A.A. WATERMAN Middle-Joint : help dating

[ThePenHolder]

Hi everybody,

 

I need your help to date this A.A. Waterman Middle Joint

It's been in my collection for a few years now but, despite extensive reading online, I can't figure out the precise date.

(link to large pictures https://postimg.cc/gallery/QFSSr35).

 

It's a n. 3 (on the bottom of the barrel) and it has a hole on the top of the cap.

 

It has 3 imprints : 2 on the barrel, on opposite sides, and one on the slip-cap

 

1st imprint : A.A. WATERMAN & CO.  NEW YORK (note New York)

PATENTED - DEC. 12-1899.

 

2nd imprint : THE MODERN FOUNTAIN PEN, on the opposite side of the barrel

 

Cap imprint  : MODERN

 

It came to me with a  Mercantile Clip that has nothing to do with A.A. Waterman but is very nice.

 

The range is 1901 to 1912, I think, but is it 1901 to 05 (with AA Waterman being associated with Frazer & Geyer) or after 1906, when the company split in two banches to cover the Eastern and Western markets ?

 

The ads I found online would suggest that the pen dates 1901 to 1905. That's when most middle-joints bear the MODERN imprint ont the cap.  But then, what about the NEW YORK addition to the imprint, that does not appear in the ads (some ads  bear Chicago, though) ?

 

The New York addition suggests that the pen dates 1906 to 1912. But in this case, why is THE MODERN FOUNTAIN PEN on the opposite side of the barrel and not on a third line ? 

And why not THE MODERN PEN CO. ?  

See for instance this pen, from PeytonStreetPens https://www.peytonstreetpens.com/a-a-waterman-2-middle-joint-eye-dropper-mottled-red-hard-rubber-flexible-2-modern-nib-excellent.html ?

 

Also, I have found a similar double imprint on a Gary Lehrer's catalogue, pen n 27  https://gopens.com/catalog-67-june-2013/ and he dated the pen as 1903. But there's no picture of the actual imprints.

 

 

Another question, if I may : the imprint on the barrel refers to the feed that A.A. Waterman himself patented in 1899. Since the pen works perfectly fine, I am not going to disassemble it but can somebody confirm that this is the patented feed ? I have not found confirmation in my readings.

 

 

Thank you very much,

 

 

[GlenV]

I think the middle joint eyedroppers I have seen do have the 2 piece patented feed, and I think they were likely replaced by twist fillers prior to the later date range you mentioned, I don't know how late they were produced though. Very pretty pen! I wonder if they were made later than the similar Sterling pen which stopped around 1905 I think.

[ThePenHolder]

1 hour ago, GlenV said:

replaced by twist fillers

hi Glen, thanks for your reply. Yes, I think the twist filler patent was around 1903, and the pen was very successful too.  I have never found one, maybe one day 🤠

 

1 hour ago, GlenV said:

the similar Sterling pen

I saw your post about the Sterling, nice pen and nice thread !

The nib on my Middle Joint is fun, too😍

[GlenV]

On a similar note, this is a Lincoln pen, which has a cool and unique feed design. It’s quite a detailed little feed, with great flow control. It may be this feed I think that AAW brought to Frazer &Geyer when he joined them, rather than the two piece feed since that design was shared with Sterling, along with his middle joint design patent. The Lincoln pen had a F &G nib and most do not say AA Waterman on the pen. 

This feed patent is assigned to AAW and he likely purchased it.

[ThePenHolder]

 

15 hours ago, GlenV said:

a cool and unique feed design

Thank you for the picture and for the patent number, never heard of it.

Nice pen by the way !

This feed could be the one on my pen, you are right, same shape and same thin size. 

The drawing on the patent looks very different from the 1899 one, so I'll have to look up the full description in order to fully understand how it works.

 

As for the Lincoln Pens, I suppose you are familiar with the trial record of 1912, I believe.

The Lincoln brandname comes up quite often.

https://books.google.fr/books?id=iNkSNOe3i3QC&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr - v=onepage&q&f=false#v=onepage&q=lincoln&f=false

Also, in this document,  the 1899 feed is called "reed" feed, but that needs confirmation.

 

This book is a great source of information ! definitely worth spending some time on it if you're already down the Vintage rabbit hole 😃