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Messages - AAAndrew

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1
Tools & Supplies / Re: Nib recognition
« on: February 22, 2024, 12:25:27 PM »
Unfortunately, there really aren't many sources to learn about dip pens. Most mentions of them in books are in general books about old writing implement collecting, and are all British, and pretty much just a mention, no real in-depth info. The Writing Equipment Society in the UK did publish a collection of their articles on dip pens over the years, and that would be the best source out there for UK dip pens.

For the American dip pens, there's really just me. I've taken over The Esterbrook Project (https://theesterbrookproject.com/INDEX.html) from the original owner who has since passed which has the best info on the web about the largest pen maker in the US, Esterbrook. Then there is my website, thesteelpen.com. I started my research journey when I too went looking for more information and found little to nothing, so I started gathering it myself. The website contains my rough research notes as well as general dip pen information. I've since begun published a series of articles in The Pennant (the magazine for the Pen Collectors of America).

I have attached three pdfs of a three-part article on how the old steel pens were made, which you may find interesting. The methods of production were pretty consistent between the UK and the US up until about 1890 when the higher labor costs in the US began to make investment in automation more desirable.

And then, I'm available through the contact me page on TheSteelPen.com, and try to pop in here periodically if you have more questions. Always happy to talk dip pens!

Andrew


2
Tools & Supplies / Re: Unused older nib
« on: February 22, 2024, 12:07:27 PM »
Hi @AAAndrew - I routinely subject my sprung Leonardt Principals to a hot flame for 10-15 seconds followed immediately with a douse in cold water. This seems to toughen the tines and help the sprung problem; the weakened tines making a clicking sound and crossing over one another.

Is there any science to back this up, tempering or such?

If you want to really start to get do-it-yourself tempering, you can do what you just described, which will make the tines more brittle, then heat up again to a lesser degree and let it cool in the air. That will soften it a little and add some elasticity back. This is not an infinitely available fix as it will eventually destroy the nib, but could be interesting.

3
Tools & Supplies / Re: What is this nib called?
« on: February 14, 2024, 11:28:18 AM »
This style I've called a "School Pen" in my proposed "Pen Shapes" glossary. https://thesteelpen.com/2018/12/07/pen-shapes-a-proposed-glossary/

Mainly I use this term because the 404, and then Esterbrook's copy, the 444, as well as Hunt's version are all, at one time or another, called School Pens. Miller Brothers also made one, as well as Eagle, and they also used the term School Pen. I suspect the ridge was there to ensure the student didn't push the pen point too far into the holder. But that's just a theory.

Here's Esterbrook's copy of the Gillott. (Esterbrook initially called their copies 303 and 404 until they were sued by Gillott, after which Esterbrook changed the name to the VERY DIFFERENT 333 and 444. I've also attached one of the 404s still being used in a salesman's sample book where it is labeled as a 444. This example is from the early 1870s, not too long after Esterbrook lost the lawsuit.


4
Tools & Supplies / Re: Unused older nib
« on: February 14, 2024, 11:18:59 AM »
If you're looking for some standard terms for the parts of a pen, I have a modest proposal based on what the parts were generally called in the golden age of dip pens.

https://thesteelpen.com/2017/10/14/defining-terms/

I do use the flame method myself, but the trick is to flame only the middle of the nib for about 1.5 seconds (a long one-second), take the flame away, and then do it once more for a delicate nib, maybe one more time for a larger nib, and then wipe it off with a tissue. The heat will soften the shellac (most vintage nibs used a form of shellac to protect the nib from rust, which is why alcohol can work), and then you wipe it off. If there is still pooling of the ink, or it won't stick, then try it again.

Do not put the flame directly under the tip, keep it centered on the space where the ink will go, the concave side of the center of the pen. The heat will still transfer to the delicate tip, without affecting the temper (it has to get pretty darned hot to really affect the temper, but this can happen at the very small and delicate tip)

Also, if you flame, make sure you put the nib into a holder. You don't want to be holding it in your fingers as you heat it up.  :o

I have captured some of my thoughts on this sometimes contentious topic. (including why I never use the saliva method) https://thesteelpen.com/2017/10/23/using-steel-pens-part-5-pen-prep-and-bits-and-pieces/

Hope this was helpful.

5
Tools & Supplies / Re: Nib recognition
« on: February 14, 2024, 10:58:25 AM »
Custom imprinting pens for stationers, department stores and businesses goes back almost to the very beginning of the industrialized steel dip pen. Some of these customers were as small as a stationer who wanted their own name on the pens, but some customers actually had pens made with their name on it, and created whole companies and brands around it. Spencerian Pens in the US is one of the best known. That was a brand of the New York Stationer Ivison Phinney and Company (there were several variations on Ivison's name as partners came and went over the years). They sold millions of Spencerian Pens over their 100+ years, but they never actually made a single one. The pens, for most of the company's history, were made in England by first Josiah Mason, and later, when he split from Perry, by Perry. (technically, in the 1870s, a few of the Spencerian pens were made by Gillott, with most made by Mason, but that was short-lived)

What you may have are some pens all made by the same pen factory, but just stamped with a different, custom imprint. I looked up Belman in People, Pens and Production, the definitive book on the Birmingham pen industry, and they're only listed with no other information.

P. Belman & Co.  (& Son Ltd 1923)
73 Pershore Street  1903-1910
73 & 75 Pershore Street  1911-1919
22 Bromsgrove Steet  1920-1940

So, your pens marked Belman & Son can be dated between 1923-1940. Most surviving dip pens today survived because they were shoved into the backs of drawers when their owners got their first fountain pen and kept around the old pens "just in case."  So, most surviving vintage pens are from about 1920s onward.  I suspect the "Hart" was a stationers or department store or even a hotel or other business where the public might be supplied a pen to write a note or sign a document. They may have purchased the pens from Belman, liked them, and had Belman make some with their custom imprint.

Interesting! Any pictures?

6
Y'all are, as always, the best! I like the idea that "narrow" meant that the letterforms are more oval than round and a longer ascender and descender relative to the body of the letter.

The writer lived from 1748-1841. She was married to my 7x great grandfather who fought in the Revolutionary War. She was born in Virginia, I just found out, but educated in England.

The letter my cousin wants to approximate was written in 1829. I will use one of my steel pens that approximates a quill as best as possible. (my quill-cutting skills are just not up to the task)

Oh, and I found a copy of Seally's "The Running Hand" on archive.org. It's not a fantastic copy, but better than nothing.

https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_new-running-hand-copies_seally-john_1770/mode/2up

7
The writer, an elegant lady who lived from mid-1700s to early 1800s, English born and educated, was said to have an elegant "narrow Italian hand."

I'm trying to get an idea of what that may have looked like. I have read that Italian hands went out of style when roundhand became more popular, but it seems she was still using it, and Shelly included it in some of his books alongside roundhand, so it couldn't have been completely supplanted.

Anyone have an example?

Thanks,
Andrew

8
Tools & Supplies / Re: The Victorian Pen Wiper
« on: April 24, 2023, 09:38:56 PM »
I've never found the brushes work well dry. Since most of what I use are water-based inks, I find just a wipe with a tissue or thin napkin works as well as anything else. (those little coffee shop napkins seem to work quite well)

9
Open Flourish | General Discussion / How Steel Pens Were Made
« on: April 24, 2023, 09:34:48 PM »
As part of my research on the history of the steel (dip) pen industry, I published a three-part series describing how pens were made during the golden age of dip pens (1830-1900). More automation began creeping into first the US factories around 1900s, and then in the UK during WWI, and the continent after the war.

I thought some of you might find this interesting, especially those of you who like to use vintage pens. I have included a link below to a Microsoft OneDrive folder with these articles (as well as some other history articles). Look for the articles on The Steel Pen Trade. I tried to attach, but one of them is too large, and cannot seem to compress it enough. Any other suggestions for how to attach are welcome.

I took as a conceit the factory tour, which was a popular kind of article during the industrial revolution to let people (who would never actually work in a factory) know what it was like to walk through these modern miracles of the age. It is pretty amazing how consistent the techniques were not just on both sides of the Atlantic (it was British engineers who set up the US factories, after all), but also throughout the century from the first factories in 1830s to the turn of the century.

There's more to this topic than I had space for. I would particularly like to research and write more about the lives of the women who made up most of the workforce in these factories. Men and boys worked the furnaces and steel rollers, but pretty much everything else was done by women. It was considered a good factory job for women in that it was relatively clean and safe (as long as you watched your fingers).

Anyway, any questions let me know. I hope you enjoy!

These were originally published in the Spring, Summer and Winter of 2021 issues of The Pennant (magazine of the Pen Collectors of America).
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Anl0aUhuftEChNgt_AI483mjCBrKOw?e=s78FX3

Andrew


10
Tools & Supplies / Re: Vintage nib prices on ebay
« on: April 24, 2023, 07:47:33 PM »
Gillott was first granted a royal patent by Queen Victoria in 1840. Here is an ad from 1840 announcing it.


11
In my heart, I've never really left.

I've just submitted final draft of my 14th article on the history of the steel pen industry, finally up to Esterbrook (covering from before the founding in 1861 up to about 1900). Just finished the first draft of my 15th article, so still going with that.

Some of you all may find a couple of them interesting, on how steel pens were made. I'll share the pdfs in a separate thread.

Missed you all!

Andrew

12
Esterbrook often changed names, in this case names associated with a penmanship style that was no longer taught. Same pen, different name.

13
I'm enjoying using a vintage R. Esterbrook "Modified Slant" #702 nib.  Would like to get more. I see also Esterbrook nibs described as "Natural Slant."

What is meant by modified or natural slant with respect to pointed pen nibs?

Hey, y'all! It's been a while.

Natural Slant and Modified Slant were two different (though similar) penmanship styles taught in schools around the 1890s. As with others, the big pen companies made pens marketed to those studying that specific method. Both of these are similar in that they stress less modulation in line and more upright letterforms. These were not quite as monoline as say, Palmer, which looks like it was written with a ballpoint, but the idea was to have a style of writing that was easier, faster and required less slant and less time taken to form letters with a strong modulation in line.

Esterbrook alone made the
702 Modified Slant
761 Natural Slant
773 Natural Slant
782 Natural Slant
794 Modified Slant

These tend to be very nice nibs without too much spread, a smooth tip (made for school children) and a lively spring-back.

Other companies also made Modified Slant pens, but they're less common.

I've attached a page from a journal of education talking about the trend towards more vertical writing by mentioning yet a third style of this penmanship.

Andrew

14
Tools & Supplies / Re: Oblique Holder for Business Writing?
« on: June 14, 2021, 11:03:17 AM »
Just to throw in a word for the oblique pen (nib). While, historically, oblique holders were relatively rare, more common were oblique pens.

Below I've posted a photo of an oblique gold pen dating from the 1850's, and labeled as "Spencerian Pen." It was made in Detroit, MI by C. Piquette, a jeweler and gold pen maker. This is a shape that follows the original Mordant patent I mentioned above.

In my proposed glossary for pen shapes out on my site (https://thesteelpen.com/2018/12/07/pen-shapes-a-proposed-glossary/) I suggest four specific types of oblique pens: Spear Oblique, Mordant Oblique, Elbow Oblique, Oblique Tip. A picture of all four types can be found below.

What's interesting to note is that many oblique pens are not set at quite so steep an angle as many modern oblique holders. This says that either the slope of the letters was different, or that the straight holder was held at an angle already (probably through rotating the paper) and didn't need quite as much angle from the pen.

I don't think anyone today makes oblique pens, but you can still find vintage ones, occasionally, for sale. They are not nearly as common as many other straight pens, but they do exist.

15
Tools & Supplies / Re: Oblique Holder for Business Writing?
« on: March 04, 2021, 02:17:06 PM »
If we go back to the beginning, the oblique holder and oblique pen were both included in the same patent by William Brockedon and Sampson Morden in 1831. The main benefit described in the patent was not for decorative writing, but that this would allow a pen to last longer as both tines were now moving across the page evenly and would thus wear evenly.

Over the years, the oblique holder generally does not show up as much in stationery catalogs or office supply catalogs. If they do appear, there may be one type alongside 15 or 20 different straight holders. It does seem that the oblique holder was mostly adopted by penman, but it was originally designed as an aid for preserving the tines of your nib while everyday writing.

So, there's no rule or law or even good advice to use your oblique holder for only decorative writing. You're just taking advantage of the benefits envisioned by the original owners.

I've attached a copy of a short side-bar article I wrote on the origins of the oblique holder and oblique pen for the summer 2020 issue of The Pennant, the magazine for the Pen Collectors of America.

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