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Pic. Conway Stewart Floral in.... rather nice condition

Started by david i, Nov 15 2010 07:07 PM

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7 replies to this topic

#1 david i

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Posted 15 November 2010 - 07:07 PM

Shot this one few years back at the LA Pen Show.

Conway Stewart's original Floral done in the 1950's has been a somewhat controversial pen, as one well known book asserted a total production run of just 200 pens, while other collectors suspect that the run was substantially larger. The pen seems to have been done with clear plastic overlying the flowered underlayment (paper?) with the color not in the plastic itself, as I have examined one highly crazed pen in which the clear plastic was peeling away.

This one is in rather nice condition.

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regards

David

David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#2 Hugh

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Posted 16 November 2010 - 01:42 AM

Hi David,
About as pristine as you'd find I reckon, most seem to "yellow" (or appear that way in photos). Exactly how many made will probably never be really known, suffice to say a lot more than 200. The figure "bandied" around is 2000.

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Hugh

Hugh Cordingley

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#3 Penman

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 08:21 AM

Very nice condition, the figure of 200 must be in doubt, I saw three at the London Show in 2010.

Nice to see the 32/6 price tag, the is around £1.12 in current money or just short of $2.

Perhaps a better guide would be that the average manual workers weekly wage in the 1950s was £18.00 , 8% of take home pay to buy the pen.

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#4 AndyR

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 08:25 AM

Just thought you might like to know that more detailed information on the floral (and the '200 story') is presented in Steve Hull's new Conway Stewart book, on page 172!

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#5 david i

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Posted 17 November 2010 - 06:01 PM

Just thought you might like to know that more detailed information on the floral (and the '200 story') is presented in Steve Hull's new Conway Stewart book, on page 172!

PIcked up my copy at the Ohio Pen Show. Have not yet read cover to cover but seems nicely done. Leans a bit towards history rather than collecting (as do most brand book), but seems to have a great deal of useful info. Perhaps someone could post a review in the "shows, clubs, books, etc" section of the Board.

regards

David

David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#6 Wardok

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Posted 18 November 2010 - 07:04 PM

Penman - you're showing your age - too young. 32/6 is £1.62.

Andy - I thought the pictures in Steve's book were excellent

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#7 AndyR

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 08:41 AM

Andy - I thought the pictures in Steve's book were excellent

Very kind, thanks!

I can also add a little bit of the Floral story that for some reason didn't make it into the book. Steve's very plausible theory is that the quantity manufactured was originally stated to be 200 dozen (CS always worked in terms of dozens and gross) but as the story was retold or due to an initial mis-hearing, the 'dozen' became lost.