Lady Wearever

By Frank Dubiel
All rights reserved by author

David Kahn, Incorporated of North Bergen, New Jersey started Wearever as an extremely low end pen company just before World War One. By the 1930s their pens were quite attractive, but still lacked quality. Gradually they im-proved their products and by the 1940s, while still usually considered an economy line, workmanship had improved to make the vast majority of their models quite reliable, attractive, long lived and well made for their price. This was especially noticeable on their nibs, which were switched from the cheap rust-prone steel of the 1930s and earlier to 14kt gold or well-made stainless steel nibs of good performance. Like many companies trying to compete on price, Wearever often imitated models of more expensive pens. Towards the end of World War Two the company even went after the popular Parker 51 with a short lived (and quite rare today) Deluxe Wearever Pacemaker with a hooded 14kt nib and a heavy high quality gold filled cap. The pen carried a lifetime guarantee.

In the latter half of the 1950s cartridge pens had finally been accepted by the public. “Old fashioned” mottled, overlay and oversized pens were out of style, and some pens followed colors of then current automobiles with pastel shades and two tone color schemes. A natural target for such clean filling cartridge pens in “fashion” colors and designs was the female market. Lady Sheaffer became a fairly good seller. Taking note of this market, Wearever’s line was called “Lady Fair.” Surprisingly, this Wearever line was far larger than the Sheaffer ladies line, although many Lady Fairs were so similar to Lady Sheaffers in design it is occasionally difficult to know who made the pen until the cap is removed and the section and nib inspected.

Going Sheaffer, Parker and others one better, the Lady Fair series was greatly expanded to include ballpoints, pencils, half-sized tiny “purse” pens (named “Treasure Pens”), and both clip and clipless models. Most came with matching vinyl cases for the pens and some even included a case for the cartridges. This was a direct parallel to the Sheaffer line. Prices started at 59 cents for a small ballpoint to $2.95 for the higher end fountain pens. The basic Lady Fair fountain pen, like Sheaffer’s, consisted of an enameled metal cap and barrel with various designs machined on the surface. Wearever expanded the line with some chrome or gold plated models with reversed trim from the painted models. A few were also offered as aerometric rather than cartridge fillers. Some pens featured hooded nibs, although most used a reliable well-made stainless steel exposed nib. The smaller ballpoints used a half sized refill, the same as PaperMate was offering for their ladies ballpoints. Two of these refills could be coupled by inserting the nib into the end of the other to make a full sized ballpoint refill. PaperMate called this a “PiggyBack” refill, meaning a spare was always in the pen in case of ink run out or damage. Wearever’s version was directly interchangeable.

I have not come across a catalogue listing Wearever’s complete product line of the time, but I have examined some salesman’s kits and based on this I estimate their ladies pen line consisted of at least 40-50 different pens in various colors and designs. The purse style fountain pens came in at least 10 different colors, not including the chrome or gold plated versions which came in varied machined finishes and were inlaid with geometric patterns of opposite plating or enamel. The more standard design clip models in ladies patterns was about as large. Ballpoint pens were more varied since they consisted of small purse pens in two different sizes as well as full sized ballpoint pens in ladies finishes.

Very few ladies pens became top sellers, hence many are quite rare today. The condition of any painted pen can be a problem since the paint can be worn off or scratched. To make matters worse some pen dealers, who should really know better, make the absurd mistake of placing self adhesive price stickers directly on the painted surface. When the sticker is removed, much of the paint comes with it. I’ve seen perfect mint pens ruined by this.

By the late 1950’s Wearever was the largest pen manufacturer in the world. They were prepared to continue to take on Sheaffer and Parker and even had a remarkable line of prototypes that were very similar to Sheaffer’s Imperial line. These consisted of pens in at least 20 different metal caps, all with various combinations of gold or chrome plating with machined patterns. Due to changing market conditions this line was not put into general production as the public’s favor of fountain pens began to wane.

By the mid 1960’s fountain pen sales were in a sharp decline, and all companies cut back model lines. Wearever offered their lines a few years longer, and continued with some unique designs unlike anything offered by other companies. However, sales were poor for fountain pens in general, and by the mid 1970s Wearever was no longer making any fountain pens. Wearever was sold to Dixon in the 1980s. Dixon still uses the Wearever name on a small line of advertising ballpoints to this day.

— Copyright 2000 by Frank Dubiel