Vintage nib prices on ebay

[sheila247]

I just bought 24 Vintage American Business College Minneapolis No 1 Steel Dip Pen Nibs.  I have been trying to research who the manufacturer was for these.  Does anyone have any suggestions of where I could find this information?  Any and all help is appreciated.  I am new to the vintage nib market and the bug has hit hard.  Looking forward to receiving everything so I can check them out. 

Sheila

[AAAndrew]

Vintage nibs?!? Who'd want vintage nibs.   

Actually, oh my. If some No. 1 American Business College nibs get you going, then I'm afraid you've got the bug.

I'd have to see the nibs to even begin to make a guess, but I can probably narrow it down to Esterbrook, Turner & Harrison, Hunt or maybe Eagle. These were the big manufacturers in the US. They made pens for all kinds of organizations and put their name on it. I just received in the mail today a small box of Pennsylvania Railroad System No. 1 Fine which I'm pretty sure are Esterbrook 048 Falcons.

Most likely you'll never know for sure who actually made the pens. The odds are probably 90% it was one of the above-mentioned companies. There were some smaller manufacturers in the US, but from my experience they tended to just make nibs for themselves under their own name. I've only ever found evidence for the larger companies being able to make custom runs.

Pictures would help, especially if you have a box, which can usually give you an idea of what period the pens are from. Most of the business college pens I've run into are from the teens or 20's to the war, when all the young men went off to war and no one was left to enroll in the business colleges. That's what happened to my grandfather's attempt at starting up a business college. He began Hoosier State Commercial College in 1938 and was really starting to take off and opened a remote branch and a night school, and then the war hit, and it folded after the winter semester of 1941.

If you're really interested in vintage pens outside of the high-performance ones so popular 'round here, PM me and I might have a little to say on the matter. 

Andrew, aka vintage steel pen bug infection vector #1

[sheila247]

It was made in England.  Here is a picture.  I don't have the box.  They came in today and they write like a dream.  :-)

[Doesy]

I have some of the American Business College nibs also. I've been curious too about who manufactured them. The nibs seem similar to vintage Palmer 5 nibs to me.

The founder of the college - John Julian Hagen - learned penmanship at the Lakeside Institute of Penmanship run by Austin Palmer and Bartlett Worthington. He in turn taught penmanship himself and is mentioned in the Penman's Art Journal a few times.

This is complete supposition on my part but I've wondered if Hagen ever contacted his former penmanship teachers about how to go about getting branded pen nibs made for his college and which manufacturer they used. Palmer nibs were manufactured by Gillott. (Gillott manufactured a large number of rebranded pen nibs for the US market and American Business College nibs were made in England...)

If you'd like to see more info about Hagen, his penmanship and the American Business College, you can find it at the link below (this is a geneaology website - maybe one of his descendents has more in depth info about supplies that were used at /manufactured for the college).

http://tng.locke.dk/getperson.php?personID=I00061&tree=tree2

[sheila247]

Thank you Doesy!!  I had looked up Hagen - discovered the college was founded in 1904.  Did not know he had been mentioned in the Penman's Art Journal though.  I love learning about all of this....  I told my husband I was becoming a calligraphy geek.  :-)

[AAAndrew]

Ah. If it just says "England" than it was made prior to about 1930 and was most likely made by either Gillott or Perry. Every indication I've been able to find points to those two as the ones who made most of the imported pens that were custom imprinted. I'm sure there were others, but it would be quite difficult to determine just who made a specific pen.

This practice of custom imprinting was not limited to schools and stationers wanting a pen with their name on it. You find a lot of the middle-sized companies, like the Spencerian Pen Co. and J. L. Isaacs (both in New York), Birmingham Pen Co., Frances Pratt and Sons (both out of Boston), and H. F. Kruger out of Kansas City, MO had their pens made in England but stamped with their name and marketed by them.

J.L. Isaac is a perfect example. His father, Leon Isaacs was a successful pen manufacturer in Philadelphia until the company was sold to Turner & Harrison not long after Leon's death. J(udah) L(eon) Isaacs was one of his top salesmen in the north east, including the very competative New York market. After Leon Isaacs was sold, J.L. started his own business, but he wasn't interested in making the pens, just in selling them. So he sent off to England to have pens made for him to his specifications and with his imprint. He then used his old sales contacts to have a relatively successful pen business for a dozen years or so.

When you find these, they are usually quite good quality. The Brits made a pretty good pen. When they are imprinted with a business college, especially one with a penmanship background, they are especially likely to be very nice pens.

[sheila247]

Thank you Andrew.  I'm really glad I took the risk on these nibs - I am pleased with the results.   

[bubuli]

It was made in England.  Here is a picture.  I don't have the box.  They came in today and they write like a dream.  :-)

oh i bought a dozen of these on eBay because it was relatively cheap...i received them and it's noticeably larger than the other usual suspects...i figure i'd try it at a later time when i'm bored

so far i found the Blanzy #2552 the best...smooth, flexible, and *durable*.  the B&F Velleda 436EF comes close, but a bit scratchier.

[sheila247]

OMG Ya'll!!  I did a buy now on Ebay for a Spencerian box with 20 nibs and it came today.   For less than $25.00 including shipping I received

8 Spencerian #1 (one is too rusted to use)
1 Spencerian #2
1 Spencerian #14
1 Spencerian #22
11 Spencerian School #5
1 Turner & Harrison 145
1 nib that looks way old that just says school
1 Esterbrook School 228
and 1 Esterbrook 128. 

 I am in shock.  Getting ready to open the other lot.
 I am thinking that some of these are too rare for me to even think about using.   Am I correct in this?

Yes, I think I have the bug. 

[sheila247]

So in the second lot for which I spent 18.00 including shipping

3 Spencerian #30 Bronze Falcons
2 Hunt 22
1 Hunt 99
1 Hunt 100
1 Hunt 102
1 Hunt 103
2 Hunt 104s
1 Hunt 513EF
14 Palmer #7s
2 Gillott 1950s
1 Gillott 1066 Registry Pen
1 Esterbrook 048 Falcon
1 Esterbrook 442 Jackson Stub
2 Esterbrook 802 Oval Points
1 Esterbrook 920
1 Esterbrook 956
1 GE Ball Point
and 1 J.Y. Wilson's American Pen (too rusted to use)

Not bad - not as good as the first one - but not bad.   Now to start research on some of the more obtuse nibs

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Use them all.  That's what they're for.

I was fortunate to be able to come to an agreement with an online seller for an unopened box of vintage Gillott 404 nibs.  Although it was pricey for me, I think 62 cents per nib is a fair price for vintage 404s.

[sheila247]

That is a great price, especially if it is a nib that you really like.   I will use the Spencerian 1s for sure - not sure about the 14 or 22.  Especially since I only have one of each of them.   I was reading the review of nibs on IAMPETH and the reviewer had never even seen a 14.  I think I may just keep that one and the 22 for collecting sake.   

[AAAndrew]

Nice variety.

The Hunt 100's tend to be fairly flexible. Anything with "EF" after it generally is pretty good. The Esterbrooks are solid. The 048 (Esterbrook always included the zero), the 442 and the 802 were staples of any workplace. The 048 Falcon was the top-selling Esterbrook pen for most of their existence. The 9xx Esterbrooks are their Radio pens, which just means they're just like the regular pens but with a special coating. The 956 is a Radio version of the 556, one of my favorite everyday writing pens.

I also like the Gillott 1066 Registry. It's a nicely firm-flex and durable pen for general writing. Quite smooth for a Gillott.

The Spencerian Bronze Falcons are another common pen with the durability, ink-holding and smoothness of most good Falcons.

And the Palmer #7's a really fun. 

Congrats!

[sheila247]

Thanks Andrew.  I fixed the 048 Falcon.  Am reading up on Esterbrook through the link you provided.   I am over the moon with what I received today.   Am doing research as we speak.  Would you consider any of these not for use but just for my collection? 

[AAAndrew]

The only one I might not use would be the GE ballpoint. I'm assuming it's a General Electric "GE"? All of the others I would use and see if you like them. If you do, you can keep your eyes out for another. Some are definitely more readily available than others.

As you've probably already discovered the 048, 442, 920 and 802 are too large for an oblique holder, so hopefully you have a straight holder as well. I know Palmer 9's are a big large, but I can't remember exactly the size of the 7's. I guess you'll figure it out when you go to put it in the holder and it doesn't fit.

Have fun!

Andrew