Posted 5 years ago
AnythingOb…
(1778 items)
This is yet one more "odd (and generally useless?) old thing" that's been otherwise sitting around someplace helping clutter up my life, for several decades now at least. ;-) Made in U.S.A. by ESTERBROOK, it stands about 6" tall over its 3-1/4" round base. The ESTERBROOK name is stamped into the chrome ring around its pen holder socket, (which is not intended to hold any ink) and also engraved (but nearly impossible to photograph) around the middle of the (bakelite?) pen handle itself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esterbrook
It is apparently what's termed a "dip pen", in that unlike a "fountain pen" it does not have means to suck up and hold ink inside -- it would have been accompanied by some form of inkwell. Given its simple style and 'please replace pen' label, I have to believe it was intended for 'commercial duty' in a bank, post office, or somesuch place. Its "nib" (point) is an ESTERBROOK 9988 (? hard to read...) and I think a small part of something immediately behind that is now broken away and missing.
Not sure what to think about its actual age, according to that Wikipedia entry Esterbrook began making 'dip pens' in the late 1800's and adding 'fountain pens' in the 1920's, but by the 30's was experiencing corporate (including name) changes and etc. before declining in the 40's -- and of course, sometime not too long after that the "ball point pen" came along...??
Is the base hollow? The base may have served as an inkwell.
No Watchsearcher, its base is mostly solid (something?) which doesn't have any ink reservoir capacity -- just a blind hole/holder sized for the pen tip itself.
Thanks for pointing out that I neglected to add that detail, I had intended to and have now edited/fixed the description. :-) :-) :-)
I hope I don't appear to be old but we had these on our desks when I was in high school. We had to carry our own bottle of ink and only blue ink. Each desk had a hole where we put our bottle of ink. Before I graduated they came out with cartridge pens you just plugged in and started writing after you cleaned up the mess. Nobody had any idea about ball point pens but they soon followed into the back country. Suddenly we had black ink as well as blue. Believe it or not you could get detention for doing homework in black ink back then.
fhrjr2,... love your recalling of your school days ....just wonderful as well as colorful..
ATO... Nice post
THANKS SO MUCH for your <loves> and comments to: jscott0363, Watchsearcher, Brunswick, MyCountry, fortapache, & blunderbuss2 for stopping by!! :-) :-) :-) :-)