Mabie Todd Numbers

Was looking at this excellent reference on Mabie Todd .

Now a question. With post war Swans there's the 3xxx, 4xxx and 6xxx series commonly found. Some years ago I came across a 5260 yet I've never seen a reference to a 5xxx series ( I didn't buy it as it had a hard life). So does anyone know about these? No reference in the above list made me wonder about it again although a Blackbird 5260 is listed....yes....it was definitely a Swan I looked at !!

The 5260 was a bandless pen, much like (identical to ?) the Blackbird 5xxx. I'm inclined to think the same line where one became the other at some point.

Regards
Hugh

Edited by Hugh, 17 June 2013 - 09:57 PM.

Deb posted about this on her blog. Freely available and on the internet - I know she will be delighted!!

Unfortunately Swan is so far out of my comfort zone I can't comment on the accuracy of the information but, as is noted on their home page, it should be considered very much a work in progress and it would be a major surprise if everything was included at this stage. I'm sure the site will soon become known as an extremely useful reference and the first stop for new Swan collectors, much as Jonathan's site became for CS.

If 'Ye Olde Admin' gets round to reading this, I think it could be worthy of a pinning.

Andy

I have a pdf file called "SwanChart" that I think I downloaded from FPN - not sure. As I can't identify the author, I can't post it.
But in relation to the postwar 4 digit numbering of Swans, here is what it says about the first digit -


Filler:
3 = Lever
4 = Leverless
(5 = Blackbird?)

I think cedargirl answers your question, Hugh.

John Brindle came to fountain pens late in life, and like many a convert, became an enthusiast in the pursuit of knowledge about his new hobby. He spent all last winter noting every Mabie Todd pen he saw on the internet, in auction catalogues or that passed through his hands. Initially he thought it would make a page or two, but by time he contacted me the list had grown to nine A4 pages. He sent me a hard copy of the list and I wrote about it in my blog. Martin Holloway volunteered to set up a website so that the work could be added to by others as they came across pens that hadn't been listed, and to form a basis for any other research anyone wanted to do. To that extent it has been a joint effort, but the real kudos goes to John for the simple idea that none of the rest of us had - to amass all the numbers and descriptions that he could, so that work could begin on a comprehensive overview of the output of Mabie Todd in Britain. John continues to add pens, and no doubt others will join in. I hope we'll be able to begin adding photos in time. Much gratitude also goes to Martin, who did what neither John nor I could do in creating the website.

It doesn't answer my question as such because the pen wasn't a Blackbird, also carried a Swan No.2 nib. It may well have been a "Swan" imprint for export purposes though, seeming I've only seen the one ( and yes, it was a Swan , I've been there several times and examined it both visits..it's probably still there...if I go back again I'll buy it !!..despite it being very much the worse for wear) and it appears that you haven't come across one either would suggest a non UK imprint. All up a fairly boring pen, I just found the imprint odd. Yet if you look at in the "big picture" I would expect to find a 5xxx Swan, there being a 3,4 and 6 series...still MT where nearly as helpful as Sheaffer when it came to models and IDs

Regards
Hugh

Hi Hugh,
The "5" does seem to have been allocated to Blackbirds, and I've never seen a 5 that wasn't a Blackbird. Could it be assembled from disparate parts? If not, I suppose that it's just another anomaly. Mabie Todd seemed to have plenty of them. Even in those pens marked Swan 3---, there's no consistency of cap rings or nibs. I constantly come on three-ring, No3 nib pens in the 32-- range. They can't all be replacements and swapped caps.

Hi Deb,

The barrel had both the Swan imprint and the number , I can't recall if the clip had a Swan logo though. Still I did come away thinking the pen a Swan in every sense. Little doubt it's the same as the Blackbird, my first thought was the model may have started life as a Swan and then "downgraded" to a Blackbird as definitely a lesser looking pen than the other post war Swans. Now I'm starting to think it may well have been an export imprint to better capitalize on the Swan name( Swan was well regarded here), if there was ever a UK release then it would be unlikely that you wouldn't have come across a few. I agree about the 3 series, a personal favorite of mine.

Regards
Hugh

That is odd. Of course, they did all sorts of other strange things with their various models, so this is just another one. I'd be tempted to buy it for its rarity value - not that I think it would be worth a lot, but you might never see another.