My New Wearever

[betweenthelens]

Got this yesterday from Stormville antique and flea here in upstate NY. I love the colors and there are no cracks. I flushed it and cleaned it out and it needs a new sac so I think I'm going to send it out to a man from whom I've purchased reconditioned pens as he said he'd take care of it for me.

 

 

[TMac]

Very nice looking Wearever. I love the colors.

[watch_art]

Whoooaaa. Very cool plastic. Swap in a decent nib and you've got a winner.

[OcalaFlGuy]

It would look even nicer polished up.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[betweenthelens]

Thank you, TMac, watch_art and Bruce. Yes, a new nib perhaps and some polish would help. I am very happy I found it.

[rwilsonedn]

Don't pull the nib before you try it. Old Wearever steel nibs can be a little fragile, and sometimes they were used so much that they have worn down into almost a wedge shape at the tip. But they can also be extremely smooth, slightly soft, and occasionally semi-flex. They usually respond very well to gentle adjustment and smoothing. You might ask your friend to adjust and smooth the nib when he replaces the sac.

ron

[betweenthelens]

Thank you so much, Ron. Much appreciated!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Does it have Deluxe written on it some place?

I've got 6- three pre war, and 3 right after the war.

Very pretty pens.

[betweenthelens]

Hi Bo Bo. Not sure now as I sent it off to get a new sac. I miss it. ;(

I'd love to see yours!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Can't dig up the photo's. They are on the other partition and 'unlabled' some how.

My hard disk has reached it' last days...in it's full of can't erase Window's junk.

I'll be getting a new computer next month, so will have the pictures back where they belong.

 

There are a couple of sites where you can find out what Wearever you have.

Unfortunately, there was a man who had the worlds greatest collection of Wearevers, that has I think gone off the Internet. There was not enough viewers to chip in to keep it on. He got sick and had to sell his collection.That would never happen in Germany. If you are sick, you are covered. No sell the house, car or pen collection to pay for your health care.

 

Some Wearevers are second tier...others 3rd or 4th tier.

Wearever use to be the biggest by far pen maker in the world. Made many pens for others, in the second-third tier markets also.

That was back in the $0.75 minimum wage and before. By the time a dollar an hour hit, the ball points were killing off the pen companies.

When one worries about his hour's dollar...ten ball point refills for 10¢ beats even the cheapest fountain pen.

[betweenthelens]

Thanks for the info, Bo Bo. When you get your new computer, get an external hard drive with at least one tetrabyte and store your photos on there.

[Edwaroth]

Enjoy your new pen, it looks to be a sweet one. I love the old ones. BTW, great photo. Well seen.

Edited July 13, 2013 by Edwaroth

[betweenthelens]

Thanks so much, Ed. Much appreciated.

[Happy Harry]

Wearever used some nice plastics and produced them for the bottom end of the market ( Bo Bo is very kind when he says "some are 2nd tier", I'd say "none are" when compared to makers like National). A fairly innovative company when it came to reducing production cost and the first to use injection molding in the US. The nib looks pretty much standard fair, they did make a 14ct one later but encased it in steel to be able to make the "claim" despite it having not much gold in it!!. The clips etc. where powder coated, yours looks as good as they come, and wear quickly so I wouldn't carry it around. You could make a nice collection of Wearevers fairly cheaply.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Esterbrook was 'second' tier...so being second tier was not bad at all. It's 4th tier that was bad. Third tier was working man's kid's school pen, working man's wife, ore the better Wearever for the working man. The man with a Timex.

 

I have a nice full plastic turquoise Wearever mid-60's-70's third tier pen...it is nice...Perhaps it's even 2nd tier...

 

The full plastic one's were ok, it was the Wearevers with the metal caps that made me turn my back on gold filled capped pens a few years ago...when they were affordable. The metal caps on a Wearever wore six months if that. I had this metal caps are cheap junk lodged in my subconscious.

 

The metal cap of a Wearever was as bad then as a Venus. Esterbrooks were then a bit better but ugly pastel. I had missed the great colors of the 40's and 50s...by 1960-61 no more pretty Esterbrooks. Had I had one...I"m sure I'd had my name engraved in it to prevent 'pen collection'.

At the start of school I sometimes got a Parker or Sheaffer school pen...to be stolen. Nope...the Wearever was the best school pen...no one stole them.

Edited July 14, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson

[betweenthelens]

I agree with Bo Bo, and a friend on here who is extremely knowledgable regarding fountain pens and fountain pen history says Wearevers are solid second tier. What matters most to me is that I love the pen and enjoy writing with it. None of my pens stay permanently in a display case. I collect them because I enjoy looking at them, holding them, carrying them, and writing with them.

[Happy Harry]

Who ever said Wearever is a solid 2nd tier maker is wrong. The Wearever philosophy was cheap pens made to have a reasonable working life. Their products reflect that, steel nibs, gold powder coating, J-bars, relatively crude product finish and so on as did the company philosophy of reducing the cost of production ( with processes like injection molding). While there where makers who's product fell well short of Wearever there where a lot that easily exceeded that standard. National out of Chicago ( under various names that include Good Service, Gold Medal, Gold Crown, Lincoln and Diamond Medal ) is a solid 2nd tier maker, compare their product to Wearever and you see (excellent) gold nibs, gold plated clips and bands, a high standard of finish and quality of workmanship which where all factors that Sears used selecting National to make pens under Sears brand names ( Parker and Wahl , both 1st tier, also supplied Sears at times).

[PDW]

Second tier ... third tier ... I enjoy using my Wearevers from the 1930s model to the 1960s cartridge fillers. Reliable, as robust as I need them, don't mind if I throw my bag around with them in it (in a cigar case!). Overall, just what a FP should be and do.

 

 

betweenthelens, use your Wearever and watch non-FP people's jaws drop.

Edited July 16, 2013 by PDW

[betweenthelens]

Thank you, PDW. As a new fountain pen collector/lover, I buy because I like the look of a pen. The pen may be made of the cheapest plastic but if I like it, I'll buy it. Whatever my Wearever is made from, it's an interesting piece of history.

[Happy Harry]

Thank you, PDW. As a new fountain pen collector/lover, I buy because I like the look of a pen. The pen may be made of the cheapest plastic but if I like it, I'll buy it. Whatever my Wearever is made from, it's an interesting piece of history.

 

Actually Wearever used very good plastics ( and celluloid) often in attractive patterns. They also used very good steel nibs, the end result was a usable pen with a decent working life. Putting pen makers into "tiers" in reality reflects their aims and the market they targeted, in Wearevers case it was to produce a usable and attractive pen that would give the buyer plenty of use as cheaply as possible generating profit through large turnover and low margins, it doesn't mean it's a "bad" pen or not built to last but it does mean you won't get Parker quality for Wearever prices.Of course all the major 1st tier makers made 2nd and 3rd tier pens as well (Conklin's All American, Wahls Monitor, Sheaffers WASP and so on) but few, if any, of the low tier (3rd) makers turned out 1st tier models because their production philosophy placed high end results ( the time, labor and extra material costs) impossible.

 

One of the good points about pen collecting is that you can buy what you like and get considerable enjoyment as well it can be done cheaply or you can spend up.