Lost Now Found, Wearever Pen Company

[Tom Heath]

This past weekend I was steered to the manufacturing facility of the now defunct Wearever Fountain Pen Company

 

 

Located in North Bergen , New Jersey this company once employed about 3,000 people making Fountain Pens since 1894 until its'closing in the Mid 1970's .

 

David Kahn was the Founder later changed to David Kahn In DBA Wearever Pen Company

 

They made funds for the masses, selling through most 5 & 10 " stores and stationers

College Book Stores

 

David Kahn emigrated to America approx. 1890.from Russia where he was employed as an Umbrella and cane handle make in Sterling and Gold metal... He settled in lower Manhattan and soon discovered fountain pens and began his business as one of the 100's of small companies engaged in that blossoming industry.. Later moving to North Bergen , New Jersey a suburb of Hoboken

 

Once established the company pursued the Economy Pen business including Pencil and Ballpoint

manufacturing.

 

Later they had manufacturing facilities in Mexico City, Mx , and also at Deer Lake , Pa along Pa Route 61, near where Muhammad Ali had his boxing Championship training camp.

 

During WWII the company was a produced for materials for the War Effort.

 

 

The North Bergen facility is approx 100,000 square feet now home to about 8 local enterprises.

 

If you happen to have any Wearever Stories I love to know of them

 

Tom Heath penfancier1915@hotmail.com

[UDog]

I can't imagine a pen factory needing 100K sq ft. Amazing.

 

I have a beautiful lever-filler Wearever in marbled green with a smooth Tabulas (sp) nib. I think it is a Deluxe 100.

[pajaro]

I remember buying Wearever fountain pens in Woolworth's for twenty-nine cents each. I liked them until the sacs failed, usually within a month. I couldn't figure out what happened when I was only nine years old. I thought of them as Leakevers. I never bought anything else they made, if I knew they made it..

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I remember buying Wearever fountain pens in Woolworth's for twenty-nine cents each. I liked them until the sacs failed, usually within a month. I couldn't figure out what happened when I was only nine years old. I thought of them as Leakevers. I never bought anything else they made, if I knew they made it..

 

That's an interesting comment about the sacs. I've taken it for granted when buying any sac-filling pen as vintage, that the sac will need to be replaced. You figure that somebody eventually put it away for the last time with ink still in it, and over the years it hardened. But maybe Wearevers just had bad sacs to begin with, if you weren't simply unlucky with the ones you bought.

 

Still, I have a few that are nice enough, now that they're restored with non-Wearever sacs. I have a couple of their pen pencil combos (pen on one end, pencil on the other in the same body) that I like. I rarely ink them, but sometimes do crosswords with the pencils.

 

And thanks to Tom Heath for tracking down the factory.

[pen2paper]

Any info on the Shirley Temple pen sets? In particular as being (heavily) licensed, after the Jackie Coogan Law.

Not the hardiest of pens, but the colorful celluloid with tinsel is nifty, and many remain in surprisingly good condition, considering the abuse by use of children.

[AAAndrew]

Very, cool! Thanks for sharing! Have an address?

 

And where was the Wearever floor? That’s awesome!

[Bo Bo Olson]

From my reading Wearever was once the biggest manufacturer of fountain pens in the world....and they made 3rd (or 4th tier pens...not their own) for others too. I think all Wearevers were at least 3rd tier....and I never had any more trouble with them than with Venus...or the ugly metal capped Esterbrooks.

 

Well, they were all stolen anyway, so problems belonged to someone else.

I use to have pre and after the war, second tier Wearevers. Nice solid pens....so not all Wearevers were third tier. Nibs were not the worlds greatest.....they did have a gold nibbed pen.....a strip of gold held the tipping, in a steel nib.

 

My wife has a '70's Wearever...,,,not that she uses it but turquoise is her favorite color ..a good third tier pen....a pen for workers, or school kids. My guess better than Venus.

[Tom Heath]

Penners' thanks for your note above.

 

 

The Wearever Company/ David Kahn Inc. occupied all of the buildings on the North Bergen , New Jersey Site, approx 100,000 square. feet.

As far as I know all production was made in house.

Meaning They head a full tool and die department, a Metallurgy Dept, Design department, Packaging department , all the machinery needed to make the components of pens and pencils, they had an Ink Department office , sales, and advertizing if I left anything out you can fill it in they did it all !

 

During WWII they even produced war effort parts under contract.

 

David Kahn Associates under contract from RKO Radio Pictures , licensed the Wearever Pen Company to Make the Shirley Temple Pen and Pencil sets. in about 1937

The Latest letter I have is in 1955 from RKO Dated Jan 18, 1955 so their relationship was ongoing for about 20 years.

 

I am thankful the the Grandson of David Kahn for sharing some of his archives with me.

It is my pleasure to share the above info with you.

 

TJ Heath

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I only have one Wearever. I don't know what the model is. The pen is a blue lever filler with a stub nib, and isn't a bad writer, once I got the pen repaired. It's the first pen I ever got that had an imprint. "SA MEYERS OO". I got it at an antiques fair a few years ago in Washington, PA. The fair is held monthly in the parking lot of the Washington Wild Things minor league baseball stadium in the summer, on Sunday mornings. The one time I went to the fair, I was seeing a whole lot of nothing (no pens, and nothing else worth buying). And because it was in the parking lot, it was hot and there was no shade. I had pretty much given up and was heading back to my car, when I ended up in a conversation between a seller and a potential customer about how sometimes you can't find information about an item, even on the internet (I had that happen with a music box I've inherited). Eventually somehow the topic turned to pens, and the dealer said "I think I might have some in the truck...." So he turned around and pulled out this huge correlated cardboard box, and rummaged around in the bottom till he found the pen. I told him what I could (which wasn't a lot) -- 3rd tier company, nib looked okay, sac was bad and would need to be replaced. I started to hand the guy the pen back and he said "Keep it -- I can't sell it!" [No idea why not....]

So I got curious about the imprint and it turned out it was the name of a jewelry store in Canonsburg, PA (a little north of Washington, PA), back in the 1940s (I found some website which had scans of old newspapers, and the local one for Canonsburg showed an ad for the store. The location is now an antiques mall, and it right along the main drag in the center of Canonsburg. I keep meaning to wander down there sometime and show the pen around because of the connection to the location. Don't know if it was the owner's pen, an advertising item, or what, but it was interesting that it turned up in the same general vicinity as where it came from.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pen2paper]

Penners' thanks for your note above.

 

 

The Wearever Company/ David Kahn Inc. occupied all of the buildings on the North Bergen , New Jersey Site, approx 100,000 square. feet.

As far as I know all production was made in house.

Meaning They head a full tool and die department, a Metallurgy Dept, Design department, Packaging department , all the machinery needed to make the components of pens and pencils, they had an Ink Department office , sales, and advertizing if I left anything out you can fill it in they did it all !

 

During WWII they even produced war effort parts under contract.

 

David Kahn Associates under contract from RKO Radio Pictures , licensed the Wearever Pen Company to Make the Shirley Temple Pen and Pencil sets. in about 1937

The Latest letter I have is in 1955 from RKO Dated Jan 18, 1955 so their relationship was ongoing for about 20 years.

 

I am thankful the the Grandson of David Kahn for sharing some of his archives with me.

It is my pleasure to share the above info with you.

 

TJ Heath

Wow Tom Health. You made my day wonderful! (S-M-I-L-E < Shirley song - Stowaway 1936).

Thanks! both to You, and David Kahn's Grandson

[AAAndrew]

And don’t forget to stop by the Saris Candy factory. Best dark chocolate filled bon bons ever. Great ice cream, too. Thanks for sharing!

 

I only have one Wearever. I don't know what the model is. The pen is a blue lever filler with a stub nib, and isn't a bad writer, once I got the pen repaired. It's the first pen I ever got that had an imprint. "SA MEYERS OO". I got it at an antiques fair a few years ago in Washington, PA. The fair is held monthly in the parking lot of the Washington Wild Things minor league baseball stadium in the summer, on Sunday mornings. The one time I went to the fair, I was seeing a whole lot of nothing (no pens, and nothing else worth buying). And because it was in the parking lot, it was hot and there was no shade. I had pretty much given up and was heading back to my car, when I ended up in a conversation between a seller and a potential customer about how sometimes you can't find information about an item, even on the internet (I had that happen with a music box I've inherited). Eventually somehow the topic turned to pens, and the dealer said "I think I might have some in the truck...." So he turned around and pulled out this huge correlated cardboard box, and rummaged around in the bottom till he found the pen. I told him what I could (which wasn't a lot) -- 3rd tier company, nib looked okay, sac was bad and would need to be replaced. I started to hand the guy the pen back and he said "Keep it -- I can't sell it!" [No idea why not....]

So I got curious about the imprint and it turned out it was the name of a jewelry store in Canonsburg, PA (a little north of Washington, PA), back in the 1940s (I found some website which had scans of old newspapers, and the local one for Canonsburg showed an ad for the store. The location is now an antiques mall, and it right along the main drag in the center of Canonsburg. I keep meaning to wander down there sometime and show the pen around because of the connection to the location. Don't know if it was the owner's pen, an advertising item, or what, but it was interesting that it turned up in the same general vicinity as where it came from.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Tom Heath]

Thanks for the Candy Factory Trip, AAA

 

Too Bad I did not know about them , Sarris Factory

 

We on a lark explored the , " Old German Bakery " and indulged in several delicious Pastries

and Brought home a loaf of store made Seeded Rye.

 

Now you know my other addiction, Sugar in just about any Confectioners form.Above is located at 332 Washington ST, Hoboken , N.J.

www.myoldgermanbakery.com

[noyesville]

Dear Tom and others,

 

Thanks for the notes about Wearever pens and David Kahn.  The pens were originally inprinted "Wear-ever."  The hyphen was removed somewhere around 1927 or so--about the time that Kahn took over the company, which was started back in the 1890s.  I want to share my opinion about Wearevers:  The early ones, up to the start of WWII in 1941, were prettier, more long lasting, and better made than after the war.  The two models that followed the war wee the Pennant (anodized aluminum cap and plastic body) and the Zenith (all plastic, solid colored).  They, and some others that included cartridge pens, were indeed cheaply made and tended to discolor  

 

However, the early ones featured excellent plastics, robust colors, and even decent nibs.  (Wearever nibs are the pen's Achilles Heel.  The late, great Frank Dubiel had an amazing collection, as did Dennis Lively--who I hope is still with us.  Wearever made Wearevers, Pioneer, Supreme, Onward, Jefferson, and Treasure pens And probably others as well. I just like 'em.