HR pen info wanted

[nmb]

I just received my first two hard rubber pens, which style of pen I've been hoping to add to my collection for a long time and now the (low, low) price and my (low, low) budget coincided. (Thanks, Lex.)

 

http://www.undersea.com/~nburrell/hard_rubber.jpg

 

Now that I have them, I'm curious to learn more about them. The one in better condition has an imprint that says "Black and White // SALZ BROS N.Y. PAT. APPL'D FOR". It is a chased hard rubber lever filler and the lever is imprinted "BLACK & WHITE" with an "SB" logo on the end of the lever. I think that the cap may be a mismatch since the chasing pattern is slightly different and it doesn't turn even a quarter turn before seating (like I care!)

 

http://www.undersea.com/~nburrell/black%20white.jpg

http://www.undersea.com/~nburrell/black%20white_imprint.jpg

 

The second is a smooth rubber eyedropper filler with the imprint "ALL PATENT RIGHTS RESE... // TAB-FIL // DELUXE MFG CO CHICAGO ILLS USA" and a feed that appears to be intact, but asymmetric left-to-right.

 

http://www.undersea.com/~nburrell/tab-fil.jpg

 

So, I have heard of Salz Bros. before, but not Night & Day, Deluxe Manufacturing nor Tab-fil. I can surmise that these are probably examples of inexpensive, early fountain pens from second tier manufacturers, but I'd love to hear more about these companies and the dates of the pens. Thanks in advance to all who have something to contribute.

 

Humbly,

 

Neil

[antoniosz]

I am not sure that I can help much here.

Salz Brothers is a New York company with many pens from the early eyedroppers to the later celluloids. Nice nibs often flexible. They were also the makers of the Peter Pan (the tiny often ornate) pens.

 

The other brand - I have no clue. It looks like an 1900-1910 type of pen. As someone else said during that period of time pen companies appears and disappeared like the dot coms of the 1990. There are some people that "specialize" on the pens from a given area. I believe that Mr. Fultz is the Chicago expert.

 

Good luck on search for these pens. let us know what you find.

[Johnny Appleseed]

I have very little to add on Salz, except that I have seen the Salz Black-and-White before. I think I usually have seen the Black-and-white pens in BHR with white end disks and assumed that that is why it was called that. I don't know if this is somehow missing the white rings, or if the black-and-white designation was something else.

 

David Nishimura has a fascinating article about Julius Schnell and some of the early Sheaffer patent litigation that makes numerous references to Salz, including references that date to 1911 and earlier. Here.

 

Finding obscure 2nd tier pens like this can be the beginning of an exciting journey of discovery. Who made them, what can be known about the company? For many of these, the history is lost in the sands of time, but there are ways to find the information, and it is fascinating stuff!

 

John

Edited March 10, 2006 by Johnny Appleseed