Every now and then, you come across something that defies explanation. You’ll find something that you know should not exist, yet it does. It can be tempting to dismiss the anomaly as a fake, but then you might miss the chance to unravel a mystery. Such is the case with the Pelikan keyhole nib, an enigma from the far east. Nibs usually have vent or breather holes which were originally intended to allow air into the pen, replacing the ink consumed with writing. These remain a prominent feature today, even though many modern nibs vent elsewhere through the feed. Pelikan’s breather holes are usually round, except for a brief period spanning 1929-30 when they were heart shaped. The only other notable exception is the triangular breather hole of the Primapenna from the 1970s. Keyhole nibs are usually associated with the Waterman brand, so how do we explain a keyhole on a Pelikan script nib from the 1950s? Keep reading to discover the story behind the unique and rare Pelikan keyhole nib.
Fountain pens were once almost as ubiquitous as ballpoint pens are today and, naturally, an entire industry of complimentary accessories catering to the fountain pen lifestyle grew alongside them. Some frequently encountered items include inkwells and blotters. Blotters are an interesting lot, designed to absorb excess ink and thereby prevent smudging. This can be a necessity when writing with liquid ink, depending on the paper upon which you are writing, especially if you do not have the time to let the ink dry naturally. Rudimentary blotting agents going back to the early days of writing included sand, clay, and even salt. Pounce, a fine resinous powder made from various materials such as ground bones, was frequently utilized to prevent the unintended spread of ink. Blotting paper was an accidental discovery of the early 1800s. The prevailing lore is that a worker in an English paper mill failed to add sizing to a batch of paper. Sizing is a substance used to reduce paper’s tendency to absorb liquid when dry. Consequently, the unsized paper produced in that batch was discarded. When someone tried to write on a piece of the discarded scrap paper, they found that it rapidly absorbed ink, making it unusable for writing, hence the birth of blotting paper. As fountain pen technology improved, blotting paper would become an essential companion, a fact that Pelikan was well aware of and exploited in an interesting way. Keep reading to learn how Pelikan turned an artist’s whimsy into an advertising gold mine.
There is an old legend that tells of an encounter between Martin Luther and the Devil. Martin Luther (11/10/1483 – 2/18/1546) was a German priest, monk, and theologian who sparked the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, and the Devil needs no introduction. As the story goes, Luther was plagued by evil spirits throughout much of his childhood. These were the Middle Ages, so such occurrences weren’t out of place, likely fostered by a strict upbringing rooted in religion. Luther was a god-fearing man and defended himself against such spirits with prayer and song. His views and religious zeal would see him branded an outlaw. While in hiding at Wartburg Castle over a period of 10 months, he took to translating the Bible. The Devil himself is said to have called upon him during this time, frequently trying to disturb his work. Different versions of the story relate these distractions taking several forms such as a fly incessantly buzzing around his head, or a large, black dog in his bed, or even by making enough noise to keep Luther awake, depriving him of much needed sleep. Awakened one night by Satan himself, Luther grabbed the ink well off of his desk and threw it, defending himself against the evil spirit. Legend says that the ink stain was visible on the wall long after the Devil had been banished from Luther’s presence and, to this day, Satan is said to avoid anyone with an ink well as much as holy water, having learned a hard lesson from Luther. Of course, this story is almost certainly a fabrication, a personification of Luther’s devout Christian views which painted life as a constant battle with the Devil. Luther couldn’t have been using Pelikan’s inks at the time but that didn’t stop Pelikan from trying to offer some symbolic protection to its patrons in the 1980s and 90s. Read on to discover how they accomplished this while also learning about some unique pieces of ephemera/jewelry, many made from silver or gold, that Pelikan once commissioned.
You do not have to be in this hobby for any protracted amount of time before you notice that people can be rather particular about their nibs. Once you get the itch, it isn’t long before you start to develop your own preferences. Much marketing snobbery and ballyhoo has been employed convincing folks that gold is the superior medium for a nib, the more karats the better. A nib’s base metal, aided by its size and shape, does dictate many of the nib’s characteristics (e.g., spring/flex) but that is only one variable in the equation. The two most common classes of nib materials include stainless steel and gold. Both metals are alloys, a mixture of at least two metals made with the intent to impart certain desirable characteristics such as increased strength or hardness when compared with the metals in their pure forms. I invite you to read the piece that I previously wrote about the different karat weights of gold and how Pelikan has employed them over the past 94 years. My conclusion from that work was that 14C-585 gold seemed to be the optimum material from which to derive a pleasing and durable nib. Today, I would like to focus on a different alloy, in this case the tipping that accompanies each and every one of Pelikan’s nibs. If you follow Pelikan on social media, you may have seen a post from this past April indicating that their fountain pens are tipped with a “Wolfram-Iridium alloy.” This less often discussed topic has an interesting history in the fountain pen world and some neat research has previously been done regarding the tipping of a wide variety of nibs, but little has ever been written about Pelikan’s tipping. Most fountain pen users are familiar with the terms “Iridium” or “Iridium Tipped” as they relate to nibs, a label which was once a surrogate hallmark for quality. Frequently a misnomer, “Iridium Point Germany” is another common stamp that is usually found on lower quality nibs made in the Far East and India. Iridium is an epithet that has become nearly synonymous with all fountain pen tipping, a form of genericization that has persisted much longer than the actual practice of tipping pens with iridium. Read on to learn all about this element, how it came to be associated with nibs, and how Pelikan may or may not be using it in their manufacturing process.
While less relevant in today’s world of online retail and home delivery, department stores were once the predominant hub of consumerism. We’ve all done a little window shopping at some point in our lives. Shop keepers have used window displays as a form of marketing to draw in customers and boost sales for as long as most of us can remember. It was Harry Gordon Selfridge (1/11/1858 – 5/8/1947) of the UK who has been credited with bringing inspiration to the window display. His combination of salesmanship and artistic sensibilities fortuitously collided with improvements in the plate glass manufacturing process which allowed for ever grander window displays though simplicity still ruled the day back in the early part of the last century. Fountain pens, once the primary writing implement for most people, were much more ubiquitous than they are today. They could be found at just about any five and dime, general store, and apothecary to name but a few places. Of course, there were dedicated specialty shops as well. Later, the big-box stores would come into existence selling general merchandise and specialty items. Pen manufacturers certainly had an interest in empowering their retail partners in an effort to boost sales and one of the ways they did so was via advertising. Elaborate displays were created to highlight their products, some of which competed for prominent space in shop windows and glass counters. Rather than place a perfectly good fountain pen on display where it might be damaged, non-functioning display pieces were made, models that closely approximated the real McCoy but were merely shadows of the genuine thing. Pelikan had many names for these dummy models. In their native tongue, the two most commonly used terms were ‘Schau-Muster’ [ʃau-mʊstɐ] and ‘Attrappe’ [aˈtrapə] which roughly translates to ‘display model’ and ‘dummy’ respectively. Read on to learn all about these dummies and their unique place in Pelikan’s advertising history.
March is designated as Women’s History Month in the USA, the UK, and Australia, a month set aside to commemorate the contributions of women in history and society. In honor of that, I elected to take up the study of gendered fountain pens produced by Pelikan over the last century, specifically their fountain pens and pen modifications made especially for women. Gendered products, just as the name implies, are those items or services marketed specifically towards a particular sex. Goods such as these have been around for a long time, and many have a controversial history owing to the promotion of unhealthy and often false gender stereotypes. There are a multitude of products which fall into this category, many of which are quite laughable. The distinction between male and female targeted products frequently consists of nothing more than a pink color and some slightly altered packaging with the word “Lady” prominently displayed. Marketing departments pursue these gendered products in an effort to enhance their appeal, thereby broadening the pool of potential consumers. This pursuit frequently results in the distorted portrayal of women as weaker, more delicate, and in need of special care while at the same time promoting toxic masculinity. Many cultures still frown upon men enjoying anything of a pink persuasion because of the femininity associated with it. In addition to various shades of pink and pastel, items targeted towards women tend to be smaller in size to better fit the stereotype of the more diminutive female. Many of the historical boundaries surrounding gender roles in society are being tested and debated today, a debate that is well beyond the scope of this blog. What is on brand for this blog is just how Pelikan has fed into and perpetuated some of these societal constructs with their writing implements over their 94 years in the industry. Pelikan’s gendered writing instruments can be found as far back as the original model 100 from the 1930s but there have been more recent examples as well. Indeed, it’s hard to believe that such products have persisted well into the 21st century. Pelikan’s catalogs from the 1930s through the 1950s list products that could be altered for use by a woman, labeled as “Damenhalter” or “Für die Dame” but, make no mistake, this is not a Pelikan specific phenomenon. Other pen companies, both past and present, have done the same including Sheaffer, Soennecken, Parker, and Montblanc. Believe it or not, even the ubiquitous Bic Cristal has not been spared. Read on to learn about just a few select examples of products from Pelikan’s back catalog that have been geared towards women.
Last year, we took an in-depth look at the Rappen fountain pen, a lower tier offering from Pelikan that was available during the 1930s and 1940s, priced as a more affordable alternative to the model 100. That work concluded with a look at the so called Rappen-IBIS, an IBIS pen sold under the Rappen branding in order to avoid trademark infringements in certain export markets. Make no mistake about it, however, that model was far more IBIS at its heart than Rappen which begs the question; “What is a Pelikan IBIS? It was October 15, 1936, when the IBIS fountain pen was officially introduced to Germany, replacing the Rappen in that market. Perhaps it was with some deliberation that the IBIS moniker was chosen. In the hierarchy of biological classification, the order Pelecaniformes contains several medium to large waterbirds including the families Pelecanidae (pelicans) and Threskiornithidae (ibises) indicating a distant relation between the company’s namesake bird and the ibis. By the time of the IBIS’ introduction, Günther Wagner had been producing and selling fountain pens under the Günther Wagner/Pelikan brand for seven years. Whereas the Rappen originally employed a bulb filling method with a sac, the IBIS was equipped with a piston filling mechanism more in line with the company’s upmarket offerings. This effectively makes the IBIS a hybrid of sorts, combining the looks of the Rappen with the mechanics of the model 100. Despite being supplanted in Germany, the Rappen would continue to be sold in export markets until the end of World War II and would eventually be outfitted with that same piston filling mechanism towards to end of the product line’s run. Unlike the Rappen, the IBIS would be sold under the Günther Wagner/Pelikan brand, where it continued to fill the gap of a more affordable, entry level model when compared with the 100 and 100N. In their literature to dealers, Pelikan would explain that “The IBIS was created… so that the specialist trade could also offer a solidly made transparent piston filler from Günther Wagner in the medium price range.” Price lists from the 1930s described the IBIS as a “fountain pen of good quality, moderate in price and reliable in use.” World War II had a significant impact on the IBIS’ production, but it would survive the tumult and ultimately go on to enjoy an eleven year production run. Today, many of the surviving pens, especially those from the post-war era, can be had relatively cheaply on the secondary market which makes this a model well worth learning about. Read on to learn how the IBIS fell to the pressures of war only to later be resurrected.
Pelikan incorporated a variety of rolling changes into their flagship Transparent Fountain Pen early on in its production which ultimately culminated in the model 100 that we know and love today. These iterative changes are why pens from the 1930s, in particular, can be found with some unique and oftentimes poorly documented features. Some of these changes improved functionality whereas others were geared more towards aesthetics. One of the more interesting features once employed was the long cap or short cap head, depending on your perspective. You may see the terms used interchangeably, and both are technically correct when bandied about. These are variants of the model 100/101 and 100N/101N fountain pens that are not documented in any known catalog or brochure but are officially recognized as having been available for purchase through retail channels, predominantly those outside of Europe. For instance, an advertisement from the Portuguese distributor Emegê featuring a 101N Short Cap Head Tortoise is known, an exceedingly rare find. Pelikan’s tall, domed cap head is an easily recognized feature that stands out on the company’s early fountain pens. In addition to giving the 100 and 100N their iconic shapes, it contributes to the superb balance of those models when posted as well as facilitating a solid grip for easy withdrawal from within a pocket. Putting aesthetics and ergonomics aside, the cap is also integral to the proper sealing of the pen, essential in preventing the ink contained within from drying out. While some of Pelikan’s design choices over the years have defied explanation, the short cap head at least has some documented history behind it and from a primary source to boot. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any lingering mystery still surrounding these infrequently encountered variants so read on to learn all about Pelikan’s vintage short cap head models.
