Jump to content

Five Spot model


simp

Recommended Posts

Trying to classify flattop ebonite pens produced by Wahl after the Tempoint but before the introduction of the Personal Point nib, I found a reference to a Wahl ''Five-Spot" pen.

 

This is the reference that I found:

http://www.fountainpen.it/images/6/65/FiveSpot-Caption-1927-12.jpg

and the full ads is here:

http://www.fountainpen.it/images/thumb/b/bf/SignatureRosewood-AllMetal-1927-12.jpg/451px-SignatureRosewood-AllMetal-1927-12.jpg

the caption is the one on the left of the central picture.

 

So it seems that that rosewood pen was called Five-Spot. Does anyone know something about this?

 

Thanks

Simone

 

PS a full resolution scan of the AD can be found here; (sorry but that page is in Italian).

Fountain Pen Wiki - www.FountainPen.it

Fountain pen Chronology (need help to improve...)

Old advertisement (needing new ones to enlarge the gallery...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 5
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • simp

    3

  • Wahlnut

    2

  • jonveley

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

The "Five Spot" was adapted slang of the day and used in Wahl's advertising when a five-spot meant a $5.00 bill. The pen you are writing about cost $5.00 and so they got labeled the Five Spot pen in print and as a catchy way to refer to them. But they were never called that in the manufacturers catalogs or the order forms. The pen in question is the 1926 to 1928 (pre-Gold Seal), usually called Signature Pens which itself is confusing since only the #8 size #4 nibbed pens were Signature pens. These pens carried the "Signature" nib. This was the era when Wahl Pens in plastics were brand new and the Rosewood without the Gold Seal were a part of that line up. Whether plastic or rosewood, the size 8 #4 nib was the Signature Pen.

 

Of course manufacturer's model or stock numbers never fail. The pen you are referring to is always known as #847SC. Folks who are familiar with the numbering system will know that the 8 means a #8 size pen, and the 4 stands for a #4 size nib and the last number 7 stands for rosewood. and the SC means side lip. So if you really want to get the name dead on it is a 847SC. But if you want to go with the ad you posted I guess you could call it a Five Spot, but that label was only good for about 4 or 5 months in the ads. The rest of the time they were SIgnature Pens.

 

 

Syd

Syd "the Wahlnut" Saperstein

Pensbury Manor

Vintage Wahl Eversharp Writing Instruments

Pensbury Manor

 

The WAHL-EVERSHARP Company

www.wahleversharp.com

New WAHL-EVERSHARP fountain and Roller-Ball pens

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "Five Spot" was adapted slang of the day and used in Wahl's advertising when a five-spot meant a $5.00 bill. The pen you are writing about cost $5.00 and so they got labeled the Five Spot pen in print and as a catchy way to refer to them. But they were never called that in the manufacturers catalogs or the order forms. The pen in question is the 1926 to 1928 (pre-Gold Seal), usually called Signature Pens which itself is confusing since only the #8 size #4 nibbed pens were Signature pens. These pens carried the "Signature" nib. This was the era when Wahl Pens in plastics were brand new and the Rosewood without the Gold Seal were a part of that line up. Whether plastic or rosewood, the size 8 #4 nib was the Signature Pen.

 

Of course manufacturer's model or stock numbers never fail. The pen you are referring to is always known as #847SC. Folks who are familiar with the numbering system will know that the 8 means a #8 size pen, and the 4 stands for a #4 size nib and the last number 7 stands for rosewood. and the SC means side lip. So if you really want to get the name dead on it is a 847SC. But if you want to go with the ad you posted I guess you could call it a Five Spot, but that label was only good for about 4 or 5 months in the ads. The rest of the time they were SIgnature Pens.

 

 

Syd

Thank you for the precious informations, I'm italian so I did'nt figure that the name could be adapted slang. The only catalog I have (a 1928 one) is not so easy to decipher (at least for me...) so I could not figure a model number.

 

But I was searching for a generic label for these pens, and you gave me the right one, I'll call them Signature Pens, that more than adequate.

 

Regards

Simone

 

 

Fountain Pen Wiki - www.FountainPen.it

Fountain pen Chronology (need help to improve...)

Old advertisement (needing new ones to enlarge the gallery...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

I found another ADS talking about the "Five spot pen", and two times in this

 

post-12317-0-82185700-1308085341.jpg

 

and:

 

post-12317-0-95570500-1308085353.jpg

 

the full resolution scan can be fount starting at this page:

 

http://www.fountainpen.it/File:1927-11-Wahl-Signature-AllMetal.jpg

 

It seem a nikname used for a short period at the end of 1927.

 

Simone

Fountain Pen Wiki - www.FountainPen.it

Fountain pen Chronology (need help to improve...)

Old advertisement (needing new ones to enlarge the gallery...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the 1928 catalog, these were referred to as the "New $5 Pens," even though the short ringtops sold for only $3.50. Could be that in 1927, when this ad ran, they hadn't quite settled on a name yet. After all, the company had been running essentially the same product line for 10 years by that point!

 

Question, Syd: you identified the dates for this as 1926 to 1928, but I thought these weren't introduced until 1927. I looked at the Chrismas 1926 Catalog on the PCA site, and it doesn't say anything about these. I know that document isn't a comprehensive catalog, but if you only had 6 pages wouldn't your newest line be on page 1?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This might be splitting hairs, but it matters if we are talking when the pen line "began" as in first was manufactured in prototype and when the pen line went to market. in order to introduce the pens for mass sales and to allow time for a a mass advertising campaign, the pens had to be manufactured prior to the big unveiling. There was about a 5 month lead time from beginning of the production process until the ad campaign and even later in the catalogs depending on the last and next catalog print date. The First ads appeared in August 1927. The first unveiling of the pen to the dealers in their "back to school "EVERSALES" dealer newsletter was in June of 1927. Prototyping and beginning production runs would have been late 1926 as an admittedly very earliest outside date of manufacture. SO when "dating" the pen, I allowed for that in the bracketing of the dates I used.. If asked when was my pen sold, it would be 1927. There is a great article in he EVERSALES newsletter citing all the "research" that went into the $5.00 pen as being the dollar amount tipping point above which people would not easily go. They say their research showed that 72% would not pay more than $5 for a good pen. These were not #8 pens and these did not encompass all of the flat top,pre gold seal pen line that were available.

 

Syd

Syd "the Wahlnut" Saperstein

Pensbury Manor

Vintage Wahl Eversharp Writing Instruments

Pensbury Manor

 

The WAHL-EVERSHARP Company

www.wahleversharp.com

New WAHL-EVERSHARP fountain and Roller-Ball pens

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33474
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26573
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...