who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

Can somebody help me identify the makers (and any other details about)
of the Wreath Ideal Pen

http://www.box.net/shared/static/jf1niiiy7d.jpg

This example was found buried.

The clip end of the cap is broken and the thread of the cap is now
fused to the body.

There is no filling lever on the body. The end suggests that the pen
had a screw-mechanism piston-filler, or possibly a vacumatic design.

The only clues to age are associated items that indicate a date of
around the late 1930s or early 1940s.

who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

What a cool thing to find! I've never heard of "Wreath" myself -- I suppose
one hypothesis could be that it was made by a third-tier manufacturer hoping
to catch some of the reflected luster of nice pens with wreath logos (e.g.
Waterman, who of course made "Ideal" pens).

In the photo, the pen appears to me to be hard rubber, which would suggest
that it was made before the 1930's. There are other possibilities for that
blind cap, for example a twist filler or button filler.

If you can ease the cap off and there's a nib underneath, the imprint might
help you ID the pen.

Brian
--

who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 12:11:08 -0400, "Brian Ketterling"
wrote:

What a cool thing to find! I've never heard of "Wreath" myself -- I suppose
one hypothesis could be that it was made by a third-tier manufacturer hoping
to catch some of the reflected luster of nice pens with wreath logos (e.g.
Waterman, who of course made "Ideal" pens).

In the photo, the pen appears to me to be hard rubber, which would suggest
that it was made before the 1930's. There are other possibilities for that
blind cap, for example a twist filler or button filler.

If you can ease the cap off and there's a nib underneath, the imprint might
help you ID the pen.

Brian

Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately I saw the pen only in passing.
I have no contact with the owner, so I can't make any further
investigation.

My impression of the material was that it had its appearance altered
by being buried, but it might well have been hard rubber as you
suggest.

Not sure what the difference is between a twist filler or button
filler, compared with my supposition of a screw-mechanism
piston-filler or a vacumatic design.

who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

In ,
wrote:

My impression of the material was that it had its appearance altered
by being buried, but it might well have been hard rubber as you
suggest.

Yes -- I should say, hard rubber oxidized to that brown color (it was
probably black originally). After exposure to the UV in sunlight during its
working life, the pen would have oxidized due to the moisture in the soil.

Hard to say without handling the pen, though. With the crackles in the
surface, I guess it could be celluloid that was stained brown by the soil...
but it does look like HR.

Brian
--

who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:50:52 +1000, wrote:

Can somebody help me identify the makers (and any other details about)
of the Wreath Ideal Pen

http://www.box.net/shared/static/jf1niiiy7d.jpg

This example was found buried.

The clip end of the cap is broken and the thread of the cap is now
fused to the body.

There is no filling lever on the body. The end suggests that the pen
had a screw-mechanism piston-filler, or possibly a vacumatic design.

The only clues to age are associated items that indicate a date of
around the late 1930s or early 1940s.


Thanks everyone for those interesting comments.

Still no ideas about the place of manufacture?

who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

In ,
wrote:

Still no ideas about the place of manufacture?

My default guess would be New York City, a beehive of early fountain pen
manufacturers, micro-manufacturers and job-shops.

"Wreath" could be a sub-brand of a known maker (manufacturers sometimes
concocted these brand names in order to protect their main brand's
reputation when making lower-end pens or trying out new ideas), in which
case "Wreath" might be a reference to a wreath logo or design used on the
main brand (e.g. Wirt). Or it could be a "store" brand made by someone
else, or an assemblage of open-market parts stamped with the assembler's
brand...

The "Lion and Pen" web board has some historians of incredibly obscure
pens -- you might try asking the

http://kamakurapens.invisionzone.com/index.php?

Brian
--

who made the Wreath Ideal Pen?
 

On Sat, 6 Sep 2008 03:52:38 -0400, "Brian Ketterling"
wrote:

In ,
wrote:

Still no ideas about the place of manufacture?

My default guess would be New York City, a beehive of early fountain pen
manufacturers, micro-manufacturers and job-shops.

"Wreath" could be a sub-brand of a known maker (manufacturers sometimes
concocted these brand names in order to protect their main brand's
reputation when making lower-end pens or trying out new ideas), in which
case "Wreath" might be a reference to a wreath logo or design used on the
main brand (e.g. Wirt). Or it could be a "store" brand made by someone
else, or an assemblage of open-market parts stamped with the assembler's
brand...

The "Lion and Pen" web board has some historians of incredibly obscure
pens -- you might try asking the

http://kamakurapens.invisionzone.com/index.php?

Brian

Thanks, I'll try that.