One reads very little about the Blackbird Pan' but from time to time I see one advertised which looks an attractive proposition.Is this make made as well as a Swan, the company which took it over - or is ir a 'poor man's' Swan'?
Can I find a history of the Blackbird anywhere please?
Denis
Cheshire, UK.
Full Version: Is a Blackbird Pen a Poor Mans Swan?1
You may wanna take a look at this thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...?showtopic=1497
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...?showtopic=1497
Heh, I was expecting Oxonian to chime in because he knows a lot about English pens 
(he probably didn't see this thread... )
(he probably didn't see this thread... )
hi folks,
Maja, you're right I hadn't seen it but I have now.
Mabie Todd, the makers of Swan, Blackbird, Swallow pens as well as a number of pens made to order for various retailers etc were in origin an American company but a lot of their later production and one of their major markets was in Britain and it the British Empire as it then was.
Swan was MTs top brand and BLackbird was their second, quite where Swallow was expected to fit in is a little unclear. Blackbird and Swallow names sometimes were used in markets where there was already a maker using the Swan name.
In general Blackbirds were less ornate than their Swan stablemates but they could be found with 9ct or 14ct gold bands on barrels and on caps, the nibs were sometimes smaller than on similar sized Swan pens but there were big nibbed, (size 6 &7 and possibly 8) Blackbirds and Swallows as well as Swans. Solid gold, silver and other serious exotica were mostly limited to the Swan brand, I have not seen a solid 9ct B'bird as far as I remember.
Blackbird pens were every bit as well made as and often from the same materials as Swans but as far as I know there was never a B'bird equivalent of the Swan Eternal lifetime guarantee pens, there were B'birds in the same materials etc but none as far as I know carried a lifetime warranty. The gold plating may have been thinner on B'birds and nickel plating was more common on B'birds over the years and less often seen on Swans although the bottom end Swans did use Chrome and nickel on some models.
I suppose B'birds were aimed at the lower end of the market, they were cheaper than similar Swan pens of their day so I suppose they were the poor man's Swan but they deserve as much attention from collectors and seem to get it, attractive B'birds (BB2/46 Turquoise for example) fetch very good prices only exceeded by some of the more exotic Swans.
Cheers, John
Maja, you're right I hadn't seen it but I have now.
Mabie Todd, the makers of Swan, Blackbird, Swallow pens as well as a number of pens made to order for various retailers etc were in origin an American company but a lot of their later production and one of their major markets was in Britain and it the British Empire as it then was.
Swan was MTs top brand and BLackbird was their second, quite where Swallow was expected to fit in is a little unclear. Blackbird and Swallow names sometimes were used in markets where there was already a maker using the Swan name.
In general Blackbirds were less ornate than their Swan stablemates but they could be found with 9ct or 14ct gold bands on barrels and on caps, the nibs were sometimes smaller than on similar sized Swan pens but there were big nibbed, (size 6 &7 and possibly 8) Blackbirds and Swallows as well as Swans. Solid gold, silver and other serious exotica were mostly limited to the Swan brand, I have not seen a solid 9ct B'bird as far as I remember.
Blackbird pens were every bit as well made as and often from the same materials as Swans but as far as I know there was never a B'bird equivalent of the Swan Eternal lifetime guarantee pens, there were B'birds in the same materials etc but none as far as I know carried a lifetime warranty. The gold plating may have been thinner on B'birds and nickel plating was more common on B'birds over the years and less often seen on Swans although the bottom end Swans did use Chrome and nickel on some models.
I suppose B'birds were aimed at the lower end of the market, they were cheaper than similar Swan pens of their day so I suppose they were the poor man's Swan but they deserve as much attention from collectors and seem to get it, attractive B'birds (BB2/46 Turquoise for example) fetch very good prices only exceeded by some of the more exotic Swans.
Cheers, John
QUOTE(Oxonian @ Dec 24 2007, 05:48 AM) [snapback]456782[/snapback]
hi folks,
Maja, you're right I hadn't seen it but I have now.
Mabie Todd, the makers of Swan, Blackbird, Swallow pens as well as a number of pens made to order for various retailers etc were in origin an American company but a lot of their later production and one of their major markets was in Britain and it the British Empire as it then was.
Swan was MTs top brand and BLackbird was their second, quite where Swallow was expected to fit in is a little unclear. Blackbird and Swallow names sometimes were used in markets where there was already a maker using the Swan name.
In general Blackbirds were less ornate than their Swan stablemates but they could be found with 9ct or 14ct gold bands on barrels and on caps, the nibs were sometimes smaller than on similar sized Swan pens but there were big nibbed, (size 6 &7 and possibly 8) Blackbirds and Swallows as well as Swans. Solid gold, silver and other serious exotica were mostly limited to the Swan brand, I have not seen a solid 9ct B'bird as far as I remember.
Blackbird pens were every bit as well made as and often from the same materials as Swans but as far as I know there was never a B'bird equivalent of the Swan Eternal lifetime guarantee pens, there were B'birds in the same materials etc but none as far as I know carried a lifetime warranty. The gold plating may have been thinner on B'birds and nickel plating was more common on B'birds over the years and less often seen on Swans although the bottom end Swans did use Chrome and nickel on some models.
I suppose B'birds were aimed at the lower end of the market, they were cheaper than similar Swan pens of their day so I suppose they were the poor man's Swan but they deserve as much attention from collectors and seem to get it, attractive B'birds (BB2/46 Turquoise for example) fetch very good prices only exceeded by some of the more exotic Swans.
Cheers, John
Maja, you're right I hadn't seen it but I have now.
Mabie Todd, the makers of Swan, Blackbird, Swallow pens as well as a number of pens made to order for various retailers etc were in origin an American company but a lot of their later production and one of their major markets was in Britain and it the British Empire as it then was.
Swan was MTs top brand and BLackbird was their second, quite where Swallow was expected to fit in is a little unclear. Blackbird and Swallow names sometimes were used in markets where there was already a maker using the Swan name.
In general Blackbirds were less ornate than their Swan stablemates but they could be found with 9ct or 14ct gold bands on barrels and on caps, the nibs were sometimes smaller than on similar sized Swan pens but there were big nibbed, (size 6 &7 and possibly 8) Blackbirds and Swallows as well as Swans. Solid gold, silver and other serious exotica were mostly limited to the Swan brand, I have not seen a solid 9ct B'bird as far as I remember.
Blackbird pens were every bit as well made as and often from the same materials as Swans but as far as I know there was never a B'bird equivalent of the Swan Eternal lifetime guarantee pens, there were B'birds in the same materials etc but none as far as I know carried a lifetime warranty. The gold plating may have been thinner on B'birds and nickel plating was more common on B'birds over the years and less often seen on Swans although the bottom end Swans did use Chrome and nickel on some models.
I suppose B'birds were aimed at the lower end of the market, they were cheaper than similar Swan pens of their day so I suppose they were the poor man's Swan but they deserve as much attention from collectors and seem to get it, attractive B'birds (BB2/46 Turquoise for example) fetch very good prices only exceeded by some of the more exotic Swans.
Cheers, John
Thanks John for the history...but you sparked another couple of questions:where do Jackdaws fit in the scheme of things, and are there any other Swans you haven't covered?
Take care,
Andrew
QUOTE(Oxonian @ Dec 24 2007, 03:48 AM) [snapback]456782[/snapback]
hi folks,
Maja, you're right I hadn't seen it but I have now.
Maja, you're right I hadn't seen it but I have now.
John, as always, thank you so much for taking the time to write a detailed answer to someone's question. It is greatly appreciated, Sir!
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