10 replies to this topic

[David Nishimura]

It's not every day that one can nail down the origins of something as iconic and mysterious as Waterman's Prohibition Pen. Towards the end of last week I was doing some searching on an unrelated quest (early Waterman pencils, if you must know), and up popped an account of a festive banquet in 1921 where Frank D. Waterman gave out pens as party favors -- with the ones given to the men having a bit of a twist.

I've put the whole thing together here. Now on to the next mystery!

[FmrLEO_GJ]

It's not every day that one can nail down the origins of something as iconic and mysterious as Waterman's Prohibition Pen. Towards the end of last week I was doing some searching on an unrelated quest (early Waterman pencils, if you must know), and up popped an account of a festive banquet in 1921 where Frank D. Waterman gave out pens as party favors -- with the ones given to the men having a bit of a twist.

I've put the whole thing together here. Now on to the next mystery!

What an interesting article Sir.
Thanks for sharing.
I do love these sort of discoveries.

[AndyR]

It must have been so satisfying to turn up that reference! Your account of the Prohibition pen makes a great story.

Andy

[pen piddler]

Thank you very much for sharing your wonderful discovery!

[Roger W.]

DAvid;

As we've discussed with the survivability of vintage pens I'd have to imagine that over a thousand of these were made. After prohibition an empty hard rubber tube would hardly be worth saving so they must have been tossed by the hundreds not to mention the loss in breakage over the years.

Great read, BTW! - See you in a few days (assume you'll be in Chicago).

Roger W.

[philm]

Excellent stuff. I suspect those 95 or so attendees appreciated that it was the 20 size and not a 52

Phil

[Mike Kirk]

Excellent stuff. I suspect those 95 or so attendees appreciated that it was the 20 size and not a 52

Phil

A 52 would just hold enough for a "breath freshener", Phil. I think you're probably right.

Great story, David. Thanks for sharing it. I certainly will keep my eyes open in the wild. You never know...

[Marsilius]

That is a great find. I have a friend who likes to call that "catching a fish" in research. Sometimes scholars speculate about stuff, but every now and then they find something they are looking for with great supporting clues, thus catching the fish. Cool story, too!

[JonSzanto]

Is it too soon to consider a change to Sherlock Nishimura? Great story, David.

[Flake]

What a fascinating story! It's a shame they're so rare, I want one now!

[ljwahl]

Excellent sleuthing, David! Thanks for this, and all the research available on your site!

Larry