My recent exploration of the less commonly encountered Pelikan 300 gave me occasion to pull my 140 and 400 out of the pen cabinet. Looking over those two models made me realize that both were equally deserving of their own post so consider this the second installment of a three-part series looking at some of Pelikan’s finest work from the 1950s and 60s. Today we will focus on the 140, the direct successor to the Ibis 130 (1949-54). First introduced in 1952, the 140 came in a plethora of colors, many of which are not often seen today. The 140 was also a platform adapted to unique purposes and sold by other manufacturers without Pelikan’s branding so there is a lot of variety to be found out there. Production officially ran from April of 1952 through July of 1965 and many small changes occurred to the line over that time, particularly early on in the run. These changes can help to date earlier pens and I will endeavor to highlight most of them below. Read on to learn all about this iconic model.
Monthly Archives: February 2019
The Pelikan 300: A Chimera
In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. She was the sibling of Cerberus the three-headed hound of Hades and the Hydra, a serpentine water monster. In ancient times, merely sighting the Chimera was an omen for disaster. Today, we use the term to refer to anything made of disparate parts. Pelikan produced a chimera of sorts back in the 1950s though nothing as monstrous as the beast of ancient mythology. The pen that I’m alluding to is the Pelikan 300 which holds a unique spot in the company’s catalog. It was made for export only and positioned in the market between the 140 and 400. It enjoyed a production run of just five years spanning June of 1953 through November of 1957. As such, these are not commonly encountered on the secondary market today. The 300 came in just two colors, a black/green striped version and an all black striped model though an all burgundy variant, possibly a prototype, is known to exist as well. When discussing the 300, it is important to keep in mind that it has no relation to the M300 Souverän which didn’t debut until 1998. Due to a paucity of information out there, I thought that the 300 might be well suited to a post of its own.
News: M101N Grey-Blue
Those of us in the U.S.A. awoke this morning to news of yet another forthcoming release from Pelikan. The company is once again going retro with the introduction of a new model in the M101N series. Perhaps it is no coincidence that such a pen is being brought to light during the 90th anniversary of Pelikan’s first foray into fountain pens. The newest M101N on the block has been dubbed the Grey-Blue and it will become the fifth pen in a line that takes its inspiration from the historic models of the 30s and 40s. To date, the Grey-Blue has been preceded by the Tortoiseshell Brown (2011), Lizard (2012), Tortoiseshell Red (2014), and Bright Red (2017). Whereas the first three models listed emulated some of the more popular vintage finishes, the Grey-Blue will join the Bright Red in blazing its own trail as a fresh take on an old design. Pelikan’s promotional materials state; “The grey and blue color and pattern is reminiscent of the original historical model of the 1930s,” but I do not recall any historic 101N ever having come in this color scheme. If you cannot wait to get your hands on this one, be thankful February is a short month as these are due to make their way to market sometime in March.
Does Homeowners Insurance Cover My Pen Collection?
Now that we are well into the new year, I thought that it might be worthwhile to explore a topic that many may not have previously thought about. While this post is not specific to the Pelikan brand or even fountain pens, I hope that it will be of some interest to anybody who has invested the time and money to cultivate an assortment of pens and pen related paraphernalia. As many of us know all too well, what starts out as a pen or two can quickly balloon into a collection, the contents of which may grow to represent a substantial outlay. What if something were to happen to that collection? Loss, theft, and fire are all real threats in today’s world and, while only objects, our collections represent an emotional investment as much as one of time and money. As casual collectors, this is hardly on the forefront of our minds but it is something that you should think about at least once. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. While statistics show that this has been on the decline over the past decade, the menace remains very real. According to the FBI, there were an estimated 7,694,086 property crime offenses in the U.S.A. in 2017 resulting in losses approximating $15.3 billion. That equates to a rate of 2,362.2 crimes per 100,000 people. Burglary accounted for 18.2 percent of all the property crimes cited above and is something that is always in the back of every homeowner’s mind. We all hope that it won’t happen to us but tragedy could be just around the corner which begs the question; “Are you properly covered in the event of a loss?” A few high-profile examples of pen theft over the past few years come to mind. Recall that Dan Smith, aka The Nibsmith, had $40,000 worth of fountain pens stolen from his vehicle in May 2017. Then there was the case of Novelli who was robbed of a large quantity of pens and lighters in August 2018. While these cases represent the unique situation of vendors with large inventories, they still serve as good examples to illustrate the threat that is out there. Of course theft is only one peril that might befall a collection. Read on to learn what you may be covered for and what you should do to protect yourself.