Oxford Everdurable

[Samthor]

Hi, Wahl collectors,

Below is an image of an Oxford Everdurable Special. Oxford Everdurables are plastic barreled button fillers with hard rubber blind caps and cap tops. As you see, Oxford Everdurables bear a more than coincidental resemblance to streamline Parker Duofolds of the early 30s. Up 'til now I've assumed Oxford Everdurables were not connected to Wahl, because the Wahl Oxfords I see online are labeled "Wahl" on the pen and because Everdurables look like Parkers and not like any Wahl pens I know about. But now I'm asking you all, does anyone have knowledge or evidence of whether Everdurables are "by the makers of Eversharp"?. Perhaps the name "Oxford" is coincidence. Or perhaps the names "Oxford" and "Everdurable" together are an attempt to get as close as legally possible to a better known company's brands. These pens' physical resemblance to Parker Duofolds is surely such an attempt.

 

The model or sub-model names I've come across are "Special," "Medium," and "Big." To my ear, "Big" and "Medium" seem a little unlikely to have been chosen as model names by a native English speaker. But that's a subjective impression.

 

I've seen just half a dozen offered on the web over the last four years, one all black and the rest colored like this one. During that time Speerbob and Sbroglia listed one each. The other (non FPN) sellers were from Holland, Denmark, and Finland, for what it's worth.

 

The imprint on the pen pictured below reads:

Oxford-Everdurable-

Special

The clip reads OXFORD, vertically. And the nib reads:

OXFORD

14 CAR

It has a Christmas tree feed. (I own one other, a "Big" that has a plain ebonite feed and an old style Pelikan nib.)

 

Thank you for any help connecting or distinguishing the Oxford Everdurable and Wahl pens, or informing me about the actual manufacturer.

 

Samthor

 

(I've not previously asked Speerbob or Sbroglia about the history of Everdurables, but I will make them aware of this topic.)

 

(edited to indicate the picture is at bottom, not the pen in my avatar.)

Edited December 19, 2010 by Samthor

[UptheWahl]

I wish I could provide definitive evidence about the Oxford Everdurable, but I am unaware of any specific documentation that has been published on this pen line. I haven't even seen any advertising.

 

I am quite sure that they were not produced by Wahl-Eversharp, but who did produce the pens is open to question. My best guess is that they are Danish. I know I have purchased a number of over the years, and they all came from Denmark, mostly from my Danish friend, Eric Petersen.

 

It is possible that the Oxford Everdurables were produced by Benzon Trading Company, which was the Wahl importer for Denmark and Sweden. Benzon built a factory in Odense in the mid-1930s in which it produced Benco, Big Ben, and Big Brother pens. A number of their pens use material or findings that is identical to or based on Wahl-Eversharp designs.

 

On the other hand, the Oxford Everdurables are button fillers, and have many other features similar to the streamlined Parker Duofold, including the size ranges, so they could have been made by Olsen (Penol) or another Scandinavian manufacturer.

 

Oxford Everdurables were produced in a number of color patterns. I several in my collection. I'll try to take a few pictures over the holidays and post them when I get the chance.

 

I'll be going to the Cologne pen show in the Spring, and will ask my Danish friends if they can provide any more information about them.

 

Cliff

[philm]

I agree with Cliff that they are not a Wahl product. I only have one (photo below). I inquired on another board as to it origins several years ago and received two answers...Italy and Germany. Both had no direct evidence. Eventually, I gave up the search and just enjoyed the pen.

 

As already mentioned, they are nice button fillers and very closely resemble the Parker Streamlined Duofold Jr.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/oxford3.jpg

 

Next to a Duofold Jr.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50/munsonhsr/oxford2.jpg

 

I look forward to the results of your search.

 

Phil

[Samthor]

Thank you for sharing your judgements on these, Cliff and Phil. And thanks for posting those very nice photos Phil. The side-by-side really makes a point. Cliff, thanks for making further inquiries. I look forward to learning of additional colors and varieties from your collection.

My pair of Everdurables came from two Danish ebay sellers (not from your friend Eric, though).

 

Samthor

[Martin J Frost]

I know im late to the party here, but I actually have one of these pens marked eversharp. In every other respect it is an oxford ever durable, the barel has no imprint but the cap has the vertical eversharp logo imprinted and as with other examples of this pen shows the same discoloration in barrel but not cap. It also has an eversharp nib. 

 

[Wahlnut]

I'm agreed with Cliff and Phil that the Oxford Everdurable was not a WAHL-EVERSHARP product.  As a matter of fact some of the ones I have seen are stamped "made in england" on the barrel side. As for the clip being EVERSHARP that's a mystery but maybe a repair "blend"

To complicate matters more I have an old reference saying

"Oxford Everdurable was made by the German company Siebert & Löwen (Matador) for a Danish trading company, that was not connected to Christian Olsen (Penol) or Benzon Trading Company (Big Ben) or Montblanc in Denmark.."

Given the tariff issues over the years its nothing to have a pen company in one country assemble pens in another and the "made in" is not always definitive as to the actual pen company location. 

 

Trust me, pen brands, model names etc are rather transportable some with some without permission from one company to another not to mention knockoffs...

Go figger