Mabie In Varanasi

[roycalligraphy]

It was my father who planned the Varanasi outing last December , I was initially not much excited for the trip but as the trip progressed I quite liked the idea. Nevertheless Varanasi is around 250-300 Kms from Lucknow and a Night train world always work as long as you are in the AC compartment . So apparently we booked a rather decent hotel which we found out not to be so nice as on the left of the hotel just below two floors from our window was a milk delivery factory from where the Milk Delivery Guys refilled their cans and this went on 24X7 so there was a lot of noise even at 2 am . Well the next day when we started walking towards the Dasashwamedh Ghat from the Hotel which is very nearby . We went through a market called "Dashashwamedha Market" . 'Voila ' on the left side of the street I found a pen-shop which was its literal shop name as well . So I went there alone leaving my parents to venture into other shops .

The shop owner as I expected wasn't an elderly gentleman but a rather awkward looking teenager . But apart from his looks he had quite a collection of vintage pens which he straightaway told me were not for sale . But he pulled out a pen from the same tray , which was this beautiful maroon swan pen and a Sheaffer which looked brand new. I was unfortunately low on cash so I bought the Swan for real bargain at Rs 250 which is around $ 3.4 . He was asking Sheaffer Rs500 for the Sheaffer approx $6-7 but I thought I can always buy a Sheaffer in Lucknow but a Swan is a real treat . I think I should have bought both . As I saw the "Made In India " etched in the barrel I did suspect whether it is a real deal or not. But I think I read somewhere that Mabie Todd made pens in India as well.

Sorry for the phone camera as it is not taking good pictures now so I could not get the whole picture of the etching . But it says (Swan Senior Mabie Todd & Co Made In India. I guess the pen was made somewhere during the 1950's but it can be as old as from early 1940's .

[Lelouch]

I've seen (not in person) a few swans from India as well. Though none with a beautiful guilloche on the cap as that

The nib stamp I can't really make out from these pictures, and I haven't seen a ladder feed of that sort which has had swan stamped on it.

Certainly a delightful find

 

I'm curious as to what sort of filling system it has?

And what does it say on the lip of the cap?

[roycalligraphy]

Well it was an Aerometric Filling System before but the shop -owner said that the rubber sac is corroded so he cut the portion and now it is an ED. On the lip of the cap it says "SWAN" . The gold plating is in bad shape overall but as I am very well acquainted with electroplating I might solve that. I found a similar model on FPR http://fountainpenrevolution.com/historical_sales.html but this one is a Swan Junior while mine is a Senior . Overall the body and the colour is similar .

[Lelouch]

Well it was an Aerometric Filling System before but the shop -owner said that the rubber sac is corroded so he cut the portion and now it is an ED. On the lip of the cap it says "SWAN" . The gold plating is in bad shape overall but as I am very well acquainted with electroplating I might solve that. I found a similar model on FPR http://fountainpenrevolution.com/historical_sales.html but this one is a Swan Junior while mine is a Senior . Overall the body and the colour is similar .

Wow, $50 for a swan set is a pretty good price

 

Ah, that's unfortunate, hopefully you won't have any problems with the seal when using it as an eyedropper. Though I can understand his doing so, I have a Parker 17 that I really want to clean but can't take apart for the life of me. As such, since there was a bluish ink in it as some point (still residue inside the pen somewhere) it's been dedicated to blue ink only.

[roycalligraphy]

Who said I bought for $50 ? I did it in $3 . Being from a family of pawnbrokers I think I could have got that in $2 ,but I had to catch a train 2 hours later.

[Lelouch]

Who said I bought for $50 ? I did it in $3 . Being from a family of pawnbrokers I think I could have got that in $2 ,but I had to catch a train 2 hours later.

Amusing!

 

I was referring to the set of Indian swans you posted a link to.

[Lelouch]

Is the section black or maroon? And is it an ebonite section? (If black)

[roycalligraphy]

The section is black and it is an ebonite .

[abdcolvinian]

It is rare to see a Mabie with a steel nib ..