IIRC, it was Montgomery Ward, right?
We are getting down to the brass tacks
Some core elements of this thread-- from my perspective-- have been the history of 1930's pens and our approach to learning about old pens, not to mention a bit of learning about the study of collectable pendom itself, the process by which information historically managed to come to light and gain clarity.
A great deal of the information regarding rebadged pens had been observational. With the Parker-Sears connection, we have been blessed (though not all at once, and with most still not available to most members of our hobby) with Sears cartalogues illustrating the Diamond Medal (Parker) pens and showing linkage in appearance and in ad text to Parker pens and literature, respectively. What now often is taken as casual info to collectors was fairly hard fought info for most who know a great deal on the topic.
Gold Bond indeed appears to be a brand owned/sold by the Monkey Ward. I would not be surprised if there are MW catalogues out there showing pens, but I have not yet hunted them.
GB pens appear to have been made at least by National, Wahl-Eversharp and, yes, LE Waterman. There are a couple out there I suspect have a Sheaffer tie, though I'm far from convinced yet. The WE pens tend to be Dorics, though some low line pens (such as another one that just closed on ebay) seem based on pretty crappy mid-late 1930's Wahl Oxfords. The brown pen with red veins earlier in this thread, which comes with Montgomery ward paper in the box, is a re-badged mid-late 1930's Waterman 32a, possibly a Thoroughbred, a related pen. Note the Waterman clip, the Waterman lever. It even has "32A" still on butt. But, the clip is not marked "Waterman", as Waterman-branded Watermen (eep!) would be. I have couple Gold Bond (Waterman) Lady Patricia style pens and perhaps the World's Largest Collection of what are some of the most beautiful 1930's pens labelled GB but still not of certain source (maybe WE). That World's Largest Collection numbers about... 4 pens. Topic for another day, that cluster is.
National made all sorts of differently badged pens, so many that I wonder if ANY National pens were sold directly by the maker. Could all those Gold Bond, Gold Medal, Diamond Medal, Lincoln, Lakeside (?) and others have each been for a specific customers (stores/chains) only some of them now known to us? Maybe.
Stonite, at my best guess appears to have been National/GB's proprietary label (for advert purposes) equivalent to Radite and Permanite, if you get my drift. But, it was used a bit more as a series name than those other though ... perhaps. Not my strong point.
When one looks at small label old pens and they bear startling resemblance to big name pens, one should wonder about re-badging or about sub-brands as much as about design/patent infringements
I well recall, back around 2001, wondering... how Diamond Medal "got away with stealing Parker's filling system".
Re-badged and sub-brand pens remain an area of pendom which-- even after 35 years of our hobby's formal existence-- bears further research.
regards
d