Pen Brands World Wide

[Gerry]

Posting this query for a member who wonders if we have any info on it...

 

merkur fountain pens

please tell me what you know about this pen i am so lost it has and edel nib and a jeweled cap. it is also marked marlcanl

as far as i can tell the letters are kinda funny looking ive used the chalk to get a better look but still come up with the same thing please help!

 

mstbare019

 

Anyone know more than what's in the list?

 

Gerry

[Lexaf]

:meow:

Hi Gerry,

merkur fountain pens

please tell me what you know about this pen i am so lost it has and edel nib and a jeweled cap. it is also marked marlcanl

as far as i can tell the letters are kinda funny looking ive used the chalk to get a better look but still come up with the same thing please help!

mstbare019

 

As far as I can see Merkur is not in the list, but I am not 100% sure, because the revised version I am working on at the moment is heavily 'Under Construction"

 

A picture of your pen would be of great help, then I could make a comparison. I happen to have one pen with that brandname in my collection, so I'll show some pics of that one below. I do not know much about this one either, but it's defenitely German made, probably early thirties , celluloid with HR blind cap and cap end. Button filler. Very short: only 9cm capped! The nib is not original, it had a heavily rusted (once gold plated) steel nib, but it was so damaged I replaced it with a gold plated steel Bock nib. Maybe the lettering of the Merkur brand and the logo will help to identify your pen, maybe it's from the same source.

 

Hope this is of any help, the brand will be entered in the datalist anyway....

 

Regards,

 

Lex

[Lexaf]

:meow:

 

Hi,

 

1) A question for Antoniosz:

 

Wat is (was) your reference for 'Bantam - Conway Stuart Associated - UK" in 'the list' ? ( your code AZ was in the list for this record) I can find data about the Wahl-Eversharp miniature Bantam pens (Nishimura - Binder) but nothing referring to Conway Stuart....

 

2) Besides that: Nishimura talks about bulb fillers in his article about the Wahl Eversharp Bantam pens.

http://www.vintagepens.com/Eversharp_Bantams.shtml

This type was not in the list yet, so I added a code BU in the list for the filling mechanism field.

http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_instruc...b-fillers.shtml

 

3) I have a similar type of pen in my collection but the brand is unknown to me.

Victapen New York? Chrome trimming, ca. 10 cm. short, bulb filler. Not the original nib.

Anyone any information? (see pic below, don't worry, the white chalk can be washed away ))

 

That's it for now...

 

Regards,

Lex

 

Edited for typos...

Edited January 4, 2007 by Lexaf

[Gerry]

Lex, the pen was on the earlier list - entered by MaxPen (see #669) but that's all the information that there was, just the pen name. Well, with the pic's of yours we have established the reference, and teresa has a second pen sighting - hers.

 

Perhaps you could post a picture of your pen Teresa.

 

Regards,

 

Gerry

[Johnny Appleseed]

It doesn't add much information, but the Victapen looks like it uses patent #US1918844, by Edward Hugetz of New York, July 18, 1933. It does not list an assignment, so we don't know if there was a company associated with Edward Hugetz.

 

However, Hugetz was also the inventor of US1392569, a telscoping fountain pen in 1921. Telescoping Fountian pens were sold by a couple of manufactureres, one of which was the U.S. Victor Fountain Pen Company, which incorporated in June of 1919. Hugetz is not one of the people named on the incorporation papers.

 

With the name Victapen and the potential Hugetz connection, I would be willing to bet that it was a brand name of U.S. Victor, but we can't be certain without a little more info.

 

John

[Lexaf]

:meow:

 

Hi Gerry and John,

 

Gerry: I'll add the Merkur data to the list.

 

John: Good work! the drawing in the patent is almost congruent to my pen. Full date match on the pen and the date stamp on the document . So that could not be better.

 

On David Nishimura's site you can see some Victor pens ( one is a telescoping pen! )

see http://www.vintagepens.com/catillP-Z.shtml , but these are clearly from a higher quality than my pen, also much earlyer, 1905-1925.

My pen is depression period. Maybe a subbrand for cheapo's?

So I'll enter the Victapen brand as a new entry in the list with a reference to the patent you found. It can always be changed later if someone shows up with a relationship between "United States Fountain Pen Victor" as it is called on David's site and my Victapen.

Thanks a lot anyway

 

Further: I checked the datalist and there is no "United States Fountain Pen Victor" entry either, only a Victor-Conway Stuart associated reference. and a Victor sub-brand from John Holland, but that one is dated much earlyer (1880-1920) and from Cincinatty, the "United States Fountain Pen Victor" pens are, according to Nishimura, from New York. So If nobody objects I'll add this New York Victor branch also, with a reference to Nishimura's site.

 

Note: the references I add in the database are at the moment only existing in the system I am working with, not in the published shorter list from Gerry and Max. In the near future I will try to work out a method of publishing the (updated) short list as well as the 'extended' list with a lot of added information such as source references, remarks and extended descriptions for a lot of pens. This version will not be easy to publish as a simple text list in a posting, but maybe there is a way that members of this forum can download a complete file that contains all the data? At the moment I have no idea if a thing like that can be realized through the possibilities of this forum site or even by the organisation that hosts this site.

 

comes time, comes wisdom.....

 

That's it for today, love to hear your comments, as always.

 

Regards,

 

Lex

Edited January 4, 2007 by Lexaf

[Lexaf]

:meow:

 

Hi All,

 

Yet another posting....

 

In the (original)list is:

42 , American , , , , , MP

 

In my junk box I found... an American (wreck) (see pic below)

Looks very Wearever like? Agree?

So I added:

TRADE_MARK American

SUB_BR_OF Wearever?

MODEL

COUNTRY USA

PROD_YEAR ~1935

FILL_SYST LF

CONTRIB MP

 

If anyone is interested in the pen.... send me a PM. The cap is ok!... You can have it if you send 5 euro's or 6USD (for mail costs) to my address in Holland, I'll mail to you. First one hits!

 

Regards,

 

Lex

[Dave Johannsen]

I just came across this thread, and found it interesting. I have to say, however, that I take strong exception with the description of Century Pen Co as a Barrett subbrand. The company was founded in 1892 with none other than George S Parker and William F Palmer on the board of directors. I would guess that about 1910'ish Century started procuring parts from Barrett. In fact, they purchased so many parts from Barrett that he was their principal creditor when they went belly-up in 1932. As part of the bankruptcy settlement, Barrett acquired the Century name and patents. So, the last year or two of the name they were a Barrett brand, but only after the bankruptcy.

 

 

Dave

[Johnny Appleseed]

The Designation of several of the brands as "C.E. Barrett Sub-brands" has bothered me for quite some time. Someone read one of George K.s posts that about C.E. Barrett that said Barrett made parts for brands x,y,z, etc. and someone confused that with the various brands being sub-brands of C.E. Barrett. I think it needs major clarification.

 

It is also difficult to capture the changing ownership of a single pen brand when it goes through various different changes in ownership. I think the "Notes" area needs to be used widely to clarify a lot of this stuff. That or a second entry for companies like Century, with notes clarifying the connection between the two. After all, you could technically call Wahl-Eversharp a Parker Sub-brand, since Parker bought the last vestiges of Eversharp.

 

The strength and weakness of this list is that it is a truly collaborative process between many different people. It brings in a lot of ideas and informaition, which is good, but does need some help with consistancy and QCing, as mentioned before.

 

I don't mean this as a criticism of Gerry or anyone else who as worked on this - the moderation and management of the posts have been fine. It is the "open format" collaboration style that has the pluses and minuses.

 

John

[antoniosz]

Wat is (was) your reference for 'Bantam - Conway Stuart Associated - UK" in 'the list' ? ( your code AZ was in the list for this record) I can find data about the Wahl-Eversharp miniature Bantam pens (Nishimura - Binder) but nothing referring to Conway Stuart....

Lex, my posting here said that there is need for a clarification as Bantam is both a Wahl-Eversharp model and a CS associated pen. In the same e-mail I gave the reference for the CS connection which is no other than Jonathans's web site: http://www.ftic.info/Donahaye/ConwayStewar...ook/cus1023.htm

Maybe you can call the CS pen 'The "Bantam" Pen' versus plain Bantam for the Wahl-Eversharp model.

[Kaweco]

Hi Lex and Gerry

I'll add the Merkur data to the list.

IMHO the name of the company is "Merkurit"

Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik GmbH Hamburg- Altona, Gemany.

During the 20th they produced octagonal and round BHR safeties which looked a little bit like the old MBs. The Emblem were 3 Galalith points at the cap top or 3 circles as a nib imprint.

Kind Regards

Thomas

[Lexaf]

:meow:

Hi Thomas,

 

you wrote:

IMHO the name of the company is "Merkurit"

Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik GmbH Hamburg- Altona, Gemany.

During the 20th they produced octagonal and round BHR safeties which looked a little bit like the old MBs. The Emblem were 3 Galalith points at the cap top or 3 circles as a nib imprint.

 

The resemblance in the logos on your and my pen is significant. The dating of the Merkurit pen you show, is as far as I can see in the disign (20's?), earlyer than my Merkur pen (30's?).

 

So that leaves a few questions (or a dilemma? ):

Can one see Merkur Gold as a sub brand of Merkurit?

Can one see Merkurit as a sub brand of Merkur?

Are Merkurit and Merkur Gold both subrands of Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik?

Are Merkurit and Merkur Gold both just modelnames of Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik?

Or any of these combinations.... :bonk:

 

Maybe I could enter Merkurit as well as Merkur, as well as Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik GmbH and make a cross reference????

 

Some more questions about Nielsen:

Is 'Gmbh' not a typical post war designation?

When did the firm start / end? Did they have more brand names or model names for their FP's?

 

Is that enough to keep you busy?

 

Best Regards,

 

Lex

[Lexaf]

:meow:

 

Thanks Antoniosz for your comment. Please read also my following posting.

Thanks also for the link to the pic of 'The Bantam Pen', I added it to the picture list of my database.

 

Lex

[Lexaf]

:meow: Hi all,

 

Dave wrote:

I just came across this thread, and found it interesting. I have to say, however, that I take strong exception with the description of Century Pen Co as a Barrett subbrand.

 

John wrote:

The Designation of several of the brands as "C.E. Barrett Sub-brands" has bothered me for quite some time. Someone read one of George K.s posts that about C.E. Barrett that said Barrett made parts for brands x,y,z, etc. and someone confused that with the various brands being sub-brands of C.E. Barrett. I think it needs major clarification.

and:

The strength and weakness of this list is that it is a truly collaborative process between many different people. It brings in a lot of ideas and informaition, which is good, but does need some help with consistancy and QCing, as mentioned before.

I don't mean this as a criticism of Gerry or anyone else who as worked on this - the moderation and management of the posts have been fine. It is the "open format" collaboration style that has the pluses and minuses.

 

I agree with both of you and with Antoniosz too, see my previous posting.

 

The problem you indicate is the reason why I offered Gerry not only to work on the list to see if more references could be added, what is what most users of this list and readers of this topic will incidentally or regularly will do, but also some things more. As I already wrote earlyer, I think that the structure of the list ( or the database model as you wish) could be improved, so I introduced a slightly different (enhanced?) field structure, first of all to eleminate the confusion between brand names, model names, subbrands and company associations.

This implicates that the complete list is subject to revision and, more important, normalisation.

That is quite a job...

 

To realise this I am using a data base program called 'Organizer Deluxe' by Primasoft PC Inc. ( www.primasoft.com ).

 

To illustrate this I'll show some sample records referring to the Barrett vs. Century discussion as well as the 'There are 2 Bantam's!' problem below.

 

Note that in the Century record the Sub-brand field says: C.E. Barrett associated, the details are explained in the description and remark text fields.

 

To make the details available for users on FPN there is a problem, though. The list 'as it was' had a very short record length , each record fitting on one line. With all the details in the text fields it cannot be published any longer in this way (see the examples). It would be far to big and exceed the capacity of a normal posting. So that's why I made the proposal (already in an earlier posting) to publish the list in two different versions: The "short" list, with only the fields shown here in blue, very close in structure to the original list of Max and Gerry, and the "complete" or "enhanced" list that (maybe?) could be hosted somewhere, so it could be downloaded. (I hope someone will come with a solution for thát problem!).

The downloadable format of both lists (or files if you wish) can still be in a comma delimited form, so every user can import the data in his or her own favorite database application (access, excel, lotus, whatever...) I chose for a turnkey program, that was versatile enough to create my own data/field model in it, but that was mainly because I already used that particular program for my book catalog. When you own more than 3000 books it is not enough to just place them on alphbetical order of author on the shelf...

 

Again, as I wrote earlier, I hope this adds a bit to a solution to make the topic of 'Pen Brands World Wide' a bit more accessible and retrievable. I appreciate all suggestions and encourage all readers of this topic to continue with critical comment.

As I am still busy with the job of completing, enhancing, correcting the records in the list and researching new records that will be introduced by working on the existing references in the list, it will again take some time before I can post a new, enhanced version of it (in the short form). So I hope you can be patient for some more time... :bonk:

 

See the record samples below.

 

Best regards,

Lex van Galen

 

(Edited to correct some typo's and text imperfections, Lex)

 

Record for C.E.Barrett:

 

TRADE_MARK Barrett, C.E

SUB_BR_OF

MODEL

COUNTRY USA - Chicago

PROD_YEAR

FILL_SYST

CONTRIB MP

MUTECODE UPD

MUTEDAT 2007-01-07

OWNER

REF http://www.pensandwatches.com/Penprofiles.htm

FINISH

DESCRIPT 315 S. Pearin St Chicago Il.

Barrett was a prolific pen maker concentrating on making pens

for other companies and selling pens under different pen names

like Gold Bond. This operation was probably the same as National Pen

Products, but he kept both names for some reason.

REMARK

PICTURE (not to be exported, but very convenient for me in my own database, Lex)

 

Record for Century:

 

TRADE_MARK Century Pen Co.

SUB_BR_OF C. E. Barrett associated

MODEL several

COUNTRY USA

PROD_YEAR 1882-1933

FILL_SYST

CONTRIB LE

MUTECODE NEW

MUTEDAT 2007-01-07

OWNER

REF http://www.penbid.com/Auction/showarticle.asp?art_id=27

FINISH

DESCRIPT Quote from L.M. Fultz:

"Century started in business about 1892 and ceased production about

1938. The firm is identified with the city of Whitewater, Wisconsin, USA

and with the Humphrey family. Its most collectible pens include the

early and fancy eyedropper fillers, the ribbon filigree thumb fillers

and the large and colorful Durapoint pens of the late 1920s."

....

"The C. E. Barrett company of Chicago had been Century's main

supplier of holders, trim parts and, perhaps, nibs. In 1933 Barrett files

suit against Century for non payment and the Century company

is forced into bankruptcy. Heywood Humphrey is appointed trustee on

behalf of the creditors. In 1938, Century liquidates its few

remaining assets and goes out of business"

REMARK Sometimes considered as a sub brand of C.E. Barrett, but Barrett

only supplied parts to Century.

Read the "The History of Century Pens" by L. Michael Fultz of

Penbid.com

Several Models known such as

Student

Double Feed

Durapoint

PICTURE

 

Record for Bantam

 

TRADE_MARK Bantam

SUB_BR_OF Conway Stewart

MODEL

COUNTRY UK

PROD_YEAR

FILL_SYST

CONTRIB AZ

MUTECODE UPD

MUTEDAT 2007-01-05

OWNER

REF

FINISH

DESCRIPT

REMARK Conway Stewart Associated

Also known as 'The Bantam Pen'.

Not to confuse with Wahl -Eversharp Bantam model.

PICTURE

 

Record for Wahl Eversharp, Bantam model:

 

TRADE_MARK Wahl Eversharp

SUB_BR_OF

MODEL Bantam

COUNTRY USA

PROD_YEAR 1933-1940

FILL_SYST BU

CONTRIB LE

MUTECODE NEW

MUTEDAT 2007-01-04

OWNER

REF http://www.vintagepens.com/Eversharp_Bantams.shtml and http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/glossary/B.htm

FINISH

DESCRIPT David Nishimura:

These attractive, colorful miniature fountain pens from the '30s came

in a tremendous variety of patterns. Being bulb-fillers, many

of these pens have transparent or translucent barrels; most are

equipped with 14K #0 nibs, though they were sold with gold-plated

steel nibs as well. Facetted versions – miniature Dorics – were

also made, as were desk pens and matching pencils. World's Fair

collectors will want to keep an eye out for the specially-imprinted

model made for the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress exhibition.

Richard Binder:

Bantam. Wahl-Eversharp’s name for its series of very small

bulb-filling pens (approximately 33/4" capped). Introduced in about

1933, the Bantam continued in production until about 1940.

Bantams are easy to collect because there exist myriad color

variations as well as versions with one, two, or three cap bands.

Shown below is a faceted Bantam from about 1933, bearing a Century

of Progress imprint. See also Century of Progress, Peter Pan.

REMARK Not to confuse with Bantam - Conway Stuart Sub-brand

PICTURE

 

Cross reference record (See...)

 

TRADE_MARK The Bantam Pen

SUB_BR_OF See Bantam

MODEL

COUNTRY

PROD_YEAR

FILL_SYST

CONTRIB LE

MUTECODE NEW

MUTEDAT 2007-01-11

OWNER

REF

FINISH

DESCRIPT

REMARK

PICTURE

Edited January 11, 2007 by Lexaf

[Kaweco]

Hi Lex

Are Merkurit and Merkur Gold both just modelnames of Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik?

I think that could be the solution. Alas I have no primary souces, there is only a short comment at S. Wallrafen and T. Westerich.

Is 'Gmbh' not a typical post war designation?

Yes and no. After the war 1848 and before the war 1914.

The law about the GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) exists since 20. April 1892 the latest change was 22. March 2005.

When did the firm start / end? Did they have more brand names or model names for their FP's?

I have no information, maybe we can ask at one of the collectors from Hamburg.

Kind Regards

Thomas

[Lexaf]

:meow:

Thanks Thomas.

 

Yes and no. After the war 1848 and before the war 1914.

The law about the GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) exists since 20. April 1892 the latest change was 22. March 2005.

 

Your answer on the Gmbh subject shows that I know nothing about German Economics... :roflmho:

 

I will make the cross references on Merkur / Merkurit / Nielsen with Merkur and Merkurit as sub-brands of Nielsen. In the remark I'll note that the info is not verified yet.

 

Do Wallrafen and Westerich have a site? I know of Stefan's site http://www.collectiblestars.de , but that was not very usefull to me up till now, because the most important part: the 'Herstellerinfo' is still 'under construction'...

 

Did you read my previous long posting about the database development for the 'Pen Brands Worl Wide' List? I'd appreciate your comment...

 

Take your time,

Regards,

Lex

 

some corrections....

Edited January 11, 2007 by Lexaf

[Dave Johannsen]

<SNIP>

That is quite a job...

<SNIP>

See the record samples below.

 

Record for Century:

 

TRADE_MARK  Century Pen Co.

SUB_BR_OF  C. E. Barrett associated

MODEL  several

COUNTRY  USA

PROD_YEAR  1882-1933

First, you've undertaken a job by which the labors of Hercules pale in comparison; I wish you the best of luck. I think that the multiple occurances of names and the issue of sub-brands/sub-lines are going to be quite difficult to deal with satisfactorally. I'll illustrate just with Century... Early in the last century, Century had two sub-lines of pen: The Student Pen and The Victory Pen (note that Fultz' writings don't include any mention of Victory). Should these consitute seperate entries in your list? The pens were marked with simply the Student or Victory imprint and Whitewater - why even the boxes are marked this way (I don't recall if there is any mention of Century on the boxes - I can check when I get home). Certainly many other makers also had a "Student" line of pens, so keeping these all strainght is going to be difficult (meaning perhaps that additional imprint imformation beyond the company name may be required database entries if the intent is to help people identify their pens). Also, though I think that it's useful to point to the best availible resource, the web is so ephemeral that I think you should point to print resources when availible. With Century, for example, Fultz wrote a feature article in "Pen World" which contains much more information than the PenBid article (though there are several small errors and omissions that should be corrected). Perhaps at some point you could solicit the input of various collectors to provide summary articles for each entry (I know that David Isaacson talked at one point about compiling a book in this manner). Also, the "associated" moniker can be a bit misleading, as this may change over time. For instance with Century, when the company was reincorporated in 1894 it was written into the papers of incorporation that Century could procure hard rubber holders from Parker at cost. Additionally, George Parker and WIlliam Palmer served on the board of directors until the teens. One could make the case that Century was at least as strongly associated with Parker as they were with Barrett (and this is why early Century pens are highly sought after by collectors of early Parker pens). Finally, let me point out a simple typo in your Century entry: you list 1882 as the "PROD_YEAR" though 1892 is the correct year (though Fultz maintains that the company didn't actually produce any pens until Nels Humphrey cam along in 1894 - a conclusion that I don't share). Anway, I don't mean to come across as being too nit-picky or mean spirited - I think that the list is a noble effort, I just fear that it may become a morass into which you sink ever deeper. You do have my best wishes for success! Keep at it.

 

Dave

Edited January 11, 2007 by Dave Johannsen

[Lexaf]

:meow:

 

Hello Dave,

 

Thanks for your extensive comment! It really helps to 'keep at it' when people react in a way that is more than simply 'well done' or 'good job' (that's nice also but this is better). What you say is very relevant to me and I surely will see if I can incorporate some of the suggestions you do to make the data list more accurate and usable.

 

The approach I have ( at the moment) is the following:

 

Starting point:

The very basic list started by Max an Gerry. A wonderful initiative I consider as the fundament or maybe a construction site with some sketches that inspired me to help building up. It was impressive enough to me to make me think: This is what we need and can I do something with it to improve the system and fill some holes.

 

Purpose:

To solve the eternal questions: Where the ... is this thing coming from? How old is it? Are there more of those?

(I deliberately evade the question of financial value: it's arbitrary and doesn't add anything to the knowledge about the artefact itself.)

 

Concept:

A simple database model that can be distributed and consulted trough a forum such as FPN, with as much reference material as possibly can be brought together about as much brands and models of pens available.

 

Tools and sources:

The internet searching facilities, some books, an enthusiastic community of fountain pen lovers (or maniacs), a pc with a database program installed, some experience in documentation and retrieval systems, a lot of luck and a lot of help.

 

Limitations:

There are a lot of limitations to what I can do with this database.

 

1st: It must be 'maintainable' (I do not now if this is a proper English word). So I will keep the number of fields as small as possible. I'll think about your suggestion for a separate field to cover the real imprint on the pen itself. This can only be of use for pens that one has actually in hands, or when there is a picture that clearly presents the imprint. A more or less theoretical record such as the example of the sub-brands of Century of which the existence is derived from being named in some article can only be completed by someone who actually has access to the real pen or an adequate picture. But as this is an open source system, any data can be used, as long as the minimum is given: a brand name, and the source who entered the brand name (the contributor field). If only a brand name is given and the source can not be verified (in the original 'Max list') and there is no response on internet and no response on FPN, the record is deleted! I keep the original list as a reference though, it's my 'you never know what can happen later' list.

 

2nd: I do not have so many written sources at my disposal as I would like. I own a few thousand books, fiction and non fiction, but books and especially good reference works about fountain pens are scarce, not always easy to find and to obtain and often quite expensive. And I'm not a rich guy. Periodicals is even more difficult. I would (too) often have to consult specialized libraries to find back issues and spend a tremendous lot of time and a fortune on Xerox copies to be able to use these as references. But if someone has some give away spare issues left they can always make me happy with it!

 

3rd: The internet is, although ephemeral, a good, almost unlimited and available, cheap source. Articles or references I find really important or of basic value I print out and file. ( I do have a laser printer!). When I make a reference to something really volatile as e.g. an E-bay item it is only to have 'proof' of what I found. For a short term, but enough for other users to have a link to other and I hope better sources. Besides I do record 'proof' pictures I find, linked to the database but these are for the moment only usable in my own work environment as I do not have a clue how to practically distribute the database completed with the pictures, let alone the copyright problems I'd run into if I did so.

 

4th: This data list is definitely not a scientifically set up project. It's running thanks to enthusiastic amateurs who want to know forgotten things about coloured plastic or metal sticks that you can write with. Remember Frank Dubiel who always said that fountain pens were made to write with, nothing else. And ink is just water with some colour or dye in it... But the funny sticks and the 125 year old industry that's behind it, is indeed a mirror of what happened in the century that we have behind us.

 

 

So I do not have the intention of building "the final source" in this subject. There will always be numerous errors, omissions, and misunderstandings. I do not feel responsible for the holes either. I just try to fill in blanks. I also do not intent to add anything in the writing of the fountain pen history. But when my pen friends will be able to recognize some of their treasures in this compilation of data, which will make their possession or collectors items possibly even more worthwhile, I feel proud that this list helped. Just as I feel lucky to see that pen friends and especially those from the FPN community will help me to improve this list.

 

What I expect this list to be or to become is a live, almost organic medium, where people can find information, but also can add, correct and enhance that information, all because of this somewhat strange but wonderful hobby.

 

Thanks....

 

Lex

 

edited for typo's

Edited January 11, 2007 by Lexaf

[Lexaf]

:meow:

Hi,

 

Theresa wrote:

 

merkur fountain pens

please tell me what you know about this pen i am so lost it has and edel nib and a jeweled cap. it is also marked marlcanl

as far as i can tell the letters are kinda funny looking ive used the chalk to get a better look but still come up with the same thing please help!

mstbare019

 

Teresa sent me the pictures of her pen. (see below)

On what I think is the barrel there is clearly "Merkur" in almost the same type of lettering as my Merkur. On what I think is the cap there is the model name: Markant. The only thing that puzzles me is the logo: a nib in a circle. This is different from the other pens.

Further: the nib: gold plated steel, imprint = Edelstahl Iridium.

Filling system: piston.

Cap & barrel: celluloid?

Production time: I guess somewhere between end 30's / end 40's.

 

All together I think this pen it is almost sure from the same maker as my Merkur and Thomas Merkurit: Nielsen Füllhalterfabrik GmbH Hamburg- Altona, Germany.

 

I hope this is good enough for an answers to your question, Theresa.

 

Regards, Lex

 

edited to add pictures

Edited January 12, 2007 by Lexaf

[Kaweco]

Hi Theresa and Lex

No it`s not a Merkurit it is a Markant, subbrandname "Merkur"

 

VEB Schreibgerätewerk Markant

Singwitz Kreis Bautzen

German Democratic Republic

 

The pen is from the late 50th. Don`t lay it in water or treat with an ultrasonic cleaner, the painted surface will disappear! (Potjomkin`s celluloid pen)

 

Pic below: Markant 130 set in typical kidney- style pouch