Anne Frank's fountain pen.

[Deirdre]

I think it'd be interesting if MB issued a Writer's Series pen for Anne Frank. (I thought I posted this comment, but I don't see it.)

[Thornton]

  Deirdre said:

I think it'd be interesting if MB issued a Writer's Series pen for Anne Frank. (I thought I posted this comment, but I don't see it.)

I was thinking the same thing! What a great tribute to someone who loved her fountain pen so much and gave us such invaluable reading material.

[captnemo]

As a teen when I first read The Diary of Anne Frank, I often wondered what she would have thought if she knew that her humble diaries would be read by millions and that she would become one of the most famous names from the WW II era.

[Shangas]

The original diary was a red & white checkered autograph book, when she filled that out, she started filling out other books. It's possible she could've had as many as five, because she actually started editing them for publication at one point...

 

Dear Kitty,

 

Wednesday, 29th March, 1944,

 

Bolkstein, a Minister, was speaking on the Dutch programme from London, and he said that they ought to make a collection of diaries and letters after the war. Of course, they all made a rush for my diary immediately. Just imagine how interesting it would be if I were to publish a romance of the Secret Annexe. The title alone would be enough to make people think it was a detective story...

[amh210]

What a sad irony that Anne Frank viewed her lost pen as "cremated."

 

Another sad victim of the holocaust. Both Anne and the pen lost in the fires of madness.

 

Forever-Damned Nazis.

 

Andy

[captnemo]

  amh210 said:

What a sad irony that Anne Frank viewed her lost pen as "cremated."

 

Another sad victim of the holocaust. Both Anne and the pen lost in the fires of madness.

 

Forever-Damned Nazis.

 

Andy

 

Indeed, and a sobering and disturbing reminder of what humans are capable of.

[Luca]

Let see... Anne was born in 1929, June 12, and received the pen when she was already nine (made in June 1938) and in February, that is she had the pen in February 1939. The grandmother might not have gifter a nine years old kid with her own pen, so we can assume it was new. So, how many fountain pens are out there, made in 1938 or earlier, with a "thick" "gold" nib and celluloid body? Of course, we shall restrict the range to those made in Europe, and possibly in the neighbourings of Aachen, Germany. The following industries were certainly up and running at that time, and their products could well be sold in Germany, although I think that the politics might have favoured German products only. If we restrict to Germany only...

 

1761 Graf von Faber-Castell (EU, DE)

1832 Pelikan (EU, DE)

1883 Kaweko (EU, DE)

1906 MontBlanc (EU, DE)

1919 Bossert & Erhard (EU, DE)

1928 Rotring (EU, DE)

1930 Lamy (EU, DE)

 

Rotring did not use regular nibs; so we exclude it. Bossert & Erhard might have been inappropriate for a kid's present, so we exclude it too. Lamy used plastic instead of celluloid, so I would exclude it too.

 

This is an image of a Kaweko and a Pelikan:

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/pelikan_1931.../3/e34db93b.jpg

 

A Pelikan 1938, with the famous zip (search for 1938 in the page):

http://www.pentrace.net/penbase/Data_Retur...icle.asp?id=368

 

To me, Anne's pen might have been a Pelikan 100 with the zipped pouch. At that time, Pelikan had its nibs manufactured by MontBlanc.

 

Luca

Edited February 27, 2008 by Luca

[captnemo]

Speaking of Anne Frank, she's in the news today:

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080226/people...ch_annefrank_dc

[gregoron]

It's a Mont Blanc according to Rick Conner at Penspotters here:

 

http://www.rickconner.net/penspotters/montblanc.html

 

I think there is a kind of universal sensitivity among people who write journals and use fountain pens.

 

[QM2]

Sorry, but what a morbid discussion : (( You are chatting about Anne Frank's fountain pen and suggesting that MB should make a writers series of it?.. I expect that many people would find it problematic if MB did this. Commercialisation and trivialisation of the Holocaust and all that. A bit like finding out what underwear she wore and then making an Anne Frank lingerie line.

 

: (((

QM2

[Deirdre]

  QM2 said:

Sorry, but what a morbid discussion : (( You are chatting about Anne Frank's fountain pen and suggesting that MB should make a writers series of it?.. I expect that many people would find it problematic if MB did this. Commercialisation and trivialisation of the Holocaust and all that.

Name a more famous Dutch writer of the 20th century.

 

One could also say that printing her thoughts for publisher's profit is also commercialization of the holocaust.

 

Her work is important, which was my point.

 

Some of the special editions have been used to raise money for charity. I don't think that would be out of line in this case.

[skybird]

quote

Sorry, but what a morbid discussion : (( You are chatting about Anne Frank's fountain pen and suggesting that MB should make a writers series of it?.. I expect that many people would find it problematic if MB did this. Commercialisation and trivialisation of the Holocaust and all that. A bit like finding out what underwear she wore and then making an Anne Frank lingerie line.

 

: (((

QM2

unquote

 

Can't agree with that. There is no reason not to creat a tribute to Anne Frank by way of a memorial pen whatsoever. I think it could be a fitting tribute, especially if the profits were donated to the Holocaust Museum or Yad VaShem or something similar.

 

Anyone who knows anybody at MB should suggest this to them.

 

:-)))

[ruud2904]

  Luca said:

... If we restrict to Germany only...

 

1761 Graf von Faber-Castell (EU, DE)

1832 Pelikan (EU, DE)

1883 Kaweko (EU, DE)

1906 MontBlanc (EU, DE)

1919 Bossert & Erhard (EU, DE)

1928 Rotring (EU, DE)

1930 Lamy (EU, DE)

....

Luca

 

O yes and too many more old german (?) brands -do not know the dates - :

 

Arengo Astoria Bergmark Bobino Bollwerk Brause Diplomat Domino Ebeco Ero Fend Geha Goldring Greif Hamburger Hafen Hansa

Haro Heintze Blanckertz Herma Inselsberg Klio Komma Kondor Kreuzer Krupp Luxor Markant Melbi Mercedes Merlin Meteor Minimax

Möve Nios Optima Osmia Papier Spatz Präsident Princess Rakete Reform Rifka Rio Senat Senator Singwitz Soennecken Staedler

Standard Stella Tiger Tropen

 

The list whith possibilities is just too long. I think that if I was to forward a gift to a nine year old grandchild, I would not give a very expensive FP. Therefore, I think the pen was not a top of the line pen but an inexpensive one. Although, it must have had a gold clip and a gold nib. That's what is known about it....

 

Ruud

Edited February 28, 2008 by ruud2904

[Shangas]

I honestly see nothing wrong with Montblanc (or any other pen company) making an Anne Frank commemorative/special edition fountain pen. In fact, I think it would be a very nice gesture.

[sumgaikid]

Don't rule out the Faber-Castell(actually,quite possibly an Osmia since Osmia was around at the time).I have a red Osmia

case,though somewhat worn,from the 1930s...

 

 

John

[Luca]

Re: Rood

 

Yes, the dates are important, as well as the materials and the zipped red pouch. I worked out from what was available to me, and the Pelikan 100N seems the perfect match. If you have additional data, proper data, not just names, then contribute with it.

 

Luca

 

 

  gregoron said:

It's a Mont Blanc according to Rick Conner at Penspotters here:

 

http://www.rickconner.net/penspotters/montblanc.html

 

I think there is a kind of universal sensitivity among people who write journals and use fountain pens.

 

I have mixed feelings about his data, as I spotted errors in his Pelikan posts.

 

Luca

[ruud2904]

Dates are important, of course. The pen brands I mentioned are in majority vintage German brands. Many of them are pre war for sure. I do not intend to look up if these brands existed in 1938 and there is no need to either. What I mean to say is that there are far too many possibilities to get a clue from. I think the assumption of a Pelikan 100 is as good as the assumption of a Montblanc or any other pen brand. There are no indications whatsoever.

 

I did find a translated version of what Anne wrote in her diary. It goes like this :

 

 

 

THURSDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 1943

 

Dearest Kitty,

 

I have a good title for this chapter:

 

Ode to My Fountain Pen In Memoriam

 

My fountain pen was always one of my most prized possessions; I valued it highly, especially because it had a thick nib, and I can only write neatly with thick nibs. It has led a long and interesting fountain-pen life, which I will summarize below.

When I was nine, my fountain pen (packed in cotton wool) arrived as a 'sample of no commercial value' all the way from Aachen, where my grandmother (the kindly donor) used to live. I lay in bed with flu, while the February winds howled around our flat. This splendid fountain pen came in a red leather case, and I showed it to my girlfriends the first chance I got. Me, Anne Frank, the proud owner of a fountain pen.

When I was ten, I was allowed to take the pen to school, and to my surprise, the teacher even let me write with it. When I was eleven, however, my treasure had to be tucked away again, because my sixth-form teacher allowed us to use only school pens and ink-pots. When I was twelve, I started at the Jewish Lyceum and my fountain pen was given a new case in honour of the occasion. Not only did it have room for a pencil, it also had a zip, which was much more impressive. When I was thirteen, the fountain pen went with me to the Annexe, and together we've raced through countless diaries and compositions. I'd turned fourteen and my fountain pen was enjoying the last year of its life with me when . . .

It was just after five on Friday afternoon. I came out of my room and was about to sit down at the table to write when I was roughly pushed to one side to make room for Margot and Father, who wanted to practise their Latin. The fountain pen remained unused on the table, while its owner, sighing, was forced to make do with a very tiny corner of the table, where she began rubbing beans. That's how we remove mould from the beans and restore them to their original state. At a quarter to six I swept the floor, dumped the dirt into a newspaper, along with the rotten beans, and tossed it into the stove. A giant flame shot up, and I thought it was wonderful that the stove, which had been gasping its last breath, had made such a miraculous recovery.

All was quiet again. The Latin students had left, and I sat down at the table to pick up where I'd left off. But no matter where I looked, my fountain pen was nowhere in sight. I took another look. Margot looked, Mother looked, Father looked, Dussel looked. But it had vanished.

'Maybe it fell in the stove, along with the beans!' Margot suggested.

'No, it couldn't have!' I replied.

But that evening, when my fountain pen still hadn't turned up, we all assumed it had been burned, especially because celluloid is highly inflammable. Our darkest fears were con­firmed the next day when Father went to empty the stove and discovered the clip, used to fasten it to a pocket, among the ashes. Not a trace of the gold nib was left. 'It must have melted into stone,' Father conjectured.

I'm left with one consolation, small though it may be: my fountain pen was cremated, just as I would like to be some day.

 

Yours, Anne

 

 

What it tells me about the pen is that it did have a metal clip, the pen body was celluloid (or something like that), a golden broad nib. It came to her in a SINGLE red leather pouch WITHOUT a zipper. That's beause - at the age of 12 - she received the second pouch. The second one had room for a pencil and had a zipper.

 

RUUD

 

[Luca]

Rood, I do not know how many zipped red pouches were available at the time, and if Anne's was original by the same brand of the pen, or hand made. If original, as we would say nowadays, the data I have points me to Pelikan. My guess is as good as that made by others on MontBlanc. We are playing, Rood, and it is fun. I play with numbers, so words are not much fun for me, that's why I keep asking for numbers and references (here and elsewhere). Between Pelikan and MontBlanc, however, given that Pelikan had its nibs made by MontBlanc at that time, MB would still be correct with its claim. Of course I am monkey curious about MB's own evidence. What is that MB knows to support the claim that Anne's pen was one of their own? Open question.

Edited February 29, 2008 by Luca

[newtrane]

I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.

[SquelchB]

  newtrane said:

I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves.

Why do you think so? Yes, it is a terrible piece of history never to be repeated, but at the same time we are solving some kind of mystery and we can enjoy it. I even think we should enjoy it so the story wouldn't be forgotten. (I hope you understand what I meant)