Hi,

I recently got a nice Dunn, so I'm trying to get more info about this brand.

I already collected all information I could find in the Dunn page of my site (sorry, it's written in italian: I'm not good enough to write it in English).

But I have a question about the company end because the two sources I got (http://www.vintagepens.com/Dunn.shtml and http://www.pensandwatches.com/) are reporting two conflicting date (1924 and 1927) and two different reasons.

So if someone know for what reason the company was close I'd really appreciate the help.Any direction on where to find a good source of information (book or whatever) on this brand will be also gladly accepted.

Thank you
Simone

According to a New York telephone directory of 1925 Dunn still existed on 170 Broadway.
Check http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=20253 for evidence. So 1924 does not seem to be consistent with this information. David Nashimura (vintagepens.com) is an extremely knowledgeable person and I hope he will chime in with more relevant information. John Appleseed can also check the Times archive for bankruptcy information.

I'm on the road at the moment, so this is a pretty quick and dirty response. The Dunn bankruptcy was, as I recall, actually two bankruptcies, the first attempting to reorganize the company and keep it afloat. I believe 1924 was the date of the first bankruptcy filing, with it still not well understood how much production took place between then and the final failure.

The story that I've not been able to document is that Dunn went under as a result of prolonged labor action -- stoppages if not a full strike. When I was living in Manhattan, I was intended to consult with some labor historians (NYU has a major labor history library as well) to confirm, but that's still a pending project over 16 years later.

This is the story that I've always heard as well. I believe that that the pens marked "Dunn Dreadnaught" and that come with the two-piece caps for filling, date from the second instance of the company.


Dave

I used to have quite a nice collection of Dunns and did a little research on the company (couldn't do Dunn and MT at the same time . Dunn himself was dead prior to the first bankruptcy as I recall. The parts and machines were auctioned off to some investors who wanted to keep the company going. I don't remember if I verified whether or not a labor dispute caused the first bancruptcy, but that is the story that sticks in my mind. I believe that Dunn had patents on his pens for years before ever going into production. I sold the collection sometime ago, so this history is a job for someone else...

Hi,
thank you for the new informations you provided. I updated my site with it, leaving a reference to this thread. I'm living in Florence and getting info from here is quite difficult, I must resort to search the internet and ask here... Unfortunately Dunn is not a famous brand and all the book I have have a very little information about it. But I like its pen because they have the same charging mechanism of the Omas Lucens 15 years before, and I think they deserve some credit.

So thank you again, and if sometime you will complete the project just tell us...

Simone

I should have some updated info for you when I get a chance to digest it all and write it up. The basic outline above is correct, with some additional info and sordid details.

Sorry David - I couldn't find anything about the labor issues as well.

John