The TyPhoo Tea Pen

[North Yorkie]

Attached are photos of  new acquisition. It is a pen which could be obtained by users of TyPhoo Tea in exchange for a number of tokens from the packets. Because of the markings on the nib (which are explained later) this seems to have been made by Mabie Todd as, perhaps, a cheaper version of one of their existing models.

Judging by the design, it looks as if this was produced in the 1920s.The cap and barrel are black hard rubber cased with a chased 'wave' design around the circumference - I have seen photos of  Mabie Todd no 45 with the same decoration. The only imprint is on the barrel, which reads "'TYPHOO TEA' RELIEVES INDIGESTION"! The blind end of the barrel has a screw thread on to which the cap fits when posted.

The nib is inscribed "WARRANTED" over "14C" over "0.585", then underneath that is an image of a swan. 'Warranted' nibs were, I believe, 'bought in' from an outside manufacturer and can be found on many of the lesser English pens. However, the presence of the swan suggests that this was made specifically for Mabie Todd. Curiously, it is inscribed "14C", rather than the usual "14CT" and also "0.585", which is the American equivalent of 14CT. This might suggest that such nibs were made for use in pens sold either side of the Atlantic?

I would be interested in any additional information anyone can provide and, in particular, confirmation of the Mabie Todd model on which this pen is based.

[Greenie]

It is believed that several different British pen makers were used for the Typhoo tea promotional  pens.

Typhoo promotional pens & WHSmith pens - BRITISH PENS - Fountain Pen Board / FPnuts

 

The section and clip on this pen are not typical for Mabie Todd.

[Beechwood]

10 hours ago, Greenie said:

It is believed that several different British pen makers were used for the Typhoo tea promotional  pens.

Typhoo promotional pens & WHSmith pens - BRITISH PENS - Fountain Pen Board / FPnuts

 

The section and clip on this pen are not typical for Mabie Todd.

 

Agreed, and also the Warranted nib.

 

If I had to guess at a maker it would be John Bull.

 

Tea drinking pre WW2 was huge in the UK, very little in the way of coffee consumption, 7-8 cups of tea a day per person  was quite possible so huge business for the tea sellers who looked at promotional items to preserve market share, for example collect 10 tokens from a tea packet and send away for your free pen. Of course this became great business for the lower priced pen makers.

 

 

 

 

[North Yorkie]

Thanks both for taking the time to respond.

I think the main question is whether the Swan nib is genuine. The easiest answer is that it could be a replacement, in which case the cap and barrel could have been manufactured by any of the manufacturers (or should the term be assemblers?) at the time e.g. Conway Stewart, Langs, etc. or indeed John Bull as suggested (I had understood that John Bull only manufactured their own pens for a short period and the rest were probably by Conway Stewart?)

It has been suggested that the clip on my pen was not typical of Mabie Todd. However, I have found a photo of a Mabie Todd Swan Minor No. 2 from around 1927 from the Heritage Collectables website which shows an almost identical clip. The section and the lever, however, do not match mine.

 

 

As far as the nib itself goes, I had assumed that 'Warranted' nibs were 'bought in' and therefore did not have any maker's name imprinted. However, I have since seen examples where warranted nibs also had a maker's name, e.g. Conway or de la Rue. So it seems at some point the word 'warranted' was dropped as being unnecessary; the maker's name alone being sufficient assurance of the quality of the nib. (The nibs on my 2 post-war Swans and 1 Blackbird are not warranted.

[Christopher Godfrey]

North Yorkie, as Greenie points out, the section, certainly, does not look right -- the typical Swan section should be shaped like the one in your last photo and Swan are usually the easiest to identify as they signed almost every component of their pens.  I have two Swans, one of which is a model 2 and the nib, feed, section, barrel, cap, clip are <all> marked "SWAN".  (Well, I admit that that is not <quite> right, for the top of the cap is simply adorned with a picture of a swan, which is usual for them.  Additionally, clip marking is "SWAN CLIP")

 

The "blobby" end of the clip itself looks a bit too crudely-shaped for a Swan, too.

 

I hope this is useful to you?  I'm not an expert, by any means.

[Greenie]

The general shape of the clip is similar to a Swan. 

 

However, the ball end is not as elegantly rounded as a Swan clip.  Also the transition from the upper portion that attaches to the barrel to the raised hump on the clip is very sharply delineated on your pen. On a Swan clip, it is a rounded transition and not a sharp right angle.  Swan clips, insert into the cap via two parallel cuts, one for each lateral aspect of the clip.  Your pen clip is also attached with a tab going into a hole at the top of the clip.

Swan Minor Clip Replacement – Goodwriterspens's Blog

I don't know who made this pen, but it does not match any features of a Mabie Todd product.  

 

Try posting in the general UK pen forum for more of an ID.  It is British and the clip and section will likely look familiar to someone!

[shalitha33]

As for the creature on the nib, is it a swan or it it a horse ? just wandering because of the '0.585' marking and not just '585'.

i.e 

[North Yorkie]

Hi, shalitha33, yes! you're spot on! I had taken the 'S' shape to the left as a swan's neck with the body to the right. However on more magnification it does turn out to be the tail of a horse-like creature (photo attached). On what make of pen do you have this nib?

Many thanks

[shalitha33]

While I could be very wrong, I believe "The Unique Pen" has this logo.