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Mabie Todd didn't refer directly to this little Swan as a ladies pen, although the way it was advertised certainly made it clear the this was their intended market.  The most unusual thing about the pen is the clip, a stepped, art deco looking affair similar in shape to that found on some later Waterman's pens.  It never appeared on any other Mabie Todd offerings.  The pen appeared in 1939 and remained in production for only about a year, stopping when the wartime restrictions were imposed and not continued thereafter.  It is quite a rare pen. This particularly fine example is...

The Parker 51 Vacumatic is a great pen, IMHO, as they say.  I like everything about them, including the quirkiness of the filling system.  In the Parker repair manual instructions are given for the filling of a 51 Vacumatic compared with the Parker Vacumatic pen: There is one major difference in the filling methods of the Parker «51» and the Parker Vacumatic. The difference is that after the Parker «51» has been completely filled (usually after ten strokes of the plunger), the excess ink must be withdrawn from the fins of the collector. To accomplish this, the filling instructions of the Parker...

Almost ready to go on the site, a Jewel 46 in Marbled Blue, Parker Victory IV in dark Burgundy, Parker 61 Flighter De Luxe triple set, and a mint Parker 61Custom in Maroon:  

The very early Waterman's eyedropper pens were made at a time when the vast majority of pen users were still happy with dip pens and, presumably, needed some persuasion to fork out a lot of money for a new fangled ink containing device. In about 1891, Waterman released a pen that was as much like a dip pen as it could get in terms of size, proportions, and feel: This is the pen, a Waterman's 23, the '2' denotes the taper cap and the '3' is the nib size.  Made in hard rubber with a good degree of flex, it...

Well, I do for one!  I know they have a less than glowing reputation and are of little value but, during the 1950s and early 1960s the Platignum fountain pen had a huge following in the U.K. I'm under no illusions about the value of my collection of Platignums, should it be 'Platignae', but have an attraction to the brand based on pure nostalgia. If you had just started secondary school in the 1950s and were from the so-called 'working class', then there is a very good chance that your parents would equip you with a Platignum.  During my less than illustrious  school...