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Esterbrook Nurse Pens Restoration


RedRinger

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My job here is done....

 

This one is the prototype I got at the Ohio Pen Show this past year. The trim is sterling, and even the nib has no stamp on it.

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Thank you for making my point. :wacko:

 

What IS that clip? That material? That incising on the band????? And what's with a blank nib??!!??

 

Evil, I tell you, evil!!

 

(of course, I have a 447 dipless set coming that I've never seen before either, so I'll be sure and contribute to the evil once it's here)

 

 

My job here is done....

 

This one is the prototype I got at the Ohio Pen Show this past year. The trim is sterling, and even the nib has no stamp on it.

 

 

Evil evil evil!

 

I'm on my way to the Philly show and I'm not buying ANYTHING. Seriously.

 

*hmph* *crosses arms*

 

 

yeah right...

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...

 

I'm on my way to the Philly show and I'm not buying ANYTHING. Seriously.

 

...

...

Yeah that "historian" gene is hardwired. Requires pulling the engine block & specialist tools ;-)

 

Be sure to show Us your treasures!

 

Actually I only bought a bottle of royal blue Quink to match the red bottle I used for my 10,000 word project (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/342182-can-the-10000-word-pen-really-write-that-much-merry-christmas/)

 

It was cheap at 15 bucks for a FULL bottle of ink that is probably 60-70 years old and still beautiful.

 

I saw a stunning bottle of brown Sheaffer's Skrip that stated on the cap "The Successor to Ink" and it was only 10 bucks with some ink still in the bottle...and I circled around, and would you guess what....

 

Sumgai bought it. Foiled again! Every show he gets me....

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  • 4 months later...

Thanks for your story and photos

 

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to gather a few please see photos

 

The pens shown in the binder are actually displayed in a Vintage Parker Salesman Sampler folio

 

The Dollar Dr set actually is fitted with a frosted nib

 

Hope you like 'em

TJ

 

post-31540-0-05807200-1559244266.jpg

post-31540-0-90290800-1559244282.jpg

post-31540-0-61952700-1559244299.jpg

post-31540-0-35439400-1559244317.jpg

penfancier1915@hotmail.com

 

Tom Heath

 

Peace be with you . Hug your loved ones today

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Thanks for your story and photos

 

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to gather a few please see photos

 

The pens shown in the binder are actually displayed in a Vintage Parker Salesman Sampler folio

 

The Dollar Dr set actually is fitted with a frosted nib

 

Hope you like 'em

TJ

 

 

Wow TJ, thats a great collection! The Dr set is truly awesome.

 

Matt

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another example of a Dollar Demi black jewel set.

 

fpn_1334782799__nurseset_1.jpg

 

And a Waterman set with thermometer case. The wear on the case and what looks like a replacement clip on the pen suggests that this was not a gift left in the back of a drawer.

 

fpn_1560717968__wtrmn_drs_set_-_12.jpg

fpn_1560717989__wtrmn_md_set_-_4.jpg

 

Fun thread. Great story. Thanks. Been chasing an Este green jewel for years.

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  • 6 months later...

Hi Estycollector-

 

Thanks for bumping up this interesting topic, which I had not seen before. I loved reading the OP’s history of the nurses’ pens. How cool and functional that the color of the jewel indicated the color of the ink, as was required for the medical record keeping of the day.

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Amazing collections and thank you for posting. :)

 

 

Hi Estycollector-

 

Thanks for bumping up this interesting topic, which I had not seen before. I loved reading the OP’s history of the nurses’ pens. How cool and functional that the color of the jewel indicated the color of the ink, as was required for the medical record keeping of the day.

 

 

Hey! OP here...thanks for the continued interest : )

 

As a medical professional who's been taught throughout my training by many an older nurse, I experienced lovely opportunities while learning about these pens to discover some nursing history that simply isn't as well-documented or written about as other kinds of history. I've gone back to talk to some of the nurses I'm still in touch with, and they were delighted to see someone fascinated with a part of their profession that has gone by the wayside with modern tech.

 

I'll bashfully admit that last night I put the finishing touches on a second full set of these pens, even including a white purse pen with white jewels (because why the heck not) to take with me to the Philly pen show, to show anyone who will listen : ) I'll post pictures soon. The challenge with these pens is that because they're white, their color variations and time-wear seem more obvious than for other colors. Getting a set that looks like it belongs together, or sometimes even a pen that matches its cap, can be tough!!

 

Matt

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Hey! OP here...thanks for the continued interest : )

 

As a medical professional who's been taught throughout my training by many an older nurse, I experienced lovely opportunities while learning about these pens to discover some nursing history that simply isn't as well-documented or written about as other kinds of history. I've gone back to talk to some of the nurses I'm still in touch with, and they were delighted to see someone fascinated with a part of their profession that has gone by the wayside with modern tech.

 

I'll bashfully admit that last night I put the finishing touches on a second full set of these pens, even including a white purse pen with white jewels (because why the heck not) to take with me to the Philly pen show, to show anyone who will listen : ) I'll post pictures soon. The challenge with these pens is that because they're white, their color variations and time-wear seem more obvious than for other colors. Getting a set that looks like it belongs together, or sometimes even a pen that matches its cap, can be tough!!

 

Matt

 

Thank you, Matt. I am sure we all look forward to your photos.

"Respect science, respect nature, respect all people (s),"

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  • 2 weeks later...

So nice and uplifting to check in here on a semi regular basis

 

: )

 

So happy to make you happy!

 

As promised, here are the Ladies... with a white-jeweled purse pen thrown in for good measure (because why wouldn't a nurse...carry one in her purse?)

There is a white dented-jewel pencil I coulda had in an auction a while back... woulda made a nice even six. *Sigh*

But I love them, and use them, as they are.

 

Cheers,

Matt

 

fpn_1580265705__img_5685_copy.jpg

 

fpn_1580265719__img_5690_copy.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

I'm bringing back this thread  (zombie alert!) to simply say I am smitten by nurse's pens and just purchased my first. My mother passed recently and was an RN, wrote with a fountain pen, and to honor her memory I'm going to be on the hunt for these.

 

Thank you so much for this great information!

 

Here's mom in 47, graduating from nursing school-- when every nurse would probably write charts with fountain pen ink!

doris.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Super cool topic. Being an RN for 24 years, I would love to own this piece of history. Will have my eye out for one. 

Current lineup:

Pilot Custom 743

Montblanc 146 LeGrande

Lamy 2000

Platinum 3776 Jade

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4 minutes ago, TgeekB said:

Super cool topic. Being an RN for 24 years, I would love to own this piece of history. Will have my eye out for one. 

 

I was in for a routine surgery center screening procedure this morning, and the RN was hand charting, with a black ball point! I had the pleasure of boring her with the details. (Actually, she was interested too!) 

 

I have a website where I am writing about my collection as it grows and everything I can learn about these pens. Matt (see above) has been so helpful and given me permission to post his pictures. I'm always looking for new information and to learn about your collections and to have any info I post corrected.

 

If you are interested in reading about what I've put together--(and learn about what it was like to be a nurse in training in the postwar 40s based on my mom's letters dated 1947), visit https://www.nursespens.com

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5 minutes ago, pdxpen said:

 

I was in for a routine surgery center screening procedure this morning, and the RN was hand charting, with a black ball point! I had the pleasure of boring her with the details. (Actually, she was interested too!) 

 

I have a website where I am writing about my collection as it grows and everything I can learn about these pens. Matt (see above) has been so helpful and given me permission to post his pictures. I'm always looking for new information and to learn about your collections and to have any info I post corrected.

 

If you are interested in reading about what I've put together--(and learn about what it was like to be a nurse in training in the postwar 40s based on my mom's letters dated 1947), visit https://www.nursespens.com


Thanks for the link, I will definitely check it out!

I love the pic of your mom, she was beautiful. I’m male but remember some of the older female nurses still wearing white and some their caps when I started. They looked so professional. Now everyone in the hospital wears scrubs so it’s hard to tell the difference between the nurses and everyone else. We wrote using blue/black, green and red depending on shift but at that point it was the Bic tricolor ballpoint. 
I do have a 1961 (my birth year) Bulova military nurses watch so I’d love to add a nurses pen to it. 

Current lineup:

Pilot Custom 743

Montblanc 146 LeGrande

Lamy 2000

Platinum 3776 Jade

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16 hours ago, TgeekB said:


Thanks for the link, I will definitely check it out!

I love the pic of your mom, she was beautiful. I’m male but remember some of the older female nurses still wearing white and some their caps when I started. They looked so professional. Now everyone in the hospital wears scrubs so it’s hard to tell the difference between the nurses and everyone else. We wrote using blue/black, green and red depending on shift but at that point it was the Bic tricolor ballpoint. 
I do have a 1961 (my birth year) Bulova military nurses watch so I’d love to add a nurses pen to it. 

 

You will be amused to read what a female nurse trainee had to say about the "new" male nurse trainees in 1947. The "girls" were shocked at the sight of a male nurse. Most of them were ex servicemen and had probably been medics in the war, but you can imagine what a buzz they caused in the very sex divided class system of nurses=women doctors=men. The quotes from her letters about this open a window into a world that was changing. 

 

I have a friend who was an RN (retired now) but she also charted during your years and used a BIC style ballpoint.

 

Thanks for your service to society. God bless the nurses!

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