Millers Pens

[Have Fun]

Came across this pen recently & thought it looked terrific but I don't know anything about the Miller company, its range, products etc

 

http://www.dreampens.com/080723-1.html

 

A search shows a few examples of pens, none exactly like this

 

I suspect the colour has been enhanced to show off the green but I would love to have one of these. Although the size needs to be established I think it would be suitable for my hands.

 

So any info? on the Miller Company & on the Pen Model?

[Johnny Appleseed]

I believe that Miller's pens were from Toledo. David Nishimura reports that Miller's was a sub-brand of Conklin. However, the pen you posted a link to looks like a number of pens that the National Pen Co. of Chicago Ill. made for various companies under various names, such as Gold Bond, Gold Medal, Diamond Medal (sold by Sears), Good Service (also Sears), etc.

 

I would guess the Miller was either a jobber who assembled parts or bought whole pens and had a name stamped on them, or possibly a retailer who sold pens with their own name that were made by someone else. But that is speculative.

 

John

[rroossinck]

I've got one en route right now, and although it's not the "half-Balance" style like you've linked out to, I think it might be a National product, too. Once I have a chance to clean it up, I may have a better basis to judge.

 

John, is this a topic where we should ping Dave Johannsen?

[Have Fun]

Thanks I looked up Gold Bond & one I saw was a spitting image of a Wahl Oxford I have & near identical in clip /rings /shape makes me wonder if the Oxfords were outsourced or Gold Band had an arrangement with Wahl

[Johnny Appleseed]

I think there were might have been some Gold Bonds that were made by Wahl. I have trouble keeping track of all the presumptive National Pen Co. brands, but many of them were for retailers. I think Gold Bond may have been a brand sold by the Montgomery Ward catalog, and some of them were clearly made by Wahl - that might be what you are seeing.

 

I am pretty sure that Oxfords were made by Wahl, and they never had any arrangement with National.

 

Also, many pens borrowed heavily in styling from one another, particularly if they did not have a design patent, or if the design patent had expired. A lot of old ring-tops, for example, look a lot alike. The thing that makes this Miller seem like a National product to me is the specific design of the lever - and I would lay odds it does not have J-bar inside.

 

John

[Vintagepens]

I've seen Miller pens that were clearly Conklin-made -- identical to All American models but for imprints. It could well be that "Miller" was a brand name akin to "Gold Bond": owned not by a penmaker, but rather by a retailer. Certainly the Miller shown in the picture does not appear to have anything to do with Conklin.