Who was Nudelman?

[Dave Johannsen]

Don Lavin's post on PenTrace in which he mentioned his Schnell Penselpen got me to poke around a bit. I was looking at the four patents relating to the Schnell Penselpen, and found an interesting name. Three of the patents (the design patent on the clip, a patent on a presure bar, and a feed patent) were issued to Schnell. The fourth patent (No. 1,526,365) for the design of the pen/pencil combination was issued to Charles S. Nudelman of Chicago, IL. This is the first time that I have ever seen the name Nudelman, so does anyone know anymore about this person? How did Julius Schnell acquire the rights to the patent (Schnell was not the asignee in 1925 when the patent was issued)? I'm just a bit curius and would like to see any information that anyone has.

Edited May 16, 2005 by Dave Johannsen

[Dave Johannsen]

Broadening the question a bit... Though I have never owned a combo nor have I researched them, I feel fairly confident in opining that 1925 was not the first foutain pen and mechanical pencil combo (of course I know that Victorian dip combos were quite common). Would someone mind taking a minute to provide some patent numbers or a brief historical sketch on combos?

 

Thanks for reading even this far,

 

Dave

[rhr]

The Charles S. Nudelman patent is more than just a design patent for the fountain pen and pencil combination. Its stated objectives included a new compact pencil mechanism, a concealed eraser, the connection joint between the pen and the pencil, and a compact, sliding-bar, lever-filling mechanism. Julius Schnell probably acquired the rights to the patent when he realized that his "Penselpen" might infringe upon the Nudelman patent. In fact, the Nudelman patent just might be the source for Schnell's not-so-original idea for his "Penselpen" combo.

 

You are right about the first fountain pen and pencil combos not being from 1925. There are examples from as early as 1819 and 1832 in the British patents, and various scattered US patents throughout the later 1800s. But the fountain pen and pencil combo doesn't really take off in the form we are most familiar with until the 1920s.

 

Now, here I have to diverge from the topic at hand and discuss the terms "pen and pencil case" and " fountain pen and pencil combos". The modern tendency to confuse these two terms really ticks me off. It is a real hobbyhorse of mine, along with the misuse of the word "stub". I'm almost as rabid about these as others are about the misuse of the word "vintage".

 

Reading all the old patents for pen and pencil cases has taught me that they were never called "combos" in their day. That's a later appellation, borrowed in the 1980s and 90s from the Jazz Age of the 1920s and 30s. John Loring and other collectors, and the British dealers in pen and pencil cases have co-opted and popularized the misuse of the term "combo". I have lectured John about this many times, and although he agrees with me, he thinks it's pointless to try to change a popular and persistent misuse of language by the others. These dealers and collectors are real mumpsimuses about it, just like those who misuse the word "stub". Take a look at this definition of the word "mumpsimus" from the A-Word-A-Day website.

 

mumpsimus (MUMP-suh-muhs) noun.

 

1. Adherence to, or persistence in an erroneous use of language, practice, belief, etc., out of habit, or obstinacy.

 

2. A person who persists in a mistaken expression, or practice.

 

[From a story, which perhaps originated with Erasmus, of an illiterate priest who said mumpsimus rather than sumpsimus (1st plural perfect indicative of the Latin word "sumere", to pick up) while reciting the liturgy, and refused to change the word when corrected.]

 

I think that the word "combo" should be reserved for the original use exclusively. Any other adaptation of the term for other uses only serves to blur the term, and debase the coinage, and ruin the precision of the language. The terms that were actually used back then were "pen and pencil case", and "pen and pencil holder", and "pen and pencil combination case". A combo is an instrument that incorporates a fountain pen and a mechanical pencil. By the way, here's one of my favorite rhr pen and pencil cases.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/rhrp...tonKurtza.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/rhrp...tonKurtzb.jpg

 

Sincerely,

 

George.

 

:ph34r:

Edited January 15, 2006 by rhr

[Dave Johannsen]

I think that the word "combo" should be reserved for the original use exclusively. Any other adaptation of the term for other uses only serves to blur the term, and debase the coinage, and ruin the precision of the language. The terms that were actually used back then were "pen and pencil case", and "pen and pencil holder", and "pen and pencil combination case". A combo is an instrument that incorporates a fountain pen and a mechanical pencil.

George,

 

Thank you for all of the information. A couple of points of clarification or emphasis about my earlier posts. I guess that I found it ironic that Schnell wasn't the patentee on the pen for which he was best known. I gathered from David Nishamura's summary of the transcripts of the Sheaffer v. Kraker trial that Schnell had been a fairly prominant name in the fountain pen industry, yet he was neither the patnetee nor the asignee of the design which eventually became "Schnell's Penselpen." Also, in reading Nudelman's patent, I came away feeling that this was not the work of an amateur in his basement, but rather someone employed in the industry. However, since the patent was not assigned to any company at the time of issue and a portion of the patent is for a lever/pressure bar design for filling the pen (and the Penselpen used Schnell's slider for this), perhaps I am wrong about this. I was hoping that there would be someone who had seen Nudelman's name on other patents or some company's documents. On another note, I think that there was an unfortunate slip in my first posting. When I said that Nudelman was the patentee on the design of the combination, this was an unfortunate choice of words - I did not mean to imply that Nudelman's patent was a design patent and that his work was simply one of style. Finally, I apologize for the phrase "Victorian dip combos." Certainly I used this phrase quite imprecisely (and without any presumption of knowledge in the area). As one who prides himself on fairly rigorous usage, I am grateful that you took the time to provide the correct nomenclature.

 

Dave

Edited May 17, 2005 by Dave Johannsen

[rhr]

Dave, no need to apologize. I think I should have thrown a smiley face in there somewhere. I always forget to do that. I didn't mean to come on so strong, and I certainly didn't mean to target you specifically. No need to give up on terminology that so many well-placed mumpsimuses are using. :bonk: We could always agree to disagree.

 

George.

 

P.S. When you said that Nudelman was the patentee on the design of the combination, this was not only a fortunate, but also an ironic choice of words. It just might turn out that Nudelman's patent was in fact responsible for the design and style of the fad of the combo, which lasted briefly for the decade between 1925 and 1935, roughly.

 

:ph34r:

[rhr]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/rhrpen/gaydoul.jpg

 

And here's one of my favorite combos.

 

George.

 

:ph34r:

Edited October 29, 2005 by rhr

[Dave Johannsen]

And here's one of my favorite combos.

Very nice, George. Is that "Gaydoul GOLD PEN CO INC NEW YORK" (just trying to make out the imprint)? I've never heard of the company, but that is a very nice looking combo. I'm sure that I've never before seen a combo in red HR, I imagine that they are fairly scarce. Thanks for posting it.

 

(You know, if I didn't know better, I might think that you had a fondness for red hard rubber :-) ).

 

Dave

[rhr]

You know, if I didn't know better, I might think that you had a fondness for red hard rubber :-)

Dave, I think you've figured me out. ;~)

 

You also got the imprint right. The company name is Gaydoul Gold Pen Co., Inc., and they started out making gold nibs, and then went on to make fountain pens, and fountain pen & pencil combos.They were an obscure company that didn't last very long, but they made some very-well-made pens. George Gaydoul was the pres. tres., and George P. Gaydoul, probably the son, was the v-pres. The company was later renamed George P. Gaydoul & Co. Their addresses include 50 John St., Rm 201, New York, 1917, and 64 Fulton St., New York, 1920-21.

 

RHR combos are fairly scarce, but not rare, and I love 'em. One thing I've never seen, yet, is a Schnell combo in RHR. The company made a red celluloid combo, but may have come to combos a little too late for the RHR era. Either that, or Schnell may have already moved on to celluloid as the material of choice, while some of the smaller companies couldn't afford the celluloid, and stayed with the older materials a little longer than Schnell.

 

George.

 

:ph34r:

[philm]

Great stuff! I love reading and seeing this side of our hobby. I am specifically intrigued by these small pen companies such as George Gaydoul's, and the mystery of Chicago's Nudelman. Thank you for the early morning illumination.

 

Phil