Elephant Ink Blotter

I like to keep some blotting paper stashed inside my favorite notebook (Rhodia webnotebook) to keep things from getting messy, but it's always nice to have a dedicated blotter at your desk. Here's an attractive old glass elephant ink blotter at an antique store purchased for $25.

Apparently these are Depression era blotters that were made beginning in 1931. These blotters were made by the Houze Glass Company and have THEW-31 marked on them. The elephant appears to be the most frequently found, but they can also be found as sailboats, ponies, and scotty dogs.

THEW-31

Similar in size to the J. Herbin blotter

Top view

Ground bottom

It looks like these were made by putting together two separate halves, then grinding down the bottom a bit. Unfortunately, the bottom is still far from being flat, which is a disadvantage when using the blotter because the blotter can rock side to side as well as back and forth.

I thought that the clips that hold the paper in place would get in the way, but they don't bother me. It doesn't feel like you want to rock all the way to the clips when in use.

After the blotting has occurred

Despite the lack of a flat bottom, and the clips, it works just fine (when the paper is attached to the blotter, it tends to even out the bottom). While the J. Herbin seems to be a little less fussy to use, I'm happy to keep and use this at one of my desks.

Replacement clips can be found at http://www.pendemonium.com/blotters.htm

P.S. It appears that these are often found sans clips. While you could fashion your own (or maybe even use a rubberband), you can also get a set for $5.00 that look just like the originals.

Platinum President Review

Here is the Platinum President in black with rhodium trim (purchased on Massdrop.com for $189, which was a good price. This model sells at penchalet.com for $260). I generally favor a "European medium" nib, so I bought this one with a bold nib thinking that this would approximate my preferred nib size.

Platinum is a pen brand that has flown under the radar for me, and when it's crossed my attention I've had the impression (whether fairly or not) that they are the weakest of Japanese "Big Three". The only Platinum pen I'd ever used was a Preppy that came free with a bottle of Noodler's ink, which actually wrote well enough for a dirt-cheap pen. It was fun to see and try Platinum's flagship pen, and overall, I'm favorably impressed with it. My initial impression is that this is an art deco inspired MB 146-lite.

The packaging is unremarkable. A simple outer package, a brown and fuzzy inner box. The contents include an instruction sheet and warranty card (written mostly in Japanese), a cartridge of black ink, and a converter. There was no cartridge converter included.

Outer box

Funky inner box

Box contents

Box contents II

Instructions

Instructions II

Warranty card

Included cartridge

Tag

Art deco clip

Clip profile

I really do like the step detail on this pen clip.

Band "President"

Band "Japan"

Band "Platinum"

Nib 18K Bold

Nib/feed profile

Feed

Nib and Section

Platinum President (top) Montblanc 146 (bottom)

As you can see, the President and the Montblanc 146 are very similar. I don't know who originally designed this iconic pen style, but I would consider the President as a Montblanc Meisterstück inspired design. While they do look very similar, there are a number of differences. The President is a C/C filler (not piston), has more rounded ends, and lacks the iconic white peak. There is also a different feel to the pen. The President simply feels less substantial that the 146. I don't know enough about manufacturing or "precious resin" grades to know why. There is a noticeable difference between the pens when screwing on the caps. While the MB screws on smoothly and assuredly, the President can feel like the threads are in danger of being stripped if the cap is not centered exactly over the pen.

Taken apart

Taken apart II

Writing sample

How does it write? Very well. As can be seen in the writing sample, the President bold nib is slightly wider than the medium-nibbed Montblanc. I had seen reviews stating that Platinum pens tended towards "feedback" on the page, and was afraid that may be code for a poorly polished, rough feeling nib. On the contrary, this pen writes quite smoothly, reliably, and with a nice, wet line. Additionally, I really like the size, weight, and balance of this pen. A winner!

More Old Notebooks!

Well seek and ye shall find.

Happy to come across two cool notebooks today.

Field Notes, Wm. Cameron & Co., Julius Hyman & Company, with a Pilot Falcon

The first "farmers' and ranchers' memo book" is from 1958-59 and was made for Wm. Cameron & Co. William Cameron has a fascinating history, and his family donated the land for Cameron Park in Waco, TX. There's even an antique store in Waco called Cameron Trading Company that used to be his home and business headquarters. The notebook measures 5 3/8" x 3 1/8".

Cover

Inside cover

Top bound, unlined paper

Inside back cover: "Every month make some improvement to increase the value of your farm."

Back cover

Notebook number two is from Julius Hyman & Company from Denver, CO, and is from January, 1951. It's a small notebook at only 4 1/4" x 2 3/8". It's also top-bound, and the pages are perforated for easy tear-out.

Cover

My favorite thing about this notebook is imagining someone handwriting this parting note at the end of each notebook.

Little Railroad Notebooks

I love my fountain pens, and certainly enjoy some good paper to write with them on. My hands-down favorite paper is Rhodia/Clairefontaine and my everyday notebook is their Webnotebook. I also love smaller "Field Notes" size notebooks and keep them around in various locations for quick jotting (and for the record, while I think Field Notes are cool--especially the fountain pen-rejecting Expedition(!)--my current favorite little book for size and writing quality is Nockco's Nikko Blue DotDash).

It's well-known that Field Notes were inspired by old agricultural notebooks. While I haven't found one of these original notebooks, I was delighted to find these like-new Railroad memo books from 1961.

DotDash, RR notebook, Field Notes, Life. Unplugged, and a Parker 51 Special

As you can see, they are smaller than "Field Notes Standard" (they measure approximately 4 1/2" x 2 1/2", and it appears that these were made for the American Brake Shoe Company.

For Better Railroading...

Each day has its own page, with a couple of memorandum pages, a 1962 calendar, conversion table, and ruler at the end.

Christmas Day, 1961!

I didn't even want to bend it all the way open for the picture.

So how is the paper? I couldn't bring myself to write on them. They were too pristine, and I have tons of other options available to me. So maybe they'll sit for another 55 years in my notebook drawer to be pulled out and admired periodically. Or maybe I'll change my mind at some point when curiosity overcomes me and I need to find out how well they take a fountain pen. It's not bad, actually. While it looks like cheap school notebook paper, it actually handles fountain pen ink surprisingly well and has a smooth texture. There was some feathering with the Falcon when I pressed on the flex nib a bit, and there is too much bleed through to make this a viable everyday option. Better to use a pencil with this notebook.

Sheaffer 2001m Desk Pen Review. A pen from the mid 1950's, almost NOS.

I wasn't looking for another desk pen, but saw this in October 2015 an antique store. The pen is still in its box, has the original instructions, and (best of all), it doesn't appear to have ever been inked up! Usually the "in the wild" finds I've experienced are not as interesting and complete as this.

Frankly, I wasn't even planning on keeping it. After spending a day with it, however, I'm starting to change my mind. I consider myself a user, not just a collector, but I almost hate to ink it up (and yes, the Snorkel filler does seem to work!) and remove the stickers from the pen!

Follow along and get ready for a lot of pictures...

From from Armstrong Jewelers in Waco, Texas. Fun to imagine that this was a gift given to someone who kept it in the box and threw it in a drawer for 60 years or so.

On to the pen...

Like I said, it doesn't appear to have ever been inked, though I would guess that it had been dipped before. There was just a hint of ink around the feeder on the nib, but after taking it apart (the barrel easily unscrewed from the barrel allowing access to the inner workings of the Snorkel system), everything looked pristine. "Dry filling" the pen (with air), resulted in a robust filling sound--more so than my restored PFM and other Snorkels (!). I decided to see what would happen if I filled it with water, and it worked beautifully pulling up a surprising large amount of water.

In this picture, I wasn't shooting for the nib (14K "5") as much as the sticker indicating that it's a fine nib.

The next picture shows a price of $7.50. I'm not sure if that would be for the pen or the set.

Biggest "problem" is a small chip in the plastic edge of the trumpet. Not sure if this happened in the pen's original home, in the antique store, or....

...the store owner told me that this pen had been stolen (with several other items) from their store. Fortunately, the thief was caught on camera, and--even better--this individual had previously given the owner his contact information because he had brought in a clock to be repaired by them! Thankfully, he wasn't a mastermind criminal. The police paid him a visit and found this pen, along with a bunch of stolen items from several stores, and everything was recovered.

Here's a picture of the bottom of the base.

So, though I considered keeping it in its pristine condition and selling it because:

1. I already have more desk pens than I have desks.

2. It's not even a "white dot" pen.

3. It's not even a two-toned nib.

4. It's so close to being a new pen (I hate to casually just pull the stickers off and fill it up).

4. The pen can screw into the trumpet of the base. That's great, but as I indicated above, the pen easily unscrews allowing access to the "inner workings". Unfortunately, when I put it in, the pen got stuck (screwed into the trumpet), and the barrel easily unscrewed. It scared me that after all these years the pen was stuck in its base after a half hour at my house! I eventually was able to get it out without any damage, whew! 

However, and I dipped it and tried writing with it--wow! One of the nicer pens I've used. Smooth and perfect ink flow (especially for a fine tipped pen). So this one's staying in the stable.

Oh, and I'm sure at least someone would wonder how much I paid. The sticker on the base says $65, but the owner gave it to me for $45. Probably not the deal of the century, but with the box and instructions and the great condition of the pen, and as an avid collector, it would have almost felt irresponsible to not have snatched it up!