yesterday a friend( who is also a pen dealer) I got a swan(my second). I do not know anything about swans(I collect parkers),
but I could not resist myself with as the asked value was maybe equivalent to the gold content of the nib.

the pen is a safety propelling pen. on the body the inscription is '"BLACKBIRD", SAFETY PROPELLING PEN, MADE BY SWAN PEN PEOPLE LONDON.' The nib says 'BLACKBIRD 14 CR, MT&CO LD, MADE IN ENGLAND.' the cap has no inscription, the end says'42'. the nib gets out and retracts by the end screw.

I shown the pen to a experienced pensmith, who flushed it(though he didn't open it, says the mechanism it delicate), and instructed to fill it by dropping ink in the nib end, I am not sure about it.

So if anybody can help me about the approximate date of the pen, and how to fill and care it, I will be thankful.

any help plzzzz

In my very limited knowledge, you retract the nib and fill ink using a dropper from the nib end. BTW a very nice find.

Cheers,
Hari

If it's a retractable-nib safety pen, you uncap it and, with the nib still hidden, fill it with a syringe or eyedropper. Then, you screw the nib out to write with it.

My question is why doesn't ink leak out when you cap it again? When you cap it, is the nib retracted or out?

Hi Grimakis,

The filling directions you have been given are correct and as long as the seal are OK the ink won't leak back out in a rush when you extend the nib and turn it into the writing position.

There are at least two reasons why these are called safety pens, the first is because the nib retracts and so is kept out of harms way when the pen is capped, the other major reason is that the cap fits onto the section so well that the seal is totally ink tight, There are various ways that this is done but basically it depends on precise fit of one shaped edge against another in the case of Mabie Todd's Swan Safety pens they used a patent cap patented in 1904, the Blackbird looks as though it used a similar if not identical cap which has an inner cap with an annular standoff that fits into the belled end of the section to form the seal.

Blackbird was the secondary brand for Mabie Todd in the UK, the first Blackbird was made in the US for export to the UK about the time of WW1 , the name was also used on a different range of pens made by MT in the UK. The pen that you have is likely to have been made in the early to mid1920s, it should be possible to narrow the dates a bit further with some more research. The number is a model number.

cheers, John