Vintage American Pens
Pens on this page are part of my personal collection and are not for sale. If there is a magnifying-glass symbol (
) next to a pen, click the magnifying glass to view a zoomed version for more detail.
What pens am I carrying today? Find out here.
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Prescription for a Fountain Pen
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Monogram was one of the Rexall Drug Company’s house brands. Early Monogram pens came from M. G. Kraker, doing business as the Michael George Pen Company; the tab-mounted clip is a recognizable design feature of Kraker pens, as is the patented latching lever. The lever is the technological element that first attracted my attention; it was invented by Rudolph W. Lotz (U.S. Patent Nº 1,263,260, issued April 16, 1918), and it is a very clever way to prevent the lever from catching on the clothing and at the same time secure the lever and pressure bar in a rattle-free closed position without using a spring-loaded pressure bar. Evading Sheaffer’s claims was important to Kraker, who had worked for Sheaffer and had departed under a dark cloud among allegations of technology theft. But this design is the same, in all its essential principles, as Sheaffer’s original patented design. What happened??
My Rexall Monogram Nº 11 is 513/32" capped and 619/32" posted. The Nº 2 Monogram-imprinted nib is a very fine, and very nice, flexie. This pen has a crack in its cap lip, but because the cap and barrel are shaped so that posting places no stress on the cap lip, I feel comfortable carrying and using this little charmer.
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Conklin, Post Toledo
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When the failing Conklin Pen Company fell prey to a Chicago syndicate, the company’s new owners concentrated their efforts on extracting the maximum dollar for the minimum investment. They sold the pens they had purchased and retooled to make cheaper pens. Perhaps the best known of the Chicago Conklin models is the Glider. Designed to retail for $2.75, the Glider was a typical third-tier pen. But the Chicago company’s 14K nibs, even when mounted in pens of obvious third-tier quality, were very good; the medium Cushon Point in my Glider is quite nice indeed. The pen is 51/16" capped and 63/16" posted, and I’ve had the furniture, often worn completely to the base metal, replated to return this pen to its former “glory.”
Vintage American Pens
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