I don’t get the opportunity to write these posts very often, as I’m not big on vintage pens. However, recently Jim came across a vintage flat top pilot pen with a factory oblique nib. Because it has an engraving on it, it was selling for peanuts. I love oblique nibs and was curious, so we got it.
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, as it was one of the posts you all voted on. But, better late than never, right?
It’s a little difficult to re-research a pen after I’ve identified it, mainly because I want to just type in what it is. But, I managed it. Today I’ll be walking you through the way I research pens, in this case, my vintage Sheaffer.
This past Saturday, I went to Bertram’s Inkwell to pick up the pen I won from Pensplaining with Corinne. While there, Adam mentioned that they had a bunch of secondhand pens. So, pen fiend that I am, I asked to see them.
Note: If you don’t want to read the story, feel free to jump down to the pen porn or the list of sites I mention in the narrative below.
Out came three big zip cases of vintage pens. I went through the cases, but I don’t typically love the look of vintage pens. They aren’t as pretty as modern pens, in my opinion. But, in the third case, there were a bunch of vintage Pelikans. Among those was a red and black pen. I love red and black, so I pulled it out.
Unfortunately, the nib was looking a bit rough. Out of curiosity, I took at look at each of the other Pelikans. Most of them were stubs or broad, which I know I don’t like writing with. But, this one was intriguing.
While volunteering at the 2019 Baltimore Pen Show, I was gifted a lovely red, lever-fill, vintage Esterbrook pen. Admittedly, I know next-to-nothing about vintage Esterbrooks. I also have a penchant for finding out as much about my vintage pens as possible.
That said, it should be no surprise that I set out to identify and date (as accurately as possible) my new Esterbrook as soon as I was able.
Because I had fun doing so, and I found the information interesting, I figured I’d share it with you in the hopes that my research would prove useful to others.