Hi,

Attached is a picture of a Cross ballpoint and pencil I received as a Unisys employee. The pencil has a small diamond embedded on it and the ballpoint has the Unisys logo. Both were manufactured in the US. I'm sure Cross manufactured many Corporate pens as the original equipment manufacturer but I am curious if there is interest among collectors in this part of pendom.

Regards,

Andy Murphy

Dear TechWriter:

I assume by "this part of pendom" you're referring to pens adorned with a company's logo. I thinks the answer, as with much of collecting, starts with "it depends." Some of the factors upon which collectors' interest would depend would include:

1. The company involved (e.g., anything with "Coca Cola" will find some interest among Coke collectors; anything with "Enron" or "Worldcom" will find some interest among business disaster fans; anything with a professional sporting team's logo would generate some interest, etc.).

2. The manufacturer of the fountain pen itself (e.g., a Sheaffer or Parker pen would be of interest to those who collect those brands, etc.).

3. The model, year, etc. of the pen itself (e.g., a 1960 Sheaffer Pen for Men with a company logo would be of greater interest than a modern Sheaffer Award pen with the same company's logo, etc.).

Since Cross ballpoints are often the "pen of choice" for corporate awards, they are not at all rare. The ballpoints are (of course) quit well made, but I doubt that a collector (even of Cross pens) would get too excited over the pen itself. So in this case, one is left with the interest that might be generated by the Unisys Corporation - probably not a hot collector's "name" among corporate logo buffs. The firm is not a consumer products producer and therefore doesn't really excite much interest through its brand.

Cheers!