Does anyone know any history of the Welsharp Company? When and where were the pens made, and for how long. Was it a subsidiary of another company? Any information would be appreciated.

Welsharp was, I believe, a sub-brand of the Welsh Manufacturing company in Providence RI. They made pretty much 3rd tier pens - some of the lesser 3rd tier pens too I think. I don't know a whole lot about them.

James Welsh was the original owner. The company has a host of patents from 1930-1968. They seem to have made goggles and glasses as well, as many of their patents are related to glasses, goggles, hard-hats, nose-guards etc. - Patents. (Patent search thanks to David Nishimura posting on Lion and Pen). However, one of their writing instrument patents is for a process to make cylindrical tubes from celluloid sheets, so they were probably actual manufacturers of pens and pencils, and not mearly a distributor or jobber having pens made with their name on them.

John

John,

You are a fountain of wonderful information. Thanks.

I have a WILRITE 14k gold filled pen from the 1920s and the nib is a WELSHARP. The stainless nib has 14k gold filled lettering on it that reads, 'Welsharp' (in script)
and beneath it, 'STAINLESS 14K GOLD FILLED MADE IN U.S.A.' I understand that the Wilrite company used other manufacturer's parts, hence the Welsharp nib.
I'm thinking of selling the pen, but don't know what its value would be in very good exterior condition. The ink filling fountain might be deteriorated, as the
filling lever does not move but a quarter inch and I don't want to force it. This would need repairing to be perfect and useable as a writing instrument.