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To dispel any doubts about the early debut, according to the article in the WES from July 2012 the introduction of the Blackbird was preceded by the postcard advertising campaign which started in May 1910: https://issuu.com/wes-journal/docs/journal?embed_cta=read_more&embed_context=embed&embed_domai...

Hi, I don't think many people visit this site and you may want to try reposting the question on the German language version of the forum. Anyway, some time ago there was a short discussion on the company behind the Wabeck pens: https://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/viewtopic.php?t=6829 If you open it...

As I have already stated in the introduction I don't pursue Blackbirds anymore and what I have learnt belongs to the past. I did my best to present what I know but I'm aware there are more of my own assumptions than facts and the guide contains plenty of unsubstantiated claims and errors. I'm leavin...

Blackbird bird imprint Swan people were rather consistent when stamping the Blackibird logo on pens. It's usually characteristic to a specific model or a group of contemporary models. However, the Blackirds before the introduction of celluloid had a number of differently looking birds imprinted. Mo...

According to the blog Pluma Hispana Gaviota was registered as a brand in Spain in 1923.

http://plumahispana.blogspot.com/2015/03/gaviota.html

Blackbirds formed the economy line of Mabie Todd pens in the UK but I think it's wrong to call them second tier pens. Many then contemporary pens were of much worse quality and function. Blackbirds probably still felt premium when compared the other brands' top offerings. In terms of the material us...

By the late 20s British Mabie Todd didn't use any sophisticated system to stamp Blackbird model designations on their pens. One can guess that there was no need to have any because of a rather limited variety of colours, sizes or finishes. There were the Standard type (dropper filler with the slip-o...

Dating the leaflets according to the last two digits of the serial number seems to work well with the exception of the leaflet below. The question is if it's really 1932 and 6 Shilling dropper fillers are still in production or it's the mid to late 1920s and the number 32 stands for something comple...

How-to leaflets can be interesting too but I admit I've had a problem with dating them. I was scanning the few I have in the morning and finally saw daylight. All the leaflets are coded and it seems that the last pair of digits stands for the year of publication, well, I hope so. For now, let's assu...

I'm pretty sure I should have some adverts from the 30s but can't find them at the moment. I'll update the post at some point, I hope. Meanwhile, let's touch upon the 1940s. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1784/42016364945_ceaf44e27a_b.jpg The pen in the picture is likely to be 5261 (black hard rubbe...