Who Invented The Cartridge Converter?

[ParkerDuofold]

Just to follow-up...

 

Some of the last Mk. III/IV P51's were c/c pens and are quite sought after today.

 

Just two more cents tossed into the kitty.

 

 

- A.C.

[Mech-for-i]

well I suppose we need to separate the two cartridge and converter are 2 different mean but ultimately they were all invented pre-war. There were some unique design in those days that do qualify as cartridge / converter and might be even both. One including a refillable glass tube that screw into the section ( sort of like a lab test tube with screw lip ) and its possible to pre fill this tube with ink and had it capped with a screw in cap and when needed, just unscrew the cap, screw it into the section and put back the barrel .. viola .. and there are others ; I do know converter , the type that we normally associate with, which you can take off the pen but fill by having the converter on the pen and using the nib end in ink bottle to draw ink into the reservoir appear some time during the mid to late 40's .. there were some , though that work similar principle introduced way back in the 20's but generally they were not very successful likely due to limitation of material, and other concerns. One of the earliest type is syringe style push / pull piston that again screw into the section but use cork and a bakelite construction.

 

Both Waterman and Platinum introduce single use cartridge around late 50's ; its more a matter of technology, material, and manufacturing mean had come to a point to be able to offer something like that , coincidental invention in engineering history is not uncommon and this is very much a case here. And both basic mechanism are still utilized in todays various different cartridge models.

[ParkerDuofold]

...Both Waterman and Platinum introduce single use cartridge around late 50's...

Please don't forget Aurora's Duo-Cart from the middle '50s.

 

 

- Anthony

[Mech-for-i]

Please don't forget Aurora's Duo-Cart from the middle '50s.

 

 

- Anthony

 

Oh yeah right actually I do had one of these original Duo-Cart ; got to take it out for a spin sometime

[Honeybadgers]

Just to follow-up...

 

I'm curious to read what others have to say because I'm hardly an expert on the subject.

 

But I think the Parker model took off because the time was right... after WWII, we had become a more disposable culture that favored convenience over practically... and pre-filled, no mess, disposable ink cartridges were perfect for the era.

 

- A.C.

 

Don't forget we had holes cut into the backs of our medicine cabinets that were "razor blade disposals" that literally just filled up your wall with razor blades.

 

To the absolute joy of anyone who's had the displeasure of renovating a 1950's american bathroom turns out it's a pretty clever disposal method, the wall can hold tens of thousands of those suckers. You just have to hope the bathroom never ever needs remodeling.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Bo Bo Olson]

Gillette Blue Blades were the worlds most perfect sales item, use once and done. When the first chrome blades came in....could have been Wilkerson Sword Blades, it was a revelation....one could suddenly get 3-5-7 uses out of a single blade, instead of once or twice if one had a light beard.

(With the cost of the new 4-5 blade razors so high, I looked seriously at putting out E500 for a straight razor set up.....before cheaping out and growing a beard. If one is going first class on it....had I ran into a horsehide strop, I might have gone for it, but all I could find was third tier cowhide strops, not even any second tier seal hide ones.....I'd not been able to afford the absolute first class French singing razors....could have but not a fancy one. The MB under straight razors.)

 

I don't think we were in such modern up to date, razor blade disposal bathrooms....though it rings a chord of faint memory.

[ParkerDuofold]

...Don't forget we had holes cut into the backs of our medicine cabinets that were "razor blade disposals" that literally just filled up your wall with razor blades.

 

To the absolute joy of anyone who's had the displeasure of renovating a 1950's american bathroom turns out it's a pretty clever disposal method, the wall can hold tens of thousands of those suckers. You just have to hope the bathroom never ever needs remodeling.

OUCH!

 

That could be a nasty find, HB. Pity,... some people find $500,000 worth of silver certificates stuffed between the studs and rafters... you find 5 lbs of rusty razor blades.

 

This story does remind me of some of the neat features homes used to have that you really don't see anymore... built-in bookshelves in the living room and china closets in the dining room, laundry chutes, etc.

 

Some houses even had a milk box in the kitchen... an insulated metal box built into an outside wall, with a door on the outside and an opposing door on the kitchen wall... the milkman would put your dairy order in there each morning... the built-in milk box afforded you the luxury of not having to open the back door, bend down and gather all the stuff off the back porch floor.

 

Of course, those have been long obsolete... but they did give you a great place to stash your mittens and scarf when you wanted to look cool in front of your friends.

 

 

- Anthony

[Bo Bo Olson]

Diaper service is to make a comeback, with the anti-plastic crusade.

Milk does taste better in glass bottles. Missed the milk box..never saw one....when we did have deliver, it was at the front door...............I did live out in the sticks a lot, so missed civilization.

 

There is still one or two companies in Germany that still have glass bottles.

Plastic is deadly, not only for us, but for the world. Soon, glass bottles of Coke will help folks be fit.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[inkstainedruth]

OUCH!

 

That could be a nasty find, HB. Pity,... some people find $500,000 worth of silver certificates stuffed between the studs and rafters... you find 5 lbs of rusty razor blades.

 

This story does remind me of some of the neat features homes used to have that you really don't see anymore... built-in bookshelves in the living room and china closets in the dining room, laundry chutes, etc.

And to think that when we bought our current house, and had to rip out all the lath and plaster in the attic to find the leaks the former owners just plastered over, all we were worried about was whether the friends that came to help us were up on their tetanus shots.... (Tetanus can be viable up to 75 years in horsehair plaster), and our first house DID have horsehair plaster .

The house my husband and I lived in when we first got married had a laundry chute. I loved it. Our current house USED to have one. The previous owners blocked it off when they put a half-bath on the first floor, at the end of the hallway (but given all the other stupid things they did, not having a working laundry chute is a relatively minor annoyance by comparison...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[kestrel]

Gillette Blue Blades were the worlds most perfect sales item, use once and done. When the first chrome blades came in....could have been Wilkerson Sword Blades, it was a revelation....one could suddenly get 3-5-7 uses out of a single blade, instead of once or twice if one had a light beard.

(With the cost of the new 4-5 blade razors so high, I looked seriously at putting out E500 for a straight razor set up.....before cheaping out and growing a beard. If one is going first class on it....had I ran into a horsehide strop, I might have gone for it, but all I could find was third tier cowhide strops, not even any second tier seal hide ones.....I'd not been able to afford the absolute first class French singing razors....could have but not a fancy one. The MB under straight razors.)

 

I don't think we were in such modern up to date, razor blade disposal bathrooms....though it rings a chord of faint memory.

Double edge safety razors, both new production and vintage, are available and inexpensive. I paid $8.00 US for a 1930s Gillette open comb in nice condition and blades are cheap. Razor and a year's worth of blades cost less than one pack of 5 blade cartridges.

 

On topic, I still think the first cartridge filler was made by Eagle in the late 19th century. They pop up on auction sites fairly often, usually without the very fragile glass cartridge. They used a soft rubber connector to hold the cartridge to the section that has usually rotted into oblivion and will need to be replaced as well.

[vicpen123]

Is this thread about pens or razor blades.

 

If pens, good. If about razor blades, in the wrong universe.

[ParkerDuofold]

Is this thread about pens or razor blades.

 

If pens, good. If about razor blades, in the wrong universe.

Hi Vic,

 

It's not about pens or razor blades... it's really about laundry chutes... we always start out threads talking about innocuous, benign things like fountain pens,... but inevitably, the threads lead to our true love... laundry chutes.

 

Be well... and if you can't be well... be like us.

 

 

- Anthony

[ParkerDuofold]

Diaper service is to make a comeback, with the anti-plastic crusade.

Milk does taste better in glass bottles. Missed the milk box..never saw one....when we did have deliver, it was at the front door...............I did live out in the sticks a lot, so missed civilization.

 

There is still one or two companies in Germany that still have glass bottles.

Plastic is deadly, not only for us, but for the world. Soon, glass bottles of Coke will help folks be fit.

Hi BoBo,

 

I don't know if you'll be able to get modern American mothers to switch back to cloth diapers... that said, according to my mom,... I used them because Pampers gave me a rash.

 

I've never had the pleasure of drinking milk from a glass bottle... or tasting real cream...

 

Don't feel out of step about the milkboxes... they weren't as common as the laundry chutes and the razor blade "disposals," etc.

 

 

And to think that when we bought our current house, and had to rip out all the lath and plaster in the attic to find the leaks the former owners just plastered over, all we were worried about was whether the friends that came to help us were up on their tetanus shots.... (Tetanus can be viable up to 75 years in horsehair plaster), and our first house DID have horsehair plaster .

The house my husband and I lived in when we first got married had a laundry chute. I loved it. Our current house USED to have one. The previous owners blocked it off when they put a half-bath on the first floor, at the end of the hallway (but given all the other stupid things they did, not having a working laundry chute is a relatively minor annoyance by comparison...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Hi Ruth,

 

Yeah, I hate it when people try to fix things, half-assed.

 

Didn't know about the tetanus in horsehair plaster,... ...but count your blessings it wasn't asbestos fiber reinforced plaster... we never had to deal with it,... but you can imagine the horror stories.

 

 

- Anthony

 

 

EDITED to add second quote.

Edited December 5, 2018 by ParkerDuofold

[ParkerDuofold]

And just to stay on track...

 

Who invented the cartridge-converter?

 

 

- A.C.

[inkstainedruth]

Didn't know about the tetanus in horsehair plaster,... ...but count your blessings it wasn't asbestos fiber reinforced plaster... we never had to deal with it,... but you can imagine the horror stories.

 

We got warned about it in our first house, when an out-of work friend was doing carpentry work till he got a real job (he had a Masters degree in Civil Engineering, used to build post and beam houses in New England to pay for grad school, and was in the process of rehabbing the house he and his wife bought through the Pittsburgh City Housing Auction because that's all they could afford at the time). He'd get business cards from contractors driving by all the time, and he said he'd tell them "If I could afford to have you fix my roof, do you think I'D be up on my roof?"

As for the asbestos? The furnace in our first house was inside this sort of igloo of asbestos mud as insulation. We really needed to replace it, but the cost of the asbestos abatement made that WAY too expensive -- dunno what the people who bought that house from us ever did about it (if anything).

Back on topic. Are we talking about cartridges? Or are we talking about converters?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

Vicpen.....we wander off the beaten path....read things others don't.........back ground to a time you have no interest in............Blue Blades, Wearever, ....paper back in the Golden Age of Paper.....B&W TV, in some places with 3 Channels .I can remember Miami with just two....At four I knew better than to play with Mom's fountain pen....like in cartoons.

From Miami, we went to a place with only one TV channel......if one had a 25 foot tall TV antenna....so I lived through the Last Days of Radio. I'm sure around Christmas there was radio ads to buy a Sheaffer or Parker....but I was too young to worry about fountain pens....pencils was where it was AT.

 

I do remember the summer day ....when Pa took the black skill craft ball point pen to work, instead of the too valuable Snorkel. Government did it's best to kill off fountain pens, by giving free skill craft ball points to government workers. I do remember that day very clearly....in even in 1'st had to be the summer before I became a second grader. I knew the King of Pens was the Snorkel.

Ball points wrote better on greasy huge engine maintenance tags....so the expensive Snorkel ended up in the Dark of the Drawer.

That was back in the time when the Japanese shirt pocket radio just came in.

 

Now you have an idea what the world was like, back before cartridges became common.

One can always go to wiki......but they don't have....this is a bush...........we will now beat it to flinders.

 

Dam, anyone know what kind of bush that was before we recycled it?

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi BoBo,

 

Mulberry.

 

 

- Anthony

[surprise123]

"Then in 1960, Parker released the 45... which was named 45 after the Colt pistol's cartridge ammunition. These used disposable plastic cartridges and became a big hit with the public."

 

 

Wow. Did not know that. The Parker 45 was named after the Colt .45 for its ability to use a cartridge/converter?

[surprise123]

 

Don't forget we had holes cut into the backs of our medicine cabinets that were "razor blade disposals" that literally just filled up your wall with razor blades.

 

To the absolute joy of anyone who's had the displeasure of renovating a 1950's american bathroom turns out it's a pretty clever disposal method, the wall can hold tens of thousands of those suckers. You just have to hope the bathroom never ever needs remodeling.

 

Wha... what? That's interesting. That's not good. More people need to know that freaking RAZORS are the main source of insulation for bathroom walls. But sounds like a ton of good metal scrap wasted...

[ParkerDuofold]

 

Wow. Did not know that. The Parker 45 was named after the Colt .45 for its ability to use a cartridge/converter?

Hi Surprise,

 

Yup... it's true.

 

In fact, some of the early advertisements for the pen played up that angle in a cartoon format... complete with the depiction of cowboy hats and hip holsters.

 

 

- Anthony