Kaweco - Early Safetys

[penuria]

I am really interested in both Kaweco and Soennecken safety pens at the moment and have spent many an hour downloading the patents in .pdf.

 

Sad but true!!

 

I have quite a bit of history but does anybody have any catalogue material for the period 1911 to say 1930?

 

I am struggling to work out the various models.

 

Thanks

 

John

[Phthalo]

Hopefully user "Kaweco" (aka Thomas) will see this and reply. He is the man when it comes to Kaweco history.

 

You can also buy a CD of early catalogues and history from Kaweco direct: http://www.gutberlet.com/

[penuria]

Hi Phthalo .... Many thanks ... I have checked out the site and have requested a price inc. shipping! I will probably order tomorrow

John

[Kaweco]

YYYYesss Sir, always prepared.

Thomas

[penuria]

Ahha ... With a name like Kaweco you will probably know

 

I am interested in the patent taken out in 1913 DE268152

 

The drawing shows a thin threaded end of the barrel used to drive the nib forward (not friction). Was this typical of Kaweco pens? I have some large safety pens with this drive but the imprint on the barrel has been taken off but it starts with RH...

 

 

Help would be much appreciated .... Its a bit late now UK time but I will post pictures tomorrow

 

Many thanks

 

John

Edited January 22, 2007 by penuria

[Kaweco]

Hi John

I am interested in the patent taken out in 1913 DE268152

 

The drawing shows a thin threaded end of the barrel used to drive the nib forward (not friction). Was this typical of Kaweco pens?

The "Heidelberger Federhalterfabrik Koch, Weber & Co" was later named KAWECO, it is actually the firm which patented the fountainpen in this description and I have a few Kaweco safeties which were build up in this way.

Kind Regards

Thomas

[penuria]

Hi Thomas ... thanks for the reply. One of the nice things about pen collecting is the research that sometimes flows from a "mystery" buy. Hence my focus on Heidelberger Federhalterfabrik Koch, Weber & Co.

I got hold of three safety pens (my current interest) and I have been trying to track down their provenance.

 

My researches lead me to DE268152 which was the only patent that showed a screwed drive. My interest expanded at this point when I discovered the early German makers. Having now read more I am collecting a few examples. (some on the way to me now I hope!!) The three safety pens though are still providing me with a lot of opportunity to explore types and makes though and I would like to eventually discover the make and model.

 

I have examined them closely and they have two main features that point me towards Kaweco i.e. the screwed thread at the end of the barrel used to drive the rotation of the helix and the construction of the barrel end seal itself which involves the use of a pin to attach the helix to the shaft of the sealed drive. Patent DE268152 shows both of these features clearly in Figure 3 hence the link.

 

Could you please take a look at the pictures below and advise if they look like Heidelberger Federhalterfabrik Koch, Weber & Co. models.

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.burks/SafetyCapped.JPG

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.burks/SafetyOpen.JPG

 

I am also very interested in what is normally written on the barrel in the plain area of the chasing. I intend to have a good look at the surface under a microscope to pick out the residual imprint (There is some remaining over the three pens and I should be able to reconstruct part at least)

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Best Regards

 

John

Edited January 25, 2007 by penuria

[Kaweco]

Hi John

I think it is a Kaweco from the 600 series (600,601,602....) It was a very sucessful pen and had been produced ca 1912 - 1929 in great varieties but mostly in BCHR.

The blanc area could contain something like: "KAWECO" No 603, (Capital letters. serif)

 

Your pen might have come to England in 1923. I quote from the biography of Heinrich Hebborn:

Hebborn founted at the age of 21 years a Kaweco store and repair shop in Cologne/ Germany. A client from England invited him and he went with a huge fountainpen sales collection to England. The first contacts had been difficult because the English market looked not very pleased upon German goods after ww1. At some of the stores and offices he could read a warning at the door "Germans not admitted", but Hebborn reported, that most of the English were gentlemen and he often could hear "he is a young man, we must help him". The business went extraordinary well and Hebborn came to London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinborough, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardif, Bornemouth, Brighton and back to London. (not bad for a 23/ 24 year old man). 1925 the Kaweco went in troubles and Hebborn bought his shop and seperated from Kaweco. Two years later he began to produce his own brand: "LUXOR". 1931, after the first bancrupty of the Kaweco in 1929, Hebborn bought the old Kaweco building in Heidelberg. (pic)

[penuria]

Thomas ... absolutely fascinating .... many many thanks for the response. What a great piece of history.

I in fact came across the pens close to Liverpool and wondered why three had survived together for so long in such good condition. They are missing nibs and feeds so I suspect that somebody has had them in a drawer for a long time.

I would like to return them to use as the seals etc. are in perfect condition. They have had little or no use in their lifetime and must have been kept out of the light for much of the 80 years.

 

You mentioned the biography of Heinrich Hebborn..... Can this be accessed via the new Kaweco Company on the CD history they offer or is this a separate publication? Its the sort of thing I would like to read.

 

By the way .... you really do deserve the "Kaweco" name tag on FPN .... Good

information!!!

 

I will post again .... once I have checked on a few things

 

 

John

Edited January 24, 2007 by penuria

[penuria]

An update .... I very much suspect that you are right re the arrival of these pens in England.

 

Thinking about it I bought them from somebody that tends to deal in estate sales. You will notice from posts within FPN that I have also been researching the Lang Pen Company of Liverpool. The company owner Ernest Macauley Wade, his family members (Edna Wade) and the Lang Pen Company Works manager Mr August Eberstein all registered patents for safety pens in the period 1912 to 1930. I will check the dates again but it is likely that Heinrich Hebborn visited this company offices at 13 Hope Street Liverpool during his time in England.

 

It's a bit odd that I have found three pens (all indentical and in the KAWECO patented design), with no signs of having had nibs or feeds in them (no ink residue in the barrel), having had the name removed (quite carefully as the chasing is very crisp around the blank panel), very close to the houses of the Wade family members and one of its Works ..... who at the time were producing very similar pens but based on quite an old design.

 

Interesting .... and a bit spooky!

 

Any other information on Mr Heinrich Hebborn would be appreciated.

 

I will provide some links to the patents out of interest later in the day (time permitting)

 

Regards

 

John

Edited January 25, 2007 by penuria

[penuria]

Thomas ... Just to report ...... having looked at the imprints under a Microscope I think that I have part of the KAWECO logo (or something very similar)

 

..... but the lettering and number are feint ... The imprint has been very carefully taken off the surface with very fine emery paper (I suspect) over most of the area (only part letters) remain.

 

Could I therefore ask for further advice/guidance ... if possible ..

 

The pens are 130mm with the cap on, the barrel is 13mm dia., the feed dia is approx 6mm and they are chased BCHR.

 

Would you be able to guess at the actual number in the 600 range and advise on the nib details?

 

I feel a bit bad about asking all of these questions but you obviously know an awful lot about the product range and the history

 

Many thanks

 

John

Edited January 25, 2007 by penuria

[Kaweco]

Hi John

Who removed the imprint? Was it Hebborn himself, to delete the German origin? Strange story. :ph34r:

I hope, you will name your pens when you get the CD ROM with the old catalogues I have only a couple of these rare pens.

Hebborn is not mentioned there, the LUXOR Fountainpen Works he founted, was not a part of Kaweco. There is nearly nothing to find about the Hebborn history.

Kind Regards

Thomas

[penuria]

Thomas ... Thanks again for all of your help. Now that I know what they are my mind will rest a little easier :)9

 

I have started making feeds for them based on the old shape shown in the original patent, so hopefully they will be working again soon.

 

I must say, though, that out of all of the safety pens I have owned the drive mechanism on this one is the best. The Heidelberger Federhalterfabrik Koch, Weber & Co. 1913 patented design on these pens was and still is excellent.

 

Best Regards

 

John

Edited January 29, 2007 by penuria

[penuria]

To all interested parties ...... The Kaweco CD from Gutberlet is excellent value. You get .pdf copies of catalogues, pictures of the main products and a potted history.

 

If you are into safety pens consider buying this CD:rolleyes:

 

It can be found at http://www.gutberlet.com/

 

and thanks again to "Phthalo" and "Kaweco" (Thomas) who pointed the way .....

 

John

Edited February 7, 2007 by penuria

[Phthalo]

John: I'm glad you got the info. That Kaweco CD is definitely a great thing - I wish other manufacturers would make a resource like that.

 

It's not a safety pen, but I found a mystery pen last year, and with Thomas's help and the aid of the Kaweco CD, I found out what it was - a ~1925 Kaweco/A.Morton Toledo lever-filler for their export market. (A thread about it.)

 

On the CD, check out the 1914-1929 literature, under "Fountain Pens", then “Overlay” PDF. Specifically, the 10th pen from the bottom, same sleeve workmanship, clip, etc as my little lever filler.

 

Isn't FPN great?!

Edited February 8, 2007 by Phthalo

[penuria]

Wow ... what a great piece of detective work and a fantastic example of pooling of resources..... Also what great mystery buy

 

FPN is certainly a great forum of "like minds" and without it I certainly would have been stuck.

 

John

Edited February 8, 2007 by penuria