I find it kinda curious that I've never seen an Esterbrook with the discoloration often seen in rubber sac-based celluloid pens.

I guess the first question is an Esterbrook celluloid? If so it might be the material of construction for the sac. It is the offgassing of sulfur compounds that causes the celluloid discoloration and if an Estie is acrylic or some other plastic then it isn't suceptable to the color change.


This is my opinion as I am trying to remember all of this stuff and have not cross checked out on the net.

Kurt H

Hi,

As of now, we do not know what it is, but it will not dissolve in Alcohol or Acetone.

Dillon

Don't Esties start in the 1940's? I think all of the major makers by then were using plastics that don't discolor not like the original celluloid of the 20's and 30's. In fact I don't think they were generally using what we call celluloid by the late thirties. Esterbrook made solid pens, I have my mother's that she used in the mid '50's.

Roger W.

Esterbrook started making their own pens around 1932, including marbled plastics which have been known to craze and crack. I really haven't seen any which have discolored though. About as bad as it gets are the yellow and white cracked ice models which do show moderate discoloration, but nothing anywhere near as bad as Sheaffer Jades and other plastics of the era. In fact it looks more like an ink stain than anything else.

Best-
Brian

If I recall correctly, Esterbrooks of the J series et al are made from cellulose acetate. But what may be more relevant is that they used cellulosic plastics that used advanced stabilizers that were not in use a few decades earlier.

There is a pronounced difference in discoloration resistance among celluloids from the mid-1920s, the early 1930s, and the late '30s to early '40s.

Thanks David! Any guesses from anyone how the "ice" Estie pens' patterns were made (or were the methods kept secret?)

So that would imply that modern celluloid pens aren't likely to discolor nearly as likely either. Neat. At any rate, it's still pretty cool that a relatively lower-tier brand managed to cut costs and still put out products which've lasted so well for so long.