The “Majestic” Haul Of Old Indian & Foreign Fountain Pens

[shrujaya]

The Majestic area in Bangalore is one of the busiest areas in the city. It is a warren of lanes and by-lanes with a number of old and new shops from where one can buy almost everything from pins and needles to clothes and shoes; and added to the bustle in and around these shops are the crowds in front of numerous eateries and cinema theatres. Someone unfamiliar with the area could easily get lost here and end up in a different area altogether. Whenever I am in Bangalore, I pass through this area through one of its main roads and go quickly to Gandhinagar to browse in the bookshops there. A couple of years ago, I made brave to enter this bustling network of lanes to see if I could find some old stationery shops and also see if I could find some old pens. I went in and out of a number of small nondescript shops and was able to put together a small haul of three Indian pens and four foreign pens. I found the Indian pens in one shop and the foreign pens in another. The ones I picked were the good ones among the pens in old boxes.

 

I found a Clipper and two Plato FPs and very surprisingly found a Cross, a Pilot, a Parker, and a Sheaffer…

 

Here are the photos of the pens…

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/1-ALLTHREE_zps92156629.jpg

 

All three Indian FPs…the two blue ones are Platos and the black with metal cap is the Clipper…

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/2-CLIPPER_zpsfa7df1be.jpg

 

This pen is called CLIPPER AIR FLOW and along with ‘MADE IN INDIA,’ these letterings can be seen on the barrel…very faint… initially, I wondered what AIR FLOW meant and then out of curiosity, I opened the barrel and discovered that this pen has an aerometric filling system… the clip too is interesting…it kind of rolls into a very small cylinder towards the end…a ‘roll clip?’

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/3-CLIPPER1_zpsf0298d16.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/3-CLIPPER2_zps293c3877.jpg

 

The nib on the Clipper is interesting…a kind of eagle is engraved on it, apart from the brand name and IRIDIUM…the surface of the nib is not smooth and it is kind of rough…I tried to remove the roughness, but it remained and I felt the roughness is the natural texture of the nib and left it at that…

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/4-PLATO_zps680d43db.jpg

 

The writing on the barrel says…PLATO 66; REGD.; MADE IN INDIA; 1974 … the paint on the lettering has faded away and one can make these markings out if only one looked very carefully…this pen is almost 40 years old…!!!

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/5-PLATO_zps61b75851.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/6-PLATO_zps0336faa0.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/7-PLATO_zps8864538d.jpg

 

The Plato No. 111…REGD.; MADE IN INDIA … again these letterings are very faint … and in this pen, there is no year of manufacture …

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/8-PLATO_zps3c3686df.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/9-PLATO_zps27d9a418.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/10-PLATO_zps7c222346.jpg

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/11-PLATO-CLIPPER_zps365b7a48.jpg

 

The ends of the Clipper and Plato No. 111…

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/12-PLATO-CLIPPER_zps2be68f56.jpg

 

The tops of the Clipper and Plato No. 111…

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/13-FOREIGNPENS_zpsdc30a0e6.jpg

 

Aaah…the foreign pens…CROSS, PILOT (B nib), SHEAFFER and PARKER… all these pens are in various states of repair, but I didn’t have the heart to leave them back and bought them anyway…and I didn’t have a Cross FP…

 

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn280/bambli_mass/14-FOREIGNPENS_zps85b72608.jpg

 

The nibs of these foreign pens…

 

Here endeth the account of the ‘Majestic’ haul…Needless to say, Hari’s post on his ‘Kalasipalaya’ haul of vintage Indian celluloid FPs reminded me of the pens I found in ‘Majestic’ area in Bangalore and inspired me to put up this post…thanks Hari…!!

 

Thanks…

 

shrujaya

[hari317]

Wonderful finds all of them Jai, congrats! Also sightly jealous that I have not found my example of the Plato 111 yet.

 

The Cross is I believe the "Cross metropolis", the Pilot is the 78G, and the Parker is the iconic 25. well done! The Sheaffer is their modern school pen that I used to see in the market around 10-12 years back...

 

I never imagined that there might be pens to be discovered in the majestic area, must look harder, thanks for the hint.

 

Regards

Hari

Edited July 10, 2014 by hari317

[penmanila]

Wonderful report on wonderful finds. I love it when pens turn up in unlikely places (although, coming from and still living in the Philippines where I've found some fabulous pens, I've always held the theory that societies that once supported vast colonial bureaucracies must have troves of vintage pens somewhere).