The De La Rue Pen

[PaulS]

both pens carry the barrel imprint of 'The De La Rue Pen' - 'Made in Britain', and both have TDLR nibs - one of which is a No. 22 and the other No.33, though no idea what such Nos. mean - an unexciting model and probably a fairly common pen. Whether the fact that one is clipless separates them in time, I've no idea - some carry the sunburst emblem on the clip, others the letters TDR in a sort of monogram.

What would be interesting to know is an explanation of the coding at the terminal end of the barrel - one shows 1332 plus the No.75 ........ and the other shows 1332 together with 74 - there is a suggestion, elsewhere, that 1332 indicates the mid to late 1930s

 

Hope someone has an idea as to meaning for these Nos.

 

 

[praxim]

Firstly, congratulations on the pens. I know they look plain but I find the No 22 nib in my 1332 (a green hatched translucent) to write well, and lever filling are is uncomplicated. Yes, they date in the 1930s. From Steve Hull's Onoto book I have estimated mine to be about 1936, could be earlier.

 

To your question: have you ever watched Stephen Fry's QI, the episodes where the correct answer is to raise a query mark card, meaning "Nobody knows"? Well.....

 

There are suggestions it might be a batch number. FWIW mine is C3.

[peterg]

Is one of the pens celluloid and the other hard rubber?

[PaulS]

- I'm a great fan of Mr. Fry too - remember queueing up for several hours in the South Bank area of London few years back for ticket to studio audience - failed by a few yards only, and had to make second trip to be successful, although I have an idea that his "Nobody knows" answer is of more recent vintage. Re these barrel numbers - suppose such enigmas make our pen world the more intriguing - will go with the suggestion of 'batch No.' for the time being - thanks.

Yesterday's No. 33 is very scratchy - albeit with a fair amount of flex - but since I hardly every write, it will remain in the collection as 'an example' only - but agree these 1930s nibs can be wonderful, and so often have great flex. The No. 22 nib is far better and could actually be used for writing, and again with some flex. Both pens were quite inexpensive and from the wild, so no complaints about value for money.

 

Peter - yes, you are correct - I suspect the pix give he game away to a large extend - the clipless and brighter black pen reeks of celluloid when rubbed - I've been in the shed again rubbing and sniffing frantically ................ the pen with clip is BHR, and the brown oxidation comes off on the rag very noticeably. The oxidation isn't excessive, so I'll probably clean this one on a wet Sunday afternoon and return it to black.

Is your opinion that this difference of materials might indicate a noticeable time gap in production??