Finding Maryjane

[DanDeM]

Anyone who collects has had the experience…a few pieces come together and interest is piqued. Slowly the group expands as more examples fall into place and in the process knowledge builds about the subject. Over time, with luck, curiosity and perseverance a collection develops along with an understanding of the time, the maker, the materials, the process and perhaps most maddening, what is missing and needed to make the collection more representative of the whole.

In his family history William John Tully, Jr. great grand son of Joseph Patric Tully, the man who established Eclipse’s Canadian operations in 1925, provides an overview of the pens made in Canada by Eclipse, and mentions…

“Joe went on to develop pens for ‘tiny hands’. There were two pens that we know of, one was called the ‘MaryJane’ and the other the ‘Margie’. (MaryJane and Margie were Joe Tully’s daughters. ED.) These were pens for children and small women who could not grasp the standard pens that were really built for a man’s hand. Joe Lee has one of two Mary Jane pens that I am aware exist and I do not know for certain of any example of the ‘Margie’ pen.” (Joe Lee is the son of the Margie for whom one of the pens were named. ED)

In an article about Eclipse models posted a few months ago, I chose not mention MaryJane or Margie pens. Based on William Tully’s comments, I assumed that they were made in such limited quantity, perhaps as novelties for family and friends, that they were not put into general production; they would be a permanent blank in the collection.

That was a bad assumption.

Introducing MaryJane.

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss2/DanDeM38/Eclipse/MJ%20GrnAgate%20Set/MaryJane%20PenPncl%20-%203_zps0j4ajsp5.jpg

Small items, indeed.

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss2/DanDeM38/Eclipse/MJ%20GrnAgate%20Set/MJ%20PenPncl%20-%204_zpslmd2vsdi.jpg

The pen and pencil are both about 9 cm., 3.5 inches. From the material and the clip they appear to be made in the mid to late Thirties, and clearly not a novelty for friends and family. Both pen and pencil are painted as souvenirs, the pen from Kamloops, BC, and the pencil from Nanaimo, BC.

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss2/DanDeM38/Eclipse/MJ%20GrnAgate%20Set/MaryJane%20PenPncl%20-%204_zpsg6zidymt.jpg

The drive from Kamloops to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island is about 280 miles. How this set came together defies my guess. And these were not trinkets tossed into a drawer with post cards, ash trays, and lapel pins from other summer travels. The eraser on the pencil is well worn, as is the plating on the nib. Cleaning the cap released a good deal of old, dried ink. These little items were put to work.

The set sat dormant for seven days on eBay, with a discouraging opening bid of $50. Viewers of the lot must have considered them over-priced. Based on their size, material, condition, the maker and the tacky “souvenir” paint, they were right. Within the closing seconds one other bidder pushed the close to a multiple of more than four times the opening bid. The bidder was identified as, “private listing - bidders' identities protected”. Whoever you are, I would very much like to see your collection.

Now that both he and I know that there really is an Eclipse MaryJane, I hope our paths don’t cross when a Margie appears. It now seems that the Margie blank could just be filled, and I might not be as lucky.

[FarmBoy]

Does Dan have said pen or is Dan still looking for Mary Jane?

[Cryptos]

Ah nuts! My glasses were a bit fogged over... 'nother story... and I thought the title said "Finding Mary Wiggins". Got me all in a fluff for nothing.

 

 

 

Nice pen story though.

[DanDeM]

Does Dan have said pen or is Dan still looking for Mary Jane?

 

Mary Jane is here. Haven't told her I'm looking for Margie.

 

Good to hear from you.

[Scrawler]

I have Mary Jane here with me. She is full of Poussiere de Lune and is writing nicely. She is marbled pink an grey. She is going out with Peter Pan tonight. Shame I cannot take pics of them both right now, but they make a handsome couple.

[inkstainedruth]

What a lovely little set. Thanks for posting the pix, and for the story behind the model.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[M R]

Those image links above are now giving a 404 Page Not Found.

 

Any chance a forum member downloaded them and can re-post?

 

Mark

[inkstainedruth]

@M R -- looks like they were victims of the Great Photobucket Hijack from a few years ago.... 

I had completely forgotten this thread (since the last post -- mine -- was over 6 years ago at this point.  Thanks for resurrecting it.  Maybe the original poster is still around, or at least someone else who has one or both of the pens can weigh in and maybe provide better pix.

I did a quick Google dive, and while couldn't find any pix of the "Margie" pens did find a couple of the "Mary Jane" here: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/eclipse-mary-jane-420-fountain-pen-1813110667

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Switala]

10 hours ago, M R said:

Esses links de imagem acima agora estão dando uma página 404 não encontrada.

 

Alguma chance de um membro do fórum baixá-los e poder postar novamente?

 

Marca

 

Hello, this link telling the story and details about Marijane is working.

 

https://www.eclipsefountainpenandpencilco.org/mary-jane/

 

Best regards

[A Smug Dill]

13 hours ago, M R said:

Those image links above are now giving a 404 Page Not Found.

9 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@M R -- looks like they were victims of the Great Photobucket Hijack from a few years ago.... 

 

Nope.

 

I successfully retrieved just now the images from Photobucket's server using the three links in the initial post in this thread, so the image files are where they are specified by the URLs, and there is nothing Photobucket is doing to block access as far as I can see.

 

 

If your browser does not automatically change the http: prefix to https:, you can try manually editing the URL in your browser's address bar.

 

[FarmBoy]

Sadly Dan is no longer around to help. 
 

Dan was a good pen friend and actively hunted off-brand pens in wild materials and brought them back to new. 

[Greenie]

On 10/12/2022 at 8:05 PM, FarmBoy said:

Sadly Dan is no longer around to help. 
 

Dan was a good pen friend and actively hunted off-brand pens in wild materials and brought them back to new. 

I have acquired Dan's Mary Jane pen and pencil set. I recalled this thread from years ago, and was surprised to see it has recent posts.  Back when I was starting in the hobby, Dan and I corresponded here on FPN. Dan encouraged me to attend my first pen club meeting at Fred Krinke's shop.  I wish he could have known the results of the pen collecting journey he put me on!  He and I shared taste in lesser collected brands of pens.