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Description:
Comments:
- Introduced in 1882.
- This pen was not an Esterbrook product but did use the Esterbrook #048 Falcon Pen as an integral part. For that reason, since collectors may encounter this pen and mistake it for an Esterbrook product, I am providing what information I have on it.
- “The Fountain Falcon Pen, advertised in another column, is the latest improvement in fountain pens, the patent being issued on October 10, 1882, to the inventor and patentee, J. Fred Franklin, New York. The Esterbrook (048) “Falcon” pen, to which the attachment is made, will write, it is said, from four to six times as much as the same pen without the attachment. Although the pen has only recently been placed before the public, the demand is said to exceed the supply, and it is thought that it is destined to become a necessity for business men. The fountain attachment consists of a non-corrosive metal cup fitted under the pen. There is said to be no danger of its blotting, as the ink only flows down when the points of the pen are pressed apart. Henry Bainbridge & Co., 99 and 101 William Street, New York, are the agents for this pen.”
- Essentially Mr Franklin invented an under-reservoir for the very popular 048 Falcon dip pen. Reservoirs over or under a dip pen go back a long way. The metal piece was spear shaped with a metal tab in place of the spear shaft. This metal tab was bent up, passed through the vent hole from the bottom. Then it was bent again towards the tip of the pen. Simple and clever.
- The term “fountain pen” as used here was the common term for any dip pen with an extra reservoir attached or built-in. “Fountain” refers to the fact that the pen holds “fountains” of ink. This term was then applied to the earliest pens that contained their own ink supply, which is why the term “fountain pen” was applied and is used to this day.
Other Images:
References:
The existence of this pen is confirmed or surmised by the following:
- The American Stationer, Vol 12, #20, 11-16-1882, P 770
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