{"id":3083,"date":"2019-03-08T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=3083"},"modified":"2024-06-03T16:59:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T20:59:12","slug":"identify-esterbrook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/identify-esterbrook\/","title":{"rendered":"Identifying and Dating a Vintage Esterbrook"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

While volunteering at the 2019 Baltimore Pen Show<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

So…What is it?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My first job was to identify what it is. Finding a general “family” was easy. Google’s first result<\/a> for “Vintage Esterbrook” let me know I had a pen from the J Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took me a little longer to narrow it down between the J, LJ, and SJ. This post<\/a> from a Fountain Pen Network thread<\/a> gave me an easy reference point. Since the “jewels” at either end are a different size, I have a J.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Comparing
Notice that the cap “jewel” (left) is significantly larger than the end “jewel”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Richard Binder’s page<\/a> about the J Series gave me a color name: Dubonnet Red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And When Was it Made?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then came the hard part. Most everything I found online made it very clear it’s impossible to precisely date an Esterbrook, as they don’t have any sort of date code. But, I’m tenacious, and I was determined to find the most precise date possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esterbrook.net’s<\/a> information on the J Series<\/a> got me started. The Double jewel models came out around 1948. And the earliest pens had only “Esterbrook” on the barrel imprint (without the \u00ae). Keep that in mind, it will help later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Close<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This post<\/a> and this post<\/a> (on a different Fountain Pen Network thread<\/a>) point out that the “fishtail” or “spade” shaped lever was replaced with a “spoon” shaped lever in the early 1950s. Going by the second post referenced, around 1952.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So I’ve narrowed down the manufacture date to 1948-1952. But my pen has the \u00ae, so I’m ruling out 1948, and potentially 1949. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ta Da!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So I have an Esterbrook J in Dubonnet Red manufactured between 1949 and 1952 (ish). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"My<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not bad for a bit of research. It just goes to show, if you’re willing to put in a bit of work, you can find a lot of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you enjoy this post? Would you like to know how I found out what my other two vintage pens are? If so, let me know in the comments and I’ll get working on those.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was gifted a lovely red, lever-fill, vintage Esterbrook pen, and was determined to discover everything I could about it. Here’s what I learned.<\/p>\n

Keep ReadingIdentifying and Dating a Vintage Esterbrook<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[233,426,43,135],"class_list":["post-3083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fountain-pens","tag-esterbrook","tag-pen-research","tag-story","tag-vintage-pens","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-NJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7052,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/nib-reviews-bwips-22\/","url_meta":{"origin":3083,"position":0},"title":"Nib Mini Reviews – BWIPS ’22 Haul","author":"Rachel","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Mini reviews of the nibs I picked up at the 2022 Baltimore Show. 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