Geha Pens

[jonro]

I just picked up a Geha fountain pen on a whim on eBay and would like to know more about them. This particular one is supposed to be a piston filler with a 14K nib. From what I've read, Geha was purchased by Pelikan, but used to make fountain pens, and were particularly well-known for their school pens. Can anyone tell me a little more about them?

[shiroboshi]

Ah... Memories.

 

Unfortunately I can not tell you much about their piston fillers, but they were big in the german school pens market. At some time I'd say they were as big as Pelikan. Their biggest coup was the pen with the "backup ink reservoir". The pens had a little orange button under the feed. If you ran out of ink during a test you could push the button with the cap and had enough ink to write quite a bit more. In the 70s in Germany they were considered seriously cool because of that.

 

I think their fortunes started to change when Pelikan started to do TV advertising (I can still remember that embarrassing jingle...). Geha never really followed suit and relied on advertising in dealers and stationers shops, but kids started asking for Pelikano pens more and more. I know, 'cause I was one of them :embarrassed_smile:

 

They also were the first to introduce "inkpens" called "Inky". They were single use pens completely filled with standard ink and wrote really nicely. I think they were similar to the modern rollerballs. Again those became quite popular in schools.

 

I think they got swallowed some time in the late 80s or so. The brand still exists and fabricates office supplies and projectors. You can find them at www.geha.de

There is also a company history on there, which you may find interesting.

 

Marc

[trent]

I never tried the piston fillers, but the cartridge school pens are fantastic. They used unique cartridges, alas, which are no longer made, but a reversed Lamy will work, only without the emergency ink reservoir. I use one with a Lamy cart all the time. It is a smooth fine point, utterly dependable. These are some of the best pens ever made. I understand that in Germany in the 70's you were either a "Pelikan kid" or a "Geha kid." I guess that Lamy has taken Geha's role.

Edited March 6, 2010 by trent

[Marko Kloos]

Yeah, I was a Geha kid. We also bought a Betamax VCR back then. I have a history on betting on the wrong horse, it seems.

[saintsimon]

.... I understand that in Germany in the 70's you were either a "Pelikan kid" or a "Geha kid." I guess that Lamy has taken Geha's role.

Exactly. I was a Pelikano kid. These distinctions did matter, because whenever you'd run out of cartridges at school, you had to know the classmate who could lend you one of the same cartridge system as yours. Pelikan (the future "international cart") and GeHa cartridges were incompatible.

 

But I never really liked my Pelikano.

Edited March 6, 2010 by saintsimon

[richardandtracy]

I did a review of my replacement Geha school pen here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=52501 . Unfortunately I never really liked it due to the fine nib.

 

Apart from knowing it was bought out by Pelikan, I know nothing of Geha.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.