Gimbel's Chilton

[bsenn]

Here is what I assume is a Chilton pen. It does not have the Chilton name anywhere, but does have an imprint of a Chilton patent number, 1902633, on the barrel. Cap is inscribed Gimbel's, nib is marked Warranted 14K 8. Pen measures 4-3/4" long (capped). I cannot find any Gimbel's catalogs online, so I am unsure if this was sold by Gimbel's, was used as a loaner, or something else.

 

 

 

[Glenn-SC]

Very cool!

[inkstainedruth]

+1 to what Glenn-SC said.  

One of my great aunts used to work in the fur coat department at Gimbels.  And  my mother once told me that she always preferred Gimbels over Macy's but that the further east she went the quality of the stores went down.  The one my great aunt worked in was apparently very plush; the one in Pittsburgh, still high end; the one in Philadelphia less so; and the the one in NYC (surprisingly) did not impress my mother at ALL -- even though I had presumed that was the flagship location (apparently, though, it wasn't -- the original location was somewhere in Indiana...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

[GlenV]

That is a great find congrats! I have not restored one of those so interested in the filling system...

since it was perhaps sold by Gimbels maybe the warranted nib is original.

[pensuponpens]

On 3/20/2023 at 2:00 PM, inkstainedruth said:

+1 to what Glenn-SC said.  

One of my great aunts used to work in the fur coat department at Gimbels.  And  my mother once told me that she always preferred Gimbels over Macy's but that the further east she went the quality of the stores went down.  The one my great aunt worked in was apparently very plush; the one in Pittsburgh, still high end; the one in Philadelphia less so; and the the one in NYC (surprisingly) did not impress my mother at ALL -- even though I had presumed that was the flagship location (apparently, though, it wasn't -- the original location was somewhere in Indiana...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for typos

Gimbel's in Pittsburgh was a cut above the other department stores, like Kaufmann's or Joseph Horne's.  The one in Philadelphia, at least when I went there in the '80's was still nice, but maybe a little closer to other stores like Wanamaker's.  

[inkstainedruth]

When I first moved to Pittsburgh, Kaufmann's and Horne's still existed.  Then Kaufmann's got bought out by Macy's and I had to switch my Kaufman's store card to them.

At this point, I don't even know if my Macy's store card is still active -- it's been years since I shopped in Macy's.

But that's still better than when I first moved out here, and went to see about changing my Sears (store) card -- it wasn't an actual credit card back then -- over to my married name.  And the stupid women in the office at the Monroeville Mall location were saying, "Oh, you want to be added to your husband's account?"  And I was going, "No, actually I want to add him to MY account, thank you VERY much...." 🤬

Ironically, Sears is effectively DOA at this point (the merger with Kmart being a detriment to BOTH companies) but that Sears (credit) card is still in use....  (My mother used to say that when Sears went to having B&M stores -- rather than just being mail-order -- the quality went down (because they were having to compete with other stores in malls).

Which reminds me now -- one of these days I need to see about getting the two "Good Service" (a Sears house brand, apparently) repaired and up and running.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth