I was prowling the back alleys of ebay last week & spotted a Wearever I've had my eyes open for for more than 5 years. A Blue & White woodgrain Wearever ring top. I have only seen 1 other woodgrain ring top (& I own it...lol)
I had also seen a badly broken blue cap (40% missing) & part of the barrel/section & broken off mid point at the barrel) of a Blue woodgrain ring top so I knew they existed.
I scored my first ring top at the LA Pen Show a few years ago from Lex Villnes (one helluva great guy btw). Eversince I've had my eyes peeled for these. I now have 2, only about 10 more until I find the entire color range for these. Continuing at this rate I should be finished somewhere around the year 2100...lol.
The standard woodgrain is the earlier of the 2 pieces (early/mid 1920's) having no engraved cap ring near the lip (also wearing an incorrect section, I have a replacement, just havent gotten around to making the swap yet). The Blue is slightly later, Mid/late 20's.
The hardest part about finding these is they aren't marked Wearever anywhere at all. The standard size flat tops are only stamped on the clip.
"Then how do you know they are Wearevers"
Good question, I'm glad you asked..lol.
Well the caps are interchangeable between the standard & flat tops, same lever & J bars, same sections, same color/pattern between the 2 examples I have here vs. standard size models I have in ye olde collection. The black end 'plates' are the same thickness, color & material . The barrel & caps are also the same diameter (same length cap).
Dennis
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Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito ~Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them
They look good Dennis. I didn't know these existed. I am completely dumbfounded about identifying them without markings; even though you did your best to explain it lol
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I do my best to try & explain what i know, but sometimes it just doesnt flow like it should...lol.
This is what I was talking about with the similarities in the models. You can see the design elements i was talking about above.
The nib in the new blue woodgrain is from one of those giant/cartoon like 'jumbo' japanese 1" od eye dropper with the ink shut off. It's just a 14K GP cheapie, but it writes nice. I needed a big nib for this one & it fit just right so I went with it.
-- Edited by DWL at 09:55, 2008-08-17
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Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito ~Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them
I've been working on the wearever collection for 12 years now & I still have a LONG way to go to get everything, but I'm proud of what I've managed to pull together so far.
Founded in 1896 Wearever is one of the the oldest and longest running fp co's out there. As I understand it, at their height of production in the 60's they were making a million pens a week. True they were the cheap aluminum cap, plastic barrel Poineer, saber & .29 cent pens, but day-um! A million a week? Thats a lot of freakin' pens kids...lol.
I've estimated there to be somewhere between 10 and 15,000 various models, and variants produced over the 70 plus years they were in business before they were sold to Dixon (of dixon ticonderoga #2 pencil fame) in the early 70's. The wearever pen line still lives on today in the form of a cheap stick bic ball point. 112 years of continual production & it comes down to a freakin' BP...lol
The jaw drop is in the 'more emoticons' tab. there is a whole page of them in there, just copy & paste to use.
Dennis
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Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito ~Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them
i agree with you about the quality of the nibs, reactionary. but, some of them have great celluloid bodies and if you can get a 14k nib on it, like i got the other day on a button filler for less then $15, you'll be as happy as i am right now. i'm waiting on a pressure bar and sac from tryphon to restore it!!
Gotta love Wearever's! Their "Taperite" nib version is actually a pretty smooth writer for their steel nibs.
I have an old "marbled" model that is missing its' 14k nib. This pen is much wider than their Zenith and DeLuxe models. Hope to find one (nib) someday in the wild!
Frank
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"When, in the course of writing events, it becomes self-evident that all pens are not created equal" (Federalist Frank)
We sell quality, known brands at reasonable prices!!
frank, i got this marble one with the small nib that is quite nice, but i don't know what it is. dennis, do you have an idea what this might be?
-- Edited by PETERPARKER51 at 02:55, 2009-02-27
Peter!
It looks like a "Supreme" style, but in a much nicer color! Most of these are solid colors. The nib may say "Stainless" on it though it may be plated. Nice Pen!
Frank
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"When, in the course of writing events, it becomes self-evident that all pens are not created equal" (Federalist Frank)
We sell quality, known brands at reasonable prices!!
i don't know what happened, but i couldn't go back and edit my last post!!!
anyways... frank, the body looks exactly like the one in the pic above (from penhero.com). the cap does look like a supreme, but way prettier. and you're right the nib says "stainless", tho' it came GP.
i don't know what happened, but i couldn't go back and edit my last post!!!
anyways... frank, the body looks exactly like the one in the pic above (from penhero.com). the cap does look like a supreme, but way prettier. and you're right the nib says "stainless", tho' it came GP.
I took care of it!
Frank :)
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"When, in the course of writing events, it becomes self-evident that all pens are not created equal" (Federalist Frank)
We sell quality, known brands at reasonable prices!!
Dennis, I want to thank you so often, that you made a photographic inventory of what others now enjoy.
With out you, how would I know, what I have.
A turquoise full cap and barrel Supreme @1960, The stripy black and red/pink Deluxe 100 says that on the barrel. The mottled green Pioneer fountain pen and mechanical pencil says nothing. The black Pioneer says nothing. The Black Deluxe button filler says nothing but Wearever. I know my other mottled green clear view is from the mid 40s because of the clip. My striped brown and yellow gold stripe with a touch of mottling is from 1938-42 and that I have a red mottled Transitional Supreme with clear view, also.
I even know the name of a couple of fine barrels I have.and one Id just love to get the cap for. Some day down the road, after the money tree has shed its leaves, Ill go looking for it.
With out you and your pictures, Id be lost, like 98% of all Wearever owners.
You should still put together your book, even if it is only an E-book. On second thought dont do E-book, there are a lot of cheap thieves in the world.
There are many book-making machines now, that you can run off 100-1,000 cheaply, and do it again if you need more. You need not go to a Vanity press where they would charge an arm and a leg and say market it your self. I think most of the pen Coms would let you advertise your book with them, for free, if not then very cheaply.