Is that a question?
Our legacy - Ryojusen Pens. For over ten years we were the premiere seller of vintage Japanese writing instruments in America. To honor our heritage we title our blog Ryojusen Pens and periodically pay hommage to Japanese pens of exceptional craftsmanship, many one of a kind, there reposed in our collection and have now found new caring conservators.
Ryujusen-Pens.com archive is located on The Wayback Machine. Should you go there be aware scurrilous hucksters selling overpriced apparel have hijacked some of the links. Ryojusen-Pens has not been online for a number of years. Check out the older links first.
At the recent Chicago show Paul Erano was asked to identify a red celluloid pen that came with me. It had no inscription on the barrel or cap and a common WARRANTED 14K nib. The only distinguishing feature was the name “DuBarry” in quotation marks on the clip. Otherwise, the pen was like many others from the mid-late 1920s.
Identification of the pen already consumed much time generatng questions for Google Gemini. Gemini needs exact questions for exact answers, and the information must be available online. Alternate questions must be asked. It is like a game of hide and seek to narrow down the results.
Gemini provided two ideas for further review. The name of a model used by Dupont for women’s toiletries made of celluloid and a line of cosmetics made by Richard Hudnut. Neither was promising.
The lever tab contains a design of a wreath. Who made pens, or used levers, with similar wreaths. Marxton and Park Row, sub-brands of Eclipse in New York used wreaths. National Pen Products, too, used the same wreath on several models of flat top pens. It was time to find some examples, if any, of pens with the same wreaths. There was a small wrinkle. The wreath on my pen and that used by both Eclipse and National are often shown rotated ninety degrees from each other.
Left to right: Red DuBarry; Red Eclipse; Black Eclipse (Eclipse images from eBay)
A Park Row with the same wreath and orientation was found on an online auction service. The July and September 2006 issues of Pen World was especially informative providing history and insight on the manufacture of Eclipse and Eclipse sub-brands, particularly identifying the Park Row model.
A second green celluloid DuBarry with chasing came to me and it had the same features as the red pen. Sadly, it was damaged, broken by my mishandling the pen when changing the sac. Of particular interest was the Jungblut nib. Jungblut was a jeweler and pen shop owner in Milwaukee. This pen too came from a seller in the Chicago area.
Another pen purchased from the same seller at the Chicago Pen Show appears to be of black hard rubber with a floral design and stylized GM (Gold Medal) logo on the clip, typical of those found on National Pens, but with an Eclipse lever box and lever tab of the type used by Eclipse. To my surprise the chasing was the same as on the green celluloid and the sections of all three pens had exactly the same profiles and used the same feeds. In fact, the pen is the same model as the red and green with different features.
John Roede, in his article for Pen World, indicated Eclipse sold pens to Mongomery Ward and Sears in the 1920s. There is no mention of sales to National Pen or independent jewelers however, Gemini surmised sales to jewelers did occur.
What of the association with National? Did Eclipse have a heretofore unknown sales relationship? What if the pens were samples? How did they get to the Chicago area and to Jungblut? Your assistance would be appreciated.
Park Row Pens from Pen World article
