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Definately not a real collectable

OldGriz

By OldGriz
in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop

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OldGriz Donor Pen

OldGriz

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was wondering the aisles of the local indoor flea market (locally known as the junk shop) in town this morning, while SWMBO did some shopping next door.

Figured they might have some fountain pens, and I was right.. they had a glass case full of garbage.. but this little sucker struck my eye when I saw the blind cap.

It is a Stratford Vac filler..... who knows how old... not in the greatest shape. But the vac button was stiff and responsive and I figured if the price was right it would make a good practice pen to restore (If I could find parts that fit)...... A good beater to play with.

Would you believe that the garbage all had price tags over $10.00 and this one was marked $1.50... the owner said it was broken and she could not figure out how to open it and put an ink cartridge in it.... I just kep my mouth shut, paid her and left.

Got home and decided to see if it was workable and to my surprise it had been flushed out at some time... only a little bit of ink came out and the vac mechanism works like a dream and it hold a good bit of ink.... writes pretty nice also... a smooth fine line... I told the woman running the place if she ever gets anymore "broken" pens to let me know because I like to try to fix them. :rolleyes:

http://www.myfavoritepen.com/FPN/StratfordWriting.gif http://www.myfavoritepen.com/FPN/StratfordNib.jpg

http://www.myfavoritepen.com/FPN/Stratford.jpghttp://www.myfavoritepen.com/FPN/StratfordTop.jpg

http://www.myfavoritepen.com/FPN/StratfordClip.jpg

Edited by OldGriz
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Dillo Donor Pen

Dillo

Posted
Posted

Hi,

 

Nice! Someone asked me about cartridges for Jennifer, one of my Esterbrook lever-fillers. :P

 

Dillon

Stolen: Aurora Optima Demonstrator Red ends Medium nib. Serial number 1216 and Aurora 98 Cartridge/Converter Black bark finish (Archivi Storici) with gold cap. Reward if found. Please contact me if you have seen these pens.

Please send vial orders and other messages to fpninkvials funny-round-mark-thing gmail strange-mark-thing com. My shop is open once again if you need help with your pen.

Will someone with the name of "Jay" who emailed me through the email system provide me an email address? There was no email address provided, so I can't write back.

Dillon

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TMann Extremely Rare

TMann

Posted
Posted (edited)

Cool! Nice find! :D

 

It looks like with a little Simichrome and a little plastic polish, that it would look be a really pretty pen. I like the clip design. It has a distinctive, but very classy look.

 

By the way, Griz, despite your efforts to portray yourself as one of those dark, brooding, troubled, artistic pen-turners, I think that your handwriting reveals that you are are probably a pretty neat, orderly, pleasant sort of guy. :D

 

TMann

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Penturner Rare

Penturner

Posted
Posted
By the way, Griz, despite your efforts to portray yourself as one of those dark, brooding, troubled, artistic pen-turners, I think that your handwriting reveals that you are are probably a pretty neat, orderly, pleasant sort of guy. :D

 

TMann

Griz is ALL of the above! :rolleyes:

Larry Korn

Virginia Beach, VA

 

"An armed society is a polite society." -- Robert Heinlein, "The roads Must Roll"

 

Some people are like Slinkies. They have no practical use whatsoever,

but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.

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Johnny Appleseed Antique

Johnny Appleseed

Posted
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Antique/junk store pens are such fun to find, and the owners sometimes are so ignorant of what they have. One antique dealer in Seattle had a row of Parker 51s in varying levels of wear, but all needing resoration. He was asking $35-45 for those - not an unreasonable amount really.

 

Next to them he had a Parker 61 Capillary, in box and in perfect condition, for $20 (which I promptly handed over) - even the ink filler was clean. The antique seller could have sold it for 3 times what he did, at least.

 

Other times you find rediculously jacked up prices - like an unrestored Waterman 52 1/2 V with a cracked cap I know of selling for $65 (because it is a Waterman, you know). On ebay - less than $20.

 

But the real fun is the surprises, like your Stratford. Congrats and enjoy it!

 

John

Edited by Johnny Appleseed

So if you have a lot of ink,

You should get a Yink, I think.

 

- Dr Suess

 

Always looking for pens by Baird-North, Charles Ingersoll, and nibs marked "CHI"

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Betty Vintage

Betty

Posted
Posted

Cool find! But I think I was a bit more intrigued about how pretty your PR DC Supershow ink came out. It shows a really purply tinge, which I love. It might be the scanner, but that is how I wish PC Blue was like.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/606/letterji9.png
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OldGriz Donor Pen

OldGriz

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Having absolutely no life ... :blush: :blush: .. I spent the better part of the afternoon doing an internet search on Stratford Pens...

Found out that they must have spent some sizeable money on advertising in the 40's... here is a list of the famous people they paid to be in their ads in Life Magazine:

Eddie Cantor, Veronica Lake, George Sanders, Alan Ladd, Kate Smith, Gary Cooper, Gene Tierney, Tocanini and the Marx Brothers...

Not a shabby crowd of famous people... of course that does not mean the pens were top grade... only that they paid for advertising...

Could not find any advertising after about 1946...

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aircraft_electrician Rare

aircraft_electrician

Posted
Posted

Griz,

 

That's a very cool old Stratford, not to mention the only one I've seen other than my old Stratford WonderFill, and it's a much better writer than mine. I'm really surprised that you found it for $1.50! Even if it's not a sought after brand, that certainly qualifies it as a Sumgai purchase, at least in my eyes!

 

Being a Stratford owner, I'm intrigued by the old ads you found on the 'net. Can you tell me where you found them?

 

Congrats on your purchase!

Tom

A pen is a good deal like a rifle; much depends on the man behind it. Paraphrased from John Philip Souza

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OldGriz Donor Pen

OldGriz

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Griz,

 

That's a very cool old Stratford, not to mention the only one I've seen other than my old Stratford WonderFill, and it's a much better writer than mine. I'm really surprised that you found it for $1.50! Even if it's not a sought after brand, that certainly qualifies it as a Sumgai purchase, at least in my eyes!

 

Being a Stratford owner, I'm intrigued by the old ads you found on the 'net. Can you tell me where you found them?

 

Congrats on your purchase!

Tom

I did a a google search on "Stratford pens" and all kinds of info came up... make sure you use the " " marks

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