It is generally accepted by the pen collectors community that the so called Moore finger tip model was created to compete with te iconic Parker 51 launched in 1941 wich was one of the first pens ( if not the first one ) with a stuff nib instead of the usual flexíble nib fitted on the other brands . The intention was to use this kind of nib to write through carbons and this goal was achived . Other pen makers tried to offer alternative models to compete with the Parker 51 like Sheaffer with the Triumph nib ( in 1942) , Waterman's with the Taperite model , Eversharp with the Fifth Avenue and in Europe the Classic Aurora 88 , only to mention the more well known and representative pens of that era . In my opinion Moore fingertip pens are apart, completely apart from those intentions and if it was made to compete with the Parker 51 that goal was not achieved ! But , and there are always a but......Moore fingertip pens are some kind of revolutionary pens on their time in what concernes design , building quality and writing performance ! The inlaid gold nib into a steel section was an innovative solution created 13 years before the inlaid nib used by Sheaffer on the PFM models . Besides that it was interesting that the the steel section hiddens the pen feeder !
With the exception of the solid color named as Eiderdown White wich is very prone to discoloration and ambering the pens made with the other plastics seems to hold up very well with age. If one compares the Moore fingertip with the pens of the same era we can say without any favour that this pen was definitely different from any other offered in the late 1940s !
As a pen collector I noticed that this model was available in solid colors ( the easiest to find ) and also in striped patterns ( the more dificult to find ) . In what concerns the solid colors I found the previous described Eiderdown White ( some collectors referred to this pen in mint condition as the Holly Grail of Moore fingertip collectors ) , the Lustre black,
Sunset red, Vintage wine, Woodsman green and finally the Starlight blue; I found three striped colors: a Seaspray Pearl , a Autumn Pearl and once at a Pen Show in Chicago a Red Striped one in a hands collector ( and not for sale ) the only one I saw in more than twenty years collecting !
Ther are also two versions of this pen: the classic one with a screw cap about what we have been talking until now and a smaller version called the demi size with a gold filled pull off cap . I never saw but some penfriends told me about the existence also of steel caps like in Sheaffer, Parker and Eversharp . This Demi size ( a collectors designation ? ) could be renamed Demi Moore ( the American famous actress with those wonderfull eyes and that sexy voice !) . Talking more seriously these Demi models have a shorter section and the gold filled caps have engraved parallel groves on the distal part of the cap. I have three of these Demi models two of them bought in Europe and one bought in US. Unlike the articles I read about this model the section of my pens are smooth and don't have the radial grooves described on those articles.
You can find some information of this pen on:
http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Moore/MooreFingertipGallery.htm
The pull off cap models I have
Now the screw cap models
Two of my pens still have the price tag: L-96 B, $8.75 med.
$8.75 was a considerable amount of money to pay for a pen in 1946 !!!!
The Demi size model ( compare size of the pen and section )
