Posted 6 years ago
Gundalow
(24 items)
I have a gold fountain pen that is stamped with the names of two fountain pen manufactures, CROSS and MABIE, TODD & Co. Have not been able to find out why separate manufacturers would each have their stamp on this pen. The Cap is stamped 14CT and CROSS. The clip portion of the cap is stamped PAT. JAN. 19, 1915 14 KT. The Barrel is stamped 14CT "SWAN PEN" MABIE, TODD & Co NEW YORK MADE IN U.S.A. The nib is stamped WATERMAN'S IDEAL ACCOUNT 14 KT. I believe it is in fact a SWAN PEN made by MABIE TODD. The CROSS stamp on the Cap is confusing, unless the distributor/retailer of this SWAN PEN coincidently had the name CROSS and stamped their name on it. I don't know production date. The date on the clip probably refers to the actual clip, and not the pen. (It is my understanding that pens did not have pocket clicks prior to 1915). I would guess that pen was made in the 1920s or 1930s. Any insight on this would be appreciated.
I am not sure this will be helpful but perhaps it might provide another direction to pursue researching this oddity. When cross first went into business they didn't make entire pens. They made caps and barrels for other companies and they did send parts to England and other countries. I believe that practice stopped in the mid or late 1930's. At one point I collected cross pens and had reason to do some research on them. I wonder if your cap might have been a part provided by cross?
Thanks for the tip- I'll continue my research along those lines.
Contacted Cross Company in Rhode Island to see if they could shed light on this mystery pen. I sent them photos and asked if CROSS provided pen parts to other manufacturers in the 1920's/30's. They did not directly respond to my question regarding CROSS supplying parts to other manufactures but provided the below response.
Dear Cross Customer,
Thank you for your recent e-mail and photos.
We have checked our records and this is not a documented item. If we can be of assistance in the future, please contact us again.
Your continued interest in Cross is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Debbie Gloria
I also found no reference on the Cross web site but there was mention of it on Swan history.