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.

Günther Wagner launched the Transparent Fountain Pen under the Pelikan marque in 1929, a brand that he had trademarked some 51 years earlier. That piston filling fountain pen subsequently underwent several small revisions in a relatively short period of time, revisions that ultimately culminated into what we know today as the model 100, so named in 1931. Following its introduction, the model 100 represented Pelikan’s flagship fountain pen product. In the business world, it is common practice for manufacturers to target different market segments with alternate versions of a product. This strategy allows companies to reach a larger number of potential customers. Market segments might be targeted based on demographics such as age, sex, and income. Alternatively, they can be based on geography or focus on consumer versus commercial variations of a product or service. Perhaps you have seen examples of businesses selling a lower-priced product targeting the less affluent with marketing that stresses cost, value, and affordability. That same company may also offer a higher-end version of the product which might have more embellishments or some particularly attractive packaging thereby raising the price. Consumers who are more well off are frequently willing to pay an extra sum for those additional features and benefits. The products don’t even have to vary that much as marketing can frequently convince those with the cash that the higher priced brand/product is of a better quality, regardless of whether or not that is truly the case. Günther Wagner was no stranger to this practice as his company owned several brands, each geared towards appealing to a different group of consumers, predominantly based on income. While the 100 was the work horse of the Pelikan line targeting a largely middle-class population, the 110, 111, T111, and 112 were manufactured as higher end variations of the same product in an effort to appeal to the more upscale market. An effort to target the opposite end of that spectrum is how we came to meet the Rappen brand of fountain pen in 1932, Günther Wagner’s lower tier offering, priced as a more affordable alternative to the Pelikan model 100. The Rappen was able to be produced with lower production cost while maintaining quality workmanship and distinguished itself significantly from the company’s flagship models. Read on to learn how the Rappen came to serve lower end markets for well over a decade.