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Mabie Todd England Vs. Mabie Todd New York


Mabie London Vs. Mabie NY  

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  1. 1. Which pen seems better made to you?

    • Mabie Todd New York
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    • Mabie Todd London


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As an avid collector of vintage British pens, mainly Conway Stewart, Mabie Todd and Onoto, I bought a couple of Mabie Todd New York made pens and I've noticed that the quality is no where near their British counterparts. The tipping on the nibs seem to fall off rather easily, and the general feel of the pens seem cheaper than the British ones. Has anyone else noticed this or did I just get a bad run of pens? It's bad enough to have turned me off of the NY made pens completely. Am I nuts???

Edited by EricB

Looking for Vintage Conway Stewart pens in blue marble to buy or trade.....

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Am I the only one who collects these???

Looking for Vintage Conway Stewart pens in blue marble to buy or trade.....

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I only have a few Mabbie Todd pens and have not even looked to see where they were made. Most are fairly recent, probably 1940 and later, so most likely all English.

 

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I have two 1930s (at least that's what they look like) Mabie Todd/Swan pens and both of them seem cheaply made especially when compared with some of the other first tier pens of the era- Parker Duofolds, Sheaffer Balances, Eversharp Dorics ect. But then again I do not know anything about what models these pens possibly could be. The Swan is black with green bands at the top and bottom of the cap and the nicer of the two. It is a horribly dry writer and needs some work. The Mabie Todd pen is red with black and white veins and has a real Parkette-ish quality to it. I haven't been able to write with this pen yet because I need to buy the right size sac for it, but it seems like it might have a nicer nib.

I'd rather spend my money on pens instead of shoes and handbags.

 

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As an avid collector of vintage British pens, ...

 

So far you qualify as the "Resident Expert"!

 

Congratulations!!!!

Edited by Glenn-SC
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The vintagepens.com Mabie Todd page mentions that "Manufacture continued in the USA until the late 1930s, with quality and production volume declining sharply towards the end".

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Montegrappa NeroUno Linea - J. Herbin Poussière de Lune //. Aurora Optima Demonstrator - Aurora Black // Varuna Rajan - Kaweco Green // TWSBI Vac 700R - Visconti Purple

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I have two 1930s (at least that's what they look like) Mabie Todd/Swan pens and both of them seem cheaply made especially when compared with some of the other first tier pens of the era- Parker Duofolds, Sheaffer Balances, Eversharp Dorics ect. But then again I do not know anything about what models these pens possibly could be. The Swan is black with green bands at the top and bottom of the cap and the nicer of the two. It is a horribly dry writer and needs some work. The Mabie Todd pen is red with black and white veins and has a real Parkette-ish quality to it. I haven't been able to write with this pen yet because I need to buy the right size sac for it, but it seems like it might have a nicer nib.

 

The nib will say "Mabie Todd NY" or "Mabie Todd London" if the imprint on the barrel is worn. I'm betting they're New York ones if they feel cheap.

 

 

As an avid collector of vintage British pens, ...

 

So far you qualify as the "Resident Expert"!

 

Congratulations!!!!

 

Ok, that's a scary thought right there!

 

 

The vintagepens.com Mabie Todd page mentions that "Manufacture continued in the USA until the late 1930s, with quality and production volume declining sharply towards the end".

 

The explains it, mine are all newer ones with the exception of a desk pen and stand, and it is the best one of the bunch. Funny thing is, the London versions are very well made and the nibs are wonderful, on par with my Conway Stewarts. The New York ones seem to be made of a lighter plastic and the fittings feel almost like aluminum instead of gold plated brass. They're bad enough that I avoid them like the plague now.

Looking for Vintage Conway Stewart pens in blue marble to buy or trade.....

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Madie Todd in New York, in it's day, was a top quality penmaker. If you want some examples, take a look at these:

 

Mabie Todd Solid Gold Eyedropper Pens

 

For the real story on MT in the US, check out David Moak's book and CD:

Mabie in America

 

Incidentally, David Moak and David Nishimura (Vintagepens.com) are both members here - if they have not responded to this, it is probably because they have not seen it. David Moak does not spend a lot of time here, but I am sure David N. will be along before too long with some observations.

 

John

So if you have a lot of ink,

You should get a Yink, I think.

 

- Dr Suess

 

Always looking for pens by Baird-North, Charles Ingersoll, and nibs marked "CHI"

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Depending on the time period in question, the British pens were superior. The hard rubber and plastic U.S.-made (Inc.) pens of the 1930s were generally of poorer quality than the British-made (Ltd.) pens from then on. In the 1920's there was little difference in the pens made in each country, except that the overlays for the English overlay pens were still generally being made in the U.S. I don't remember when the Ltd. began making their own nibs, but for a long time they were still made in the U.S. It is not uncommon to find Ltd. pens with U.S. nibs. The Victorian dip pens/pencils and the eyedropper fountain pens are, to me, as good as anything made by any other company and better than most. These are primarily U.S. products. Remember Mabie Todd is a much older company than Waterman, Parker, et al. The Eternal line is comparable to the Duofold line, whether English or American.

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Until I discovered vintage Pelikans a few weeks back, vintage English Swans were the main focus of my admittedly on-and-off pen collecting. I've got five Swans ranging from a 1910s eyedropper to pens from the 40s, and they're superb writers, second to no other brand I've tried. But I've never tried the US-made variety, so I really can't comment on that comparison.

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That's one thing I've been looking for, is a '20s or older BHR Swan, with a nice juicy uber-flex nib. Eyedropper preferably. I've been watching eBay for one, but haven't had too much luck on many, but I've got one on watch right now...

Looking for Vintage Conway Stewart pens in blue marble to buy or trade.....

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That's one thing I've been looking for, is a '20s or older BHR Swan, with a nice juicy uber-flex nib. Eyedropper preferably. I've been watching eBay for one, but haven't had too much luck on many, but I've got one on watch right now...

 

Good luck on that! My eyedropper was actually advertised on ebay as a dipping pen, at a very low price. I thought it looked like an eyedropper and got it for peanuts as the only bidder. It certainly looked worse for wear when I got it, but after FPN's very own Eckiethump worked his magic on it it is a pleasure to use. Sorry if this is all old hat to you, but you can also happen across competently restored and yet affordable specimens at Andy's pens and Writetime.co.uk (standard disclaimer - no affiliation; satisfied customer with the latter and as yet unsated windowshopper at the former).

Northlodge on FPN is also an occasional Swan-pusher and a pleasure to deal with, and I some of my best writers have been found on his posts on FPN.

Edited by Inkling
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Mabie Todd was one of the names that intrigued me when I first started looking at vintage pens, along with Wyvern, Mentmore and Conway Stewart. It seems funny that a name like Mabie Todd, which sounds as English as Yorkshire pudding, should originally be a company founded in New York. Strong British roots, I suspect?

 

I only own one MT pen, a Swan,circa 1920s, Made in England, in black hard rubber, with a chased pattern. The nib is high quality and an OK writer, could use some tweaking from a nib guru. The pen was purchased for about $25.00, eBay, and was in rough condition. I have two other Swan nibs that are very nice, one on a superb Onoto De La Rue, and the other is going in a "blended" pen, I won't mention body parts, but I think the Swan Nib is equal to almost any I have come across.

One of my favorite online sellers has some excellent Mabie Todd pens. Look at these and you realize, as another member has stated, the New York pens at one time were first rate, and I would love to own a couple of these:

 

http://www.oldpostofficepens.com.au/swan.html

 

Never did get a Mentmore or a Wyvern. Someday.

 

Interesting topic, thank you.

Edited by karmakoda
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Karmakoda, thanks for the link! I see one on there that I want already, mainly this one here: http://www.oldpostofficepens.com.au/2009_483.jpg

 

 

The one thing that concerns me on this one is the nib, it looks a little damaged on the tip to me, but that may just be the way the picture was taken. There's something about that over/under feed that just looks cool!

Looking for Vintage Conway Stewart pens in blue marble to buy or trade.....

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