Penexchange

It seems I'm the only person using this forum. Well, a lot of space and I can think aloud and talk to myself. I think I've always been a one-pen-person. In practice, I still keep several pens at hand reach, have some buried for restoration and buy new ones to try, but I'm almost there. Once upon a t...

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...

Well, I love adverts. Here are some https://farm1.staticflickr.com/891/41107156110_6d1466de4f_k.jpg https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1802/41107155980_d0002aea17_k.jpg December 1915, still High Holborn as the main location, already MT&Co Ltd. but not updated imprint on the Blackbird (MT&Co) https://far...

In the second post I wrote that in the 1920s Blackbirds started to be advertised as pens for school kids and young people. Well, it seems that British MT targeted youth from the very beginning. They were pens for 'boys and girls' and for 'those who have much writing, figuring and study' (adverts fro...

Earlier, I mentioned that Blackbirds likely predate creation of the British MT&Co Ltd in 1914 and that they were introduced as early as 1911. Well, I knew that I was onto something but couldn't remember why 1911. I often say that my memory is good but short. Indeed it is. I was browsing my old notes...

The Grey BB2/ 45 pens tend to discolour badly and it's a well known fact. The celluloid darkens and acquires a green hint to the point that most originally grey pens are sold as green. However, although the 45 becomes green, it's still different from the originally green 41. The 41 is more vivid and...

You may have already noticed that Blackbirds (and likely Swans, at least some early Leverless pens I had a chance to use) from the 20s, 30s and early 40s have asymmetrically tapered barrel ends. It's often very subtle and at first I thought it was just an illusion or simple material deformation. I w...

I thought I could complete this guide today but I'm running out of time and starting to realize that there is so much more to add. If you'd like to see it in the final form please pop in three weeks time. The plan is to add some missing pictures to the model section, model descriptions, section on t...