If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
The mysterious packages kept arriving, some from eBay, others from the Home …
Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men's Pants
Just as underclothes are shielded from public view, the evolution of men's most intimate apparel is shrouded in secrecy. But the story of men's underwear is about more …
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
The meerschaum pipes carved in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th century are among the most bizarre and improbable concoctions in decorative art. Some feature …
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
While researching her book, "Killer Stuff and Tons of Money," Maureen Stanton came across all sorts of characters. For years, she shadowed her antiques-dealer friend …
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Vintage kites from all over the world hang from the ceiling and walls of Richard Dermer’s popula…
Blood, Sweat, and Steel: My Afternoon with the Ace of Swords
“When I got this sword, it was completely covered in blood rust.” Sword maker Francis Boyd is showing me yet another weapon pulled from yet another …
'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers Wrong
Have you heard? There’s a new swell in town named Gatsby, and he’s bringing flapper flair back into fashion. Baz Luhrmann’s latest cinematic spectacle—his take on “Th…
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
It’s not unusual for men of a certain age to have a soft spot in their hearts for the look of vintage guitars and the sound…
Forget TV Pickers, Meet the Real Mavericks of the Antiques World
Long before Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz swaggered into the spotlight with "American Pickers," writer Maureen Stanton …
Coveting The Craziest Cat-People Collectibles
The memes are endless—Grumpy Cat, Nyan Cat, Keyboard Cat, Maru, and all the Lolcats. Last year even witnessed the first ever Internet Cat Video Fe…
Sterling pen ~Towle | Pens81 of 235 |  |  |
Create a Show & TellReport as inappropriate
Posted 11 months ago
Ollie
(36 items)
This pen belong to my grandmother. I seem to recall that she kept it by her telephone and used the end to "dial" the phone (old type). I haven't been able to find any info on line on it, but may need more information. Anyone know what these were called. The top says " TOWLE STERLING"
Help us close this case. Add your knowledge below.
Create an account or login in order to post a comment.
Sterling Silver PensWhile the history of pens in the 19th and 20th century usually follows the …
The Towle Silversmiths Company made allsorts of silver items. Their pen is a unique pen made to be used with a rotary dial phone. It is an art deco ball point pen with it's signature telephone dialer end. It is known in the trade as; "The Towle Silver Dialer Pen" and prices are approximately $100 - $150 for a very crisp example.
A bit of Company history:
In 1882, Anthony Francis Towle, while still owning A.F. Towle & Son, established the Towle Manufacturing Co. In 1890, the company adopted the trademark of a large script "T" enclosed by a lion. Richard Dimes, an English silversmith who had immigrated to the U.S. in 1881, started Towle's hollowware line. Richard Dimes, who also worked for the Frank W. Smith Silver Co., would eventually establish his own company, Richard Dimes Co., in Boston. Eventually the company's name was changed to Towle Silversmiths. Over the years, Towle has created numerous sterling silver flatware patterns in the United States: including the "Candlelight" in 1934, the "Marie Louise" in 1939 which became the official sterling silver pattern for U.S. embassies worldwide, "Old Master" in 1942, now considered by some to be the company’s flagship pattern, and the "Contour" in 1950 (designed by Robert J. King, patented by John Van Koert) which was the first American sterling pattern to manifest post-World War II organic modernist design and the only production-line American flatware included in the Museum of Modern Art's Good Design exhibitions. In 1990, Towle Silversmiths was acquired by the holding company Syratech Inc., that also owned Wallace Silversmiths and the International Silver Co. Hope this helps! ;)
Thank-you for all the info....