Curious nib in brass container

[Sailor Kenshin]

Doesn't look like an actual quill; I've cut those in my day.  I would love to see if that thing can actually write.

[Junebe]

Brian, very curious. Very intriguing, have you tried to see if it writes?

 

I think Brassratt and Prawnheed are probably right.

I wonder why the "nib" isn't metal. As Prawnheed suggests, it might be a tool to remove something from some orifices, and then maybe it isn't metallic so that it doesn't damage whatever it is intended to use on?

 

Now a very uneducated guess or idea that comes to mind. Given that its format appears to be for travelling, I wonder if it may be somehow related to tobacco. Maybe to be used on a tobacco pipe?

It might be a very stupid idea because I know nothing about tobacco, which is good, but i mostly know nothing about anything, which isn't that good 😁

 

I hope Brian gives it a try and tells us if it writes. 🙂

[bsenn]

It does not write. The material of the "nib" is such that the ink pools in the center does not want to be on the edges or writing tip. I tried with fountain pen ink, not India ink.

Brian

[Junebe]

Thank you Brian!

 

I hope someone tells us what it is.

[Doc Dan]

On 11/21/2023 at 2:47 AM, inkstainedruth said:

 

The nib itself is very odd. Looks like someone cut and molded a piece of plastic to make a replacement nib for the original (metal?  quill?) nib.  

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

This is likely. It is crudely done. 

[amberleadavis]

@Doc Dan Thank you for sharing with us. I thought that site was interesting.

[kestrel]

My wife the former museum registrar has the following ideas:

1.  Check old Sears catalogs for something similar.  Also Montgomery Ward.  Some of them are available online and reprints are available but it will take time to do the search.

2.  Possible manicure tool?

3.  White material could be ivory, bone, or casein.  If so, testing with ink is not a good idea. 

 

I played with Google and also searched eBay looking for banks, theaters, spas, in Buffalo and found nothing.  Also manicure tools, pencils, portable pens with the same negative results.  My wife says she will play with it a bit this weekend and the lady is a search ninja.

[txomsy]

To me it loos like a calamus made in ivory or bone. But it could be a tool for sculptors or ceramists, or engravers (to dig in soft materials). Could be a puncher or hole making tool for knitting (thinking on who might have been interested in getting one such possibly expensive, tiny, portable item at the time).

 

Personally I favor a calamus-like tool, specially because of the pointy end, perhaps for engraving but if the material does not deliver ink, it wouldn't. Unless it was an awl used in engraving. Or a  holing tool for knitting, say an awl. Bone awls have looked similar for decades of millenia (if not hundreds of millenia). An awl is what right now seems more likely to me.

[bsenn]

The "nib" is made of a flexible material. Although there is some stiffness due to the tube shape, it does not appear to be suitable for digging in anything more solid than Jell-O. Think of it as similar in strength/stiffness to the small straws used in mixed drinks.

 

Considering the "nib" on mine and the nib on Bill's appear very similar, I would assume they are original.

[gone]

My guess is it's for digging in/for earwax. 
 

Try asking here:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing

[txomsy]

Could it then be an artist's lead holder? That would make much more sense.

 

Introducing a pointed and long thing in your ear's conduct would have been forbidden by doctors since, what? forever? Specially that long, pointy and sharp.

 

Having such a tool to hold a thick lead would allow one to draw without staining one's fingers, make point and side strokes (lines and shadows) and being flexible would reduce the risk of breaking the lead when introducing it. Kinda like a pencil or lead extender.

 

[AAAndrew]

It's actually a reusable toothpick. They were often advertising giveaways, and were often made of celluloid. 

[IknowWrite]

3 hours ago, AAAndrew said:

It's actually a reusable toothpick. They were often advertising giveaways, and were often made of celluloid. 

This made me LOL for reals- a real Debbie Downer of an ending for this mystery “pen.” Trying to write with some old, plaque-filled “nib” has got to be one of the funniest, strangest, and grossest things I’ve ever heard. 😂

[amberleadavis]

2 minutes ago, IknowWrite said:

This made me LOL for reals- a real Debbie Downer of an ending for this mystery “pen.” Trying to write with some old, plaque-filled “nib” has got to be one of the funniest, strangest, and grossest things I’ve ever heard. 😂

 

I am laughing right next do you, but also thinking about the fact that @AAAndrew knew what it was. 

 

[AAAndrew]

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

 

I am laughing right next do you, but also thinking about the fact that @AAAndrew knew what it was. 

 

 

That's because, being a collector of dip pens, I acquired a couple of these before I found out what they were. And, while I haven't used one as a toothpick, it certainly doesn't work as a pen. 

[amberleadavis]

3 minutes ago, AAAndrew said:

 

That's because, being a collector of dip pens, I acquired a couple of these before I found out what they were. And, while I haven't used one as a toothpick, it certainly doesn't work as a pen. 

 

. Experience.  Glad you didn't use it as a toothpick.

[bsenn]

8 hours ago, AAAndrew said:

It's actually a reusable toothpick. They were often advertising giveaways, and were often made of celluloid. 

 

Thank you. It's so obvious, now.

 

[Doc Dan]

😄 it is big for a toothpick, or interdental stimulator as the Army calls them. If someone had huge gaps in their teeth I could see it. I still think it likely the case was for a pen and someone tried to fashion a nib after ruining the original one. Who knows? It is a fun mystery. 

[Junebe]

Thank you AAAndrew!!

 

A toothpick! 😀

[Bill Hayhow]

A bit less glamorous than dip pen, but OK, it's a toothpick.

 

But extensive searching has revealed no connection between "Buffalo NY" and "The Bismarck".  I remain hopeful that someone might suggest an answer to this mystery.