Pelikan trademark in special consideration of the nestlings

[werner]

Thema: PELIKAN Schutzmarke mit bes. Berücksichtigung der Nestjungen
Startbeitrag
Autor: Münsterländer

Thoughts on the Pelikan trademark in special consideration of the nestlings

Ever since its first publication and registration as a trademark (maybe even the first registration) in what was then the German Empire in the year 1878, the trademark of Pelikan, with its nest full of pelican fledglings, has been subject to various revisions over the last decades.

The accompanying graphic is from a brochure published by the Pelikan Corporation in 1963, which they had brought out in celebration of the 125th anniversary of Pelikan.

In my opinion, what makes this picture so special is that it shows the family emblem of the Wagner's. Günther Wagner, the owner of the company at that point of time, used it as a template for designing the trademark. Not even in the broad expanse of the internet was I able to find this version.

Note the number of nestlings: Three!!

Interesting enough, the unknown lithographer whom had created the draft of the trademark from the picture of the coat of arms, raised the number of nestlings to four. This surely was no coincidence! I am convinced that the company owner of that time had direct and immediate influence on this certainly not insignificant detail.

But what was the meaning of this increase of the fledglings? Unfortunately, there is no one left to ask; written records in the archives of the Pelikan Corporation might provide information (should they even exist). But for now: No access. Therefore, here an attempt of approaching: It could be imaginable that the nestlings symbolize four major product lines, like e. g. (I'm fantasizing now) artist's colors, ink and Indian ink, papers and miscellaneous; or maybe it even symbolizes four partners inside the family Wagner, whom had been "nourished" by the Pelikan Corporation; or…

The representation on the family emblem of the fledglings being "nourished" by the blood of the mother animal coming from an open wound on her chest she had caused herself can be seen very clearly in the trademark's first edition in 1878. In the following version of 1910 it is rather questionable, but possible. In the later versions from 1922 on, it is not used anymore at all. I suppose it didn't fit into the taste of the 20th century, the upcoming time of poverty, mass unemployment and social hardship of many levels of the population, the middle class, as well. This sowed the seeds fort he Nazi takeover. Selflessness was "out", this of course also to be noticed in a trademark of a, to that time, large company in the German Reich, where large﷓scale layoffs might have been imminent (I'm fantasizing again).

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Pelikan (extract):
"The basis for the myth (the feeding with blood; added on my behalf) might be provided by the fact that the fledglings of pelican get their food down from the throat pouch of their parents. This gives the impression that they are eating from the breast of their parents. Moreover, during breeding season, the pouch of the Dalmatian pelican turns red, which reminds of a bloody wound."

Anyhow, back to the fledglings. Along with the modernization of the trademark in 1938, two nestling disappear completely. Only two remain. Why this?? Again, I don't believe in coincidences. A detail such as this one simply is too important for that. I can imagine that the graphic designer O.H.W. Hadank presented this absolutely modernistic, almost revolutionary draft to the company management for reasons of simplification / getting back to the basics. The last revision that my source calls "today" is of 1963 (I suppose from 1962/63 in celebration of the 125th anniversary) and is much alike the one of 2009. From 1963 on, the colors were changed: instead of the light background, it was dark (blue), the dark bird turned light and the ring surrounding the bird was added to the background.

I hope this little essay on the trademark Pelikan hasn't become too long for you. I hope it finds favorable reception amongst the forum community. The research was a lot of fun.

Greetings

[werner]

Antwort_01
Autor: absia

Thank you, Ewald,

For the nice article. I'm sure it will provide enough subjects of further discussions and clearances. By the way, I've never noticed that the pelican actually tears open its chest on the older presentations. However: Is the bird on the family emblem of the Wagner's even a pelican? If the Wagner's said so, I guess it's true. The bird does have a long neck, but the beak, body shape and feathers of the bird could also be those of a raptor. The web feet can't be seen on any of the pictures and a probably a pelican could never manage to tear open its own chest!? Questions over questions! Maybe, all this time we've been looking at a vulture instead of a pelican!! Pardon me, a condor, of course! So, eventually, we'd all be having little condors at home, e. g. the Condor M 800 or the Condor "Toledo" or the Condor "Pura"… Wouldn't that sound much better than the name of a simple swimming bird?
Greetings
Peter

[werner]

Antwort_02
Autor: Frodo

Hello Ewald and Peter
What a nice posting. And after my dear fellow Peter is trying to deprive the pelican of its existence, this is where I butt in: The recognition value of the bird on the old emblem is not a question of ornithological exactness, but a question of Christian iconography of the Middle Age. Probably, the least artists of Central Europe have seen a pelican for real. That is why it looks more like a domestic raptor than a pelican.
The worshipping of things and animals as symbols was bound to a decision of the church council. Ever since, aside from the pelican, all kinds of animals have shown up in Christian art, e. g. lions, bulls, ox, donkeys, eagles, boars and even mythical creatures such as the phoenix and the unicorn. Obviously, the pelican has been chosen due to its Christian and New Testament symbol: The bird gives his own blood to nourish his family. Certainly such symbolic presentations caused great aversion in the reformers (sola fide!) and are still seen as deeply Non-Protestant today, too.
One thing is for sure, the pelican remains a pelican. It is no duck, and it is not a vulture. Concerning the recent disappearance of a nestling, here's my theory: Ever since the majority of shares belong to a Chinese, the iconography of the company emblem is subordinate to China's on-child policy. After all, a billion Chinese are supposed to buy their child a Pelikan fountain pen for the start of school. It merely is a good and far-sighted company policy......
Greetings, Frodo

[werner]

Antwort_03
Autor: absia
Hm,

Too bad, Frodo! I was already hoping to be able to rewrite the Pelikan history entirely! However, I guess you're much better in it anyway. If I got you right, then the two remaining chicks are the Chinese one-child and his/her fountain pen And who would be the vulture? Maybe Hu Jintao? Oh well, I guess we're drifting off the subject. But Ewald started!

Greetings,
Peter

[werner]

Antwort_04
Autor: Frodo

Hi Peter
No, actually there aren't two, but only one (see image). It is undeniable. And the one child is already looking pretty precociously, if you ask me. However, history cannot be rewritten, however, the future can. How does this sound:
4 - 3 - 2 - 1......none!!
Greetings, Frodo

[werner]

Antwort_05
Autor: absia

Okay!

I give up!! - - -

Greetings,
Peter

[werner]

Antwort_06
Autor: Münsterländer

Good Morning,

Thank you for the complementary appreciation of my first posting for this forum, where I still am a "newbie".

As an addition to my posting about the time after 1963, where my source literature ended and as the latest trademark is shown so small that my bad eyes can barely see it: I had a look at the Pelikan logo on the cap of my rather new pen model M605 under a magnifying glass and what did I see: only one fledgling. Just as Frodo had presented in his picture of the latest trademark design. At least we got that all cleared up: 3, 4,4,4,4,2,2,1. Probably any mathematician would go crazy trying to find the solution to this number code. Just ask a penexchange-poster, they'll know the meaning to these numbers. That almost makes us a secret society a la Illuminati or the Templers, doesn't it??

I like the idea of Frodo's about the Chinese one-child policy relating to the latest trademark design with the one fledgling. On this occasion, I realized that between 1963 and today the feather design of the mother bird has changed a lot, and so has the tip of the beak, too. However, I have the feeling, that's enough! It's okay to share your thoughts on the number of nestlings, but one can overdo it, too. Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts with me on this topic. I really think it is an interesting one, however, there surely are members who might be thinking: "Are you kidding me?"

No hard feelings,
Greetings to all

Ewald

[werner]

Antwort_07
Autor: hotap


Hello Ewald,

No, there's no such thing of nonsense here, or maybe…
Oh well, tastes differ.

Hello Everyone,

1996 Hooi Keat Loo from Malaysia takes over the company "Goodace SDN BHD“, and becomes majority shareholder of the Pelikan Holding.
After facing great financial problems at the beginning of the 90's, the Metro recapitalized the producer and sold their majority of shares to the Malaysian.

2003 Along with the relocation to Hanover, Germany, the logo was modernized. At this point of time, the two young birds were replaced by one and at the same time, the typical blue color became darker and more modern.

Unfortunately, I have found no source that explains exactly why there is only one bird sitting in the nest. Maybe not even the people at Pelikan know why?

However, not long ago, there has been a pretty big turmoil going around in the forums (not only in this one), when Pelikan writing instruments have been sold with e. g. 2 nestlings on the logo of the cap and only 1 on the nib.

Quelle(n)
Pelikan Webseite
Wikipedia
PBS-Report 2004

Greetings,
Günter

[werner]

Antwort_08
Autor: Frodo

Hello Pelikan-friends,
Here a pelican with the beak of a vulture and 2 fledglings in the nest. I found it a couple of days ago at the entrance of the Lorenzkirche in Nuremberg.
Greetings, Frodo

[werner]

Antwort_09
Autor: penparadise

... That is never ever a pelican. Surely it is some kind of fabulous creature, like a phoenix:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phönix_(Mythologie)
Greetings,
Axel