27 replies to this topic

[John Danza]

With Dave Johannsen on the board, I thought we should definitely get a Century Pen Company thread going. Unfortunately, I know little about the company, other than its early tie to Parker. Century was based in Whitewater, Wisconsin, which is a mere 20 miles from Janesville. At one time or another, both George Parker and William Palmer held executive positions at Century and were investors. I do not know when that ended, but I believe it was before 1910. Century made some excellent pens of high quality, but nothing really inovative in design. The one example I've owned is shown below. It's a red mottled hard rubber cable twist eyedropper with a double feed. Century advertised the double feed as a benefit of their pens, presumably due to the ability to keep the nib flowing well.

Additional company information would be great. Let's see your Century pens!

[Rick Krantz]

If you are only going to have one pen from a company, WOW, what an example....

[SteveB]

That is gorgeous!

Steve

[david i]

Odd, that Century cable-twist mottled pen seems vaguely familiar...

[david i]

And, if we are going to talk Century a bit, I suppose I can ant the uppe a bit, so to speak

After all, wasn't it a fellow named Krantz what wrote just awhile ago in the "References" thread, " dunno, I think that at some point, it becomes difficult, especially for small, non big 4/5 companies. For example, we just found the great grandson of one of the Crockers (Chilton pen) on facebook. What we might be able to learn about the Chilton pen company, at best could be considered heresay, or at best cloudy recollection. Records for Chilton did not survive like, say... Sheaffer or Parker. "


Rick speaks truth, so you can imagine my happiness when I won this pile of Century paper on ebay for next to nothing.

[Rick Krantz]

holy cow, that is the paperwork motherload of the Century.... pun completely intended.

is anyone else equally intrigued by paperwork and ephemera, as much as pens sometime?

[philm]

I confess that the ephemera and history interests me more than the pens some times. Back to Century...question for the experts here....was there a tie to Neenah, Wisconsin somewhere along the line? I have been going through my files and can't find where I read this or if I imagined it, but I seem to remember that either Century started there (further north up the river), or perhaps Palmer had ties there?

I do not own any of the early examples and thank David and John for their photos. I know Dave Johannsen has a few as well and has taken a special interest over the years.

My only example is one from the end of the line, so to speak - a smaller plastic ringtop in an interesting color. Not terribly valuable, but from a very late period in their run. Thanks, John, for the topic. Keep those midwest pen companies coming here...



Phil

[Hirsch]

Here are a couple of Century pens I picked up recently:



Note that these appear to be later models than the taper cap ED. These have those new-fangled bladders in them, so that you don't need an eyedropper. To fill the BCHR pen, you'd best have some spare change in your pocket. The BHR pen is a thumb filler, far more suited to those with empty pockets...

[djohannsen]

I'm sorry to have been absent for so long, and look forward to a spirited exchange in this thread (I've got so much yet to learn). However, until I get through an upcoming conference, I doubt that I will have too much time to particpate in a substantive way. However, to stir the thread a bit, I thought that I would attach a photo of the four sizes of Durapoint (what I regard as the last high quality pen from Century, probably from the mid-twenties). The smallest were probably intended as novelty or for filling out dance cards(?); it's my experience that these are the most common surviving HR Durapoint pens. I have also included the ladies ringtop, the standard size pocket pen, and the oversize. Interestingly, the ladies ringtop was the hardest for me to acquire. The one that I bought (from eBay) was the only example that I've yet seen (though the imprint is weak, it is marked Durapoint).

Thanks, John, for getting the ball rolling in this thread. If things ever slow down for even a moment, I will try to get some discussion started (I especially want to learn more about William Fink Palmer from all you Parker guys).


Dave

Attached Files

•  Durapoints.png   461.66KB   17 downloads

[djohannsen]

Here are a couple of Century pens I picked up recently:

Congratulations on the coin filler. It's been my experience that these are tough to come by (I have only a single coin filler in my Century collection). Century seemed game for assembling parts from whomever they could buy them. At eBay, I was runner up on a Century imprinted pen that seemed to use the Evans hump filling mechanism (IIRC, I bid just under $200 for the pen, though it was in pretty rough shape - I've often wondered who it was who wanted it more).


Dave

[djohannsen]

I confess that the ephemera and history interests me more than the pens some times.

For me, it's most of the time. The pens only serve to help one uncover the history.

Back to Century...question for the experts here....was there a tie to Neenah, Wisconsin somewhere along the line? I have been going through my files and can't find where I read this or if I imagined it, but I seem to remember that either Century started there (further north up the river), or perhaps Palmer had ties there?

(I have not been doing much research in recent years and I'm typing from memory, so I will be a bit vague here, in hopes of not saying anything that is too far from the truth.)

William Fink Palmer was an insurance salesman in Neenah, and that's where Century was first incorporated. Palmer and two other Neenah natives appear on the initial incorporation documents dated 1892(?) (somewhere I have a copy of an old Neenah directory that lists the occupations of the two other men involved in the initial incorporation). It is assumed that Palmer met Parker during Palmer's travels selling insurance, though I do not have any documentation to substantiate this. (In fact, it's been my experience that there's almost nothing written about Palmer, despite his importance to the history of Parker; I hope that some will contribute more Palmer as this thread plays out.)

Anyway, Lynn Sorgatz has an interesting early Century pen, as it is imprinted "Pat Appld For." Since the usual imprint borne by the double feed pens is Parker's 1893 double feed patent, one is tempted to speculate the Lynn's pen is a Neenah example... Fultz held tennaciously to the belief that no Century pens were ever produced prior to partial sale of the company to Nels Humphrey and it being moved to Whitewater. I, however, have accumulated indirect evidence that Century was producing pens and selling them on consignment since the early 1880s (about a decade prior to their initial incorporation).

I have a burning desire to learn just when Palmer first met Parker and what their dealings were prior to Palmer sinking $10,000 (IIRC) into the Parker business (and Parker contributing to the incorporation of Century). If anyone could shed light on Palmer's comings and goings and associations during the 1880s, we would learn quite a bit about both companies.


Dave

[philm]

Dave,

Thanks for the Neenah information. I knew I had heard that somewhere and it was probably from you. If I had the time (which I don't at present), I would love to drive the 4 hours over to Neenah and do some research.

Phil

[John Danza]

Anyway, Lynn Sorgatz has an interesting early Century pen, as it is imprinted "Pat Appld For." Since the usual imprint borne by the double feed pens is Parker's 1893 double feed patent, one is tempted to speculate the Lynn's pen is a Neenah example

Interesting that Parker held a patent for a double feed, since Parker never made a double feed pen. Perhaps the patent was one of the contributions Parker made to Century in lieu of financial investment.

[djohannsen]

Interesting that Parker held a patent for a double feed, since Parker never made a double feed pen. Perhaps the patent was one of the contributions Parker made to Century in lieu of financial investment.

My recollection is that Parker's contribution of the double feed patent appears in the 1894 (re)incorporation of Century. Of course, Parker had patented the Lucky Curve feed in 1894 and no longer needed the double feed for his pens (though I am not implying that Parker ever sold double feed pens, aren't there Parker overfeed pens?). There was a very close relationship between Parker and Century during these early years, and I wish that I had a better handle on just how entangled the two firms were (though Century, obviously, was never on equal footing with Parker, as evidenced by the fact that they used a discarded Parker patent).


Dave

[djohannsen]

Interesting that Parker held a patent for a double feed, since Parker never made a double feed pen. Perhaps the patent was one of the contributions Parker made to Century in lieu of financial investment.

Just in case someone who reads this thread has a passing interest, Parker's double feed patent is number 510,439 (awarded Dec 12, 1893). You can look at the patent here: Google Patents.


Dave

[John Danza]

(though I am not implying that Parker ever sold double feed pens, aren't there Parker overfeed pens?)

You're absolutely right that Parker had overfeed pens. In fact, most of the early pens (pre-1895) were overfeed pens until they started doing both overfeed and underfeed until about 1898, when they switched over to all underfeed. However, there's no evidence that Parker ever made double feed pens.

[Terry]

According to the 1893 patent, it seems that what you call a "double feed" is just an "over/underfeed", similar to the ones used by many other pen companies...

[djohannsen]

According to the 1893 patent, it seems that what you call a "double feed" is just an "over/underfeed", similar to the ones used by many other pen companies...

Correct. "Double feed" was how Century advertised their pens, so I guess that I've fallen into using what is a bit ambiguous terminology.


Dave

[penguinmaster]

I'm glad to see this thread. I have a pretty good appreciation of the Century Pen company and interest (note i said interest, not pocketbook) in this company. The main reason being I went to college in Whitewater, WI and now I actually work in Whitewater, and live in Janesville. At one point I had started to do research into what more I could find about the company, hoping to dig up some stuff not found yet, I was informed though that the Fultz article pretty much covered it (that was coming from those in Whitewater) so I dropped it. I've owned a few examples myself, some of the less costly variants. However I still find the brand extremely interesting and am always on the lookout!

Regards,

Tom

[djohannsen]

I'm glad to see this thread. I have a pretty good appreciation of the Century Pen company and interest (note i said interest, not pocketbook) in this company. The main reason being I went to college in Whitewater, WI and now I actually work in Whitewater, and live in Janesville. At one point I had started to do research into what more I could find about the company, hoping to dig up some stuff not found yet, I was informed though that the Fultz article pretty much covered it (that was coming from those in Whitewater) so I dropped it. I've owned a few examples myself, some of the less costly variants. However I still find the brand extremely interesting and am always on the lookout!

Regards,

Tom

Glad to meet another Century enthusiast. The Fultz article is the best single source on the company. I believe, however, that Fultz was very wrong about the early years of the company (and have evidence to support my assertions). Also, Fultz missed that the thumb fillers are imprinted with a die maker's error, and the correct patent date is for Mooney's thumb filler. The library at UM-Whitewater has the papers of Nels Humphrey and minutes from the annual Board meeting for Century, so these are a great place to start if you want to learn about the company. I would also be happy to answer anyquestions that I can.


Dave