One of the many things I like about old fountain pens is the variety of colour. A sleek black pen with gold furniture (yep, that’s the word for the metal details…) appeals to me as well, but when collecting I have come upon some vintage pens with truly exquisite patterns. Like hard candies…
This is just some examples from my collection:
When cruising the ‘net for fountain pens (which is a world all in itself) I tend to avoid promo pens. The Swedish Ebay equivalent, Tradera, has a special category for commercial/promotional pens. Modern, plastic ballpoints of variable quality, most are junk (believe me, I use them at work).
Once, I happened to click on the wrong category and this little pen was the first item I set my eyes on:
I won it, only bidder. It says “Sundins Specerier” (translates to “Sundin’s Groceries”).
I have no idea what it is worth, how old it is or what the red and black crayons hidden inside the pen body is for, but it is just the prettiest celluoid I have ever seen! Click on the link below to see it taken apart:
Anyone have any ideas of age and use for the crayons? Remind me of oil pastels.
I really wants to know what was the purpose of the crayon… hmmmm
…and I assume it’s not make-up? Looks rather like vintage lipstick and khol often does, but I assume that’s ruled out already. Don’t see why they would put make-up in a commercial pen for a grocery store, either..
I tried to think of why they’d add any sort of crayons to a commercial pen but came up blank. But on the other hand, what to do when you discover you’re out of lipstick in the middle of a grocery store? Voila! The consistency is a bit off for makeup, but that could have changed with age, eh?
Yes, I expect so – I think the consistency of vintage make-up was different to begin with as well, science has made a great deal of progress when it comes to emollients and substances like that.
Gorgeous pen. Love that old stuff.
I suspect the crayons are for writing on butcher paper. Butcher pencils come in red and black. It seems odd to us now, but likely during the time the pen was in use – meats and cheeses were not wrapped in plastic but in wax backed butcher paper. These crayons would have been ideal for writing the weight and/or price of the item. That was back when there would actually be a real butcher counter in the grocery store.
Lovely find.
I think these crayons write well on glass also.
I do enjoy your blog!
Oh, seeing this reply just now. Been working way too much. Thank you for your comment and information. I hope you continue to visit the blog in the future, some calligraphy and pen-related stuff coming up!