fit other pens. I learned on this forum that a Lamy cartridge can be used (in reverse) in a GeHa pen and I can confirm that it works (you can see used Lamy cartridge in the photo).

 

 

The photo below shows the Montblanc Carrera. I always wanted one of these as a child, but that had more to do with the clever marketing than it did with the pen’s features. Being roughly twice as expensive as the equivalent Pelikano, I did not acquire one as a child. Now I have several of these. What makes the Montblanc Carrera different to all the others is that it can be easily disassembled for repair. That is a huge advantage for older pens, given that ABS plastic made in the 1970s is starting to go brittle. I have posted an article in Repair Q&A section, where I have put this feature to use, to repair a broken feed. All the other pens in this review are nigh on impossible to disassemble and repair. The other feature that makes the Montblanc Carrera different is that it does not rely on friction alone to secure the cap. The section has small raised metal tabs that secure the cap with a distinct click. To me this is the better solution, as the friction system starts to fail after a couple of years’ use. I have also included an example of the tyre stand that was used to effectively to market the pen, creating a racing car linkage. This stand will also fit Pelikano pens of the era.

 

 

 

Most of these pens come with different widths and types of nibs, including the obligatory A (for Anfänger= beginner) for primary school children. The steel nibs are as tough as nails and will keep on working, after a pen has been dropped or employed as a weapon to poke the kid sitting next to the writer (not that I would have done such a thing- at least not that I will admit to it).

 

I will allow myself the observation that when it comes to collecting fountain pens. In my opinion, too much emphasis is placed on the flexibility of gold bibs. If you write with a soft touch, as one is supposed to do, it makes little difference if the nib is a hard steel or a flexible gold nib. All of the pens in this review have been used as daily writers by me and none of them have let me down.

 

So which one is my favourite of all of the mid-1970s pens in this review? For me, the Montblanc Carrera wins hands down. It is just a little better made than the others, has a superior mechanism for securing the cap and can be disassembled for repair. As a child I fell in love with the marketing of the Montblanc Carrera- now I am in love with its features. At no point have I coveted it for the brand, but the allure of the luxury brand is probably the reason that second-hand examples are so much more expensive than any of the others.

 

 

 

[sansenri]

thank you for the review, a pity your photos are badly distorted so it is not easy to recognize the pens.

 

I started primary school about 10 years earlier than you (in Italy), so my first school pen was a Pelikan 120.

When it broke some years later (I know I was not gentle with it)... I had to change it and got a Pelikan from the P47... series, with a silver cap which was similar to the Pelikano black.

Would be nice to see your black Pelikano details, nib, clip, ink window and top of the cap for comparison.

Edited July 8, 2020 by sansenri

[austollie]

Hi Sanseri,

 

Those photos were distorted. I'm not sure how that happened, nor do I know how to correct it (I think that I am unable to edit posts, once someone has replied to them). I've tried to upload better pictures.

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the first four Pelikano models, i.e. Model 1 to 4, showing their nibs for comparison. I've included both the standard blue as well as the export only black model.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ollie

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by austollie

[basterma]

I love student pens. Robust, reliable, and well made. I have more recent ones by Schwan and Staedtler as well as 80's -90's ones by Pelikan, Schneider, Herlitz and Jolly. I also have an obscure Romus and one by Eyro. I also have several Jollypens. I make a distinction between student pens and ones made to fill out a stationery brand catalog. These pens are marketed to teenagers or kids and not as robust. Maped makes quite a few and they are ok, but don't last as long. Centropen makes a few pens that use the nibs and feeds identical to Schneider and Pelikan pens from the 90's.

 

Chinese students pens are interesting as there are a lot of Hero Parker 51 clones and more recent ones by Deli, M&G and Baoke that use hooded nibs, IPG nibs, Pilot or Lamy nib copies.

Does anyone know who first marketed pens as "student pens"?

[gammada]

Nice overview of these pens. Thank you!

 

Two years ago, I discovered a place in Mexico that had a lot of pens and pencils from the 70's, 80's and 90's in NOS condition. Needless to say, I went nuts with the discovery and purchased all I could afford. Among the fountain pens I got, were 3 Pelikan Pelikanos P10 (as labeled in their cardboard boxes) that were manufactured in Mexico between the late 70's and the early 80's, a couple of Pelikan Twist bp/fp sets made in W. Germany, a set of a unknown model Senator fp/bp pens also made in W. Germany, and a few Parkers.

 

Looking at photos I've found all over the internet, seems that the Mexican Pelikanos were "unique" to the market, since they lack the striated grip of the German model, and also come with plastic caps. I got them in all 3 colors available, red, black, and blue, but unfortunately, the plastic that they were made from, became brittle with the years and one of them has already developed leaks over cracks on the section. Another, has cracks but not leaks as of yet, and the third remains unopened.

 

To be entirely honest, I didn't expected much of these pens, but the more I've been using them, the more enchanted I've become!

 

The Mexican pens have all exquisitely smooth nibs (got them in F and M widths) that feel unlike anything else I've experienced before. The German Twist pens by comparison (same nib unit but definitely F and finer than the Mexicans), feel stiff and give a little bit more feedback.

 

The Senator pen, has a rare (to me at least) red-painted stainless steel nib that for some reason produces an amazing line variation when used on my left hand -am ambidextrous. I simply love how my handwriting looks on it. The nib feel is definitely not as good as that of the Pelikans, feeling kind of waxy, but at least, it is a smooth writer.

 

The German Twist pens are quite a joy to sketch with and also to hold. Their plastic is somewhat similar to that of a current Lamy Safari, but the pens are not as bulky as the aforementioned.

 

I totally agree that cheap or student pens are not necessarily bad compared to more expensive pens.

[CXC]

I have recently discovered that I love drawing with the A for Anfänger nibs present in some of these pens.  So far I have a LAMY ABC, a Pelikan Pelikano jr, with a Faber-Castell Scribolino on the way.  I see that the Stabilo EasyBuddy is also available with an "A" nib.  Are these nibs exclusively German, as appears to be the case?

I would appreciate learning about any other brands/models that feature "A" nibs that are easily available, preferably new, but vintage are also interesting, so long as the price has not been inflated more than 5 times.

 

[austollie]

5 hours ago, CXC said:

I would appreciate learning about any other brands/models that feature "A" nibs that are easily available, preferably new, but vintage are also interesting, so long as the price has not been inflated more than 5 times.

 

Most 1970s German student pens came with an A nib option.  That includes the Montblanc Carrera, for which replacement NOS nibs are still available (including A nibs).

 

I can't help you with modern student pens, because the only one that I collect is the Lamy Safari and that, in Australia at least, does not come with an A nib.

[CXC]

On 9/30/2021 at 8:09 PM, austollie said:

 

Most 1970s German student pens came with an A nib option.  That includes the Montblanc Carrera, for which replacement NOS nibs are still available (including A nibs).

 

I can't help you with modern student pens, because the only one that I collect is the Lamy Safari and that, in Australia at least, does not come with an A nib.

Thanks for this good info.  A quick check of eBay showed A nibs available for $20 + $20 shipping (ouch) = $40.  The Carrera pens were up in the $200 range.  Unfortunately $250 is out of my range for a student pen.  The search continues...

[austollie]

6 hours ago, CXC said:

The Carrera pens were up in the $200 range.  Unfortunately $250 is out of my range for a student pen.  The search continues...

 

I can understand your position there.  The Carrera, notwithstanding that it's a cut above the other student pens of the era (being able to be disassembled and thus repaired), is overpriced.  That comes down to the Montblanc brand.  That's somewhat ironic, because Montblanc was marketing their office and student pens by their sub-brand.  As much as I got taken in by the marketing of the Carrera in the 1970s (and I really did), the Montblanc brand meant nothing to me at the time.  Prior to the Carrera, Montblanc had another sub-brand (Monte Rosa) and some of those (including the one in my collection) didn't even have the Montblanc name and logo on there.

 

As far as vintage pens with an A nib are concerned, if you're prepared to wait, you'll be able to get a Pelikano with an A nib for well under A$20 (plus postage) on ebay.  They were made in their millions and there is little demand for them.  Lots of sellers put them on ebay at silly prices, but eventually you'll find one at a reasonable price.  I have a fair few Pelikanos in my collection and most were in good condition and cost between A$10 and A$20 (including NOS items) when I bought them.

[OCArt]

All the Pelikano Jr's have "A" nibs and Lamy offers them for the Safari, Studio and, of course, the ABC pen. 

[pensuponpens]

On 10/2/2021 at 11:18 AM, CXC said:

Thanks for this good info.  A quick check of eBay showed A nibs available for $20 + $20 shipping (ouch) = $40.  The Carrera pens were up in the $200 range.  Unfortunately $250 is out of my range for a student pen.  The search continues...

Wow, I had two of them back in 1975 or so.  Both broke at the threads eventually.  They were about$25 each at my college bookstore.  But then, I was also able to buy the steel Mont Blanc Noblesse for the same price in the days before the Mont Blanc name alone would push prices up...that one's still going strong.

[sansenri]

the student pen that took the place of my 120 in the early 70s was very similar to this one (a P474)

today they cost in the $100 range (if close to mint) as they are considered relatively rare...

 

[CXC]

Thanks all for the replies.  Currently I am using my Pelikan Pelikano jr (A) with great gusto.  I prefer it to the pen I have that cost 10 times as much.  Right now it is my favorite pen.  I am tickled to be completely satisfied by a low-end pen designed for children.  Only question is how long they will last, but I'm not too worried.

[sansenri]

in fact they are usually built to last, what you will miss mostly are some embellishments and perhaps refinements in more sophisticated nibs, but as far as reliability in writing is concerned they are built with that in mind, my P474 wrote without an issue for 30 years mostly every day, I stopped using it not because it broke, because I lost it!

[OCArt]

I'm with you, the Pelikano Jr. is a fantastic writer. The larger barrel is also nice-- it's a bit like using the M800! If the aesthetics were better I'd be very happy using no other pen.  I have one I set up as an eye-dropper. I used a dab of super glue to plug up the small hole at the end of the barrel, greased up the threads, and filled it with Pilot Blue-Black. Works a treat!

19 hours ago, CXC said:

Thanks all for the replies.  Currently I am using my Pelikan Pelikano jr (A) with great gusto.  I prefer it to the pen I have that cost 10 times as much.  Right now it is my favorite pen.  I am tickled to be completely satisfied by a low-end pen designed for children.  Only question is how long they will last, but I'm not too worried.