Blackbird Bb 2/46 Blue And Bronze Plastic On A No Name/low Name Pen

[Greenie]

Here is the listing. To my eyes this is the exact same plastic as the BB 2/46.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/111656983504?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

 

 

 

 

And the BB 2/46

 

 

[Cob]

Certainly Mabie Todd colour 46 is listed as blue/bronze marble, but your Frank pen looks a little darker in the picture. Lovely material though!

 

How's the 64 getting on?

 

Rgds

 

Cob

[Greenie]

And here we find the beautiful Blackbird Bronze and Blue (like the BB 2/46) plastic on a Burnham

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MARBLED-BURNHAM-106-FOUNTAIN-PEN-/311444416730?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276

 

[Cob]

I recently repaired a lovely Wyvern 5TN in the same material:

 

 

Cob

[peterg]

You will also find it on Lang's Summit and Platignum/ Mentmore pens, especially the bulb fillers

[mallymal1]

I recently repaired a lovely Wyvern 5TN in the same material:

 

 

Cob

 

That's a beauty.

[mallymal1]

Here are a couple more...

 

 

Top...a Conway Stewart 336 Scribe.

Bottom...'The Rex'.

[sidthecat]

I have a no-name in that material...I'll take a picture.

It's got a Warranted nib - a nice one, but the only identification on the body is an "M" on the lever. Morrison?

Edited October 2, 2015 by sidthecat

[northlodge]

Here are a couple more...

 

 

Top...a Conway Stewart 336 Scribe.

Bottom...'The Rex'.

 

I think these (and probably the later post from Sid) are moving away from the material shown in the original post. The ones above, and particularly the CS336, look to be made of casein - the tram line is quite clearly visible. No less attractive, but if you were holding the two different types of material in your hand you would see a clear difference.

 

Returning to the Frank pen shown by the OP, I suspect this might have been a Lang product, based upon one of the larger of the Joy models. (I base this on general style, clip, and lever, rather than the colour)

[sidthecat]

Did Lang produce blanks for multiple companies?

I'd swear Cob's Wyvern is made of the same plastic as my no-name ringtop.

[northlodge]

Did Lang produce blanks for multiple companies?

I'd swear Cob's Wyvern is made of the same plastic as my no-name ringtop.

The raw material would probably have been accessible to most of the main manufacturers. Lang was the sister company of Curzon / Summit, specialising in producing for third parties. So Stephens, National Security, New Bond Easi Flow, Rufford, etc were often made by Lang. (Mentmore and Valentine were other major players in this particular market)

 

Your ring top looks black & bronze on my screen, hence my uncertainty

Edited October 3, 2015 by northlodge

[Greenie]

The ring top looks black and bronze, like this National Security (with Swan 3 nib). So fits right in with the post about who used materials made by whom. Off topic from Blue and Bronze.... But on topic for where the thread has gone....

 

[sidthecat]

It is black and bronze, and the bronze gets very bright when the light hits it right. The cap is a good indicator. It looks very much like the aforementioned Wyvern, but since it has no identification except for the tantalizing "M" on the lever we will probably never know.

 

The National Security plastic is very similar. This pattern got around.

Edited October 3, 2015 by sidthecat

[MarcShiman]

It would be my guess that the companies that cured celluloid were very different from the ones that turned barrels and parts. I think its a completely different set of competencies in the two disciplines. I've got a book at home (arrgh!) on the plastics manufacturers of the 1930's, and when I get home in December, I might actually read it.

 

Its my guess that all of these companies that made pens bought celluloid from the same sources.

[Greenie]

It would be my guess that the companies that cured celluloid were very different from the ones that turned barrels and parts. I think its a completely different set of competencies in the two disciplines. I've got a book at home (arrgh!) on the plastics manufacturers of the 1930's, and when I get home in December, I might actually read it.

 

Its my guess that all of these companies that made pens bought celluloid from the same sources.

 

My first thought about that book was "how cool".

Then I thought about it and wondered....

1. Who would write this book?

2. Where would you see this book for sale?

3. Who would actually buy this book?

4. I think I am nuts for still thinking that it would be a cool book.

 

Well, add it to the long list of pen stuff to do/look up/report on when you return from Nigeria.

[MarcShiman]

 

My first thought about that book was "how cool".

Then I thought about it and wondered....

1. Who would write this book?

2. Where would you see this book for sale?

3. Who would actually buy this book?

4. I think I am nuts for still thinking that it would be a cool book.

 

Well, add it to the long list of pen stuff to do/look up/report on when you return from Nigeria.

 

From what it looked like in the advertisement, it was either an industry study or a textbook written in the 1930's. "Interesting" is probably not the first word I would have thought of back then... but today, I think (hope) it will be interesting.

 

I found another book from the 30's on the fountain pen industry, but it was sadly lacking in the then contemporary pens - mostly a history from the 1860's forward.

 

The one interesting thing I learned is that the brand Swan was so ubiquitous when it came to fountain pens, that a fountain pen was called a "Swan" regardless of whether it was made by Mabie Todd or Parker or whoever. Sort of like Xerox was for photocopies. I think that can be partially due to the fact that swan feathers were used as quills before the hard rubber pen.

 

My feeling in buying these books on spec is that there's got to be more knowledge out there than what everyone is looking at.