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The Mascot...what Is It?


sidthecat

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I see a couple of ringtops - simply designed, a gold-filled and a sterling, identified as "The Mascot". Not cheap, but tempting. The seller dates it as 1940.

 

Anybody familiar with these things?

Thanks for the info.

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Is it a propelling pencil by any chance ?

A wise man once said    " the best revenge is wealth "   but a wiser man answered back    " the best revenge is happiness "

 

The true definition of madness - Doing the same thing everyday and expecting different results......

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Nice! Haven't heard of the brand or model but it looks pretty nice! Congrats

PAKMAN

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It appears to have a Registration No. (looks to precede the word Sterling) - tell us the No. and we can check in the U.K. archives to see to whom this No. was allocated - that's assuming it's a U.K. Registration.

In Stephen Hull's book on the British Fountain Pen Industry, he lists an outfit in London c. 1925 by the name of Harold J. Simon whose output included Liberty, Mascot and Pioneer Pens............ could just be related.

Edited by PaulS
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Let us know when you get it how it writes.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I shall.

 

These were apparently sold by E. Baker and Sons, and if it is a Conway Stewart, the hallmark should have four leopards.

 

It's a sickness.

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In Stephen Hull's book on the British Fountain Pen Industry, he lists an outfit in London c. 1925 by the name of Harold J. Simon whose output included Liberty, Mascot and Pioneer Pens............ could just be related.

 

I have seen one of these earlier Mascot pens, a BHR leverfill and nothing grand looking, I do not think they are linked.

 

Perhaps an email and photo direct to Steve would provide answers. If it was CS made he would certainly know, and regardless he is usually generous in sharing his knowledge/

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quote .......... "and if it is a Conway Stewart, the hallmark should have four leopards​" ...... I think that's just being greedy - isn't one sufficient. :D :D

Various U.K. cities had different assay marks - the Leopard's head being the assay mark for Sterling silver and gold for London...... but curious to know why there should be four for CS.

 

Very attractive by the way.

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the date letter should confirm the seller's comment that it dates to 1940. When items of silver or gold are hallmarked, each separate component should in theory carry all of the hallmarks - let's wait and see.

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E.B.E (Baker & Son) have popped up on occasions but only as pencils, looks like a nice thing though. Please post details of the hallmarks when the pen arrives as these will give up quite a bit of info

A wise man once said    " the best revenge is wealth "   but a wiser man answered back    " the best revenge is happiness "

 

The true definition of madness - Doing the same thing everyday and expecting different results......

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Hi sidthecat,

For me this is an incredible find. Mascot was an Edward Baker trade name. They made pencils and other fancy things similar to Samson Morden.

MY father was manager at Edward Baker and I can tell you all he never once mentioned making fountain pens. The 1940 date is also rare because the factory was involved in war work.

I think the previous post is on the right lines. It was made by another company ,probably in London by Harold J Simpson so that is the best explanation.

Pen firms often have stuff made by other firms on their behalf and sell them as their own.

Johnson and Matthey still made a small number of pencils in the war but the Samson Morden factory was destroyed in the blitz.

Edward Baker survived the war and as I said were making ammunition parts for the war effort. I would not be surprised if H J Simpson was bombed out too.

I hope it writes well. I would like to see the pen open and the nib.

Best of luck in your search

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You should find this interesting: I received the pen and the hallmark in the barrel reads "E.B 925". i managed to take a picture. The nib is marked "14 Ct" and nothing else, but it's a great, flexible nib.

It's very heavy for its size and the cap and barrel are designed to screw together with no overlap.

A beautifully-designed little object, but it doesn't fill - the cunning little knob at the end is frozen so I'll have to send it out. Meanwhile, here's some pictures:

 

fpn_1479951052__img_3191.jpg

fpn_1479950982__img_3196.jpg

fpn_1479951005__img_3195.jpg

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Incredible is not the word. It must be unique ! It has the Edward Baker mark as I expected.There appears to be no date letter so I can not say for sure it's 1940 ish but it looks about that time. I am sure it was made in London by another company. How it works I do not know. The Writing Equipment Society might be able to help. The previous suggestion of Stephen Hulls book is probably a very good idea. I will try a bit of research myself as I said before It's unknown for EB to make a fountain pen.

Edward Baker merged with Yard-o-led and in the 50's and 60's fountain pens were made for them by other companies so your pen predates this.

My father said they could never get the tooling for the screw threads and nib units are a very specialised area and of course Edward Baker made only pencils at this time.

What a find ! The best EB pencil I have seen was an engraved victorian pattern which I dated about 1910. Quite often they have no HM and no date letter. Your pen could even be earlier than 1940,that's my instinct.

Best wishes

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I agree a real gem........... remarkable that there's no HM or date letter, presumably omitting this from a Sterling item would have been illegal at the time, or any time I guess - and I'd tend to go with possibly slightly earlier than 1940 based on styling - were pen manufacturers still making models with end rings at that time??

 

The word REGISTERED, suggests that the design of this pen was Registered with the British Board of Trade............. this was an arrangement whereby the manufacturer provided a drawing or whatever, of their item, and provided this was accepted then protection for a period of five years was given to whoever made/designed the item, and a Registration No. allocated.

Mostly, items showing the word Registered also carry the actual Registration No., - you can see this sometimes on, for example, accommodation clips, and original data can be viewed at the National Archives, in London, of virtually all Registrations from early 1840s to present.

Always possible, of course, that this particular design failed to be allocated a Registration No., and rather than change the tooling they let the thing be manufactured without a number.

Edited by PaulS
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Hi Paul,

Your remarks are spot on. I have never looked into this registered aspect so you might be able to check it that way.

It's very common not to have full HM on silver pencils. I am not quite sure why but I presume it was legal at the time . Perhaps the Assay office might be able to explain the reason for this but we have never looked into it. Sometimes it's to do with weight but It could have been to save money. They were that way inclined then. All companies needed a cheap version to sell . It's what I call a " foot in the door" pencil.At that time salesmen ( or travelers as they were called) needed something cheap to show the shops so they could get through the door , so to speak.

As far as I know the rings have been in use for many years and are quite common . At the time it was usual to have your pencil on a chain round your neck .

I am now going to try and see if I can find anything about Harold J Simon .

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Check out Peter Twydle at The Pen Museum aka "The pen wizard"

He might be able to help you with the filling. He describes a button type filler which looks like yours.

He might be able to repair it too.

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