Professionalism With an A1 Rating.

Professionalism with an A1 rating.

One of my favorite Esterbrook pens is the A1 Professional. It is an ornamental script pen that is extra fine and elastic; just like the #128 Extra Fine Elastic pen. Why did Esterbrook need two of the same pen? Well, as it turns out it was meant to be slightly different.

As you can see above, the concept was the A1 Professional would be shorter, smaller and thinner in comparison to the #128 Extra Fine Elastic Pen. This would afford more flexibility but would sacrifice durability and wear & tear. That is a concept most calligraphers don’t understand about such pens as the Joseph Gillott #303 Extra Fine or even the pen amongst pens, the Joseph Gillott Principality. They are indeed wondrous pens, but made so thin that they often break when too much pressure is applied. However, I digress; with the death of Richard Esterbrook in 1895 coupled with the steel restrictions made during WWI (in 1918), the A1 Professional lost its original purpose and became just another #128 clone. (Note: I purposely excluded the A1 from my previous post about cloned #128s because more detail could be added in this post.)

Here is a comparison of four A1 Professionals ranging from its debut year in 1885 (top) on into the late 1930s (bottom). As you can see there is a size gap from the 1900 version (middle) into the 1926 version (middle). During WWI, Esterbrook dropped over 70% of their pen line in order to donate the remainder of their steel to the United States war effort. They also decided to permanently end production on a few series of pens. After the war, when they were allowed to resume full manufacturing, it is possible they no longer had the original mold for the A1. It is also plausible that they decided it was too much trouble to switch out molds during production just to have a separate A1 and 128 when you could use just one mold (the 128) and simply change stamps. This probably saved them on time to market and speculated no one would notice or care; after all the Penman was dead.

Here is an example of how the A1 Professional became just another #128 clone. These two pens are from the same manufacturing era, circa late 1930s. There are versions out there from the 1940s that are groove stamped. 

This photo shown above serves to demonstrate the point further, that the A1 Professional had lost its special assignment and would be regarded as just another ornamental pen.

Here is an example of metal thickness of the pens from the 1885 versions of the 128 and A1. The A1 is a just a fraction thinner.  Apparently, that was all you needed!

I lucked out and found a sealed box of A1 Professionals from its debut year in 1885. Richard Esterbrook the 3^rd senior would still be alive and would be over seeing production.The box is simply gorgeous. I wish they had continued this type of creative boxing.

Here is a close up of the side of the pen. You can see how carefully it was constructed. Look at that grind! It had to be done by hand and as you can see it evenly shaves off a layer of metal right to the bottom of the A and 1 and perfectly borders the side cuts. The grind mistress (because apparently only women were employed to do the grinding) left a perfect point as well! This is probably the best pen Esterbrook ever made. Sadly, I have practically sold them all to pay the bills.  Good luck finding any that are this old, but if you do…go ALL in!!  They’re more than worth it!

Happy hunting!

Extra Fine, Extra Elastic, and Extra Confusing!

Extra Fine, Extra Elastic, and Extra Confusing!

You have to hand it to Esterbrook and their non-stop ingenuity in the pen market. During the 1940s Esterbrook seemed to enjoy shifting around and changing the names of their pens, most likely for marketing purposes. However, it is one thing to change the name of an existing pen rather than to make another pen with a new number and trying to pass it off as new. Sadly, Esterbrook did this quite a lot, but not so much as it did to the pen we will be discussing; Penman favorite, the #128 Extra Fine Elastic Pen. 

Richard Esterbrook the 3^rd (senior), the president and founder of the Esterbrook Pen Manufacturing Company, loved the #128 pen even above the beloved and popular 048 Falcon Pen (the practical mascot of the company). Esterbrook was educated in business and he ran a stationers shop in England for many years before he relocated to the US to help his son with his pen making business. That meant that Esterbrook was trained in Spencerian and ornamental script.  This is likely why he adored the #128, because it was his “Spencerian #1.” The original release of this pen echoes many of the features of the famous Spencerian #1. It has a heavy grind along the top of the pen point, which hugs the curves of the side cuts, for maximum flexibility. It also stops just short of the point, ensuring that the point remains durable and sharp.

Pictured above is a series of #128 pens starting from 1885 (top) and ending in a 1946 version (bottom).  As you can see, the pen started out slightly smaller.  The size of the pen is important for good flexibility. Also, the gravity well was smaller on the older pen. This is actually very common amongst ALL pens made before 1900. I am guessing it had to do with changes in the inks made during those time periods. One thing is certain, Esterbrook was reasonably consistent with the manufacture of this pen over the course of 62 years. Really the most obvious changes are the reduction in the grind which transitions to the groove stamp. This particular transformation is industry wide and very common. You can also see that less care was taken when making the side cuts. I suspect this is because the industry went from using hand-press machines to automation to do these processes.

Here is a closer look at the oldest and newest version of the pen.  This gives a bit more stark perspective of the slight changes over time. Even though the pen itself did not change over time, unfortunately the 128 was cloned into other pens.  Wait, what!?!

Yes! Pictured above, you can see four of the variations of the #128 that Esterbook cloned into other numbers. How can I be so sure?  Well, look for yourself.  The design is identical, right down to shape, size, point and even the side cuts. In my up-coming book about Esterbrook and their dip pens, I will go deeper into the discussion of my deductions and of why they chose to make all these different pens. However, what you can take away from this blog is that there are more options available for people looking for a box of 128s that are essentially the same pen, from the same company. Some are more abundant and available than others. Like this for example:

The Radio Pen #956 is obviously a silver nickel coated #128. The Radio Pen series is an upgraded version of their standard steel pens with their specially formulated, Radio Pen coating. This coating meant more protection against wear & tear and oxidation. The Esterbrook Company boasted that these pens would last twice as long as a normal steel pen. So why isn’t it a top seller? My theory is that people are too caught up in the propaganda of familiar and famous names and numbers set forth by established calligraphers and artists. Other than its appearance, how do we know that the #956 is the #128 disguised? As previously mentioned, I will discuss this further in my book.  Sorry, it’s not so much that I want to withhold information as it is that there is a massive amount of information that requires an understanding of other criteria that must be discussed first. That's why I have to write a book about it. ;)

So have a care the next time you decide to pass on a box of pens where you don’t recognize the name or the designated number, you might just be passing up its clone.

Happy hunting!

How Well Do You Know Your Spencerian #1 Pen

How Well Do You Know Your Spencerian #1 Pen?

Like many pen companies struggling in the late 30s mid 40s, short cuts and attempts to manufacture on the cheap were a must while somehow holding onto the quality you were known for. Esterbrook thankfully didn’t have to cut that many corners; their pens remained of reasonably higher standards than their competition, even more than Spencerian Pen Company of New York. In today’s post I am going to show you the evolution of the famous Spencerian #1 requested by the Ivison & Phinney Stationer in New York City and how I believe some are more valuable than others.

Calligraphers are shelling out big bucks to acquire as many Spencerian #1s they can get their hands on, with good reason.  It is one of the finest copperplate, ornamental script pens ever made, second ONLY to the Joseph Gillott #604EF Double Elastic pen! Its point is durable, flexible, and extra fine. The heritage of the Spencerian #1 is the secret to its success. Remember how I said it was second only to the Joseph Gillott #604EF?  There is a truth behind that statement that not many people are aware of. A respected pen maker was behind both designs of the ever popular Joseph Gillott 604EF, and the Spencerian #1. Sir Josiah Mason was the genius behind these pens. He made a good number of pens for many pen manufacturers in England, including the Spencerian Pen Company. A New York stationer, named after its owners, Ivison & Phinney requested the Spencerian #1 exclusively for their shop. At this time in the mid 1800s, Spencerian ornamental scripts were in popular use and thus the value of the pen sky rocketed. As time went on, the pen would only change slightly, in unperceivable ways. Once WWII hit, that all changed as it did for everyone. It was time to cut corners and sadly Spencerian made some very bad decisions, in my opinion.

Above is a picture showing the three most noticeable differences in the Spencerian #1. The top most pen is the oldest I have seen. It has a heavy grind over the top of the pen, carefully hugging the curvature of the side cuts and keeping the actual point untouched. This gave the maximum flexibility while keeping the point hard, sharp, and durable. The bottom most pen is the younger version that is most commonly found in the vintage pen world. You can see the grind is almost an afterthought. It is reminiscent of groove stamping and might have been Spencerian’s way of showing handmade quality but in reality it was cheating the customer.

Here is a close up of the younger pen. You can see the gravity well is no longer cut out of the metal, but is melted into shape. I have verified this with a Materials Engineer. This will no doubt affect ink flow. Also, look at the shoddy work on that side cut! It just juts without making full contact with the twines. Therefore, it is not offering proper support for flexibility. These flaws are common amongst Eagle Pencil Company’s pens from 1936 onward; melted gravity wells, and flawed side cuts. Yet, even with these outrageous flaws, people will still spend seven or more dollars each for these pens. I have seen pictures of the versions that came later and they are even worse.

Shown above in these two photos, the grind isn’t the only major difference. Before 1930, it was not required by the United States to state where your product was made. England, being the proud country it is, did make sure everyone knew WHO made the pen! The early versions are simply stamped “ENGLAND” on the bottom. After 1930 they are stamped “Made In ENGLAND.” Spencerian did have the foresight to continue their heavy grind in the 1930s, but for some reason they thought it best to shorten the side cuts.  This affects flexibility. My best educated guess was that this was in response to the customer of the day. From the late 20s onward, people began to demand stiffer pens. This was because the customer felt they could write more per dip if the pen didn’t exhaust all its ink on flourished writing. It didn’t help that the popularity of Spencerian Script was now only a passing curiosity and hobby. This is most likely why Spencerian returned to making the pen more flexible again because it knew it couldn’t compete in the school markets, so it targeted calligraphy enthusiasts and that is where it stayed. In the late 40s, the company actually moved production in the USA and thus the pens are stamped "Made In USA." Thankfully, I do not have any of these as they are absolutely terrible.

I have personally used each version and I am here to tell you that the older version is the stuff of legend and worth every single cent you spent on it. I haven’t changed the one I use regularly in over two years. It’s a wonderful blackish-purple and still writes as smoothly and easily as it did when I first inked it. Furthermore, I expect that it will last another two years! :)

So the next time you hunker down at your computer, ready to snipe that box of Spencerian #1s on eBay, you would be wise to think twice before you go “all in” on that box.  If the seller doesn’t have clear pictures of the pens, ask them to try to give a clearer picture of the features of the pen, or at least describe the grind and say what country is stamped on the pen.

Here is a shot of the oldest and newest versions for future reference.

Happy hunting!