Writing Vintage

 

The Hannoverians

Part I of a Four-part Series

By Michael Hudon
All rights reserved by author

'Oh! that's a fountain pen; I can't use one of those!" is a standard response I get from folks at my office, when offering them my current "user" to jot down information or a short note. Considering the fact that for over 1000 years, a major part of our information was put to paper with a nibbed instrument and ink, that's a sad statement. From being a writing tool used and owned by millions, the fountain pen today has become a piece of "power jewelry", mainly denoting business or social status. Its primary use seems to be that of signing computer generated letters, articles, etc. This attitude toward fountain pens is promulgated and reinforced by the current manufacturers themselves in current advertising and pricing of their products.

Some have said that the "heyday" of the fountain pen was the early 1900's through the late 1930's. I contend that this was really the formative, developmental years. The "heyday" was the post war period from 1946 through the early 1960's! Material development had the benefit of wartime research used to produce military materiel, and now this could be applied to civilian products with astounding results in product improvement.

The filling systems for fountain pens had reached a level of efficiency and reliability so that by 1946 they didn't leak, nibs were being produced at a cost-effective quality and consistency to allow the use of solid gold nibs on most pens other than those intended for the student market. Shapes, colors and sizes presented to the consumer were as varied, if not more so, than prior to World War II.

In short, some of the best fountain pens to be used for writing were available in a wide variety of prices all over the world during this time. This article, the first of four on Writing Vintage, will cover four different Pelikan fountain pens with a focus on their current "useability" and qualities as a writing tool in today's world.

The Hannoverians

By 1925, having firmly established itself as the leader in inks, artists paints and other stationery supplies, Pelikan proceeded to develop its own fountain pen. The model 100 was introduced in 1929, having the first patented piston-filler with a differential gear and double seal at the piston end (the pre-war pens had cork seals and post-war hard rubber, which were later plastic). Interestingly, Pelikan bought its nibs from Mont Blanc during the first few years of the production of the 100 model. They established their own nib production, and in 1930, when Montblanc introduced their first piston-filler, they used Pelikan's design. Montblanc did this without paying any royalties for it, and they were taken to court by Pelikan for patent infringement and lost.

The 100 was produced in two colors, the green barrel sleeve with black cap and turning knob and an all black pen, both having 14c gold nibs and no cap band. The export models were offered in a larger variety of colors. By 1938, after having firmly established its fountain pen and its piston-filling system as a leading player in the pen industry, Pelikan redesigned its model 100, and introduced the 100N (N for new). This pen had a larger barrel with its characteristic green marbled celluloid sleeve and long ink-view window in an amber yellow color. The cork piston seal was replaced with one made of plastic and the Pelikan trademark, always found on the cap top, was revised to a newer more stylized version. This pen was produced, with material improvements, i.e. from hard rubber turning knobs and sections to molded plastic for these parts etc. in five finishes from 1938 up through 1952/1953. These were all black, green marbled/black, grey marbled/black, tortoiseshell/brown, and a lizard patterned grey. The matching 200 model pencil was produced alongside the pen for the same period.

The model reviewed here is a 1950 Pelikan 100N fountain pen with the barrel/section in a green translucent plastic. It has a green marbled celluloid sleeve and black plastic cap with two narrow gold-filled cap bands and its "cabriolle" shaped curved clip. The turning knob is also made of black plastic. with a more domed shape to match that of the top portion of the cap. The nib size stamped below the ribbed band at its base. This pen has a BB nib. The 100N is a short pen when capped being only 4.75 inches long. The barrel is one half inch in diameter, resulting in a very compact pen with a large ink capacity. Post the cap and because of its design, this pen grows to an amazing 6.25 inches long! It is extremely light and well balanced in the hand and has a very definite "period" look to it when in use. But this is no "period" collectible - it's a true writer's pen, meant for long periods of writing! The one pictured has one of the smoothest BB 14c nibs you'll ever use, this one is the short, firm nibbed version. It gives a very nice variance of line width from thick to thin without the sharp edges of an italic nib. The piston-filler is what you'd expect from a German pen - smooth and very functional. On older models a person might want to have the seals replaced as a matter of course to assure leak-proof use. If owning and using a "classic" is your goal, this pen is truly that, as well as being a thoroughly useable writing instrument meant for daily use.

In 1950, Pelikan introduced a totally new pen, the 400. This was the first year for the new "beak" shaped clip, soon to become one of Pelikan's trademarks along with its pelican and nest logo. They have continued to use this shape of clip in one form or another ever since. The 400 was capped with a bright gold crown and slightly domed insert at the top. The cap had a metal band at its base to prevent cracking of the cap lip. The barrels were made from striped celluloid with alternating colored /transparent stripes running the length of the barrel. They came in three color combinations; solid black cap/turning knob with green striped barrel, dark brown cap/turning knob with a tortoiseshell striped barrel and a solid black with alternating transparent/black stripes with a solid black cap and turning knob.

Having established the color combination of green/black as archetypal of German pens (most German pen manufacturers were making green/black color pens by now), the beak shaped clip added a second recognizable design element that said Pelikan!

In 1955, Pelikan altered the 400 to produce the 400N (new) by lengthening the barrel by 5mm and making the turning knob more conical at its end. In 1956/1957 they altered it further and designated it as the 400NN by making it 1.5mm smaller in diameter and putting a smaller crown with a more conical insert in it (the cap was more tapered towards the clip as well) to match the even further pointed /conical shape of the barrel and turning knob. This is the pen seen here in review, it being the longest of the new style of pens made after the war. Present day 400 models are 4 7/8 inches long and the 400NN model is 5 1/8 inches in length when capped.

With its "torpedo" shape, this model has a more elegant appearance to it. Again this pen is very lightweight and when the cap is posted, it is a nice, well-balanced 5 ft long. It shares the same hard rubber feed that Pelikan had used since 1929 (with ink flow improvements made over the years). These had four ribs running the length of the feed from the section out to the nib's tip. The design of this feed, in my experience, allows every Pelikan to start writing the moment it is put to paper. This pen has the typical soft, full flowing nib (a 14c B) that Pelikan has become so famous for all these years. This is the characteristic German broad nib- slightly more straight than the American or British broad nib, thus it gives a more pronounced thick/thin aspect to the strokes of one's writing. The 400NN is slightly heavier than its 100N brother, but it still becomes a true extension of your hand. It has the looks and construction to match that of the prosperous post war Germany of the late 1950's. I would consider this pen as being a classic Post War German Mercedes for the hand.

In 1938 Pelikan replaced the economy student model, "Rappen" with a model called the "Ibis 130", a narrow diameter, short torpedo shaped pen in all black with conical ends. It also had a single narrow cap band and the "cabriolle" leg shaped clip of the 100/100N of that time. In 1953 this pen was seen as being a bit dated and so it was redesigned and a new model, the 140, took its place in the line. This pen was similarly shaped, torpedo with conical ends, but slightly larger overall. Taking its design cues from the 400, the 140 was the same overall length and diameter as the 400, sharing the same section and feed and 14c nibs as its "big brother" as well as sharing the now typical beak shaped clip. It also shared the single cap lip band as the 400, being marked "Pelikan 140" twice around the band. The pen reviewed here is a late 1950s/early 1960s model and again it's a typical Pelikan, sort of the Beetle of fountain pens of that time. It always writes when put to paper, its piston-filler is one of the most reliable fillers made and again, through it's design, this pen is truly a "writer's" pen. They were available in five solid colors, black, dark green, dark blue, dark grey, a lovely burgundy red as well as the trademark green striped/black capped version. Not all of these colors were available in all markets and as such the solid colors are more difficult to find. The green striped version was introduced in 1955. The solid colored ones were made from an opaque plastic with a green translucent, short ink-view window above the cap threads. The green striped pen had the identical barrel as its corresponding green striped 400 model, only its turning knob was a conical shaped black plastic. This particular pen has a very, very soft M nib which also gives as nice a variable line width as the Pelikan broad nibs albeit not as thick. With the cap posted, the 140 pen is the same length as a 400 and as such has a similar feel in the hand although it is a bit lighter than the 400, more along the feel in weight of the 100N. It's a rather plain looking pen in the solid colors, but don't let that stop one from looking for one, for its present cost in today's market, it definitely is a better German pen than all of the current production pens another famous German pen manufacturer is marketing.

In 1955, Pelikan realized that it had taken its student pen, the "Ibis 130" up-market so to speak, and did not have a true student grade pen in its line. With this in mind a version of the 140 was produced in only one color with a nice smooth, flexible steel nib at a substantial cost reduction. This pen was designated the Model 120 and came in a solid green/black color combination. It also had a translucent green, short ink-view window and the barrel is a bright solid green plastic with a black turning knob, all made out of the same type of plastic. Even though its nib was steel, remember that this pen is a Pelikan, and as such even its steel nib is soft and flexible. With a pen such as this to use its no wonder post war German children learned such good penmanship. The nib size range was limited to only F, M, and B but again, they all shared the ability to put down a smooth, varied line width so typical of their more expensive "big brothers" of that time. (This quality is still carried forward in today's student line of Pelikans, the "Pelikanos".)

For the person seeking a distinctive looking, excellent, reliable writing pens, all of the pens made by this firm in Hannover are well worth the money asked for them. They were all, from the student 120 up through the top of the line gold filled and solid gold 500/600 models, first and foremost, true "writer's" pens.

Part Two of the Writing Vintage series will cover four different "hidden nib" pens from the US, Italy, Germany and France.