Clik here to view.
Fat Blue Eclipse
Twenty years after the founding of the Eclipse Fountain Pen and Pencil Company, this chunky 5" pencil was introduced with the brand new 1923 patented clip, and gold-filled trimmings. It has a check...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Marble Mini Moore
When you think about what modern pencils look like, celluloid "marble" was a wonderful material. Well-rated Alvin mechanical pencils in a range of lead sizes. This 4" Moore from the 1930s isn't that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Never Too Thin
What was that old saying? "You can never be too rich or too thin." It seems to have been around since the 1960s. These Thin Model Sheaffer pencils are even earlier. They have the lifetime (for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Full of Lead and Ready to Go
After meeting a few interesting Eclipse pencils, I have kept my eye out for the name. It was impossible to resist this bell-top Eclipse with the 1923 patented clip. It is a slightly later clip with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
In the Red
My obsession with Waterman Lady Thorobred pencils continues with the acquisition of this red striated example, which has thin green veins. What Watermans called this color I have yet to discover, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Red-Banded Moore Ringtop
In another 4 years, this Moore ringtop will be an authentic 100 year old antique. This rear-drive, hard rubber and gold-filled pencil dates from the earliest Moore patent issued on August 15th, 1922....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Never Dull--A Small Eclipse Ringtop
Marx Finstone's Eclipse Fountain Pen and Pencil Company was in its teen-age years when this 4" ringtop was made in about 1920. The inscription says, "ECLIPSE, NEVER DULL, 14K GOLD FILLED." It's now...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Early Patented-Clip Eclipse Flat-Top
This black and gold "marble" Eclipse doesn't fit the mold--it is a tapered flat-top shape but with the earlier, script-marked, patented 2-piece clip. It was the design of Marx Finstone, the founder of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Mate for Lady Patricia
It's lovely when the stars align. Jet Lady Patricia has found her counterpart at last. The Waterman Patrician was introduced in time for Christmas of 1929, and was sold as a man's pencil (matching the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
More Moore Marble
This bold celluloid black and yellow marble and gold-filled Moore came my way recently. It measures 4.25 inches and represents the 1925 patent filed by early designer, John G. Liddell, for Morris W....
View ArticleClik here to view.
An Early DeWitt-La France Superite
Fond as I am of small ringtop pencils, this one is even more pleasing to me due to the early mark of an interesting partnership. It is a sterling silver-plated 4 inch rear-drive pencil with curlicue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
The Last Watermans of the English-Speaking World
The American Waterman company ended production in the late 1950s. More than 20 years later it was revived, but in France, where the company still makes writing instruments. In England, the company...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jade Green
Do you like a hefty green marble pencil? If so, you'll like this Eclipse bell top from about 1923. You can see at once why this marble is called "jade." The jade bell top is 5 inches, with gold metal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Redipoint Advertisers from the Family Desk
Although I don't usually collect pencils with advertising, these were foisted upon me. They were in the family desk drawers and pencil cups, and it just didn't seem right to toss them. They have a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Surprise: Shaw - Barton
Before Anderson - Erickson Dairy ordered their advertiser pencils from Sheaffer, what a surprise!, they used Shaw - Barton. From the family desk drawer: Shaw - Barton started making pencils in 1940...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jones Dairy, Maker Unknown
It's a little odd to find in the family desk, a pencil from a dairy wholesaler. Irv Jones, of Jones Dairy in Des Moines, only sold his milk wholesale. I can't quite figure how our family would have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Black Moores
Two Moore pencils from the 1930s came my way, but instead of colorful celluloid, they are as black as a raven's wing. The smaller, 4.5" middle twist pencil does have a tiny top of yellow marble with a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Autopoint with Metal Cap
Autopoint is an interesting company to mechanical pencil collectors because, unlike many other pencil makers, they weren't particularly obsessed with pens. Yes, they made them, but it was pencils...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Waterman 3 Leans into the Future
Although I have another Waterman pencil in this same dark terra cotta marble, this is a model new to me: the Waterman 3 pencil made to be sold alongside the Waterman 3 lever-fill fountain pen....
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Scholar's Signet in Nickel Silver
Here's a new one to me, the Signet, sold by the Rexall Stores but made by DeWitt-LaFrance of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although plain, it works perfectly with 1.1 mm lead. It is a 5 & 3/8 inch...
View Article
