THE SOUTH BEND PEN !!!!

This was a Pentrace message board Sunday post on the  18th of December of 2011


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I love pens no matter the price , the fashion, the material , the filling sistem the nibs etc. etc etc. etc. and I love to learn about the stories about the companies and inclusive sometimes about the previous owners.... it's a whole world to discover and it's for me one of the funs of the hobby !!!! This time I'd like to present to you a wonderful modest eyedropper pen in mottled red hard rubber with an hexagonal shape ( only my third one with this shape ) wich has a mysterious barrel's imprint: THE SOUTH BEND . To acomplish with Paul's request to not re-plow old ground ( and I usually try to do it ) I did choose this pen . The pen came inside an Eclipse very old box and there are some questions to answer: 1 - Was SOUTH BEND a pen manufacturer OR a CUSTOMER who ordered these pens ( inside the Eclipse box was another similar pen with a distorted cap ). 2 - If some company made these pens to a customer could be ECLIPSE ? The pen is a good quality one at a level of a Parker or a Wirt ( and I add a photo of my two other hexagonal pens in order you can compare them. 3 - IF John Roede was right in the articles he wrote about ECLIPSE, Marx Finstone the founder and first president of the company arrived in USA in the year of 1906 and found the company in 1910 . These pens were for sure made between 1895 and 1905 !!!! So here they are , the questions I'd like to be answered by at least one of you! Now the pen and the box:

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A REPLY from PAUL BLOCH: <><><><> <><><><><><><><> <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> Looks like some digging has turned up a possible answer: The Rupert name on the pen box is that of a prosperous (originally German) farm family located in South Bend PA from the 18th century until the present day. The pen - an octagonal, overfeed eyedropper - was made by Wirt - in a style known to be his, and of a quality consistent with Luiz' pen - working in that part of the world at that time. Some careful collector put the box and the pen together at some point and just confused things, it appears. Junior G-Man badge was just awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster.

#55 red hard rubber Waterman's pen " Byrd Antarctic expediction "

This is a normal #55 red hard rubber WATERMAN'S pen with a special barrel's  imprint  allusive to  one of BYRD'S Antarctic expedictions. They are very hard to find in perfect condition and if you think that you can do the imprint in a common #55 pen let me tell you that this imprint have some particularities that only a well known collector can distinguish !

More about this in:


http://www.south-pole.com/p0000107.htm