Holder ID

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Can anyone identify these holders?



They were sold as "vintage".

[melanie jane]

I'm sure someone on here will be able to help, but if not, I would think Chris Yoke is your man. 

[Empty_of_Clouds]

I have asked Chris about this and he is of the opinion that the one on the left is a Strahm and the other is likely an attempt at a replica. 

Cannot find anything about Strahm on the internet, not even a first name (my Google skills are weak this day).  Does anyone have any information about Strahm, who he or she was, or a link to the information?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

No one?  I had thought there may be someone interested in the history of the old makers/penmen. 

[JanisTX]

@Empty_of_Clouds Ask Chris!  He obviously knows him!!  I've never heard of him!

Janis

[Rednaxela]

https://books.google.nl/books?id=8lUhAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA97&lpg=RA1-PA97&dq=strahm+leon+tower&source=bl&ots=N7uOrHBinU&sig=_WiqXTmaqTXwOFoPFXC80Mb5IEk&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirmYOGlZvVAhWLCBoKHdaPDz8Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=strahm%20leon%20tower&f=false

[Rednaxela]

Also check out the August 18, 2011 message here, where this Mr. Tower is mentioned by Del Tysdal.

https://www.iampeth.com/artist/delbert-d-tysdal

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Thanks, though it seems to show that information on these people is scant.  Also, I had assumed that "Strahm" was someone's name and not just the name of a holder.  Silly me. 

[Rednaxela]

The ad mentioned by Mr. Tysdal:

https://archive.org/stream/educator49zane#page/n33/mode/1up

[Empty_of_Clouds]

The holders have a arrived and they are in okay condition.  Need a bit of a clean. And the flange on the smaller one needs to be re-shaped, so I have to find some appropriate pliers for this task.  Curiously enough one of the flanges had two nibs jammed in it.  One of these nibs was a Gillott Lithographic - talk about hair thin!

[Rednaxela]

How is the Strahm?

Is it as extreme as the Skeels in this video?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

No, it's not really like the Skeels.  It actually looks almost identical to the Strahm in the video.  I was quite surprised how thin the body is, compared with the two Chris Yoke holders I have. It's not uncomfortable or anything, just a different feel.  It's also a long pen at 8 inches.

Whether it is original or not (the left hand pen on my original picture) is hard to say as there are no markings.  It looks old though. The other holder does look more like a copy, but again it is hard to be sure.

Either way I am very pleased to have them, and for $20 I feel this represents a reasonable risk of money, even if they were both copies!

[Rednaxela]

Thanks, very interesting! Great find!