Pen Collection History? Early collectors?

[VacNut]

I arrived relatively late to pen collecting. I understand pen collecting really started in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. There are stories of early collectors buying great hordes of pens in large boxes or lots for pennies on the dollar, some of which are very rare and valuable.

Is there documented history of collectors buying pens in the Late 1940’s and 1950’s? I am guessing they would have collected pens around the Turn-of-the-Century or early celluloid pens.

[andyr7]

Pen collecting has been going on since fountain pens and stylos were invented. A well known early collector was James Maginnis, mentioned above in connection with his Cantor lectures of 1905. His extensive collection was exhibited at the British Museum in 1921, shortly before his death in 1922. It is not known what happened to this collection - it may still be residing, uncatalogued, in the vaults of the British Museum.

 

A later collector whose pens were well recorded was Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) AJL Hopkins of the Royal Army Pay Corps. His pens were collected between the 1920s and 1950s. He obsessively retained details of his communications with pen manufacturers and repairers, many of which still survive, and a few of these have been reproduced in our books . His collection was ultimately dispersed by sale at auction.

[VacNut]

Thank you for the lead.

Can you list the books that cataloged his collection? 
Looks like it will require more than a quick google search.

[andyr7]

8 hours ago, VacNut said:

Thank you for the lead.

Can you list the books that cataloged his collection? 
Looks like it will require more than a quick google search.

 

There is no 'one book' that catalogues the Hopkins collection. I suggest you Google "english pen books" as a first step, and take it from there.

[Vintagepens]

The Hopkins collection was sold at Bonhams in London. To my knowledge the only record of the collection are the auction catalogues. 
If you are interested, I may have duplicates of some of them.

It should be noted that prior to Cliff and Judy Lawrence's efforts, pen collecting was almost entirely an individual pursuit. Few collectors knew any other collectors. There were no clubs, no books, and virtually no information.

[VacNut]

David,

Thank you for chiming in. I did a quick search and found there are many opinions and versions on the history of pen collecting as a hobby and as a “lifestyle”.

 

https://fountainpenhistory.blogspot.com/2015/08/cliff-judy-lawrence.html?m=1

 

I am not familiar with the author of this article, but it is a general guideline on the history of the hobby, since the 1980’s.

I love the idea of buying handfuls of pens for a few dollars.

This is definitely the start to a long research topic.

[VacNut]

https://members2.boardhost.com/pentrace/msg/1626632842.html
 

Another Article on the issue.

The PCA has a catalog of the Pen Fanciers Magazine from 1981.

 

https://pencollectorsofamerica.org/reference-library-pen-fanciers-magazine/

 

The PCA is a valuable organization. Please considering joining if you are not yet a member.

(I am a member but have no other affiliation with the PCA)

 

[GlenV]

I was inspired to find pens mentioned in this article by W. Ghent, about 1912 or so I think, hope this link works:

https://books.google.com/books?id=6Pi0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=paul+wirt+pen+history&source=bl&ots=k5HTDgHLxn&sig=ACfU3U3Sz-nmTb_Q8gS9t8nVl4as3wr6GA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiroIfUoLToAhXGIDQIHaI9DPM4FBDoATACegQIBRAB#v=onepage&q=paul wirt pen history&f=false

 

I would consider him a collector by his comments about pens and buying all types

[Vintagepens]

35 minutes ago, GlenV said:

I was inspired to find pens mentioned in this article by W. Ghent, about 1912 or so I think, hope

I would consider him a collector by his comments about pens and buying all types

Ghent's article was cited long ago by the Lawrences, I believe.
He seems to have been a fountain pen enthusiast, but more a user on a quest -- one of those perennial early adopters -- than a collector in the modern-day sense.

[VacNut]

1 hour ago, GlenV said:

I was inspired to find pens mentioned in this article by W. Ghent, about 1912 or so I think, hope this link works:

https://books.google.com/books?id=6Pi0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=paul+wirt+pen+history&source=bl&ots=k5HTDgHLxn&sig=ACfU3U3Sz-nmTb_Q8gS9t8nVl4as3wr6GA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiroIfUoLToAhXGIDQIHaI9DPM4FBDoATACegQIBRAB#v=onepage&q=paul wirt pen history&f=false

 

I would consider him a collector by his comments about pens and buying all types

The article before Ghent’s is also interesting: “Fish Depravity”

 

The fountain pen would have been about 20 years old (?) at the time of the article. I am guessing no one was considering them to be collectible since there were new pens being sold every year. 
I could be wrong, but I don’t think anyone is treating mobile phones as collectibles yet.

I am guessing fewer people had disposable income back then for hobbies.

[es9]

There’s a whole subreddit for collectors of vintage mobile phones with ~11k members  

 

(Note: I am not one of them.) 

[GlenV]

13 hours ago, Vintagepens said:

Ghent's article was cited long ago by the Lawrences, I believe.
He seems to have been a fountain pen enthusiast, but more a user on a quest -- one of those perennial early adopters -- than a collector in the modern-day sense.

That sounds like a good description of his interests.

 

I am pretty happy to have found a Lincoln pen from the early days, a Sterling, a couple Wirts, AA waterman, a couple fairly early Parker droppers, Waterman that may be fairly early ( 2line imprint but not pre globe) slip cap Conklin. Since was so fun to read that article a few years ago. 

I do dream of the days when you could find more pens in the antique stores, regularly finding desirable pens for surprising prices. They can't all be "fish stories" Ha.

 

I also wonder how the Lawrences were able to collect so much information in the days before computer resources.

[VacNut]

5 hours ago, es9 said:

There’s a whole subreddit for collectors of vintage mobile phones with ~11k members  

 

(Note: I am not one of them.) 

Well at least there 11K fewer flip phones in the landfill…

[inkstainedruth]

@es9 and @VacNut My first computer was a little old original Apple (one of the ones that's about the size and shape of a small box).  We bought it from a friend of my husband's, and then another of his friends gave me a backup drive for it to increase the storage/memory space.  When we moved to Massachusetts, we left it in our old house, on the grounds that after we moved we'd buy a more modern computer for me, figuring that it wasn't worth anything....  A few years ago?  Found out what that stupid little box was worth to a "collector"....  -- I think it was a five figure amount!  Who knew? 

Now, when I'm at estate sales and finding insanely good deals on vintage pens, I sometimes wonder whether the estate sale people (or their clients) have ANY idea as to the value of the items (and not just pens!) would be to a collector (someone I know slightly used to sew doll clothes and sell them at doll conventions and the friend from whose estate I bought the red Cross Solo from went with the doll clothes maker to a show -- and Helen said to me, "Those people are NUTS!"

Ruth Morrisson akainkstinedruth

 

[shalitha33]

Would J.C.Aikin of Aiken Lambert count as a collector? 

[VacNut]

That looks like a trade publication on stationary. I guess with all major industries of that time, a newsletter was one of the methods to spread information. 
Interesting reading. It’s almost a “who’s who” of the industry. Thank you for sharing.

[VacNut]

12 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@es9 and @VacNut My first computer was a little old original Apple (one of the ones that's about the size and shape of a small box).  We bought it from a friend of my husband's, and then another of his friends gave me a backup drive for it to increase the storage/memory space.  When we moved to Massachusetts, we left it in our old house, on the grounds that after we moved we'd buy a more modern computer for me, figuring that it wasn't worth anything....  A few years ago?  Found out what that stupid little box was worth to a "collector"....  -- I think it was a five figure amount!  Who knew? 

Now, when I'm at estate sales and finding insanely good deals on vintage pens, I sometimes wonder whether the estate sale people (or their clients) have ANY idea as to the value of the items (and not just pens!) would be to a collector (someone I know slightly used to sew doll clothes and sell them at doll conventions and the friend from whose estate I bought the red Cross Solo from went with the doll clothes maker to a show -- and Helen said to me, "Those people are NUTS!"

Ruth Morrisson akainkstinedruth

 

The first Apple Computers were hand built by the iconic Apple Executives. An Apple 1 sold for almost 7 figures. The IPhone 1 kept by Steve Jobs sold for almost $500,000. 
 

I don’t think there has been more disposable income and manufactured goods for sale in mankind’s history than now. This doesn’t mean anything old is worth a lot of money. Given how difficult for the average household to survive at the turn of the century, only the very affluent could have been collectors - and more likely only classical art (did the Greeks use fountain pens?). It’s surprising to read about Hopkins and Maginnis.

 

I walked through the Royal Albert and Victoria Museum looking for fountain pen related items and collectibles. I found typewriters and dish ware. Sad to say, no pens as of yet.

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

@shalitha33 Thanks for posting the link!  Especially given the Pittsburgh connection on that page (I know exactly where the Stephen Foster statue used to be).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[AAAndrew]

10 hours ago, VacNut said:

That looks like a trade publication on stationary. I guess with all major industries of that time, a newsletter was one of the methods to spread information. 
Interesting reading. It’s almost a “who’s who” of the industry. Thank you for sharing.

 

American Stationer was the main trade publication for the stationery and fancy goods trade. There were a couple, with Geyers being the next biggest one, but American Stationer, by being located in NYC, was the largest and most well-connected. American Stationer published from 1873 up past 1928. There are tons of great ads and announcements of new products, etc... as well as reports of the various territories for salesmen and company news.  

 

Geyer's Stationer was a little more focused on just the stationery trade, with a little on the fancy goods stuff. You tend to find longer articles in Geyer’s as well as a lot of attention to the activities of the National Association of Stationers, Office Outfitters, and Manufacturers, and their concerns, like the latest in window displays.

 

David Nishamura on his Vintage Pen blog has a list of online copies of most of the volumes. I've got links to his pages out on a page dedicated to these resources on my website. https://thesteelpen.com/2017/10/15/research-resources-for-steel-pens-american-stationer/

 

 

[kazoolaw]

On 1/6/2025 at 9:56 PM, VacNut said:

David,

Thank you for chiming in. I did a quick search and found there are many opinions and versions on the history of pen collecting as a hobby and as a “lifestyle”.

 

https://fountainpenhistory.blogspot.com/2015/08/cliff-judy-lawrence.html?m=1

 

I am not familiar with the author of this article, but it is a general guideline on the history of the hobby, since the 1980’s.

I love the idea of buying handfuls of pens for a few dollars.

This is definitely the start to a long research topic.

Well worth the time to read the article at the link for the names of earlier collectors and their rivalries, and the reference to Lion & Pen, a website heavy on the history of pens an collecting.