John Bull / Parker Duofold Date?

[GeoffMartin]

Hi,

 

 

I have just finished cleaning up this John Bull pen with a Parker Duofold nib. According to this site, John Bull was a sub-brand of Penol, which also made the Danish Parker's.

 

I'm wondering if anyone might know an approximate date for this pen.

 

 

Thanks

-geoff

Edited March 6, 2016 by GeoffMartin

[peterg]

I have not heard of John Bull being a Penol sub brand. I only know of the English brand which was made by various manufacturers until around WW2.

 

Looking at the pen above I would say it is based on the Newhaven Duofold, so would give it a similar date of 1946-49, after which they would have switched to the new AF (aluminum filler) system.

[northlodge]

I would generally agree with what Peter says, Penol did make pens in Denmark that followed the same design as the UK Duofold. That said just from looking at the photo I am not convinced that the capband or the blindcap are duofold-like,

 

I am assuming that the body of the pen is marked John Bull? This may be so, but it was certainly not a sub-brand of Penol. It was a brand name used across a range of products from before WW1, and appears on early pens believed to have been made by both Mentmore and Lang.

 

I would not be surprised to find JB having been used as a brand by someone like WH Smith, with the pens being sourced from different suppliers at different points in time.

 

Your Duofold would have been immediately post WW2, and might have been contracted as part of a scheme to bring some sort of normality back to employment / commerce in Denmark.

Edited March 7, 2016 by northlodge

[GeoffMartin]

Thanks for the info! As you assumed, the barrel does indeed read

 

JOHN BULL

"Special"

and the nib reads

Parker Duofold Pen, Made in U.S.A.

 

I've only assumed that the pen is a Penol, since I purchased it in Denmark, based on the info on the page I mentioned above.

 

Thanks again for your help!

Edited March 7, 2016 by GeoffMartin

[peterg]

The John Bull pen was derived from the magazine, rather than the rubber company, which was published from 1894 until 1964. Below is an extract from writings on Horatio Bottomley who published it from 1906 until 1920 when it was taken over by Odhams Press

 

(around 1919) 'Other securities purchased with the (Victory) Club’s money but held in Bottomley’s name included shares in John Bull, shares in the race courses at Plumpton and Brussels, the lease of an antiques shop at Victoria Street, a factory intended to manufacture John Bull fountain pens, a German submarine ‘Deutschland’ which was briefly a travelling exhibit and later pulled to pieces, and £25,000 which was sent to the Official Receiver for the remaining creditors of Bottomley’s second bankruptcy.'

 

Horatio could best be described as 'a colourful character'. Whether they ever manufactured any pens is open to question. They may have made pens and then bought in.

 

Odhams would have continued selling John Bull fountain pens as a matter of good publicity during the 1930/40's.

 

Incidentally, the ship's clock of the Deutschland (U155) survives, having been given as a memento to a member of the prize crew.