For Those Of You Who Are Interested In Early

March 1, 2017

The following story appeared in a number of newspapers on August 6, 1910. I guess it went out on whatever was the equivalent of the AP wire at that time.

Coffeyville Daily Journal

The same story appeared in a slightly different form in American Stationer. It’s important to read both versions, because there are details in each version that are not included in the other.

American Stationer

The article is a bit salacious, and the claims are kind of wild, but a little closer inspection is in order.

Here are the facts as I’ve uncovered them so far.

1) The “John S. Purdie” of the article is actually John S. Purdy.

2) John S. Purdy had a daughter named Emily, who was 23 in 1910.

3) The first advertisement I’ve found that mentions John S. Purdy appears in October of 1864, and the office address shown in the ad is 335 Broadway. 335 Broadway happens to be at the corner of Broadway and Worth.

4) Beginning in 1864 and continuing until 1882, John S. Purdy was the sole manufacturer of Prince’s Improved Protean pen, the patent for which was granted in 1855.

5) Beginning no later than January of 1882, Purdy began selling the “Ever Ready” fountain pen, which was of his own design. He was granted patents in 1880, 1881, and 1883.

6) In January of 1882, Purdy’s address was 165 Fulton St. which is approximately 100 feet away on the same street from Lewis Waterman’s first business address.

7) In the years immediately prior to 1882, Purdy’s address was 212 Broadway, which is essentially the same location as 165 Fulton, but which faces on Broadway rather than Fulton.

While this is far from conclusive, I find the comments about Waterman to be quite intriguing. Waterman was working as Corresponding Editor for the Nation Car Builder publication in January of 1881, and prior to that he had worked for another railway publication. But did that preclude him from having had some sort of a business relationship with Purdy? I don’t know, but it’s clear that every claim Purdy made in this article can be shown to have at least a kernel of truth – except for the claim about Waterman.

My research resources are very limited to whatever I can find on the internet, so I would welcome the help of anyone who wants to take any of this a step further.