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Difference between DB-114 and DB-117 desk set bases ??


Maja

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Anybody know the difference between the Esterbrook model DB-114 desk base and the model DB-117 desk base??

 I found a scan of an old Esterbrook catalog here https://thesouthernscribe.com/recently-sold-2/  (it's two-thirds of the way down the page) and it shows the two models --a DB-114 desk base in black priced at $2.75 and a DB-117 desk base in white (?) priced at $3.25. I enlarged the image but unfortunately I can't make out the description of the DB-117 to see what it says.
 

The two bases in the catalog look similar but the DB-114 looks like it has two "creases" on the side vs. one "crease" for the DB-117.
A friend of mine got a DB-114 stickered base and it has two creases. Pendemonium is selling a DB-117 (here http://www.pendemonium.com/esterbrook.htm) in grey and it looks like it has only one crease.
Is that the only difference?

 

Any help would be appreciated 🙂
Thanks in advance!
~Maja

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The 114 is way cooler than the 117 with the extra relief ribs on the sides.  There was an 8 ball that was the same way.

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1 hour ago, FarmBoy said:

The 114 is way cooler than the 117 with the extra relief ribs on the sides.  There was an 8 ball that was the same way.

Thanks so much. Todd, for confirming what my tired eyes thought was the case 😃


After I posted my query, I remembered that I hadn't checked the PCA Reference Library for more old Esterbrook catalogs 🙄 ... and sure enough --- page 6 of this 1957 Esterbrook pamphlet clearly shows the difference between the two models (114 and 117)-- catalog at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sRdV1p3KDVSFyHIl2-1jHWRTrrvHSzJM/view

 

From that 1957 pamphlet:
--Desk set model "Number 114" was just called a "Desk Pen Set", priced at $3.25 and available in black.

--Desk set model "Number 117" was called the "De Luxe Desk Pen Set", priced at $3.75 and available in Sea Green, Pearl Gray, Florentine Blue. Rouge Red and Walnut Brown.


Thanks to Todd (Farmboy) and the PCA! (PCA Reference Library at https://pencollectorsofamerica.org/reference-library/) 



 

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As a side note, just noticing the dipless desk sets now under a category called Capillary desk sets. The fact that they're still selling the 444, and especially the 407 is pretty amazing at this date. The 407 was popular more than a  decade earlier, during the War, and is obviously more than just a transition from dip to fountain. (or that transition took longer than I had thought)

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, AAAndrew said:

As a side note, just noticing the dipless desk sets now under a category called Capillary desk sets. The fact that they're still selling the 444, and especially the 407 is pretty amazing at this date. The 407 was popular more than a  decade earlier, during the War, and is obviously more than just a transition from dip to fountain. (or that transition took longer than I had thought)

 

 

Wow, I though the 407 would have been phased out by 1957....
In this 1941-1942 Esterbrook catalog (also on the PCA site)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19_suQYri_Ct15WWx6tNqzJDaunvv5R_S/view

the dip-less desk sets are called Dip-Less.

 

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Just noticed that on page 5 of the 1957 catalog, the model 114 desk set is described as "Smartly styled, compact set. Black only. $3.75 (Model 117, same base style as above, in same colors as Model 116, $4.25)"
(
boldface type=my emphasis)


This drives me crazy because that part in boldface gives the impression that the 117 is essentially the same base as the 114. Thankfully, page 6 of that same catalog shows each base separately so you can *see* the difference.

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